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OPINIONS
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Domain Names as Investments
I watched the progress of the Domain Roundtable Domain Name Auction of
August 15 out of even greater than expected interest because, as the auction
date approached, factors developed that made the auction interesting from the
perspective of domain names as an investment.
Portions of the home mortgage market that had recently been super high
flying were in the process of crashing. The stock market was making the daily
news headlines for precipitous day-day drops in value worldwide.
So how would this affect a domain auction held in the midst of these events?
Would domains tank and lose investor confidence along with other infinitely more
established markets? Or, would domains be seen by investors as an alternative to
traditional investments - a haven of value in bad times?
My information is that about 167 of 450 domains were sold at the auction and
that the total value of domains sold was $3,841,528.00. I have seen published
comparisons and it seems the Roundtable did statistically as well as or better
than other recent auctions.
Hardly conclusive in any sense. But the results of the DRT auction may
represent an early indication that the domain market may not be substantially
negatively affected by problems in other markets.
Of course much more data is
needed to draw real conclusions. This little study was just about checking for early
signs.
In times of falling values for common stocks money may move to alternatives
such as bonds, real estate, precious metals, works of art, and collectables,
among many others. It will be interesting to see how domain names develop in the
future in relation to the dynamics of other investments.
--Bob Ducker
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