In this week's Top Topics, we take a look at two six-figure .XYZ sales that recently happened. We also feature a question about outbound domain sales, and how do you handle domain renewals? Bull.xyz Sells for $199,888 Domain investor Swetha Yenugula has shared details of her fourth .XYZ sale of $100,000 or more. Off the back of selling...

Last week, in part one of What The Domain World Needs, the following were covered: [*]Registrar-based single-source marketplace listings. [*]Retail Buy Request Marketplace. [*]Domain Broker Certification. [*]Smart Contract Escrow. [*]Smarter Interactive Marketplace Search. [*]Bridges to Advertising Agencies. In part two, I cover additional...

In this week's Top Topics, we look at domainer responses to the "your price is too high" comment that many investors receive after providing an asking price. Elsewhere, a six-figure .XYZ sale is revealed, and do you have to advertise a domain in order for it to sell? "Your Price is Too High" - What's Your Response? Whether you're doing...

We have many innovative and useful products and services in the domain world. But are there things that don't currently exist that would have a significant impact on the productivity and success of domain investors? That was the question that I posed a couple of weeks ago on NamePros What Does The Domain World Need? and on my Twitter feed...

In this week's Top Topics, two notable members of the domain community take part in Ask Me Anything features, a domainer wonders why high traffic hasn't resulted in a domain sale, and Rick Schwartz says the last four weeks have been the slowest ever in the domain industry. I'm Brad Mugford, Ask Me Anything Notable domain name investor Brad...

A domain hack uses both sides of the dot to create a single word, for example pi.pe or ma.de. While some define domain hack more broadly, a definition that includes two related words, one on each side of the dot, we will use the narrower definition of a word split by the dot in this article. Note that the term hack has a number of...

In this week's Top Topics, domain investors are voting for their favorite registrar after polls opened last week. Elsewhere, we look at products and services that the domain industry needs but doesn't have, and what are the best domain valuation tools? What Does the Domain World Need That We Don't Have Already? The domain name industry is...

Darpan Munjal of SquadHelp has been sharing great data insights on brandable domain names. I reached out to him for permission to summarize the data, and to get additional information. As Darpan wrote in 2021, Data and analytics can play a huge role in maximizing the sell-through rates for domains. So let's have a look at a selection of...

In this week's Top Topics, cryptocurrency exchange Banxa announces a multi-million dollar domain bundle sale, and we look at whether hyphenated domain name sales are on the rise. Elsewhere, there's a .TV sale and we find out more about the Rays.com domain name. Is It Ok to Ask a Broker About a Domain Trade? If you can't afford to buy a...

In the early years of domain names, the extension was meant to have meaning. For example, .com for commercial oriented businesses, .org for organizations, and country codes representing a site based in that country. Over the years most restrictions were dropped, and many extensions can be used for anything. That does not mean that there is...

In this week's Top Topics, we look at Disney's use of the Go.com domain name, and we discuss illiquidity in domain names during an economic downturn. Elsewhere, investors comment on a rebrand, and have you noticed a large increase in sales recently? Disney Uses Go.com, But for How Much Longer? Media giant Disney has owned the ultra-premium...

The long term goal for some domainers is to grow their portfolio so that domain names become a full time job, or at least a serious part time income stream. In a survey conducted mid-2021, almost 20% of NamePros respondents indicated that they were essentially full-time, and another 33% had that as a long-term goal. But how do you know if...

In this week's Top Topics, we have another six-figure .XYZ domain sale to profile, and we discuss a recent company rebrand to a one-word .COM. Elsewhere, there has been some development in the Eth.link domain name saga. Pen.xyz Sold for 6 Figures So far this year, NameBio has listed four .XYZ sales in the six-figure range, with Wrap.xyz...

Many investors dream of one day making a million dollar domain name sale. The odds are against you, with only 156 sales at this price point recorded on NameBio over all time. I take a look at those sales, and how the names are being used. The Million Dollar Sales Data I searched NameBio for sales of $1 million or more, all extensions, for...

In this week's Top Topics, we take a look at a multi-million dollar, two-letter .COM sale that has been discovered. Elsewhere, domainers debate the presence of TrustPilot reviews on landing pages, and one investor shares why they are thinking of quitting domaining. Do You Think TrustPilot Affects Your Domain Sales? As an end-user buying a...

With industry domain name sell-through rates not much different than 1%, most domains sit in a portfolio for many years. Other than renewals, it seems natural to simply wait for an offer or sale. But is that really a sound strategy? While a thorough review of every single name is daunting if you have a large portfolio, a selective review of...

In this week's Top Topics, we take a look at a rebrand that involves a company moving away from a $1.2 million domain name. Elsewhere, domain marketplace Alter announces its closure, and can domain investors register their domain names as trademarks? Super.com Rebrands to SuperGG.com In 2018, the Super.com domain name sold at NameJet for...

Whether prior to acquisition of a domain name, or to help with pricing, we often use comparator sales listed on NameBio. But what do you do if a preliminary search does not yield any comparator sales for a particular domain name? With some names you should take that as a negative indicator, but there are times that it is worth digging a...

In this week's Top Topics, we take a look at one prominent domain investor's 2022 acquisitions to date. Elsewhere, a mining company buys a one-word .COM, and a domainer has some specific advice for new investors. My 2022 Acquisitions Domain investor AbdulBasit Makrani is notable for candidly sharing his sales data and platform experiences...

Web3 is a hot term these days, with many startups in the sphere, and existing companies reimagining themselves as Web3. In this article, I take a look at the names of 156 top Web3 companies. I also study what extensions are popular, and the sectors that predominate within the Web3 world. Compiling A Web3 Company List I wanted a list of...

In this week's Top Topics, we feature the news of this year's second eight-figure sale, a domainer shares some analysis of domain names used by Y Combinator startups and do .ORG and .CO perform well for you? Connect.com Acquired for $10 Million The major news in the domain industry this week has been the revelation of Connect.com's sales...

One of the more popular songs of all time is My Way. The English lyrics, adapted by Paul Anka from the French original, into a version specifically for Frank Sinatra, include "Regrets I've had a few. But then again, too few to mention." That got me to thinking about regrets and domain name investing. I used the Google site:NamePros.com...

In this week's Top Topics, we discuss the reported multi-million dollar sale of NFTs.com, which was disclosed this week via a press release. Elsewhere, a domainer shares a one-word .TV sale, and who exactly owns and controls ccTLDs? NFTs.com Acquired for $15 Million The big news in the domain name industry this week is the reported sale of...

Many skills can help you make better decisions as a domain name investor. One of them is quantitative decision making. While probability can never firmly tell you what to do, it can help make better decisions in some cases. Applied probability can be used to help answer questions such as how many domains will I probably sell this year...

In this week's Top Topics, one domain investor considers the possibility of a portfolio management service specifically for domain investors, and we hear about an ICANN working group that wants to make it easier to hijack domain names. Elsewhere, there's a sizable .TV domain sale, and a service is shutting down two years after buying a...

When following domain name sales on NameBio, certain sales seem surprising. In some cases, the price was due to a strong link set. Also, now and then, it might be a domain name that was let to expire by mistake and the owner needs to bid to get it back, or an existing business may be bidding on their exact match .com. But even excluding...

In this week's Top Topics, a featured poll asks how many domain sales you've had recently. Elsewhere, a six-figure .XYZ sale is reported, and an experienced domain name investor has some advice for new domainers. How Many Sales Have You Had? Anecdotal evidence suggests that domain sales volume may have slowed down recently. The summer is...

Last week I took a look at Astronomical Terms as Brand Names. We saw that terms like star, sun, moon and nova are each used in many tens of thousands of business names. I extend the topic in this week's article, looking in particular at star and constellation names. I also consider what technology trends may drive use of astronomical and...

In this week's Top Topics, one domain investor announces a $17,500 .TV sale and another domainer secures two sales in a day thanks to following up with old leads. Elsewhere, an investor is done with domaining, and which company will be the next to innovate? The Next Dan.com? It was recently announced that the popular domain name...

On July 12, 2022 the first full-color images were released from the James Webb Space Telescope. The public response to these striking images, and the stories they tell, is a reminder of the fascination with astronomical topics. Astronomical objects and ideas have long been a source of inspiration for brand names. This is not surprising...

In this week's Top Topics, we look at the $65,000 sale of Maga.com and how the domain name is now being used. Elsewhere, an investor advises not pricing your domain names too low, and what made you want to become a domainer? Maga.com Sold for $65,000 - The New Site is Online This week, domain marketplace Sedo sold Maga.com, a four-letter...

The first six months of 2022 resulted in 76,000 NameBio-listed domain sales of $100 or more, accounting for a dollar volume of just over $84 million. That is an increase of 0.9% in number of sales compared to the same six months of 2021, and a 4.1% increase in dollar volume. In this article I look at how different extensions fared. In all...

In this week's Top Topics, domain investors react to the news that Dan.com has been acquired by GoDaddy. Elsewhere, we look at the .IO domain extension to see whether it has lost its shine in 2022 and we ask domainers how their portfolios performed in June 2022. GoDaddy to Acquire Domain Sales Platform Dan.com The big news of the week is...

The second half of 2021 saw eye-popping sales in exact ETH domain names, even in extensions with few significant prior sales. In this article, I take a look at the current status of those domain names, recent ETH name sales data, and how investors are currently pricing their ETH domain names. Just to be clear, this article is about sales of...

In this week's Top Topics, the subject of a domain swap service is considered, and we look at iOS 16's new Mail feature. Elsewhere, a company completes a $1.6 million domain purchase, and a founder explains why they paid $35,000 for a .IO domain. Would You Use a Domain Swap Service? For a relatively small industry, there have been hundreds...

There are many ways to acquire domain names: expiring or other auctions, purchases from investors, closeouts, expired names, drop catching, hand registrations, etc. One acquisition method that is often overlooked is private acquisition. That is, seeking underused domain names by directly contacting the owner to see if they are willing to...

In this week's Top Topics, we receive news that the Yachts.com domain name has sold for a mid-six-figure fee. Elsewhere, there's a discussion about whether domaining can be described as investing, and we look at domain name trends of the past. Yachts.com Sells for $600,000 If you acquire a premium domain for a venture that ultimately goes...

What are the different ways that a business may select a name? What are the implications for domain name investors? Use A Naming Agency Startups seeking a name, or an existing business considering a rebrand or naming a new product or service, may engage the services of a naming agency. I was surprised how many naming agencies exist. There...

In this week's Top Topics, a domain investor is asking for tactics on how to negotiate down a high asking price. Elsewhere, it's revealed that performer Steve-O acquired a fellow Jackass star's exact-match .com domain, and does one hundred extension registrations automatically make a domain valuable? How Can I Heavily Negotiate Down an...

If purchasing a domain name with an existing, or recent, website, one important consideration is how authoritative that website is compared to other websites in the same sector. If you have plans to develop the domain, that will indicate a starting point you may be able to build upon. Strong authority will also make the domain name more...

In this week's Top Topics, a new six-figure sale from 2021 is revealed, and we discuss how to reach domain name owners in a post-GDPR world. Elsewhere, a seven-figure deal from 2017 may have been discovered, and which timezone is best for domaining? TradeZero.com Acquired for $540,000 in 2021 Sometimes, significant domain name sales and...

It seems everyone is talking about Web3. But beyond the buzzword, what exactly is Web3? Many define Web3 in terms of components: cryptocurrencies, NFTs, blockchain, decentralized domains, DAOs, etc. But to my mind, that does not explain in a clear way what makes Web3 fundamentally different from the web of the present and past. Nor does it...

In this week's Top Topics, we discuss what it means to be a domainer, and a new investor shares what they've learned after spending their first $500 on domain names. Elsewhere, a gaming studio secures a major domain upgrade, and investors share their views on proposed transfer changes. What Does It Mean to Be a Domainer? In Top Topics, we...

Do we need another automated domain name appraisal instrument? While automated domain name appraisals have their critics, and are certainly not precise instruments, some find them useful in certain circumstances. While some instruments like Estibot, have been around for a very long time, and the GoDaddy appraisal instrument is the most...

In this week's Top Topics, we hear about another .XYZ domain that has sold for a six-figure fee. Elsewhere, a domain owner is looking for advice after receiving a $30,000 offer, and tributes pour in after a successful domain investor passes away. Rest in Peace, Riz This week, news reached the community that successful domain investor Riz...

On NamePros and on social media a number of investors have mentioned that the last month or so has seen a significant downturn in the domain name aftermarket, both in terms of retail sales and in offers or inquiries. For example, long-term investor @elmoney started the discussion Recession of Sales and Inquiries. In this article I report on...

In this week's Top Topics, we look at a potential downturn in the domaining markets caused by world events and falling cryptocurrency values. Elsewhere, how do you respond to inquiries that just request an asking price, and have the last thirty days been slower for you in terms of sales? How Do You Answer "How Much?" How much? It's one of...

Let's step back from the business of acquiring, promoting and selling domain names, and put ourselves in the position of a group wanting to name a business, product, service or organization. Let's consider the simple question: What makes a good name? Memorable Your name needs to be memorable. That simply means that people will remember the...

In this week's Top Topics, we take a look at Yuga Labs' latest domain acquisition for their metaverse project. Elsewhere, domainers discuss creative methods to get eyes on a domain and a company shares why it moved away from a one-word .XYZ name. Yuga Labs Acquired Otherside.xyz NFT creator Yuga Labs, which recently closed a $450 million...

TonyNames, known here under the NamePros handle @blogspotter, has emerged as one of the most consistent domain name sellers. The level of success he has achieved within less than two years of active selling is a rare accomplishment. Each month he shares a summary of his sales. For example, in April 2022 he had 17 sales with a total gross of...