Domain purchase, wise or waste?

by zulfnore

Posted: 14 years ago 15 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

I have just purchased what seems to be a recently dropped domain name - onlinemegastore.net. Estibot.com is valuing it at $170 and valuate.com at $130 which seems about right. A couple other site valued it in thousands!

My question is this - have I made a wise decision to buy and register for 3 years or is it a waste?

Thanks in advance,
Zulf

#domain #purchase #waste #wise

thinkrich 14 years ago

First thing that comes to mind is to do a search engine listing of all links that come from or link back to that site.

This can indicate how many active links there are still out there for an expired domain.

Then it depends on what you want to do with the site.

But, yes, I think it is very good domain name for you to have.

I also feel it is potentially a very good earner for you.

Best of luck!
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cassidywilliams 14 years ago

Those domain name valuators are all way off and it doesn't mean a thing. Generally 3-word domains aren't worth much. This particular domain name also doesn't have any good SEO keywords in it and .net extension isn't helping you.
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Rob Thayer 14 years ago

If you're looking to flip the domain (unlikely, since you registered it for 3 years), I would say that your odds are probably not too good.

However... if you're looking for a general-purpose domain name for an ecommerce store, I don't see anything wrong with it. Is it worth a lot? No. But then again, YouTube.com, Facebook.com and eBay.com were all once virtually worthless. It depends on what you do with it!

So good luck to you... become the next Internet giant!
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GrahamHobbs 14 years ago

Here are a list of domain auction sites I ran across. One I used a long time ago (don't remember which one now) allowed you to place a reserve on it, meaning that if it didn't get bids of at least that amount it didn't sell, so you wouldn't loose it to a lucky low bidder.

1. sedo dot com
2. GoDaddy Auctions (formerly tdnam.com) Best Sites to Buy and Sell Domain Names and Finished Websites
3. AfternicDLS
4. Domainfest Global
5. SnapNames
6. Aftermarket dot com
7. NameJet
8. eHot dot net
9. RickLatona dot com
10. Moniker Escrow
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Rus Sells 14 years ago

Use archive.org to find out what these sites have been used for before.

Check the backlinks, check to see if the content is still available and can be re-purposed.
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zulfnore 14 years ago

Some great feedback guys and all very much appreciated. flipping it was the last thing on my mind - what spured me on to register it for 3 years is the use I had in mind.

My plan is to have WPMU set up with satelite "Stores" subdomains in varies niches making one mega store. The entire set up will have one custom theme with built in shopping cart, product managment, order fulfillment and affiliate managment facilities.

Not yet decided if I go it alone and create all or sublet the satelite stores allowing others to create their own with full control. Still on the planning board.

@Rus Sells - archive.org was a great suggestions. Found out that the domain expired quiet sometime ago and had been parked for a good number of years before that. I guess it is a fresh start with it all.

@Graham - thanks for those auction sites, some of them I never knew about! Cheers
@Rob I appreciate your input. True say of flop today could turn out a great flip tomorrow while at the same time a good flip today could end up a flop tomorrow.
@Cassidy - going for the net was for two reasons 1) .com was not available & 2) As my plan is to set up a network of stores I felt .NET was more appropriate? Could be wrong in thinking!
@Thinkrich - I like your positive thinking, thanks buddy.

If my plan is floored hit me with the truth -- looking for honest feedbacks no matter how harsh they may be
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sbucciarel Banned 14 years ago

Those domain name valuators don't really accurately value a domain name. You have wasted your money if you waste the domain. It's an alright domain, but undeveloped, it's just another undeveloped domain name.

Do something great with it.
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Rus Sells 14 years ago

Oh and by the way,

You have accurately valued what those domains are worth by what you paid for them.

= )
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D_M_S 14 years ago

It's not a .COM . . . . worthless IMO
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- sbucciarel Banned 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by D_M_S
  
  It's not a .COM . . . . worthless IMO
  
  You're right ... but wait! What happened here?
  Half Million Dollar Sale at Sedo and .CO Landrush Auction Sales Dominate This Week's Domain Sales Chart
  
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  $2,010 with Bank.pro
  
  Thanks
  
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zulfnore 14 years ago

Cheers guys.

OK let me go get it all going with the set up I had in mind and perhaps come back with something solid to look at and then evaluate with further feedbacks.
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zulfnore 14 years ago

WOW! I guess its not so much the TLD that matters much than the catchy kewyword name eh! Am sure I did a post once on TLDs titled "Is The Dot Com Stigma Costing you?" somewhere
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- zulfnore 14 years ago
  
  OK I have a sample site up - just wondering if it changes anyone's opinion now that you can see what I am trying to achieve?
  
  Will have the ability for user to sign up for their own store i.e store1.thedomainname.net and so on. The featured section will be offered as a premium ad spot to five sites on a first come first serve basis.
  
  There's the ability to sell physical or digital products.Each satelite store will will have its own built in affiliate recruitment and management, own shopping cart ready built in and can sell own products or link out to affiliate products such as eBay, Amazon and Clickbank. And thats just the begining.
  
  I will take any suggestions into consideration and as before all feedbacks are appreciated.
  
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Darren Cottingham 14 years ago

Personally I think that domain has potential value, but there's probably many available domains for $11 that you could get that would be better.
You've got kids as a category (btw, ditch 'category' out of your permalink). So, what are they buying in that category? The only way that domain will be useful is if it contains keywords that support searches within Google. E.g. if someone's searching 'kids store' then you might get a hit on the fact you've got kids and store in the URL.
But you'd need to do some keyword research before you can determine whether that is actually worthwhile or not. A quick look on Google, and it doesn't seem that many people search "kids store".
So, do some keyword research, then decide whether you want to buy a different domain name. Then you can use that research as a selling point to your potential store holders.
One other thing (and you can slam me for being pessimistic if you want): Amazon is the 800lb gorilla in this market place. Do you want to go up against the 800lb gorilla, or might it be better to make your store way more niche (easier for SEO, etc)?...just my opinion

Darren
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zulfnore 14 years ago

Great advice @Daren, much appreciated

The current set up is just a mock (fake data) and not the actual site - its there just to show the concept, look and feel of what the stores will be like. The main site will mainly link out to the sitelite stores as featured content.

The idea is to have it as a cross-niche oriented mega store made up of multi niche stores. For example there could be a WP niche store and another for say Weightloss niche store. I don't know, does that make sense?

The dilema I would have in this scenario is customer support! Will customers be happy shopping in multiple stores with multiple vendors in one location? Will they understand that customer support is a vendor's responsibility or will they want it all in one place?

And you are right about the big players out there and no my attempt is not to go against Amazon or the likes. I simply wana grab a slice of the cake and eat if they allow me
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