Kassey Lee explains why two-letter domain names aren’t valuable in China just because they are rare.
Recently a domain investor asked me if ST has any meaning in Chinese. That got me thinking about 2L (letter-letter) domains in general. In fact, 2L domains are very valuable not only because they are scarce, but also, in China, they are unique in the Chinese culture.
I remember when I was growing up in Hong Kong, names that I came across consisted of mostly two Chinese characters — in other words two Pinyin words. Examples are big bank Hui Feng (汇丰 = HSBC), supermarket Bai Jia (百佳 = PARKnSHOP), city name Xiang Gang (香港 = Hong Kong), and even movie star Cheng Long (成龙 = Jackie Chan). It’s a 2-pin world.
This is also reflected in corporate China. If you look at the 2018 Top 100 Chinese Internet Companies list, you’ll see that 37 companies use Pinyin domains, ranging from 1-pin to 4-pin as follows: 1-pin (5%), 2-pin (79%), 3-pin (11%), and 4-pin (5%). 2-pin domains are clearly sought after by corporate users.
The love for 2-pin can be seen in the extreme case of Alibaba. The name “a li ba ba” (阿里巴巴) is 4-pin but Chinese consumers prefer 2-pin, so Alibaba is also nicknamed “Ali” (阿里). This shift can be seen in many Alibaba sub-brands such as AliExpress (AliExpress.com), AliSports (AliSports.com), and AliTrip (AliTrip.com).
How does preference for 2-pin relate to 2L domains? A 2-pin name can be shortened to a 2L domain by using its acronym, which is the ultimate domain upgrade for corporate China. A good example is Jing Dong (京东), the third largest internet company in the world according to Wikipedia. It owns JingDong.com but its corporate domain is JD.com. Another example is Bai Lian (百联) using BL.com as its corporate domain.
See it from the other side, 2L domains are very versatile and can be used to create a variety of Chinese brands for different business fields. For example, ST can be the acronym for more than one hundred 2-pin names, such as Shi Tu (师徒 = master and disciples) for education, Shi Tu (视图 = view) for video, and San Tong (三通 = three channels) for media.
In short, 2L domains are very valuable in corporate China.
Ethan says
It’s likely the same reason that ZB.app sold $91,000 to a Chinese buyer.
Kassey Lee says
ZB.com has an app to manage cryptocurrency investment, so ZB.app will be a good fit for this Chinese startup.
Richard says
Hi Kassey,
any indication what Jing Dong and Bailian paid for their 2 letter domains?
Kassey Lee says
JD.com $5m BL.com not disclosed
lifesavings.online says
OHH you deleted my .wang comment. If you knew the WHOLE domain, you would REALLY think I was trolling.
If you post ABOUT nTLD, there are all kinds of comments pumping on .com and such..doing irreverent comments / bashing mindlessly.
You are a VERY biased mod, I tried giving your blog a chance…but you just don’t get it. There are MORE nTLD registered to china than .com. I would like to be able to point that out in EVERY thread, however, this is just a one way street.
So u don’t mind the.com trolls on nTLD posts, you let them post insignificant trolling comments… It’s only when someone post on .com post u gotta ‘moderate’ GOT IT!
Andrew Allemann says
I found the comment.
Mansour says
if it make you money keep it if it does not delete it.
follow the money.
Andrew Allemann says
The only comments I delete are ones that include profanity, use a fake email address, are spam, or have nothing to do with the topic.
Roberto says
How would I go about selling a 2-number .cn domain name? I registered this about 20 years ago, and it’s time to unload it. I get lowball solicitations daily, but how do I get top dollar for it? I’ve tried 4.cn (goldenname.cn), but it’s mostly lowball offers.
Kassey Lee says
If I were you I would do an end user research first, to see if there are already companies using the number in other extensions which may enter the China market. I would also search for companies in China with similar but inferior names. A China-based domain broker is another option.