The domain name vvv.com, one of only 26 triple letter repeater .com is at auction at Namejet.com.
The auction closes tomorrow and the high bid is now over $88K.
At the time of publication the high bid is $88,998
There are 356 bidders but the auction is opened which means people can join and bid at any time.
We will let you at the end of the day tomorrow how it all turns out.
If you want to join or follow the auction you can click here
You can vote for how much the domain will sell for at domaininvesting.com, but its interesting to note that about 45% of the voters are already wrong as they picked $75K or less.
I notice a softening on retail prices and an new zeal and higher prices at the auctions.. Interesting moment where the line between wholesale and retail is getting closer than before.
Hello frank.schilling,
This is fantastic news for all legit TLDs , how does this compare to the .COM Secondary Market ?
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
The bar of higher auction prices, and end users who are pushing back a bit has been coming closer for a while, when you take a second look at auction, and seeing prices higher than what certain end users want to pay, you just have to take a step back. I have seen many foreign buyers China/Korea with a gusto of buying, and not backing down from pretty much any bid. Some names are selling for more than an end user will ever pay given past experiences.
I agree, prices at auction have for many many years now been far above reseller and have been getting closer and surpassing end user for quit some time now imo. The bigger stuff that is, poor rich saps.
Fools, oh look 3 letters and all the same,. too bad the same fools do not use the forums.
There are only 26 domains like CCCC.com, CCCCC.com, CCCCCC.com, etc. Rarity does not always equate to Worth.
I’ve cut down on expired domain auctions considerably since last summer. The prices for just average domains are just not investment worthy any more.
@Frank.Schilling
I agree 100% that the delta between end user pricing and what an investor is willing to pay for a domain is closing in on one another. However, this is only the case in certain categories of domain names which offer the greatest degree of liquidity, such as: LLL.com, NNN.com, NNNN.com, LL.com, Short One Word Generic .Com (4 or 5 letters) & CVCV.com.
In a world of zero percent interest, impending inflation, currency uncertainty, lack of viable investment opportunities and returns & hundreds of other factors; investors are willing to pay a premium for a liquid asset with a limited downside and potentially significant upside. Scarcity, in combination with demand, always leads to value. Scarcity without demand doesn’t mean anything.
So when we are talking about one of, if not THE, most liquid asset classes in the domain industry (LLL.com) in combination with the fact that this subset of repeating LLL.com makes VVV.com one of the single rarest assets in our entire domain industry (one of 26 with only 5 remaining in investor hands), then I would absolutely expect that the delta (margin) between what an investor is willing to pay and what one could reasonably expect an end user to pay would be relatively close. You buy the name, your money is safe and there is the chance that you’ll double your money or more, but if not, and you need the money you can sell it for what you paid or likely 10% – 20% more within a 12 – 24 month period.
To make this concept more tangible, I am very willing to pay $200,000 for something that I know over the next 24 months has a limited down side risk of maybe 10% – 20% but at any time could potentially sell for $500,000 and has a very high likelihood of returning me at the very least that same 20% on my investment. As one of the most active buyers in the 3 letter .com market, I am not aware of any drop in market value at wholesale greater than 10% – 20% over the last decade and over that same time period you would see that LLL.com domains have gone up by a factor of almost 1,000% ($1,500 minimum value in 2005 & $10,000 minimum value today).
Many people are still stuck in domainer mindset of the old days that if you bought a domain for X you needed to believe you could sell it for at least 10X. That is still likely the case with your run of the mill 2 word .com, but when you get into these liquid classes of domains and subsets of those classes, you’ll see that investors are very willing to trade a high premium cash value for the liquidity these assets offer, even if the return is not likely to be 10X.
@ Andrew Rosener says
Hello Andrew, The bottom line of your comment in one sentence ?
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
@Andrew Rosener: Fantastic comment and spot-on imo. This is a comment that should be heeded by all domain investors. “Domainer mentality” is definitely something that a lot of people get stuck on.
So many newbies get stuck on having to amass a “huge portfolio” of domains when in reality if you only buy ONE LLL.com and hold it for a year you are almost guaranteed that it will not lose its value and you will be able to sell it for more than what you paid. Why buy 100 crappy $8 regs when you can put money towards something that has the potential to make you a profit and at the very least, will retain its value?
@George
” buy ONE LLL.com and hold it for a year you are almost guaranteed that it will not lose its value and you will be able to sell it for more than what you paid. ”
I agreed with your idea of owning a premium name vs many crap names but the above statement is far from true when one looks back at 2006ish, 2007-2008 and todays prices. You would be LOSING money on most LLL if you sold today. I have sold approx. 10-20 “premium” LLL and saw $15k-$30k easily back then, today you are LUCKY to get the investment back in most cases. Always exceptions to the rule George I know but domains were hit like any other market was at that time. LL seem to be the strong exception though as you may know : ) Sold 4 myself over that time period.