More to come? I hope so.
It’s been over two years since I registered my first domain name in a “new” top level domain name. I finally have a sale.
At $1,000, it’s nothing to write home about. But to be fair, I haven’t invested a disproportionate amount of money in new domain names.
I thought I had my first deal a few months ago when someone agreed at Sedo to pay $500 for one of my .xyz domains. The guy never paid. I also had an offer on a .miami domain just a week after registering it. I would have taken it except that the brokerage fee was something like $250, leaving very little left.
The domain name I sold was a .cloud domain that I purchased for $18.17. 55x sales are nice, but keep in mind this doesn’t come close to covering the amount I’ve invested in new extensions.
I’m not getting rich here. I don’t think many domain investors are getting rich with new TLDs yet. But it’s a baby step.
Should we look at registering a new TLD for $10-$20 like we do hand registering a .com? When I hand register a .com, I don’t expect it to sell right away. I expect to hold onto it for a while. At the same time, I think that spending time on research to nab new TLDs the second they come on the market is different from hand registering an existing .com.
My current thinking on new TLDs as an investment is as follows:
- Be very selective about investing in generic extensions. There are so many of them and they are easy substitutes for each other. If you’re holding out for top dollar on your .website name, the buyer’s BATNA is pretty good: they can just grab the .site, .online, or something similar. Of all the generics, I actually feel best with .XYZ. I know a lot of people hate it, but it has created a bit of a brand for itself with its intense marketing efforts. Something like .site is never going to be a brand.
- Avoid most domains with annual premiums. The annual premiums will eat you up, and most registries have priced the premiums too high for investment.
- I don’t like domains that are sold for a buck at retail because they attract spammers, but I also don’t like ones that are $30. It’s easy for me to renew domains that cost about as much as a .com.
- I remain bullish on city TLDs.
Joy Antony says
Congrats on your sale…
I sold 2 .xyz names this week. $1000 & $1100.
Andrew Allemann says
Congrats.
Tom S says
Were your sales through an inquiry or through a market place?
Andrew Allemann says
Parked page inquiry
Andrew Allemann says
Oh, sorry, you were asking someone else.
Joy Antony says
keyword .xyz sold thru uniregistry/dns – usd 1000
4L.xyz, sold thru sedo for usd 1100
Tom S says
Thanks Joy
M. Menius says
@Andrew “There are so many of them and they are easy substitutes for each other.”
This is really good advice and bears careful consideration. I think some of the industry niche tld’s have less competition or no competition. While others have close substitutes. The worst example is probably .loan and .loans. You also have .finance and .mortgage and the distinction between these isn’t much.
I agree as well that the city tld’s are unique unto themselves and are their own special niche – so from an investment/development perspective they may be a step ahead.
The most challenging new tld’s in my opinion are the non-descript like .link, .click, .web, .xyz, Since they have no intrinsic or suggested meaning, a special public awareness has to be created around each to distinguish one from another. Not saying it cannot be done, just perhaps more effort in differentiating the tld from the rest of the field.
JZ says
I’ve only sold one new gtld but i only own a handful. i bought it because i sold the .com to a company for good money but they had no interest in the new gtld. figured it was wasted money and would let it drop but a couple months later i got an offer from someone completely unrelated. sold it for 1200. haven’t sold any others but i don’t buy them anymore either.
Eric Lyon says
It’s these type of sales reports that slowly start to debunk 95% of the anti-new TLD nay-Sayers. It’s nice to see new TLD’s generating some decent ROI.
DK says
Sold 2 city gtlds over last two month. in 2-3k range.
Andrew Allemann says
do you mind saying which city?
DK says
NYC
John says
I think this thread and the point made by M. Menius above suggest that .Web may not really have the kind of appeal and big splash people have been expecting for so many years now. In fact, the biggest splashy bombshell affect may probably be among “domainers” only, with the very best of the best keywords still being valuable of course.
DNPric.es says
Based on previous ccTLD experience serious offers start to come after two years past the go live date. Then get better after four … five years. New TLDs are eating each other’s markets toght now but the overall market does grow too. If one did not recover all the cost after five years… strong.ly advise to review the portfolio’s quality. Carry on!
Joseph Peterson says
It’s a trickle. Market interest always was going to begin by drizzling.
Those Noahs hunkered down inside their Arks with 2 domains of every species may foretell a Flood of Demand till doomsday. Meanwhile, that menagerie is bellowing, squawking, neighing, roaring, chittering for its dinner.
Surely the right answer is to get out of the Ark and farm based on the sporadic rainfall we’re actually getting.
KoolBranding says
Congratulations on your sale. Indeed the availability of the many alternative new gTLD makes it hard for investing in them, there will always be other choices. So returns will continue to be mostly low for the foreseeable future or until there is a clearer picture of where things are heading.
Anders says
I have received a lot of offers on mine domains, but they are all in the 100 to 400 dollar range. LOL, domainers obviously. They of all should know that with fees and stuff, that the amount is a joke.