Internet domain investing...

njdevilsfan87

Platinum Member
Apr 19, 2007
2,342
265
126
So, in the beginning of June, I pretty much was introduced to internet domain investing by a friend. I thought, hey, maybe I could hand register a few good ones - but every one I searched, taken! Though the really long, three word domains, which are a pain in the ass to type in - yeah those are still available. So I thought my friend was on crack...

Then I found out about LLLL.com, like something stupid like QXUT is actually worth like $20. So I read they had been bought out almost a year ago. The market spiked, the minimum price hit $50, and pretty much up to now since then there has been a market correction. From what I observed, it seemed like July was pretty stagnant, and that prices had bottomed. This is just based off general observation that prices now seem a bit higher - deals seem to be a more difficult to come around.

So, now I've invested $627 in these bought out domains. This is actually more than I planned - I'll probably have to drop it to $500 by the time college begins. Stupid educational expenses...

Current LLLs are at minimum, a few grand. Six years ago the were in low hundreds. So, anyone who bought those at that time, have had a 1000%+ return!

So, there's about 456,000 of these LLLLs, which is a lot. But assuming on average, the average investor owns 10 of them, that leaves roughly 46,000 people owning them, out of millions/billions of internet users. Of course, to most users, these aren't really worth anything. I wouldn't expect that same return, just more a gradual increase.

I have to say though, it is very addicting. I'm almost constantly tempted to throw one down on credit, but I feel I have finally reached equilibrium. A year from now I probably would not have invested $600, but $6000 (only because I'd have a entry level job at the time). I'm actually going to flipping whatever I can around, and see if I can slowly build $627 to higher amounts.

The one reason I also became involved, is because I have the potential to develop a good website. I know PHP/MySQL and CSS and PS sufficiently to build from scratch a pretty good looking website. Now I just need my gem of a domain...
 

mrrman

Diamond Member
Feb 8, 2004
8,497
3
0
I use to sell domain names in the early 90's...had over 100 names...missed the boat by 10 years
 

njdevilsfan87

Platinum Member
Apr 19, 2007
2,342
265
126
Originally posted by: darkxshade
Welcome to the late 90's

Yeah... I was like, um, 10 years old back then. :( I probably didn't know what a domain what back then. Thanks God! 1987! Thanks!
 

lozina

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
11,711
8
81
I think you should invest in bronze as I hear Alexander is planning to attack the Persians
 

Farang

Lifer
Jul 7, 2003
10,913
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0
Originally posted by: SpunkyJones
I hear rumors that pet rocks are going to be big.

It was a "Jump to Conclusions" mat. You see, it would be this mat that you would put on the floor... and would have different CONCLUSIONS written on it that you could JUMP TO.
 

KeithTalent

Elite Member | Administrator | No Lifer
Administrator
Nov 30, 2005
50,231
118
116
Originally posted by: Farang
Originally posted by: SpunkyJones
I hear rumors that pet rocks are going to be big.

It was a "Jump to Conclusions" mat. You see, it would be this mat that you would put on the floor... and would have different CONCLUSIONS written on it that you could JUMP TO.

That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life.

KT
 

njdevilsfan87

Platinum Member
Apr 19, 2007
2,342
265
126
Originally posted by: SpunkyJones
I hear rumors that pet rocks are going to be big.

Those I knew about those in late 90s.

But was I never able to flip those for small profits. You need money to make money, and I'm pretty limited right now... but a year from now my real options will begin. This is kind of fun warm up.
 

CrazyLazy

Platinum Member
Jun 21, 2008
2,124
1
0
LLLL's have been going up recently, but don't expect them to hit sky high prices anytime soon. The majority of people that try to get into the business end up losing money, especially now that basically all the good names have been registered.
 

njdevilsfan87

Platinum Member
Apr 19, 2007
2,342
265
126
That's really why I got into LLLLs, and not regular domain names. The LLLLs are pretty liquid and just seem a lot easier to work with. Though I do realize there is slight risk coming up... a lot of the "bad" ones that were bought up in the end of 2007 now must go through renewals. If most investors renew them, everything will be fine. But it's also only the lower quality ones. Higher quality names should be unaffected. The low end may see a dip, and it also likely will just continue to stagnant for a while IMO... which is why I'm avoiding those.

People are saying I missed the boat by a decade... true for the get rich quick scheme. But that's like saying... real estate investing, you missed the boat when modern home real estate was first introduced decades ago.

I'm not looking at a get rich quick scheme, but, I'm looking at trying to make something of what I have. It's actually turning into more a hobby for me now.

$600 can go toward a GTX 280 which I have absolutely no need for - will give me a negative 50% return.
$600 can sit in my checking account doing nothing, and give a whole 2% return.

Or I can play around with the $600 (I mean where else can I put $600 in LIQUID assets). But no more, I need everything else I've got to hold over my expenses until I get my entry level position. Then the real fun will begin, when I start looking into every market available.
 

PricklyPete

Lifer
Sep 17, 2002
14,582
162
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Originally posted by: binister
What the fuck is LLLL?

I have a program you can subscribe to that will give you all the details.... $99.95 will get you 4 fact filled VHS tapes.
 

njdevilsfan87

Platinum Member
Apr 19, 2007
2,342
265
126
Originally posted by: binister
What the fuck is LLLL?

I hear that from every person I tell that to... it just means any random 4 letter combination. Just go to Ebay and search LLLL.com - that sums up where the low end of the LLLL.com domain market is.

Originally posted by: George P Burdell
In other words, you are a domain squatter. Asshole.

Yes, my portfolio of maybe 15 domains, of random 4 letter combinations = me being a squatter. The whole point of buying LLLL.com is a few reasons:

1) You buy undervalue, so flipping to another domainer for profit should be relatively easy.
2) You hope for some company, or some end user, that may able to brand your letters, in which case, you may make out really well. It doesn't happen very often, so you may rely on...
3) Long term investment. You can't hand register any LLLL.com for $7 anymore. As more people find out, the competition just to own one will only increase. The only chance to hand register these at $7 may occur at the end of October and early November, when a lot of quality ones may drop. ICANN is releasing custom extensions next year, but I believe that will take a while before it becomes hardwired into people's heads that there may good alternatives as opposed to .com, .net, and .org.

Oh yeah, but I guess you forgot to read where I'm trying to build my way to a gem domain, instead of paying out right now. That's right, I'm no different than anyone else - I have to pay too. Remember, I missed the boat by a decade - Asshole.
 

Nocturnal

Lifer
Jan 8, 2002
18,927
0
76
If you want, there are still many good .me domains available. Although they're not top level like a .com, they still have value, especially if you grab a significant name.
 

njdevilsfan87

Platinum Member
Apr 19, 2007
2,342
265
126
Originally posted by: Nocturnal
If you want, there are still many good .me domains available. Although they're not top level like a .com, they still have value, especially if you grab a significant name.

I actually love the .me extension. It's the poor developer's dream. Lots of domains still available. I'm new to developing, but I'll take a pretty cool looking .me domain over a crappy three word long 20 letter long .com. The .me are a bit on the expensive side though... $40 for 2 years.

// Start self promotion
developing lucid.me
// End self promotion

It's got a few design bugs in IE... One of my early developer mistakes it designing by FF and making sure it looks fine IE, when I should really be doing it the other way around, designing by IE and making sure it looks fine in FF. (FF3 looks perfect, FF2 is almost good, slight bug with the search, and IE7 just has random small things here and there - all easily fixable)

Also planning to develop ipromote.me, and I may develop etutor.me - not sure yet. I'm loving development right now, and the interest is there a little bit, but at the same time, it kind of isn't. Development potential is there for sure, I have the obvious idea, but whether or not I really feel like executing it after I get through my first two .me domains is another question.


Also, I'm now in process of my first domain flip, only a little over a month in. Right now it's a $125 profit on my part, maybe more... I'll find out in a few days when auction closes at Sedo. Let's see you people do that pet rocks.
 

Vehemence

Banned
Jan 25, 2008
5,943
0
0
Yes, .me is nice. I've picked up quite a few nice ones. May actually make an indepth Final Fantasy archive website now that I have finalfantasy.me (like the interwebs needs another one, though :p)
 

RaistlinZ

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 2001
7,470
9
91
But why are LLLL.com so profitable? Is it because there are fewer possible domain names than, say LLLLLLLLL.com? Can I make up some random junk like www.pwkk.com and it would be worth money?
 

jjones

Lifer
Oct 9, 2001
15,424
2
0
So you have a lot of tards owning nonsensical 4 letter domain names and trading them with each other through speculation. This can't fail.