Domain scabs

[Leigh Farrell]

Who tf came up with the idea of buying domain names for the purpose of selling them when someone actually wants to use it? What a stupid F*cking idea! They don't provide a service, they don't provide value of ANY kind! They're just F*cking scabs that bought something hoping that it might one day be useful to someone else, giving them the ability to charge through the nose for something they should've never got their grubby F*cking fingers on in the first place.
They're the cancer of the internet.
Oh, sir would like to create something of value for the world, well, sir will need to pay $2000 for the privilege of calling it what he wants.
wtf for? why do you have the domain?
oh, i just bought it because i thought someone else might want it one day.
You're a puss-filled infection-riddled scab.
Rant over.

 

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[TaylorTalks]

-Person A sees opportunity in domain name that has potential value
-Person A buys said opportunity
-Person A sells domain name to Person B who sees potential of domain name to create even more value
-Person A profits from opportunity and Person B now owns a domain that they see potential value in

How is that any different from the typical investment advice of buying low and selling high?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Who tf came up with the idea of buying domain names for the purpose of selling them when someone actually wants to use it? What a stupid F*cking idea! They don't provide a service, they don't provide value of ANY kind! They're just F*cking scabs that bought something hoping that it might one day be useful to someone else, giving them the ability to charge through the nose for something they should've never got their grubby F*cking fingers on in the first place.
They're the cancer of the internet.
Oh, sir would like to create something of value for the world, well, sir will need to pay $2000 for the privilege of calling it what he wants.
wtf for? why do you have the domain?
oh, i just bought it because i thought someone else might want it one day.
You're a puss-filled infection-riddled scab.
Rant over.

So what domain does someone own that you can't buy?

Not sure how this is any different than buying a piece of land in an area where you speculate there will be growth, and then selling it when it comes true.

You probably won't get the "Reddit-esque" sympathy here you were expecting, not in describing a form of investment speculation.

Perhaps you've hooked up with an unrealistic seller. In my experience, too many domain owners have a ridiculous idea on valuation ... in other words, no, your domain "my-webstore-zyz.io" isn't worth $1,000.

 

[EPerceptions]

in·vest
[inˈvest]

VERB
investing (present participle)

1. expend money with the expectation of achieving a profit or material result by putting it into financial plans, shares, or property, or by using it to develop a commercial venture.
   "the company is to invest $12 million in its new manufacturing site" ·
   [more]
   synonyms:
   put money into · sink money into · lay out money on · plow money into ·
   [more]

 

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[PetePreneur]

Who tf came up with the idea of buying domain names for the purpose of selling them when someone actually wants to use it? What a stupid F*cking idea! They don't provide a service, they don't provide value of ANY kind! They're just F*cking scabs that bought something hoping that it might one day be useful to someone else, giving them the ability to charge through the nose for something they should've never got their grubby F*cking fingers on in the first place.
They're the cancer of the internet.
Oh, sir would like to create something of value for the world, well, sir will need to pay $2000 for the privilege of calling it what he wants.
wtf for? why do you have the domain?
oh, i just bought it because i thought someone else might want it one day.
You're a puss-filled infection-riddled scab.
Rant over.

I've been on both the buyer's and the seller's side of this and I get what you mean.

From the seller's perspective it's great because I've sold multiple domains for $1,000+ from pretty much blind luck. Once you've got a buyer that's keen, you're in a great negotiating position to ask for the most you can get because it's the only domain in the world called this and 9/10 times the buyer is so emotionally attached to it that they feel like they have to buy it.

I've never actually bought a domain with the intention of selling it for more though. I've always bought domains for brands that I was thinking of starting, so bought the domain just incase someone else does, only to never actually do it.

From a buyer's perspective (or someone that's trying to come up with a brand name), you have to get super creative when coming up with good names that aren't taken nowadays. You're usually going to have to use atleast your 10th choice, unless you've got $3,000+ to spend on a name.

I've noticed even the domain providers have "Premium Domains" nowadays too, so even if nobody else has the name, you have to pay up a crap load of money to the domain provider anyway!

I've found that I can still brain storm some decent names eventually though. It just takes WAY more time and effort!

 

[Leigh Farrell]

-Person A sees opportunity in domain name that has potential value
-Person A buys said opportunity
-Person A sells domain name to Person B who sees potential of domain name to create even more value
-Person A profits from opportunity and Person B now owns a domain that they see potential value in

How is that any different from the typical investment advice of buying low and selling high?

It's completely different.
The buy low sell high of shares is capital rental. You have lent your capital to a 3rd party in order to receive dividends or gain from the increased pricing over time. You also have to take into account the fact that the shares\property were already in existence beforehand and would still be owned by somebody if person A didn't buy them.
Whereas with domains, they don't exist until they are registered. Capital isn't rented. The value of the domain isn't increased over time. There are no dividends. It's just somebody inserting themselves as a middle man where no middle man needs to be. It serves no purpose to anyone other than the middle man. It creates no value to anyone other than the middle man.
Whatever happened to the idea of creating value? Wealth is supposed to be a measure of the amount of value you have provided to society, not a measure of how much you've been able to get in the way growth, value, and progress.
It's like MJ says, there are two different kinds of business people. Those who get rich as fiduciaries, and those who will do it at any cost. Domain scabs are definitely the latter.

 

[Leigh Farrell]

Btw, it's official term is domain squatting, and it's illegal. Companies found guilty of it are up for huge fines.

 

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[Leigh Farrell]

So what domain does someone own that you can't buy?

Not sure how this is any different than buying a piece of land in an area where you speculate there will be growth, and then selling it when it comes true.

You probably won't get the "Reddit-esque" sympathy here you were expecting, not in describing a form of investment speculation.

Perhaps you've hooked up with an unrealistic seller. In my experience, too many domain owners have a ridiculous idea on valuation ... in other words, no, your domain "my-webstore-zyz.io" isn't worth $1,000.

It's a .com domain, so it's more valuable than the type you mentioned.
what i don't understand, is that if you can see the value in a certain domain, why wouldn't you just build the website? It would probably be far more profitable.

 

[kkoasdfawfqwe2]

In Denmark I believe all the ".dk" domains are in fact owned by the government and you can only rent it.

This also means that you are not allowed to buy a domain for the sake of only selling it again.

If someone is holding e.g. "money.dk" and I need it for my financial trading platform and they don't host anything on the domain, I can take them to a sort of "domain court" and I will most likely win the case.

That being said I don't enjoy this model, as it has also caused some retarded cases of people losing their domains just because others "had more right" to use the domain.

Its a free market and its speculation afterall. You might sit with hundreds of domains that you never sell and that you pay renewal for, for a long time.

Its a risk like anything else..

 

[Leigh Farrell]

Just venting my frustration really.

 

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[EPerceptions]

Creating something out of thin air is what many businesses do. It's often referred to as product creation. If someone wants what you created, you obviously created some level of value to someone.

Creating a domain name is no different than creating a unique business name, tag line, or marketing slogan.

*Can* it have more value if it's developed/grown/marketed? Of course. But selling just the name is a valid business model too. Just like MJ mentioned with raw land. You can hold and sell for a profit later without doing an ounce of improvement on it in the meantime. You may end up calling it a complete wash, taking a loss, or making a profit. That's life. That's business.