LLLL.com buyout failed?

[Tim Schoon]

There are currently 105 LLLL.coms available for registration.
They're available for nearly 24hours now.

dzyv.com
enwq.com
eqzf.com
ftqv.com
fvqd.com
gjqa.com
gmuq.com
hvkq.com
hvoq.com
hwzv.com
hxoj.com
hxvk.com
ijqn.com
ijqy.com
ikqk.com
ilgq.com
iljq.com
ivzj.com
ixwq.com
izxk.com
jqvx.com
jvdq.com
jvmq.com
jvqk.com
kiqf.com
kqyv.com
lqwv.com
ntqu.com
ogzq.com
ojfz.com
ojxb.com
ojxw.com
oqrx.com
oqsk.com
oxjm.com
oyjq.com
pqfv.com
pvqu.com
qcvw.com
qgud.com
qgvo.com
qibq.com
qjpe.com
qmbv.com
qmyv.com
qniw.com
qpxo.com
qvih.com
qxej.com
qxvg.com
qxvi.com
qzpv.com
qzwv.com
rpvq.com
rvzq.com
tfvq.com
tqvh.com
udkx.com
udxq.com
uhzx.com
ujvg.com
ujwp.com
uljx.com
ulqd.com
umkz.com
uqhk.com
uqpg.com
uqsj.com
uqwv.com
uqzf.com
utzq.com
uxsq.com
uycg.com
uyqw.com
uyxb.com
uyxd.com
uyzw.com
uzgx.com
vdqw.com
vgaq.com
vhlj.com
vhqr.com
vjkq.com
vlmq.com
vlyj.com
vmgq.com
vpxj.com
vqbm.com
vrql.com
vudq.com
vwgz.com
vwiy.com
vwkq.com
vwpq.com
vzjl.com
vzyr.com
wvzf.com
xfqa.com
xqne.com
ycvx.com
ypfv.com
yrfv.com
yvbp.com
yvjc.com
zsuq.com

Has the buyout actually failed now or just a small flaw?

 

[DTalk]

Dropped?

.

 

[dodo1]

No end user needs unpronounceable domains consisting of letters such as q, w, r, z and so on...

When the buyout was taking place, prices of four-letter domains were going through the roof. The prices paid for many domains during those days were unjustifiable in retrospective. It was a bubble that has since burst.

It is just not possible to continue to resell the same domain names within the same limited circle of buyers and sellers forever. Somebody had to be left holding the bag, and those speculators are now dropping a part of their four-letter domain holdings, because they have realized that no real profit can be made from those domains anymore.

 

[skynic]

88 LLLL.coms left.....

 

[myst woman]

kiqf.com could be football.

kickoff

 

[draggar]

The llll.com frenzy was a lot like the nnnnn.com frenzy but lasted longer.

By the time the craze started - most (if not all) of the "good" ones (note: good being subjective) were taken and then a large herd of lemmings jumped in and registered everything they could.

During this time things were good so the prices were holding steady, even for crappy LLLL.com domains.

IMO the collapse of the nnnnn.com market plus the crashing economy (forcing people to really pick and choose) made people realize that holding onto dozens and dozens of low end domains wasn't worth the reg fees.

It was all speculation and many people lost money with it - many only losing reg fees but many losing much more.

I am 99% sure the buyout will happen again in the future - more and more people are jumping into the domain game (thus raising prices) as well as more and more sites are popping up - they all need domains and even GVJZ could be a nice combination for someone.

Each time posts like this come out I take a good look at the list and see if there's anything I'd like to get - I even got one from this list. Be picky with what you register.

 

[katherine]

By the time the craze started - most (if not all) of the "good" ones (note: good being subjective) were taken and then a large herd of lemmings jumped in and registered everything they could.

Exactly. I have LLLL.com too but most were registered before or bought on the aftermarket (the better combos). By 2007 it was too late to buy cheap, good ones.
Totally agree with your description of lemming behavior.
I doubt it's a good idea to accumulate tons of them - you risk spending more in renewals than you earn with parking & end user sales = negative cash flow.

It was all speculation and many people lost money with it - many only losing reg fees but many losing much more.

Question: what is the ratio of end user vs domainer sales in the LLLL.com namespace ? Sure you can flip a $20 reg for $50 or more. When you've paid $50+ a pop flipping becomes more difficult unless you find the end user. In this game somebody has to be left holding the bag.

I am 99% sure the buyout will happen again in the future - more and more people are jumping into the domain game (thus raising prices) as well as more and more sites are popping up - they all need domains and even GVJZ could be a nice combination for someone.

I agree with this as well. It's just a question of time. I think they will continue to rise long term, the problem is, can domainers afford to wait, renew and sustain dogs. In the end it's all about ROI.

I have even dropped a couple of LLL.us lately but here we're dealing with a bigger scale.
Let's not fool ourselves, the buyout has been and is artificial (domainer-driven). if the ROI isn't there - cut losses.

 

[Credit]

These will keep dropping at enormous rates within the next month and a half.

I wrote how this bubble was unsustainable a while ago.

 

[David G]

more and more people are jumping into the domain game (thus raising prices)

The problem is with open-ended unregulated pricing looming on the horizon (assuming that happens) with the obvious prospect of the registry charging yearly renewal fees in many cases of 100s or even 1000s of dollars I can't imagine growth in the industry but instead see a decline in domaining in the future :worried:

 

[Stian]

Were LLLL.coms registered in 2007-2008 ever worth anything at all? .. Names like vdqw.com and vgaq.com obviously have no value imho.

 

[DigiNames]

Were LLLL.coms registered in 2007-2008 ever worth anything at all? .. Names like vdqw.com and vgaq.com obviously have no value imho.

They may not have ever had intrinsic value, but there was a period after the LLLL.coms sold out that I would see some people buy almost any 4L for maybe $40-50...It just couldn't last very long once these people got their fill, and there was no others to take their place.

 

[Credit]

They may not have ever had intrinsic value, but there was a period after the LLLL.coms sold out that I would see some people buy almost any 4L for maybe $40-50...It just couldn't last very long once these people got their fill, and there was no others to take their place.

It has to do with the registration dates/renewal times. Hence the fluctuations.

Most of the LLLLs were bought out in late October, early November of 07 (I think the 14th was the actual date). People we're scooping them up by the thousands trying to drive and simultaneously profit on the demand bubble. Within 2-3 months, prices went up to at least $30 a pop, primarily driven by the low profile resellers on the other domain forum.

Once the summer came around and thousands of these started approaching expiration dates, the supply skyrocketed and prices went below reg fee.

Renewing hundreds of thousands of crappy LLLL.coms simply gives extra profit to the registrars - the majority of these domains have no intrinsic value.

 

[DNBA]

well, half of these have been re-registered since youve posted this. its still not a total dead market. I think catchy web 2.0 sounding names CVCV's, VCVC's, AABB's ect... still have a market place. I think with this economy, people arent taking risks with highly speculative domains.

 

[dazzleinteractive]

are those good ?

 

[katherine]

I think catchy web 2.0 sounding names CVCV's, VCVC's, AABB's ect... still have a market place.

Agreed. Unfortunately those dropping seldom belong to that category

 

[stewie]

thx for heads up anyway... :yo:

 

[DomainMagnate]

Now looking back I guess it did fail. But back then 1.5 years ago the prices got up to about $60 min for LLLL.com and no one would sell theirs waiting for the values to go up..

 

[skynic]

50 llllcoms left , since your posted
Wait and see

 

[Jeffreyw]

I almost fell for LLLL.com frenzy about two years ago, well actually i did, but little monetary damage though. I bought one for 80$, and two others thankfully for under 20$.

I almost bought one LLLL.com at Namejet for 400$, and thank God, my credit card was rejected. Whew.

 

[DTalk]

We sometimes forget that X,Q,W etc are huge Chinese letters...and, mainland China + the Chinese diaspora are the fastest growth group on the internet. They may well have increasingly good value to Chinese buyers & end users.


Not suggesting you buy up all those kinds of LLLL's, but, sometimes we can be a bit western-centric in our thinking, imo...

.