With my business model, I need to regularly buy domain names  on the aftermarket. I do this by making private purchases, buying via domain brokers, and winning auctions at various websites. I thought it would  be interesting to share how I come up with  domain names to target for private acquisition. I don’t think there is anything revelatory here, but I have been asked this question quite a few times.

I am always thinking in terms of domain names. When I read news articles, see billboards, go shopping, ride the T… etc., not only am I looking to see how domain names are being used, but I am also thinking about domain names I might want to buy. I think one of the ways someone knows he or she is involved in the domain business is that we are always thinking about domain names.

Typically, I will see a word and think it would make a good / valuable  domain name. I regularly look up the .com of that word to see if it is registered and used. Sometimes I use Whois searches and sometimes I simply visit the domain name to see how it is being used. This cursory research can show me if the domain name is owned by someone I know, listed for sale, and lets me know  if there are any indicators that the domain name might be worth pursuing.

Startups that use a strong brand name that is also a commonly used term may face a difficult conundrum before they launch. They can either spend what seems like a huge amount of money to get their exact match brand .com domain name, or they can settle for something else that is more affordable.

Some choose the later, and they pick .com domain names with words in front or behind their brand, and others choose non-.com domain names. Although these domain names may be sufficient, they may also be short-term fill-ins, especially if the company grows or pivots and the domain name no longer completely represents what the company  does.

If a company is successful, they will likely need to buy the exact match domain name at some point in the future. When that time comes, the domain name will likely be much, much more expensive. The company has essentially created goodwill around a .com domain name they don’t own, and this may make  the domain owner less interested in selling, especially if the

It looks like JP Morgan Chase recently made an important domain name acquisition. Whois records show the banking and financial services conglomerate has acquired the JPMC.com domain name. I am not sure how regularly the company is referred to simply as “JPMC” but it seems to be the most commonly used acronym.

DomainTools historical Whois records from a few months ago show a registrant who I believe is active in the domain investment space. Subsequent to that and earlier this month, the domain registrant became DNStinations, Inc. As of today, the Whois registrant is currently listed as JPMorgan Chase & Co.

If you visit JPMC.com right now, you will see that

On April 27th, Jamie Zoch noticed that the Fast.com domain name had changed hands. After the domain transfer was completed, the registrant was listed as DNStination Inc., a company that is affiliated with MarkMonitor. Companies that wish to keep their Whois information private can use DNStination as the registrant.

This morning, George Kirikos shared that it looks like Netflix acquired the Fast.com domain name. Although the Fast.com Whois information still shows DNStination as its registrant, there is a new website on Fast.com that says “powered by Netflix” at the bottom. I think it is safe to assume that Netflix acquired Fast.com.

The website appears to be an

I get a considerable amount of email from people asking me questions about domain names. The most commonly asked topic revolves around selling domain names. From my perspective, selling domain names is easy. Buying domain names is the more difficult aspect of this business and what I spend the most time doing (blog aside).

Let me illustrate what I mean. If I were to list  Stallion.com for sale for $15,000, it would be sold within minutes. If you price a domain name well, it does not take long to sell it.  

On the other hand, buying excellent domain names at good prices is difficult. People and companies who have owned domain names for years have likely turned down many offers over the years. It takes perseverance and determination to find domain names and domain name owners who are willing to sell their exceptional domain names for fair / reasonable prices.

When you are