This posts discusses the unique potential of the top quality CVCV.com names and provides valuable tips and updates on where to get them at bargain prices.

LLLL.com remains the most frequently traded type of domains between domainers on the forums and it’s thus important to know the prices and be aware of the market trends and potential.

High end 4L.com’s names, mostly cvcv.com had the highest increase as of lately and it’s not surprising. There are only 2500 quad premium (e.g. only containing the premium letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T) CVCV.com domains (consonant, vowel, consonant, vowel, e.g. topa.com, dola.com, nama.com etc.). Out of these names containing H and F are lesser quality. Another 2100 cvcv domains consist of the above letters and one of: U, K; which are considered the best of the non premium letters. And add to these another 1500 domains including V, or W and some of the above mentioned letters. In my opinion these 2500+2100+1500 = 6100 names are the top of the creme 4 letter domains. Other letters: Z,X,Y,J,Q are usually harder to make a brand of and are less attractive to a western, English speaking person. (more…)

Check out this recent DNF thread

Who Really Knows?
I go against all the “rules” here for buying domain names. I get super long names (3-4 words my norm), often with hyphens and always a .org or .net. In the appraisal section, my names always get no response, 0 or “reg fee” values.

For instance, I offer up my watch-videos.net, a name everyone here said was a dog. And I agree. What’s to like? But somehow, someway…well, here are its last 6-month stats at parked.com:
Domain Name Clicks Revenue
watch-videos.net 2,751 $196.75

And I’ll share these few more examples of modest parking successes.
Domain Name Clicks Revenue (6-month parking stats)
stateboardofequalization.org 184 $209.58
equalemploymentopportunitycommission.org 61 $194.58 (more…)

An interesting post over at the NameBio blog about aged domains:

Recently, I came into possession of a domain name registered in 1991. This domain has been continuously renewed for 17 years. (its almost old enough to vote!). However, Ive run into a few question marks, specifically in regards to determining value. Clearly older domain names have Value, they are garbled up at the expired domain auctions quite consistently, and although most caliber domainers will say that “age is but a small factor” when it comes to a VERY old domain, it can certainly become one of the most important factors.

Why is age so desired? Primarily because all the good domains were taken first, thus in theory all of the quality domain names, should be old. I find this too be a reasonably accurate statement, with exceptions on both ends. Yes, some new domains are quite valuable (new technologies, new trends) and some old domains really have nothing to offer but a history of continuous renewal. (more…)

New LLLL.com price guide is out by Reece and we can see that prices have slowed a bit:

Data derived from TDVR.com, the largest LLLL.com database. Numbers in parentheses reflect Feb 17, 2008 statistics. Current prices reflect the results of the 500 most recent reported LLLL.com sales within the Feb 25, 2008 through Mar 5, 2008 timeframe.

*Minimum Wholesale : $48.00 ($52.00) -> 8%

10th percentile: $59.00 ($60.00) -> 2%

25th percentile: $65.00 ($67.00) -> 3%

Median: $85.00 ($81.00) -> 5%

75th percentile: $126.00 ($150.00) -> 16%

90th percentile: $400.00 ($445.00) -> 10%

How did this happen, what are the reasons and will the prices keep growing in future?

1. (more…)

This is a complete guide on domain scammers that shows how to recognize and avoid scammers while trading domains.

There are several popular scamming schemes:

1. Scammer sells stolen domains

How it works:

Scammer trying to sell quickly a stolen domain for a bargain price.

A domain can be stolen by hacking into the a email address associated with it - like yahoo, or hotmail; or by means of social engineering, e.g. if a scammer contacts the registrar support and pretends to be the owner of the domain who forgot the password. Stealing passwords is also possible through keyloggers and trojans installed on the domain owner’s computer.

How to avoid having a domain stolen?

- don’t use free email addresses in your domain contact details. Most people still do this and it puts their valuable domain assets as higher risk. Instead use an email address from your own domain.
- install and run an antivirus and antispyware software, update it frequently and run scans. Here is a good guide on cleaning your computer from spyware and viruses.
- always use strong passwords, random letters and numbers that are near each other on the keyboard. Use different passwords for everything and a password manager to keep track of them. Roboform is recommended. Change the passwords once in a while.
- keep your whois contacts and registrar information up to date (more…)

Change Your Domain Details Right After Buying

We all buy and sell domains on a daily basis and frequently the domains are not updated after the purchase. Buyer forgets or puts off changing the new owner information, or dns, thus still allowing the previous owner to earn the parking revenue. As strange as it may sound, but this situation is very common and frequently even leads to conflicts and losses, for example then a domainer realizes he doesn’t control the domain he purchased because he didn’t change the whois and the domain expired.

Always take this as a rule: right after you buy a domain first thing you do is change contact details (some registrars don’t do that for you automatically after the push, like Dotster, for example), change dns and add the domain to your parking accounts and to your domains list. Keep tracks of all your purchases and sales.

Do it now, thank me later