What Kinds of Domain Names Are You Buying Now?

A blog reader emailed me this week and asked if I would publish an article to ask other readers what they are currently buying. It’s been a little over a year since the last time I asked this question, so I thought now was a pretty good time to ask.

Last time I shared what I am looking to buy, and it still holds true today:

For me, I am still privately buying one word English .com domain names whenever I can find a decent deal. I am only buying .com domain names, and I am only buying real words that could be used by many different type of companies (ie they have generic meaning). I am also paying reasonable prices as an investor, so it is pointless to send overpriced names. In general, the domain names I am buying were created before 2000 and have quite a few extensions registered because there is great demand for the keyword. The parameters are more for filtering than anything else.

To be more precise, here is exactly what I would like to buy right now:

  • Dictionary word .com
  • Created before 2000
  • At least 20 other extensions in that word registered
  • Positive (or possibly neutral) meaning
  • Budget up to $50k per name (more if it is exceptional), but has to be a good investment price.

I spend quite a bit of time doing acquisition outreach. In fact, I probably spend more time these days trying to buy domain names than to sell them. If you have a great domain name that matches, please send to me to review. There’s no reason to send names that do not match because it will waste your time and mine.

Please feel free to share the types of domain names you are buying in the comment section.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

57 COMMENTS

  1. I know one size does not fit all but what you are buying should be at least part of the aim of every domain investor. What 99% of your readers were hoping to hear is something along the lines of you are buying names for under $100 that you think are worth 5 to 6 figures to an end user.

    For me, I don’t look for a kind of domain but how undervalued it is. It could be a hand reg, a one-word dotcom, two words, three or four words as long as it is steeply priced less than what I think it is worth. But since I have so many 2,3,4 word dotcoms already, I mainly go for undervalued one worders like yourself for the last few years.

    • A company listed on the London Stock Exchange once tried to buy one of my longest domains, a four worder. They just approached me out of the blue when I was only using it for a simple single page and was not even trying to sell it as far as I know, i.e. I doubt I even had it listed anywhere and was just using it. At that time I was not yet savvy to the idea of doing something like taking stock instead of cash. We didn’t reach a deal but if it happened again now I would gladly discuss selling a domain for stock. In fact I suspect the seller of tesla.com probably left a fortune on the table in that regard.

    • Oh and by the way, Tony, I’ve always liked you, but if you are the kind of dentist who uses and supports mercury amalgam fillings then you and the ADA are all guilty of crimes against humanity. 😉 In your case if you are merely a victim of the industry brainwashing yourself then that at least mitigates, though once shown the light it’s important to change course. So please repent if you do support and use that and I’ll like you even more. 🙂

  2. I am buying one word .co.za domain names for under $500 USD. Mostly e-commerce keywords.

    South Africa is on a verge of Internet explosion with fibre lines being installed which will mean more people will be getting online. In South Africa you are proudly South African and .co.za means local and a brand you can trust.

    • If that’s how you feel I’d gladly take NewYorkRealEstate.com and many others like it and let you take melons.com or spot.com any day of the week, be my guest. And watermelon is one of my all-time favorite fruits.

        • Well I certainly disagree with that, Elliot. However, the truth is that I was going to say “staples.com,” but there was the risk of mindless people knee jerk commenting how that one is great without thinking it through.

          I love to see you give any credible suggestions as to why Spot.com would be superior in value to NewYorkRealEstate.com – aside from, that is, your well known bias about short vs. long.

        • PS, and while you clearly find a comparison like “spot.com” debatable, at least it would seem you do not for melons.com. One out of two ain’t bad with someone as generally biased about this aspect of domaining as you.

        • Elliot,

          I agree with you that Spot.com is worth many many multiples of NewYorkRealEstate.com, “these days”; it’s not even close.

          Plus, Melons.com is not Melon.com; the former is worth much more than the latter; Watermelon is not Melon, or melons either; so by the rule of thumb, the singular could pass for both a brand, as well as the fruit itself, just as Apple.com is on it’s own, worth much more than Apples.com

          My comment here is not for the professionals, such as Elliot, John, etc but for anyone that it might help.

          Finally, just like in everything, there are no absolutes; there’s what should be termed “the vicissitudes of domaining”, that’s operational, just as with life.

          Anything is still possible.

      • There goes whatever was left of your credibility John… Mentioning a dog like newyorkrealestate.com and a total blockbuster like spot.com in the same sentence.. on a Saturday… in 2019…(!) I just realized how far behind the curve you really are.

        • John:

          There’s no need for the personal attack, because you were actually winning the debate, generally, and lost just one round, on the specific “spot” example, we understood what you meant.

          On this blog, when it was named Elliot’s Blog, I had a long protracted debate, polite debates, with Elliot when he actually held your view, and I held his current view: which in his case was that EMD, exact match domains, were the best, and that’s probably because of Google search algorithms then; and I used to come to talk about “brandable” …

          We must also note that Elliot has been a successful domainers, and blogger, who has bought and sold world class domains, including Burbank.com!

        • Reality check: the personal attack was by Richard, and I rightly pointed out that it was not only stupid, but worse than stupid – disingenuous, as in dishonest. In case you’ve been on hiatus, nobody needs to explain to anybody that 1. NewYorkRealEstate.com is not even within a million miles of being a “dog” and 2. spot.com, while certainly not a bad domain and even pretty good, is nonetheless certainly not a “total blockbuster.” But even if you insist on “total blockbuster” for it, “Richard’s” comment was still a personal attack that fails on NewYorkRealEstate.com being within a million miles of being a “dog” among its more personal attack elements…

        • I’m a value investor and would pay $75k for Spot.com today. I could probably be persuaded to pay more if I was buying it privately.

          I’ve owned and sold a bunch of RE names. The value of those have fallen off a cliff in the last several years while one word names have gone way, way up in value. I wish they hadn’t because I still have a few.

        • It’s a good domain, but it’s still a lottery ticket domain. There is no compelling obvious use, need or demand. One can argue “it could be great for this or for that,” but with no wealth of likely customers in sight.

          Real Estate in New York is as hot as ever. So much so, they have to do crazy architectural things to go high and slim with giant air holes to accommodate demand from billionaires and mega-millionaires. I wouldn’t even want to live in these weird new types of buildings, but the mega rich are perfectly happy to. And that’s just in NYC. You also have Westchester County, Long Island, the Hamptons, etc.

          And with all that – NewYorkRealEstate.com is going to get the kind of search I’ve been talking about for years. People are going to be searching the both the SLD, the domain, and the whole domain with spaces added in numerous ways. Jackpot. They will not be searching just for “spot” or “spot.com.”

  3. i am buying well priced dotcom yeti domains. i feel certain that within the next two years the abominable snowman will be captured and the value of these domains will skyrocket.

      • What I’ve noticed is that ‘proper’, uppity sites do poorly. Platforms that judge little, such as Twitter, Facebook etc etc, perform better than small cabalistic venues.

        Open it up for discourse. Only you, and a couple of others are insufficient to run a forum.

    • He is wrong on everything he says, but no need for ban. If anything his comments are an excercise in what not to do and ideas that may have worked 15 years ago, so there is value from that angle.

  4. Mostly made-up 4-letter .coms. I would love to be able to buy more one-word dictionary .coms, but it is getting harder and harder to get a good deal.

  5. I’m buying aged two word exact match domains with at least 15 TLDs taken, alliterations with at least 10 TLDs taken, Crypto domains registered 2015 and earlier with at least 10 TLDs taken, pronounceable 4L.coms and 4L.coms ending in CB.

  6. I’m buying two word, second word “Sex” domains. Why? Because “sex sells”, thus Sex.com sold for 13M this decade. Recently I bought, SpectacularSex.com, BriefSex.com, RemarkableSex.com and SquadSex.com. I spent a whopping $34 for all four of these domains, and regardless of what any fool says…Sex really does sell:)

    • It is not particular common for names with sex in them to sell unless obvious keyword porn names, I think you are on the wrong track with that. That is especially the case in recent years with adult domains falling in value.

      • Snoopy…you’re so full of crap I know any response from you is only an endorsement of my ingenuity and creativity. Choosing a handle like “Snoopy” speaks volumes about your creativity. btw, SnoopySex.com is available:) And just as an education for your benefit, according to Nambbio there are over 1,500 domains that have sold that have “sex’ in the name compared to just 800 domains that have sold with “porn” in the name.

        Finally, as a domain critic, you have a lot to learn☺

        • Are you trying to win today’s argument or actually make money from domains?

          Higher stats than porn doesn’t mean it works, neither term would word in your combination. Look at namebio at the type of names actually selling with “sex” in them, it is porn names (mostly with popular keywords) and for low amounts.

  7. Why the petty arguing among the domainers?
    So childish.
    If you are right, back your argument(s) up with numbers.
    SHOW US THE MONEY$$$$$$$$

  8. Dear domain investors, there are several great crypto domains for sale:

    – CryptoRemarks.com (includes social media accounts and logo)
    – SednaFund.com (stylish name for a venture fund)
    – CryVex.com (perfect for a crypto exchange)

    General reasons to buy for all:
    1. Highly valuable keywords
    2. Nice, short and memorable names
    3. The most valuable .com extension
    4. Lifetime WhoisGuard protection

    For more information, please visit the corresponding domain.
    Feel free to make an offer.

  9. I think that Chinese netizen’s offers long term brand opportunities as east & west superstrate linguistics merge Baoxian247.com – Baoxian24x7.com {insurance by the hour – day – year}
    WeChat FB & digital generations are the arbiters as Baidu MO ultimately follow the Google Adwords cash cow

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