As the year winds down, I have been thinking about what to expect for the upcoming year. I am hopeful that it will be a good year, but I would not be surprised if the business of domain investing is more challenging than the past several years.
It seems like economists and pundits believe we are either in a recession or going to be in a long one soon. I have been preparing my business for one as best as I can. I’ve been more apt to accept decent offers on inventory, and I have been spending less money on auctions and acquisitions. I would not be surprised to see domain auctions impacted by spending cuts at some point in 2023.
Domain name sales seem to be down for many since at least this Summer. I am expecting this to continue. That being said, many smart people were laid off from tech companies over the last few months. Some of these people are going to start their own ventures. With money saved in the bank, good domain names will need to be acquired, and I expect names will still move. I would imagine domain names priced in the four and low five figures will continue to sell at a steady rate.
I suspect we will see fewer companies upgrading their domain names – at least in the short term. Companies will likely be more reluctant to spend money on an expensive domain name purchase while laying off employees and taking other austerity measures. In fact, I had a nice deal fail at the finish line with a couple of weeks ago due to funding issues.
It would not surprise me if we see a fair amount of domain industry consolidation in 2023. With tough times likely coming, it might make sense for to see industry acquisitions. I don’t know who will be acquisitive and who will be acquired, but it always seems like down times are good times for companies to make acquisitions.
What do you expect for the coming year?
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist
sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
It is all about your attitude.
2023 will bring more sales in this easy peasy stress free hobby gig.
99.9999% of the problems are self created
I agree with you. Instability is the trend for at least the next few quarters. It could be hard, but it’s good long term that some of the excesses of the past few years are getting cleaned up.
Domains are still the bedrock of the online economy though and should weather it better than most.
2023 is going to be a grind, especially the first half of the year.
Agree that 4 and low 5 figure .Com domains will continue to sell but that’s it.