The most valuable worthless domains.

[draggar]

If a domain is valuable, then it will be valuable no matter what you do with it (aside from being banned from Google etc..). But, the opposite is true. You can have a domain that is worth a reg fee at best but with good markieting and design, you can turn it into a multi million dollar domain / business.

Some examples (IMO):
Google.com
Microsoft.com
LinkedIn.com

All of these domains, without the businesses attached to them, would definatley (IMO) be worth in the low $xx range.

While I would consider domains like MySpace and Facebook.com good candidates, the keyword combinations aren't that bad (true, though, the value as they are now is far beyond the value of just the domain).

I think DNForum.com could be abother one - LLForum.com is a good kind to have especially with the meaning of DN (Domain Name).

Any other domains people can think of that fit this?

 

[Yusio]

There are MILLIONS of these types of domains. DigitalPoint, SoftLayer, GoDaddy, GameSpot (might be worth a decent about on its own, but it's definitely worth a lot more developed). Pretty much any domain developed is worth more than it is on its own. Neowin.net is a HUGE forum/article site that, if it wasn't developed, i don't think the domain would be worth much more than $100. However it is developed, and with almost 250,000 members and over 6million posts, I'm sure its up in the low, mid $xxx,xxx range now.

 

[mvl]

icio.us is imo the ultimate example

flickr.com is another one that I would not want for free

 

[draggar]

There are MILLIONS of these types of domains. DigitalPoint, SoftLayer, GoDaddy, GameSpot (might be worth a decent about on its own, but it's definitely worth a lot more developed). Pretty much any domain developed is worth more than it is on its own. Neowin.net is a HUGE forum/article site that, if it wasn't developed, i don't think the domain would be worth much more than $100. However it is developed, and with almost 250,000 members and over 6million posts, I'm sure its up in the low, mid $xxx,xxx range now.

I'll agree, even higher ends like cnn.com, aaa.com etc.. are worth a lot more than the domains but I'm looking for names that are worth reg fee at best, ones that if you saw for sale here for $10 (or less) you'd pass on it.

I think your best examples are NeoWin and SoftLayer. (Honestly, I think if it wasn't for the business, GoDaddy would be a porn site!).

icio.us is imo the ultimate example

flickr.com is another one that I would not want for free

Excellent examples and I have to agree, icio.us is the best example. I think most of us would laugh at it, there really isn't much of a call for LLLL.us domains right now.

 

[Yusio]

Honestly, I think if it wasn't for the business, GoDaddy would be a porn site!

LOL, I didn't even consider that, but now that I think about it, it probably would.

 

[Donald Aquilano]

You guys forgot.......

yahoo.com
wikipedia.org
Friendster.com
clicksor.com
MetroFlog.com
Globo.com
Tribalfusion.com
Veoh.com
Imeem.com
quizrocket.com

I could go on.

 

[Compassion]

zillow.com

 

[james2002]

flickr.com

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

It is no surprise that trademarks have value.

 

[fab]

The domains don't have value. The web-sites do. It's like saying do companies names have value or do their services have value.

 

[cleverlyslick]

YOUTUBE.COM LOl- 50 mill viewers/day and ridiculous amounts in ads.

THISIS50.COM-rapper 50 cent website according to website outlook makes $1,000/day in ads with 700,000 views/day.

facebook.com- worth over $800,000,000 now.

The domains don't have value. The web-sites do. It's like saying do companies names have value or do their services have value.

i agree.

 

[Bill Roy]

Domains can have value because some people type them in with the .com extension (much lesser type in with other extensions), in such a case a value can be worked out using income from PPC advertising and optimisation. This value can be enhanced to an end user by withdrawing the ability of competitors to advertise on such a domain whilst advertising their own product, thus generally an end-user value is much higher than any domaining value. This though is the 'bread and butter' of the domaining industry.

What makes a reg-fee domain into a great domain though is development or development potential. Now selling a domain with a development idea or already developed is harder but much more rewarding financially. The name has to have 'marketability' - it has to be associated with the product or it has to be memorable enough to be brandable. But when you have such a name and an associated idea the domain value can easily be in the stratosphere to what such a domain would be worth to a domainer.

As mvl points out 'icio.us' is the great example of this as it has been developed as del.icio.us, but here it is nothing even to do with recipes or food or drink, or beauty, etc., but is used as a memorable brandable name. It is an area that is drastically overlooked by domainers, who in my opinion, have greatly missed the boat. Most good HDN's (Hacked Domain Names) have for example already been registered, yet these produce little income from PPC without development, but they have a value way above that calculated by general domainers using the normal domaining algorithm.

The weirdness of the success of Google.com, eBay.com, Del.icio.us, etc., is not the domain name but the development they underwent. The development outstripped the name, i.e. they became 'branded' dispite their domain name, it was the development that succeeded. In comparrison MySpace.com, Business.com, Blo.gs, etc. used the domain as descriptive and then branded along an already perceived use of the domain name. The trick for domainers therefore is to find a domain name that fits one of these two criteria and either develop it themselves or be able to sell it to a developer on the basis of development potential. :yes:

 

[.h2o.]

Yeah, that was my complaint for estibot.com's appraisal of the "domain name only" of Google to be at 17,000,000 when it should be about reg fee.

 

[Yusio]

You guys forgot.......

yahoo.com
wikipedia.org
Friendster.com
clicksor.com
MetroFlog.com
Globo.com
Tribalfusion.com
Veoh.com
Imeem.com
quizrocket.com

I could go on.

I actually think wikipedia holds some value.. Wiki means usergenerated and pedia.. is information or w.e. that means. lol So the domain in a way makes sense and is worth something in my book.

Edit: Found a better answer for my wikipedia statement: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071122204326AAM2OJJ

 

[krossat]

brandables are junk until developed to pump in some value.
content is king.

 

[rebirth]

I'll cast my vote to reddit.com.

Reg fee!

 

[Sonny Banks]

Domains can have value because some people type them in with the .com extension (much lesser type in with other extensions), in such a case a value can be worked out using income from PPC advertising and optimisation. This value can be enhanced to an end user by withdrawing the ability of competitors to advertise on such a domain whilst advertising their own product, thus generally an end-user value is much higher than any domaining value. This though is the 'bread and butter' of the domaining industry.

What makes a reg-fee domain into a great domain though is development or development potential. Now selling a domain with a development idea or already developed is harder but much more rewarding financially. The name has to have 'marketability' - it has to be associated with the product or it has to be memorable enough to be brandable. But when you have such a name and an associated idea the domain value can easily be in the stratosphere to what such a domain would be worth to a domainer.

As mvl points out 'icio.us' is the great example of this as it has been developed as del.icio.us, but here it is nothing even to do with recipes or food or drink, or beauty, etc., but is used as a memorable brandable name. It is an area that is drastically overlooked by domainers, who in my opinion, have greatly missed the boat. Most good HDN's (Hacked Domain Names) have for example already been registered, yet these produce little income from PPC without development, but they have a value way above that calculated by general domainers using the normal domaining algorithm.

The weirdness of the success of Google.com, eBay.com, Del.icio.us, etc., is not the domain name but the development they underwent. The development outstripped the name, i.e. they became 'branded' dispite their domain name, it was the development that succeeded. In comparrison MySpace.com, Business.com, Blo.gs, etc. used the domain as descriptive and then branded along an already perceived use of the domain name. The trick for domainers therefore is to find a domain name that fits one of these two criteria and either develop it themselves or be able to sell it to a developer on the basis of development potential. :yes:

Great post. :clap2:

 

[stewie]

craigslist.org

:yo: