I have been following the news about the economy of Greece over the last couple of weeks. I am not an economics expert by any stretch, but I am sure the ongoing issues in Greece will impact people and economies throughout the world, regardless of the outcome.

An interesting op-ed article was published this morning in the New York Times. Greece’s Sorry Reckoning, written by Nikos Konstandaras, discussed the issue at hand as well as some of the problems that Greece-based businesses have encountered in the last week. One thing in particular about domain names caught my eye.

From the article:

There is quite a bit of instability in the world markets right now. Outside of the US, one of the biggest markets for domain names during the past several years has been China. The Chinese stock market has grown at a tremendous rate, and similarly, the value of Chinese-favored domain names like short numeric and acronym .com domain names have grown as well.

Gone are the days when the worst 3 letter .com domain names would sell for $3,000 +/-. Now it’s more like a $10-15,000 floor for any 3 letter .com domain names, regardless of the letters. Short numeric domain names are selling for more than I’ve ever seen them. To me, it seems that investors have been paying more for many of these domain names than end user buyers are willing to pay.

I have been reading reports about the Chinese stock and financial markets falling of late. I reached out to several industry brokers to see how they think the domain market will be impacted if the Chinese stock market falls. Specifically, I asked about the “impact a major correction in the Chinese stock markets might have on domain names being sold to Chinese buyers (primarily short 2-4 letter and 2-4 number domain names).”

Several domain brokers from some of the most successful domain brokerages replied to my query, and their replies are below. I also invite you to share your thoughts in the comment section.

I inquire about a lot of domain names in private. The inquiry to deal ratio is somewhat low, but I have found that private acquisitions yield the best results for my business. When dealing with domain owners, I am occasionally asked what I plan to do with the domain name.

A reader emailed me this past week, and he asked me for some feedback about how to answer this question, and I thought I would share the gist of my answer with you.

I almost always answer by telling the domain owner that