Buying Domain Names

If you were playing the “debt ceiling drinking game” where you have a drink every time US President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner  mentioned the debt ceiling buzzword, you’d probably be pretty buzzed right about now.

With all the talk of the United States debt ceiling issues, I’m surprised that nobody has taken a $2,000+ gamble on DebtCeiling.com. The domain name is currently owned by Dark Blue Sea’s Protopixel Pty Ltd.

I’ve never done well with parking, so I’d probably make very little on a domain name that is likely getting some decent traffic right now. However, someone with a high parking revenue share or someone who can build and monetize a website in a short period of time may be able to do well at this price level.

The domain name can be bought for $2,249 by visiting DebtCeiling.com. I have neither the PPC experience nor the desire to develop it, so I’m not taking the gamble.

Disclosure: I also was not asked to post this and am not looking for compensation.

Because my business model relies on quick flips, I don’t hand register too many names with the hopes of selling them in a few years. Most of my acquisitions are made to capitalize on current services, products, and sometimes trends. However, sometimes I do make purchases based on the potential for future value.

At the end of 2009, I learned that there were a few cities vying for the 2018 Winter Olympics. I did some research and found that Pyeongchang, South Korea was a leading candidate, so I investigated what domain names were available. I know the Winter Olympics aren’t nearly as popular as the Summer Olympics, but I also know that hosting them will almost certainly bring tourism.

Instead of registering Olympic-related domain names, which is what many newbies and rookies do, I hand registered a few names I thought might have value should Pyeongchang be named the host. This morning, Pyeongchang was named the host of the 2018 Olympic Games.

The domain names I was able to secure include:

• PyeongchangRestaurants.com
• PyeongchangTours.com
• PyeongchangVacation.com
• PyeongchangVacations.com
• PyeongchangSouthKorea.com

I tried to buy Pyeongchang.com, but the asking price was too high. I also see PyeongchangHotels.com on Sedo, but I don’t wish to make a $1,000 minimum offer.

I don’t know if my domain names will see significant offers or just one offer, but it’s neat to speculate like this. I don’t think this is like playing the lottery because I did my research and knew that there was a good chance at least one of the names would have value if Pyeongchang was chosen.