Saturday, August 25, 2007
Getting Ready To Talk About Domain Name Valuations and Markets

When I bought domain names from NetworkSolutions.com in 1997 I paid $70 for a required two year registration.  And, thanks to that system, I do have a few 10 year old domains. My income couldn’t stand any more than a few. However, I am glad there was a system that made domain names available and affordable to the masses. Today I pay less than $10 a year to GoDaddy.com to maintain “ownership” of my older names.

Some related thoughts you may enjoy:

New or "dropped" domain names cost from less than $10 up to about $35.

Currently-owned names can cost a million dollars or more.

According to today’s crude market systems, most names are worth about $10 or less. Many don’t sell at any price.

Many people think the names they own are worth closer to a million dollars than to ten dollars. Therefore, a lot of buyers are forced to pay inflated prices for a chosen domain or else make do with an alternative name.

And, finally, some thoughts to retain for future entries.

Private domain sales are an unknown factor. Most folks who know claim that private transactions are a substantial portion of the domain ownership transfer volume.

Just to mention, I believe you can still find a few names at low cost registrars that offer developmental possibilities as well as potential for future resale gains. Finding these names has never been easy since the popularization of the Internet. But, I don’t want to discourage people from trying to get a name they like from a registrar. If your chosen name is already taken you could contact the domain owner directly to see if it is for sale. I highly recommend going through an experienced “domain broker” for this effort. You should also be prepared to consider variations on the name.

Another place to find domains is at the growing number and variety of domain auctions.

It is at the topic of domain auctions where I will dive into discussions of domain names as an investment, “perceived values” of domain names, current and possible future markets through which these values can be expressed and tested, and comparisons of domain names to real-estate and common stocks.--Bob Ducker