Shorter is better is something my parents have always told me growing up. While this may hold true in terms of height, it is not always the case when it comes to some domain names.
Over the years, I have owned several three letter .com domain names (NLC, MYV, SHS, KJP, RER, PJP, RSN, and probably a few I have forgotten about). LLL.com domain names tend to be in high demand, and they can sell for amounts that range from five figures to seven figures, depending on the letters and demand for them. While the 3 letter .com domain name market is quite liquid, not all 3 letter domain names are investment-grade.
Someone shared the tweet below from Shifang Yuan from Yuming.com. The tweet came in response to someone else’s question about the value of two types of .IO domain names:
I invested in 2,000 https://t.co/65bXadXOyE domains from 2018 to 2020 and they didn’t sell well. In 2020, we gave up domain name renewals at a loss of about $100,000.
— Shifang Yuan (@hishifang) June 1, 2021
For the last few years, .IO domain names have become quite popular. NameBio shows quite a few substantial .IO domain name sales in the last three years. Commonly used one word .IO domain names are in demand with startups, and they have become an investment grade class of domain names.
While there are a few 3 letter .IO domain names amongst the top sales in NameBio, the most frequent of those sales are also one word .IO domain names (like Sun.IO, Mad.IO, Kid.IO, ACE.IO, and several others). Apparently, the market for other 3 letter .IO domain names is not as strong.
I do not know what 3 letter .IO domain names were bought by Shifang Yuan, so I can’t really offer insight on the names that were purchased. However, the idea that investing in 3 letter non-.com domain names just because they are short, might not be a good one.
Didn’t someone tell those amateurs to focus on dot com?
Oh well, now they have learned a lesson.
Dot com is KING
You scared me for a minute E, a better title would be non dot com/org/net extensions are not always, mostly never a good investment lol
Well, depending when you bought the LLL .com domain name, they might not be great investments either. For the most part though, LLL .coms are liquid and strong investments.
That is true, when you bought matters. In saying that I can only think of one recent time not may years ago when Asia was buying LLL like crazy (I am sure you recall), most of those have likely taken a hit.
I caught some of that action but can say confidently most all LLL dot com I have sold since I began 18 years ago have either held or gained. That what 1-2 year period though was a bit crazy if you were a buyer.
Paying 40-60k for consonant LLL… it was a niche buyer, I miss that time lol
Spinning wheel my man…
Most of the interest is domainers, avoid this type of investment, 70-80% fall in value over the last 5 years.
They are amateurs..newbies
Let them waste their money…that how how one learns the ropes of domains,the rite of passage..it is their money
Elliot imagine my surprise when I saw a blog post title like that for you.
Imagine my double surprise when I read these opening remarks:
“Shorter is better is something my parents have always told me growing up. While this may hold true in terms of height, it is not always the case when it comes to some domain names.”
Just as I have often been able to confirm certain things in your blog comments numerous times in the past, I am able to confirm that my influence and relentless pursuit of “truth in domaining,” and in everything, along with intellectual, mental and spiritual honesty, and promoting a more accurate and well rounded perspective about domain names to include the critical end user perspective beyond just “domaining” and investing, has paid off to a welcome degree with that. And this progress, no matter how incremental now, is good to witness. 😉
(Yes, I know, you’ve already said numerous times you also work with up to three word domains too, but nonetheless…)
By the way, I can even confirm what your parents told you. Long story.
Speaking of this mindless mantra about “shorter is always better,” by the way, notice how good I gave it to this troll over here just the other day:
https://domaininvesting.com/going-all-out-in-bankruptcy-auction/#comment-91100
That SNL video clip is a classic and so fitting for the discussion at hand. In fact it’s so good it bears reposting here for people’s convenience:
It seems like almost every week, you are re-posting your comments between the blogs at domaininvesting, domainnamewire, and thedomains. My question is, why? You cannot possible earning money from this non-stop re-posting…is it simply narcissism?
I only invest in one and two word .io names besides .com. See them at dictionarywords.io
Check out this related debate the troll Snoopy ignited:
https://domaininvesting.com/going-all-out-in-bankruptcy-auction/#comment-91134
Note that my replies there are for the greater good and “truth in domaining,” not for or because of him.
If only anyone cared, John.
which years were this? I’m a newbie. ..