Why I Bought Citronella.com on NameJet

Over the weekend, I was tracking and participating in the NameJet auction for Citronella.com. I ended up winning this domain name for less than $5,000 and I am happy with the purchase. I thought it would be interesting for me to share why I bought Citronella.com.

I live in the suburbs, and the mosquitos can be fairly aggressive here. I mention the suburbs because they seem to bite me much more than when I lived in New York City. Although we don’t have too many mosquito-borne illnesses around here besides infrequent occurrences of West Nile virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis, mosquitos are a pest I could live without having them bite me.

In order to protect us from the mosquitos, we have two primary options: bug spray or citronella candles. I hate spraying myself with chemicals (not to mention the smell), so we tend to light citronella candles. This is especially the case when we are relaxing outside in the evening when the mosquitos seem most hungry.

There are quite a few other uses and forms of citronella. I remember seeing anti-bark dog collars that spray citronella to try and get dogs to stop barking. I have also seen oils and other sprays that are used to repel mosquitos. Point is that there are many uses for citronella, and there are many companies that make citronella-based products.

In buying this domain name, my thinking is that one of the major manufacturers of citronella products may want to buy it in the future. There is also the possibility that an Internet entrepreneur or (perhaps my own company if I have time) will create a website that specializes in the sale of citronella-based products.

Additionally, although a bit more farfetched, I could imagine a company wanting to use “citronella” as a brand name. It’s a unique name for a useful herbal oil. This is less likely, but I think it beats some of the made up weird names I read about regularly.

In the meantime, I plan to park the domain name with citronella-related PPC advertising. There will also be the standard “for sale” link indicating that the domain name could be bought. I might try to find a buyer for the domain name or even re-auction it in the future after notifying prospective buyers. I really don’t know what I will do with the domain name, but I think it is worth more than I paid.

I think Citronella.com is worth more than I paid for it, and I would have backed that up with a larger bid if necessary. People often ask me why I bought a particular domain name, and with this one being publicly reported, I figured I would share why I bought it.

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
  1. Great name. It could never be used as a brand outside of its original intention because he has the negative association of keeping things away tied to it. As a brand for what it’s intended for then yes. I’m sure there are trademarks so check it out first. At only 5 grand I would build a website and build a brand around it. Especially now with summer coming it could do really well.

    • I agree with you, although there are pest control companies who might want to use it as a brand name. I do think the most likely user will be someone selling citronella products.

      I don’t have the time/desire/experience to do that just yet.

    • I’ve never heard of the term before, but at first, I thought it was a brand name.

      After searching google, I see the potential in it. It’s a great name for an ecommerce site selling all things Citronella. Also, in this case, I do think it could help SEO-wise.

  2. I bought Citronella.link this morning for $0.85 at Uniregistry.

    I did this for several reasons.:

    1. It was 85 cents and renews at $6 .. I know that I can afford to hold the name for 10 years at very low cost and I am reasonably certain that while .link will may not out-pace the .com, that as the internet grows, new users will want generic names and Citronella is a good one.

    2. Elliot is a shrewd investor and I know he will charge much more for the name than he paid. I feel really good owning a name that might be one tenth as good as the .com but with all the utility of a .com for 1/5000th the price.

    3. The risk to reward ratio was very low and I’m certain I could get my money back and/or make money on my investment.

    4. I feel confident in the potential growth of the .link namespace over 10 years.

    • Is this a spoof, or a joke? Smart investors are not buying into this, newbies sure, they will delete, and be gone in 2 years, heartbroken, and broke.

    • I think he’s serious, but I still view the post as a joke. gTLDs are a pure money grab based off the backs of newbie domain investors, or deep pocketed pros who can move on unphased if they lose what they put in.

    • You forgot #5

      5. I bought Citronella.link this morning when I saw Elliot’s post and realized what a perfect opportunity to promote .link even though I really think Citronella.link is a horrible domain name.

    • I don’t think “brilliant” is appropriate considering it was a public auction 🙂

      I appreciate it when people say nice things about me, but I don’t think this qualifies as “brilliant” and I won’t know if it wise a good investment for a while.

  3. Grade 9 math was the best three years of my life, so while I’m not an accountant, I do know there is a lot less downside and a greater potential upside in an $0.85 cent purchase than there is in a $5000 purchase.

    I am just looking at Elliot’s purchase which we all agree is wise through the eyes of a seasoned investor.

    As I write this Citronella.click, .club, .online, .site, .website .space

    None of these will be the .com or .net but you could lock all 6 up for a year for $5.10 with fairly low cost renewals. Some of those might be 1/3 or 1/2 as good as the .com in 10 years.

    Therein lies an opportunity for investment and arbitrage.

    • ” I do know there is a lot less downside and a greater potential upside in an $0.85 cent purchase than there is in a $5000 purchase.”

      This in our opinion is a Penny Stock Speculators comment.

      Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger) (Former Rockefeller IBEC Marketing Analyst/Strategist) (Licensed CBOE Commodity Hedge Strategist) (Domain Master ) https://www.UseBiz.com

    • What does it matter if none of those extensions sell?

      Of course you’re going to say you bought “blah blah blah” in the “blah blah blah” extension, because if someone reads that and believes it has value you make money. Stop being a sellout just because you have a domain name registrar company.

  4. Citronella.com is a good buy. One word, meaningful, dotcom – can’t go wrong there. Newbies should do their best to emulate Elliot’s investment style.

    Man, part of me really hopes the real Frank Schilling didn’t post what he did above me. If it’s a fake, it is like the “crying Jordans” being used all over the net whenever someone wants to point out an epic failure. It’s ironic and blasphemous in a way because Michael Jordan is the fiercest winner and champion. If it’s the real deal, Frank is doing it to himself. It’d be like Warren Buffet peddling penny stocks to the masses.

  5. Uhh.. ahem… Real Frank here : ) A bit bored at the office today so chiming in with what I really believe.

    Why would you pay 5 grand for a Citronella.com and leave these for $5.10 :

    Citronella.online
    Citronella.site
    Citronella.link
    Citronella.website
    Citronella.click
    Citronella.web (not out yet)
    Citronella.shop (coming soon)
    Citronella.store (near release)

    Those 7 above just look right as generics and 4 of them are available now at 85 cents. This just isn’t the same as the .info or .biz era and that inventory is going to go up in price from 85 cents.. I’d say faster than the com will.

    Obviously I think the com is a fine buy (go .com!) and I fully agree that .com is the established namespace and will be the largest in the future. I also understand that a lot of us own .com names and that it’s not good for the value of our inventory to talk up these new spaces. So you have two choices:

    1. Shake your fist in the air and spew about .com being king and accuse anyone who dares counter that philosophy of being a penny stock hustler or fool ; )
    2. Get your surf board.. wax it up and ride that wave by selectively sucking up the valuable generics in new extensions, that you can prudently afford to carry until you resell. Just like the early 1995 era .com investors did (to the same kind of ridicule Tony is throwing down, I might add)

    I’m not advocating anyone get in over their head, or register with reckless abandon but sticking your head in the sand is not making these new extensions go away. You get em or somebody else will eventually.

    Good luck to all.

    • I would not mind if someone else builds a great website on a noncom and then later decides that they need the .com and try to buy it for me.

      That said, I wouldn’t want to downsell someone into buying a noncom instead of my more expensive .com.

    • Tje idea here is to use gtld with meaning , like using silocial media , one must use.fb, twitter , dnapchat at once, not only one ….

    • Things have changed now for Frank. He has a registrar and he is not a domainer anymore.

      Frank,

      When i saw that you are forcing the inquirers to open an account at uniregistry and making them pay a transfer fee to Uniregistry, i decided to stop using DNS.

      i did not like this transition without letting us know.

      You are trying to be like GoDaddy i assume and good luck with that. But dont talk like you are trying to give advice to domainers. You are not a domainer anymore.

      You can just sell those to newbies.

      Best

  6. “In the meantime, I plan to park the domain name with citronella-related PPC advertising.”

    36 TM’s for citronella in EU registered.

    How deep is your pocket for UDRP?

    • Citronella is a plant and its byproducts are used widely. I am not aware of any trademarks that could impede my usage of this plant name domain name.

      Just about every word has trademarks associated with it. As one can see by reading this post, I clearly am not targeting Ny companies, so no complainant could prevail in a UDRP as they would need to prove bad faith.

    • Where did you find those “36 trademarks in the EU?”

      Using EUIPO search I only found 1 trademark for “Mosquito Stop Citronella Eszencia” – and a figurative mark to boot. In other words, the overall design is tm’ed, not the words.

      At the USPTO there is one live tm for “Citronella Mist” that disclaims the “Citronella” part.

    • Elliot,
      I’m sure you don’t want to infringe on anyone’s TMs.
      That said, in this case I’d suggest you to avoid to park it with ads.
      Basically you have a 2016 registered name, with some TMs for this term here in Europe in the exact Nice classes of that product/byproducts, you can check by yourself here: https://www.tmdn.org/tmview/welcome
      IMHO the chance that some randomly-generated ads could target one of the TM holders shouldn’t be totally ruled out …
      Maybe nobody will complain, but why taking the risk? … 🙂
      For the peanuts you get through parking I think it’s not worth the risk …
      I know you are deep-pocketed and you can defend it in a UDRP, but IMHO that would be a big waste of time and money … 🙂

      On a different note, interestingly the previous owner was Blyth Inc (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blyth,_Inc.), a direct-to-consumer manufacturer and seller of candles and home fragrance products, formerly listed on NYSE and later acquired by The Carlyle Group in 2015.

  7. Pretty sad to resort to desperate tactics like hijacking Elliot’s thread. One can only wonder what sales pitches are shoved down OUR buyers throats. I’m off to move my domains.

    • I don’t mind and don’t think it is hijacking.

      I appreciate that Frank spends some of his time reading my blog.

      I would have responded sooner to Frank’s comments, but I was at the Scooper Bowl with some industry colleagues raising funds for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 🙂

    • We do think your pusuit of .COM Asset Plays are much more desireable than taking a gamble on new TLDs.Sometimes its hard to ignore outside peanut gallery comments that wind up throwing shade on your accomplishments.Congratulations on choosing the .COM Assets over the highly questionable new TLD gambles.You are leading by example. Kudos

      Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger) (Former Rockefeller IBEC Marketing Analyst/Strategist) (Licensed CBOE Commodity Hedge Strategist) (Domain Master ) https://www.UseBiz.com

  8. I am sure if you tell him to go fuck himself u would not be out of line. What a scumbag. Running a registrar. Reading the blogs. Advertising on the blogs. Stealing ideas from the blogs. Making everyone feel like an idiot for not buying the new extensions. idiot.

  9. Frank Schilling, with all due respect, your approach to the value proposition of gTLDs is making them seem more and more like penny stocks. How can you promote them with this penny stock mentality (i.e. very low cost to enter with high risk and uncertain future return), and then in the same breadth, charge us premiums for registry held-back names and charge us premium annual renewals? The value of a true quality product never needs explanation.

  10. Things have changed now for Frank. He has a registrar and he is not a domainer anymore.

    Frank,

    When i saw that you are forcing the inquirers to open an account at uniregistry and making them pay a transfer fee to Uniregistry, i decided to stop using DNS.

    i did not like this transition without letting us know.

    You are trying to be like GoDaddy i assume and good luck with that. But dont talk like you are trying to give advice to domainers. You are not a domainer anymore.

    You can just sell those to newbies.

    + Frank you are losing respect with these kind of advices -as you call- repeating every time. Do whatever you want but just dont act us like a fool. Your advices are useless from now on.

  11. + Frank you are losing respect with these kind of advices -as you call- repeating every time. Do whatever you want but just dont act us like a fool. Your advices are useless from now on.

  12. Hello Elliot,

    The best definition of( new TLDs = Speculative Debt Obligations )

    The best definition of ( Legacy .COMS = Globally Desireable ASSETS )

    Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger) (Former Rockefeller IBEC Marketing Analyst/Strategist) (Licensed CBOE Commodity Hedge Strategist) (Domain Master ) https://www.UseBiz.com

  13. This weekend I was at Home Depot where I noticed several cars that were loading large citronella plants. I suspect fear of Zika is going to result in a run on Citronella plants, candles, etc . . . so . . if I was giving advice . . cough, cough . . I’d say frack PPC and go straight for affiliate products / relationships. Now is the time. I’m certain that with a bit of paid research -> writers you could jack up the site (and yourself) as the authority on Citronella, get some media citations / interviews, bang up the inbound links . . . and get your flip sooner rather than later and for a bigger number.

    Of course I wouldn’t overstate the case for citronella, about which I promptly did a bit of research post-seeing the Home Depot “tulip craze” (as in, we’ve (humankind) has been there, done that).

    FWIW, re: don’t overstate: http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/04/health/mosquito-bites-myths/

  14. Alright I give up. This will be my last comment on Elliot’s blog as I really don’t need the vitriol and F bombs from douchy newcomers and people hiding behind aliases but as nobody took the risk I have decided to do so myself spending a grand total o $500 to register all those generics for 10 years. I expect that at some point in those 10 years I’ll double my investment. Either that or I will be wrong and carry it like I do many of my .com names that don’t sell. Still – it seemed like a good risk to me – genuinely now – I’m not really sure what I’m missing. We will see what the river brings folks.. Good luck out there.

    • I think anonymous posting should not be allowed in blogs because it’s the open door for bashing, trolls, …

      BTW I am Francois Carrillo of Domaining.com

      Now regarding Citronella.com, I like the domain a lot as a brand.

      When people cannot afford plan A, often they go to plan B, plan C, … and these new extensions are the new exit plans.

    • Frank, you don’t have to justify, instead i’ll just give a promo code to readers of this thread lol, i’ve registered with uniregistry some time ago and found the interface great, i like the design and general approach of uniregistry, i believe that your comments are reflecting the trends that top opinion leaders can express, i feel it’s like bitcoin and blockchain tech , bank and companies that will not implement that tech right now will be forgotten in the near futre, the same is for g’s

    • A millionaire spending 500?? Hmm this is a wise investment for sure! Why not buy all the crap for millions hoping for doubling it?

      Again do not act like you are a domainer. There is a conflict of interests in your situation. You are trying to increase the registrars users, using the advantage of DNS, forcing them to open an account and transfer the name to you.

      This is understandable but you will lose some customers like me for sure.

    • Frank – Please reconsider your decision to no longer comment. Your insight and willingness to give your opinion publicly is exceptional, whether people agree or disagree with the substance. All of the negative comments are anonymous, please disregard them like spam…. You back up your talk with action (put your money where your mouth is) and that is priceless, making your comments valuable. Due to your profile you will always have those anonymous negative reply’s. Again, please comment in the future…

    • Me too, Elliot. I don’t think it’s a sane or sustainable position for anybody to suggest everybody should have the same opinions about tlds, nor about anything in life, then get angry or snarky if someone has a different view. What a boring society we would have if everybody had the same thoughts. It is the territory of the intelligent to respectfully discourse even amidst differing opinions. It is a lost art, that has been the energy and life of a society since at least Plato and Socrates, and since, around the cracker barrel at the general store, and more. The respect part has to be fixed.

  15. After reading Frank’s post, I feel he has lost his way, and like others are just saying what they need to say to get as many gtlds on auto renewals.

    Godaddy, afternic might be a better platform.

    A few concerning points about dns are they are informing inquirers into opening uniregistry accounts, as the comments, the platform looks to be going the way of if you can’t afford the .com, just buy the gtld.

    I would recommend others to think carefully before moving over to such platform. There were warnings as there was going to be no free lunch, and your traffic is just being used to market a platform.

    • Ron you do know you can turn this feature off? All you need to do is turn off the button that says Buyer email confirmation. Just saying it’s an option not a requirement, turning it off mean the potential buyer doesn’t have to sign up.

  16. Very savvy pick up.

    Two of the leading citronella product sellers on Amazon currently generate about $61,000 in revenue/month and there’s plenty more behind them. Sure it’s seasonal but so what, there’s a ton of money in this space.

    10x flip very doable here.

    Congratulations.

  17. Ray,

    We live in America, remember?? You may not remember when this country was a free and open Democracy?? CENSORSHIP which is what you are recommending crushes Free Market Democracies, is that what you or anyone else Really Wants?? To be Blinded to truths is the road to ruin.We have been sending out warning flags on these new TLD hordes invading the DNS system for years now along with Rick Schwartz and many other legacy owners who are wise to this Money grabbing Ploy.

    By the way, calling anyone a TROLL that has a different opinion than yours is a sure fire way to erode Free Speech, and those who use this as an excuse to CENSOR Opinions are trying to protect their opinion and results in Anarchy.

    Since FS decided to play both sides of the Net many Blogs became closed private gardens with no tolerance for Whistle Blowers. We need Elliot and others to remain open and free, NOT closed and Ruthless. Thanks to Elliot and other Open Domainer Blogs, Democracy remains intact.

    Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger) (Former Rockefeller IBEC Marketing Analyst/Strategist) (Licensed CBOE Commodity Hedge Strategist) (Domain Master ) https://www.UseBiz.com

    • Jeff,

      What is very annoying is to allow people to post anonymously, it’s giving a “carte blanche” to bashing, trolls, … This has no interest except scare victims who will no longer comment for a (very) long time.

    • Hello Francois,

      We agree with you on anonymous digital bullies. We have already adopted a full disclosure stance, and plainly identify our real identity. How anybody can take ghosts advice seriously is a head scratcher.

      Time stamped identity over at RicksBlog holds us completely accountable for our track record. Want to be truly informed? Trust the time stamped Documentation, that Rick Schwartz has supplied for all who are doing their homework. There are truths out there for those interested.

      Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger) (Former Rockefeller IBEC Marketing Analyst/Strategist) (Licensed CBOE Commodity Hedge Strategist) (Domain Master ) https://www.UseBiz.com

  18. The problem that I have with what Frank Schilling says is to believe that a guy of his wealth will be happy to double an investment of $500 within 10 years time!

    And yet, an average guy like myself would not even have been happy to double a $500 capital IN A MONTH, had I been given the tools of my trade!

  19. My take: It’s a risky investment, like penny stocks. There are better places to park my money with a lot less risk, and that includes .com domains.

    Regarding new TLDs, no need to bash them anymore. The bashing of new TLDs has been going on for 2 years now? Also, if Frank wants to promote his extensions and the space, so be it. I’m a little surprised he did it here, but let’s get over it people. It’s not that big of a deal and that does not make him a villain, scamster, or anything of the sort.

    Everyone has the responsibility to do their own due diligence before they invest in anything. Frank is not deceiving anyone. You can say his advice is bad if you want, but that is really it.

    • HELLO john,

      Its not as simple as you make it sound. FS has made many confusing statements (Flip Flopping) We are saying his advice is highly confusing, not bad just confusing.

      Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger) (Former Rockefeller IBEC Marketing Analyst/Strategist) (Licensed CBOE Commodity Hedge Strategist) (Domain Master ) https://www.UseBiz.com

  20. Frank, shameless ! LOL thanks for the humor and the astute investing commentary.
    “there is a lot less downside and a greater potential upside in an $0.85 cent purchase than there is in a $5000 purchase”.
    I agree with Aaron.”Frank – Please reconsider your decision to no longer comment. Your insight and willingness to give your opinion publicly is exceptional.” Ngltd’s naysayer’s remind me of the board that ousted Steve Jobs only to bring him back after they FAILED. Clearly, .COM will always retain market share. What some of this commentary FAILS to get is the market is so huge and growing that .COM simply cannot accommodate the entire online market. Everything on this planet has it’s peaks and valley’s and .COM is not immune. All successful investors and business owners know about peaks and valleys.
    I read a recent article about the “Most interesting man in the world”. He’s being sent into outer space where no man has gone before. Why? Because he’s no longer relevant! He’s being replaced by a younger more agile, relevant individual to the market. A great example of “relevance” over “Legacy” in branding.
    Elliot, You or anyone else should be able to use Citronella for Citronella related products otherwise the value is greatly diminished. Put side by side Citronella.com and Citronella.link, it would be difficult to believe a consumer wouldn’t know these were different sites selling the same type of products. TM’s are a train wreck to domain values with the exception of globally recognized brands of which there are few.
    Great Domain. I hope you use it and profit handsomely.

    • Hello 168,

      We assume that 168 is a cover. So why should anyone pay attention to your questionably valuable opinion? Your statement follows = ” What some of this commentary FAILS to get is the market is so huge and growing that .COM simply cannot accommodate the entire online market.We are astounded at this comment. Just within the .COM asset extension there are billions of Sub-Domain combinations that more than suffice the expansionary needs for Internet expansion.

      Oh you say you don’t know about .COM sub-domains, and don’t lie because your statement gives you away.

      It is pure fallacy that for Internet business expansion you need new TLDs, Where are you getting your Online Marketing Strategy advice From? Lets continue the conversation from here.

      Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger) (Former Rockefeller IBEC Marketing Analyst/Strategist) (Licensed CBOE Commodity Hedge Strategist) (Domain Master ) https://www.UseBiz.com

  21. Good buy. It sounds like a disease. Good for you that this domain is a generic name. If a business used this name, they would be petty with trying to steal it.

    There are many uses, but the best is sticking with the candles to repel mosquitos. AS As usual, smart purchase.

  22. 1. I think buying this domain was a good move and agree that it is also “brandable” on top of every other use

    2. Would you believe – I have been thinking lately and even from time to time for many days and more about this very issue re mosquitoes, feel the same way you do, and have simply just not gotten around yet to searching the Web for a natural product all this time.

    So thanks for saving me the trouble now, and if Citronella were a site for it I’d probably be ordering something tonight. 😉

  23. Excellent purchase, especially when considering zika, west-nile, and all of the other diseases carried by mosquitoes.

    Worth at least $50,000 to an end-user (maybe higher considering it’s also a one-word brandable). Congrats.

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