They have a limited market unless they are more generic.
Regular readers know that I don’t invest in Pinyin domains. This is because I want to sell my domains to the entire world but Pinyin names are often limited to the China market. Interestingly, I’m seeing Pinyin domains dropped regularly that can be registered for mere $10 a pop.
For example, the following two Pinyin domains were deleted on August and therefore were available for registration.
Geleshi.com was first recorded by Wayback Machine in 2016 but the site had no contents. In 2017, it was owned by the big seller HugeDomains.com. Geleshi is 3-pin and has 7 characters. Ge Le Shi may have multiple Chinese meanings, such as 歌乐视 (suggesting a music video channel) and 格乐事 (suggesting matters related to happy things).
Rongjixi.com was first recorded by Wayback Machine in 2018 but the site had no contents. Rongjixi is 3-pin and has 8 characters. Rong Ji Xi may have multiple Chinese meanings, such as 融计息 (related to finance) and 荣基喜 (a thriving foundation of happiness).
Having said that I don’t invest in Pinyin domains, I actually own a few of them – although not intentionally. Here are two for illustration.
Hemola(dot)com is 3-pin and has only 6 characters. He Mo La may have multiple Chinese meanings such as 鹤默拉 (associated with crane, silence, and pull). Because the name is very generic, it can be used in almost any business field.
Bibale(dot)com is 3-pin and has only 6 characters. It was first recorded by Wayback Machine in 2008 but I don’t see any site development over the years. Bi Ba Le may have multiple Chinese meanings such as 币霸乐 (associated with money, master, and fun), which can be used in money-related fields.
As you can see, my favorite Pinyin domains are very short and also pronounceable. They can be used both inside and outside China. How did I find them? I use ExpiredDomains.net, choose the Deleted Domains category, and specify 2-word English domains. (It’s still a mystery to me. I intend to see English-based domains but the search result does include Pinyin domains.)
Jesus Garcia says
Hi, i have some domain on pinyin, ganbei.co.uk, my question is: if the .com is not profitable, is it worth keeping a .co.uk?
Kassey Lee says
Pinyin domains are mostly intended for the domestic market of China. For Pinyin domains on the .uk extension, you are waiting for a Chinese company already operating from the corresponding .cn or .com domain. The chance of such success, imho, is very small. If you are interested in Pinyin, you can try Pinyin on .com because .com is the preferred extension in corporate China.
Mike says
How do I set a value on a Pinyin domain? I have xn—wne-nma.com. I know it translates to wine.com but I can’t find out how to value it nor, if it is worth anything, how I go about advertising and selling it.
Kassey Lee says
I seldom come across use of Chinese IDN .com and even IDN.IDN domains in corporate China, You may try to use Baidu to find end users and contact them directly, if you can speak Chinese.