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A couple weeks ago we sold Luxury.Estate for $50,000 USD

Personally I think it was a very fair price for the buyer and the seller and for domain investors you should know that this domain was purchased on day 5 of the EAP program roughly costing under $200. That is $49,000 + return on a 60 day investment of less than a couple hundred bucks.

Yes, these new GTLD’s do not work at all :-)

Don’t get wrapped up in the drama folks. The industry is going to make these a win and when they do – we all win.

It’s not a race, it’s a marathon.

When the new GTLD’s started rolling out earlier this year almost everyone had an opinion. Some said they would fail while others praised the innovation in this space. Fast forward a few months later and over 1,000,000 new GTLD’s have been registered. I’m not sure about you but I think they have been an astounding success for a number of reasons.

A wealth of big corporations have been buying up solid brand domains for possible development and not just brand protection. From Lonely Planet (travel.photography) to RetailMeNot (100’s of .codes domains) to well, just about anyone.
It’s not only big brands they are also thousands of small business who now own a cool domain and as months pass we will see further adoption.
Donuts (the monster in this space) rolled out early access pricing where premium domains often have a $1,000 a year renewal fee and if you want to buy it on Day 1 of the EPA program it could cost you $10,000 or more. Well, it hasn’t stopped those with the budget. They are selling them faster than Krispy Kreme’s in many extensions.
Heck, Google has even come out and said they are investing in the domain space on a registrar level.
Why is this Important?

All of this translates to more money and interest in the domaining space as a whole. This is not a zero sum game but an expansion of the industry we love so much.

Even the infamous free give away by .XYZ has people talking about these new domains and if you go back a few years ago that is what almost everyone wanted – more press about domains. Whether or not you agree with .XYZ’s approach no one will remember this in five years but they probably will remember the extension.

All in all the negative opinions on these new GTLD’s generally come from a lack of understanding about the cost of marketing, a reactive action to protecting .com or a simple disbelief about domaining in general. The fact is they are here, people are buying and they work. End of story.

Does this mean you should invest in a new GTLD?

Monday morning quarterbacks. Doesn’t everybody love them? There is no right answer for this because it depends on so many variables. 20 years into this industry we are still looking for a valuation tool that has the accuracy of a real estate appraisal so to answer yes or no to such a vague question is impossible.

One company that does deserve an award in this space however is Donuts. By pioneering the EAP pricing model for these new GTLD’s they have created separation between investment and speculation. This is extremely important since any new GTLD needs adoption long term and by adding a higher price value many premiums are in the hands of people who will hopefully use them some day.

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