It’s always neat when I wake up and there’s an article of relevance to me in the New York Times. Page One of this morning’s New York Times Business Section features an article about the domain industry, focusing on the growth of the industry while many other industries (especially physical real estate) are stagnant or losing value. The article comes on the heels of DomainFest in Los Angeles, which featured live and silent auctions ending with somewhere around $4 million in domain sales.
While the article is generally positive, it does play on some of the negative stereotypes of domain investors being lazy and making easy money. I don’t think this is true at all. I liken domain investing to real estate brokers who buy real estate to sell it rather than acting as a broker for a small commission. Domain investors take on all the risk, and in order do so wisely, they need to do considerable research. Although it may sound easy, it certainly isn’t.
The placement of the article should make for interesting conversation in the finance and investment communities. Investors outside the industry are beginning to pay closer attention to the domain industry, as positive returns can be seen on many domain names. This is one of the few investment vehicles with a robust marketplace. There are many deals that take place in private, and the public sales are just the tip of the iceberg.
The most positive news is that some of these deals involve private equity money, instead of just domain investors reinvesting in the market.
Until we Domainers acknowledge that Development, and not Parking, Flipping or Typosquatting, is the most evolved level of Domaining there will always be articles like this.
Dave i think you right on the money. I think thats where its moving. I am new to the domains, but i spend a lot time reading back in archives, where parking was name of the game before and it seems that development is becoming more and more name of the game. I am observing this from newbie eyes, and i see a lot of development. I am glad there is so much info and sharing of information going on, thanks to Elliot, you, and many other guys , newbies like me are not clueless and don’t need to learn all pot holes trough our own experience.
Ahhh…with even the Old Grey Lady covering the domain field (and largely positively so), can the WSJ be far behind?
You know this field is going mainstream when the Old Grey Ladies start dabbling.
😉
Ms Domainer