Comments

1. Kevin Jackson says

   July 2, 2009 at 11:45 am

   It is amazing how people waste money on crappy domains. It is good news for the registrars though! They are laughing all the way to the bank.

2. Domain Investor says

   July 2, 2009 at 12:30 pm

   Guilty as charged.

   I have been dropping a number of domains that I’ve owned for years.
   They use to make a little bit.
   But, when you look at the total ownership period, the amount paid,
   amount received and the lack of inquiries, I put them on the delete pile.

   Just this week, 2 of my domains were on Pool’s hotlist.
   They made nothing in the years I owned them.
   And, I never received an inquiry.
   But, one was caught by Pool and one by Snapnames.
   Someone is smarter than I am.

   And, had I tried to sell them on the forums for $ 10.,
   no one would have bought them.
   Go figure.

3. Jason says

   July 2, 2009 at 1:07 pm

   Seeing pattern domaining like this and having them all go pendingDelete is such a difficult thing to watch and it happens in -every- day’s drop. All that time and money down the crapper. I can only hope new domainers don’t fall into the same traps…

   I’m pretty happy with my http://doodoobags.com though… =) It makes a couple sales a month! Better to sell the bag the poop goes into than the poop itself… =D

4. Troy says

   July 2, 2009 at 2:34 pm

   Those remind me of the “The Best _____ in the World” set of domains=).

5. Steve M says

   July 2, 2009 at 3:56 pm

   BestPoopAround.com

   Just sayin’ 😉

6. MHB says

   July 2, 2009 at 4:55 pm

   Troy

   In this case I think its like “the worst in the world” set of names

7. Jason Thompson says

   July 2, 2009 at 7:54 pm

   I saw this blog entry come up on my twitter feed. At first I thought someone was trying to sell BuyMyPoop.com but you would be amazed that there would actually be an interested buyer. In the adult entertainment world there are fetishes geared towards people who eat poop. =( Beef its whats for dinner. lol

8. MHB says

   July 2, 2009 at 8:04 pm

   Jason

   If your trying to shock or teach me something about adult stuff your barking up the wrong tree, as you will find if you whois your example of eatpoop.

9. Jason Thompson says

   July 2, 2009 at 8:12 pm

   LOL! You’ve got me laughing hysterically over here. Nice domain you’ve got there. I am sure it will end up in the right hands sooner or later. Where did you pick up eatpoop? Did you hand-reg it or did it drop? LOL! Sure hope you didn’t hand-reg it…

10. David Rosenbaum says

    July 2, 2009 at 11:31 pm

    Look, I own lots of names and most make money. Some don’t, but don’t you dare tell me to drop GrandmasAnalAdventure.com. Don’t you dare.

11. Jason says

    July 2, 2009 at 11:35 pm

    @David, blahh… I just threw up in my mouth…

12. David Rosenbaum says

    July 2, 2009 at 11:44 pm

    Yeah, it came as part of a large portfolio but I could never bring myself to drop it. I actually had business cards printed up and circulated several of them at TRAFFIC in NYC..07 I believe, and it created a bit of a buzz. Kinda sick but cracks me up at the same time. It still gets some modicum of traffic too.

13. SDM says

    July 3, 2009 at 1:14 am

    When metrics DON’T say it’s a a sure “keeper”, how do you avoid throwing out the baby with the bath water?

    For example, what about this diverse group (brandables to dictionary hyphenated to iWords to Longtails) of approx. 50 domains coming up for renewal? I’m bleedin’ here!

    Poop or potential? And of greatest importance – why?

    BodyJewelryBelly.com
    BrainRam.com
    Car-Pooler.com
    CarsGasMileage.com
    DownloadNewReleaseMovies.com
    DrugRehabTampa.com
    EquineFever.com
    ExpiredDomainsForSale.com
    FaqFinding.com
    FloodAndFireRestoration.com
    FuzzyNeural.com
    Goody-Two-Shoes.com
    GreenEnergyConference.com
    Holier-Than-Thou.com
    iArise.com
    iBidet.com
    iBigIsland.com
    iBossy.com
    iGonna.com
    iHubby.com
    iHunch.com
    IllTimed.com
    iLuau.com
    iOust.com
    iPrune.com
    iS-x.com
    i-Tj.com
    LedCommercial.com
    MesotheliomaPrognosis.com
    NanoHunter.com
    Neurocasting.com
    NeuroDevice.com
    Nice-Looking.com
    Overrefined.com
    PlayFreeCasinoGamesOnline.com
    PopularGiftsForWomen.com
    Put-On.com
    Red-Blooded.com
    Rose-Colored.com
    SinkEaters.com
    Snow-Blind.com
    Soft-Spoken.com
    Thin-Skinned.com
    Time-Saving.com
    Tone-Deaf.com
    TradingForeignCurrencies.com
    WaterDamageSanDiego.com
    WaterDamageSeattle.com
    Well-Behaved.com

14. David J Castello says

    July 3, 2009 at 1:48 am

    Rule of thumb: If a name doesn’t get any direct navigation dump it. There are scores of domainers who have lost their shirts buying “catchy” names.

15. SDM says

    July 3, 2009 at 4:42 am

    David,

    Thanks for your reply.

    Many of my domains don’t see much direct navigation traffic. However, once minisites are launched, I find that search engine results are key to the success of sites that perform well. Here are a few examples:

    AutomaticPencils.com
    UnstructuredInformation.com
    MovieRentalReleases.com
    PayLaterCatalogs.com
    DownloadNewRelease.com
    HighQualityWigs.com
    CremeDeCocoa.com
    BuyNowPayLaterCatalog.com

    When searches are made for these keywords (even without quotes), they all get good placement. The challenge is to find a way to accurately determine whether there’s any dead wood on the list that’s not worth carrying until I can put up a minisite. If I based it solely on direct navigation traffic, I’m afraid I would toss out many domains that have good development potential.

    Until recently I have been focused on acquiring domain names because I believed that it would become increasingly difficult to assemble a list of quality keyword based domains at a reasonable price. However, at the same time I recognize the cost of carrying the undeveloped inventory can be prohibitive.

    If I could develop quickly and inexpensively, I’m sure this would resolve many of the challenges I’m facing, but even at $99 per domain, the cost of development is not a good fit for a portfolio that consists of thousands of domain names.

    Ultimately, I think minisites are little more than a temporary solution to whatever comes next. Until the browsing experience of the site visitor becomes the primary driving force behind website design and functionality, any interim solution will be short lived and unsustainable. I have ideas for a custom CMS that would go well beyond the minisite concept, but I would need assistance in finding the right people to work with. I’d appreciate any suggestions.

    Thanks,

    sid.tel

16. Jason Thompson says

    July 3, 2009 at 5:18 am

    SDM,

    I completely agree with you. Recently I registered a domain name “educationalsolarkit.com” the domain itself did not receive any traffic. The domain represents a type of educational toy which teaches kids about solar energy. After I built a site for the domain and included products from my ebay partner network I am now number one for the term on google. Developing a site event if it is a small site can definitely transform your domain.

17. Tony says

    July 3, 2009 at 9:23 am

    “Rule of thumb: If a name doesn’t get any direct navigation dump it. There are scores of domainers who have lost their shirts buying “catchy” names.” – David Castello

    While I agree about the catchy names, there are some legitimately good domains that will never get type-in traffic that are worth a lot more than their renewal costs. For example, PersonalDebtConsolidation.com might be a long 3-worder and not get much type-ins at all but can any of you tell me that is not worth $5-10K in a good economy? I bought that off a person who was about to let it expire.

    Read Frank Schilling’s last blog post about his refusal to sell some of his domains that didn’t even pay for their registration renewals not even for $5K apiece. He may have changed his stance since then but I agree wholeheartedly agree with the Great One.

18. MHB says

    July 3, 2009 at 9:59 am

    David

    I have to disagree with you.

    Most of the domain we sell, including those that we sold for $110K last month fall into this category, domains with no to minimal traffic (10 visitors a month).

    Of course you can’t just have these kind of domains, and the domain really do need to make sense.

19. MHB says

    July 3, 2009 at 10:01 am

    SDM

    IMHO these are worth keeping:

    ExpiredDomainsForSale.com
    FloodAndFireRestoration.com
    GreenEnergyConference.com
    NeuroDevice.com
    Nice-Looking.com
    PlayFreeCasinoGamesOnline.com
    Red-Blooded.com
    Time-Saving.com
    Tone-Deaf.com
    TradingForeignCurrencies.com
    Well-Behaved.com

20. Wale says

    July 3, 2009 at 11:35 am

    Some do register domain simply because they got an idea for it but haven’t got the time to develop it. One day they will have the time to develop it or if they are fortunate, they might get a buyer for the domain name. Take the following :

    1800bedOnly.com
    anything-rentable.com
    candyproducts.co.uk
    candyproducts.net
    xchangeseat.com
    xchangeticket.com
    trendshoes.net
    mortgageshrinker.net
    247sex.us

21. David J Castello says

    July 3, 2009 at 2:15 pm

    Everytime a domainer asks me to review a portfolio in trouble I find that 100% of their problem will be deadwood domain names (names with zero direct navigation) . Names with no DN generate zero revenue and they find themselves quickly in a negative cash flow situation. Yes, you can take any name and built it into a great site if you concentrate on content and SEO, but let’s not kid ourselves. With deadwood domains only three positive things can happen: 1) You develop the name into a great site (and we know how long that takes), 2) Someone happens to create a company or situation that exactly mirrors your name or 3) You auction it off to a someone who thinks it has potential because it sounds catchy.

    And, Mike, I’m sincerely happy that you sold one of them last year for 110K, but I’ve been in this business since the mid 1990’s and we both know that is, by far, the exception and not the rule (especially post-2000). You know domain names far better than most people and no one should build a portfolio of non-direct navigation names unless they’ve got exellent marketing instincts, know how to play the game and are in a healthy financial position.

22. David Rosenbaum says

    July 3, 2009 at 2:23 pm

    Can’t argue with David here. Good points all around.

23. David J Castello says

    July 3, 2009 at 2:24 pm

    PS:
    Tony, you said, “…PersonalDebtConsolidation.com might be a long 3-worder and not get much type-ins…”

    Actually, I like that domain. I want to be clear that if a name gets any direct naviagtion, even 2-3 clicks a day, it’s money in the bank. We have many three word names like OrlandoHotelReservations.com that gross over $100 a year in parking. More than enough to pay the registration fees until we can get around to developing or selling them.

24. MHB says

    July 3, 2009 at 2:43 pm

    David

    We didn’t sell $110K of those types of domain last year we sold 15 domain just like that last month for that amount.

    Sure you have to know what your doing and be able to spot a good domain from a crap domain, but that is what most of this business from the pure domaining side is about.

    http://www.thedomains.com/2009/07/01/no-record-setters-but-we-close-over-100k-in-sales-in-june/

25. Tony says

    July 3, 2009 at 2:54 pm

    David,

    Thanks for the clarification.

    ———————————————————

    SDM,

    No matter what you, you must renew

    DrugRehabTampa.com

    DrugRehab.com is a million dollar domain. What you have there is known as a secondary GEO.

26. SDM says

    July 3, 2009 at 4:14 pm

    MHB,

    Thanks for your reply.

    I noticed you didn’t select any of the iWords as keepers. I may be wrong on this, but in my opinion, iWords and eWords are among the most undervalued and overlooked of all domain names. I constantly hear domainers saying you can’t just slap an “i” or “e” in front of a dictionary word and expect it to be a contender. When that word is a short, catchy dictionary word, I disagree.

    While it’s true that any word, made-up or otherwise can be successful when developed with a good concept behind it, I would argue that a domain like iHunch.com would be superior to the alternatives when the name is suggestive of the site concept. It’s easy to remember, conveys certain coolness and is much shorter than MyIntuition.com (reg’d 4-16-2003).

    When virtually every dictionary word has been registered including thousands that offer little beyond the word’s perceived value to a dictionary domain name collector, I find the general domainer’s perception of iWords and eWords a bit incongruent (btw, incongruent reg’d 5-15-2003). No doubt, if iHunch.com showed up as SnapNames drop, bidders would be all over it.

    I say Potential* – not Poop:

    iArise.com – Religion? Anything that tends to move in an upward direction (i.e., hot air balloons, gliders, etc.) Megalomaniacs?

    iLuau.com – Tropical party related? Anything Hawaii?

    iBigIsland.com – Where else are you gonna book your iLuau or learn out about the history of Puako or Makalawena or find a good place for lunch in Kealakekua?

    How about a few brandables that might look good on the business cards of a professional:

    iPrune.com – Gardener? Gardening tools? Prune growers?

    iHubby.com – Handyman? Or any other chore a wife might like her husband to do instead of taking a damn nap?

    iOust.com – Anybody who does anything that gets rid of something for somebody (or is that too limiting?)

    iBidet.com – High tech bathroom and personal hygiene products? Auction site for Extraterrestrials? (sorry for that…)

    My point is that, so far as I know, Websters is not doing high production runs of new, short memorable dictionary words. They’re all gone and worth a small fortune. Fast forward another four or five years and look at the domain landscape (reg’d 11-21-2005) and I think this is one area where the naysayers (reg’d 8-2-1996) will be proved wrong. It seems like we should probably make good use of the “i” and “e” before exhausting the rest of the letters of the alphabet, but that’s just me.

    *All examples are for discussion purposes only. To the extent any hypothetical use might conflict or potentially infringe on the rights of a third party, the domain name end user would be well advised to use such name or names for an altogether different class of products or services and /or seek the advice of counsel before moving forward. It is the express stated intention of this domain holder not to benefit from the protected rights of third parties. There’s plenty of other opportunity out there!

27. MHB says

    July 3, 2009 at 5:03 pm

    SDM

    We all have opinions of what makes a good domain.

    For myself “i” domains like .me domains are good only if they flow in natural language.

    So date.me, marry.me, love.me, find.me those are naturals. carrot.me, chair.me, lights.me I wouldn’t invest in.

    Likewise

    ireport.com
    ilike.com
    itravel.com

    are great. ibidet.com, iairse.com, ioust.com I just don’t get.

    Just IMHO

28. Tony says

    July 3, 2009 at 5:10 pm

    Just now, I picked up the following on the drop for $7:

    NevadaNewHomes.com
    SQLServerTools.com
    CreditCardsApplyOnline.com
    CellElectronics.com
    MartinsvilleHotel.com
    WarrenvilleHotels.com
    LouisburgHotels.com
    SumnerHotels.com
    PaceHotels.com

    Am I just wasting my time and money?

    I agree there’s plenty of opportunity out there.

29. MHB says

    July 3, 2009 at 5:27 pm

    Tony

    No bad as long as those towns have hotels in them.

30. SDM says

    July 3, 2009 at 8:01 pm

    MHB,

    What sentence ever started with “I Mac”? How many moviegoers actually understand that “I, Robot” was the name of a book? Do you have the same issues with iRobot Corporation – the company that produces cleaning machines? What about iShares.com for investment products. Have you ever noticed how many other hi-tech products begin with “i”?

    While a good verb following the “i” makes it all the more clever and compelling, “i” relates to internet and “e” to electronic. Purists will tell you their restrictive rule set for use of these prefix letters, but if you can buy it, watch it or learn about it over the Internet, I find the standard is pretty loose. Both “i” and “e” have evolved into a one size fits all for the concept of Internet related. Of course, if we’re all going to wait until somebody makes an official proclamation, we’ll need to line up the financing to add to our portfolios.

    When space tourism takes off in the next year or two, I like iAstronaut.com and eAstronaut.com for all manner of space related information, products and services. Is there something about purchasing freeze dried ice cream that doesn’t line up with the concept of iAstronaut?

    Supply and demand. The demand for quality .coms will only grow with time. These aren’t sentences or phrases following the “i”. For the most part, these are root-word dictionary entries.

    A few others:

    iAircondition.com
    iBraille.com
    iCosts.com
    iCurfew.com
    iDangle.com
    iDownsize.com
    iEcstasy.com
    iKlutz.com
    iLager.com
    iParka.com
    iPrefab.com
    iPunish.com
    iRopes.com
    iSchlep.com
    iSeance.com
    iSkimp.com
    iStirfry.com
    iUnclog.com
    iVoltaics.com
    iWicker.com
    iWiretap.com
    iWorn.com
    iWrangle.com
    iAdlib.com
    iArbitrage.com
    iArithmetic.com
    iArtiste.com
    iAstonish.com
    iAuthorship.com
    iBinaural.com
    iBrainteasers.com
    iBulldoze.com
    iBusinessperson.com
    iChildproof.com
    iCoauthor.com
    iCoping.com
    iCouldnt.com
    iCounteroffer.com
    iCouponclipping.com
    iDeadlines.com
    iDebunk.com
    iDepositions.com
    iDetailers.com
    iDongle.com
    iFailsafe.com
    iFourwheel.com
    iGarageSales.com
    iHeadliner.com
    iHousecleaning.com
    iHouselights.com
    iHousesitter.com
    iHousework.com
    iLifesaving.com
    iLipsync.com
    iLovemaking.com
    iOvernight.com
    iPersonalCheck.com
    iPossession.com
    iRustproof.com
    iSafedeposit.com
    iSailboard.com
    iSilversmith.com
    iStorytelling.com
    iSympathize.com
    iTelethon.com
    iTopsecret.com
    iTradeoff.com
    iTransmittal.com

    If these words have little value, what is it that is supporting the value of the underlying dictionary word. Direct navigation traffic is key, but it’s the word itself that is getting the interest. Words that begin with “i” and “e” are in many ways a new class of word created by and for the Internet. The same rules should apply as the “i” and “e” prefix are further integrated into our culture and mindset. Time will tell.

31. David J Castello says

    July 3, 2009 at 8:15 pm

    Mike:
    OK, I see what you meant. You sold 16 names that totaled 110K. Not bad.

32. MHB says

    July 3, 2009 at 9:54 pm

    SDM

    Best of luck.

    Hope you get 7 figures for each