December 5, 2001

8:47 AM

Are the days of speculative domain buying and hoarding over? On the one hand we've got places that still expect to get $40,000 for lame domain names like NY1.info and then there's splorp.com's domain name of the week, which provides some pretty cool names for the taking.

How many domain names do you own? I only own two, not counting suffix variations and my wife's business domain, but I know some people who have lots more. My office mate routinely registers domain names (just the other day we were talking about how rollajoin.com would be a funny name for a database tutorial site and he registered it that night), and I have another friend who owns laid-off.com and wants to give it away. So are domain names still gold or have they been reduced to trinkets?
posted by mccreath (52 comments total)

I own uno domain name: NothingFun.com !!!

I would say the days of speculation and hoarding are still going strong.
posted by howa2396 at 8:53 AM on December 5, 2001

NY1 is the name of a NYC-only news/entertainment channel. that's why they want 40k for it
posted by panopticon at 9:01 AM on December 5, 2001

can i show my naivity here please?

if i want to buy my domain name, how can i outright own it? do i have to keep paying someone all the time?

is there a dummy's guide to how this works?
posted by Frasermoo at 9:02 AM on December 5, 2001

yes it's over
posted by computerface at 9:08 AM on December 5, 2001

amianthraxornot.com is still available. Get it while you can!!!
posted by adampsyche at 9:09 AM on December 5, 2001

I wanted this...

http://www.sgtpepperslonelyheartsclubband.com

but someone got there before me.
I reckon that if you own a name then you should use it.
If you don't use it then the website should go back on the market.

That's my view.
posted by Spoon at 9:15 AM on December 5, 2001

Yeah, after buying a couple two years ago I'm starting to get the renewal notices, thereby forcing a decision. tubifex.com was supposed to be the site for me and my friend's electronica band. Problem is we never made any music.
posted by jeremias at 9:20 AM on December 5, 2001

not over -- while there's relief coming for official IP addresses when IPv6 comes out, I don't see the english lexicon growing by massive leaps and bounds any time soon (then again, I usually have my head in the sand about such matters) -- and I don't see a different way of navigating the web. If it's over, it's only because many of the obvious ones are taken (one word names, acronyms.). Tons of phrases, I suppose, are still around, but after you hit 25 characters or so, what's the use -- how many people, for example, know how many DIEs really are in alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die?

(ok, so there's a good chance there's three.)
posted by fishfucker at 9:23 AM on December 5, 2001

I own two.... scotomy.com....jinyahuang.com (my girlfriend's future site)

I haven't had the time to completely develop either site, but I'll get to it.

Did notice that www.dotcomdotnetdotcomdotnet.com was available...Gotta hurry and grab that one...
posted by Benway at 9:25 AM on December 5, 2001

and it strikes me there's probably a .celebrity., or .star.trek. in there somewhere as well, or even rec.star.trek.celebrity -- see!?!? too many characters!
posted by fishfucker at 9:32 AM on December 5, 2001

I own several, since I found 000domains.com. They used to charge $12, but I think it's gone up a buck or two. My main site is keelhauling.com, but I also wanted to lock up domain names for my kids since I figured by the time they're old enough to want their own, there would be nothing left under 20 characters. Of course their first names.com were already gone, but I got 123Travis.com, 123Nick.com, 123Matthew.com and 123 Colin.com. Oh, and parkerfamily.net which is a gateway site to all the other sites and the email forwarding. BTW, zoneedit.com rocks for managing URLs if you don't have your own server(s) - free DNS name servers, mail forwarding and URL forwarding to a specific page.
posted by JParker at 9:33 AM on December 5, 2001

Uh oh. Matt better buy these up, and quick!
posted by panopticon at 9:34 AM on December 5, 2001

What an amusing little game this is...
I've just been over at the Yahoo domains site and found the following little gems were available for $35 a year:

MetaFilter.biz
MetaTalk.net/org/biz/info
MeFiPolice.com
MetaFilterians.com
MeFi.net
MeFiMeTa.com
Meta-Filter.com
Troll.biz
Doubleposters.com

The possibilities are endless!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 9:35 AM on December 5, 2001

4
posted by semper at 9:38 AM on December 5, 2001

i've got a .org for my work site a .org for an african site and a .net for quarsan

i think that if you're not using a domain, then it should expire and let others have a go
posted by quarsan at 9:40 AM on December 5, 2001

I have MetaMadness.com... muahaha.
posted by mkn at 9:51 AM on December 5, 2001

I've only got two, but one is a free domain with an adbar at the bottom.

http://www.symbiophrenia.com

http://www.thepresidentisdead.com

When I got it through namedemo, I was suprised that the bottom one was even available, though.
posted by trioperative at 9:52 AM on December 5, 2001

I think that domains are still well worth owning if you're interested in building sites for yourself. Obviously no one believes that just owning the right name is any guarantee of busines success any more, but for personal interests, they're still just as valuable.

I have two; one I bought because something in the name appealed to me (provenanceunknown.com -- though I go back and forth on whether I actually like that name, and it is damn long. On the other hand, it does work as a theme for a site, I think), and the other, mediaskeptic.com/.org, because I actually have something I want to do with it, though I presently lack the time and expertise to build it....
posted by mattpfeff at 9:53 AM on December 5, 2001

Yes, domains are trinkets. Most domain speculators are like 49ers who joined the California Gold Rush, just to go home broke because there are a million ways companies and organizations can register a variation on their name and be happy with it.

I wouldn't be surprised if 90 percent of registered domains belong to speculators and good intentioned people who never got around to making their web site.
posted by fleener at 9:55 AM on December 5, 2001

GrabItFast.com
posted by Outlawyr at 10:08 AM on December 5, 2001

One guy I work with actually sold a domain he was squatting on for $10K, but that was about two months before the first dot-com meltdown in 2000.

I only have one domain registered personally, though I have considered registering one other one in the event I ever wanted to use it. I check up on it once in a while to make sure it's still available, but I don't expect it to get bought out from under me because it's not a real word.
posted by briank at 10:18 AM on December 5, 2001

Frasermoo: the long and the short of it is that you can't buy them outright and you have to keep paying money to Internic or whoever, though of course with a lot you can pay for many years in advance but if you forget to renew it's no longer yours. Shop around, more personal service is definitely worth it the first time around and you can get deals on webforwarding etc.
My two:
http://www.zootoon.com and
http://www.confutatis.com.
There, I finally self-linked.
posted by Zootoon at 10:19 AM on December 5, 2001

I have three:

hkitty.com - my web development "business," which hasn't been updated in two years, gets almost no hits, and has generated almost no income.

blogfucker.com - which housed my blog until i got bored with it.

and, most interestingly:

weallhaveaids.org - This MeFi thread inspired me to buy it. I keep saying I'm going to use it as an AIDS info repository and fundraiser--once i get off my ass and do it.
posted by jpoulos at 10:26 AM on December 5, 2001

Six, only two of which have independent content, although a third *used* to have material -- but then Blogger got absurdly slow, I went on vacation, and just kinda lost the spark.

It's sort of like my own personal dotcom implosion.
posted by aramaic at 10:31 AM on December 5, 2001

I've got 2 now... one is a family name that is just being used for mail forwarding for the 25 or so in my family, and noodlehoops.com Which has been my personal one for years now... you gota love non-sensical words that tend to stick with you... first it was a RHPS Line taht went wrong, then it was a RHPS cast name, then it was a breifly used paintball team name, then it was the name on my business license.. who knows whats next :-)

Althogh it's no longer around, someone I knew thought it was an interesting sounding name, that they once ran a business under "noodleGROUPS.com"

Now - If I could JUST get nitehawk.com I'd be a happy camper

nH
posted by niteHawk at 10:34 AM on December 5, 2001

I own 64 domains. I sold one a few years ago to a credit card company for enough money to add an extra room to the house we were buying. Since then, I'm determined to give all of that money back to registrars by registering every stupid domain name that pops into my head. One of my latest: lesbianlovescene.com.
posted by rcade at 10:35 AM on December 5, 2001

I have... i dunno, 10? But I use all of them actively. Had 10 more but it's been over a year since the register/staples $1/domain deal.
posted by jedrek at 11:03 AM on December 5, 2001

I have a bunch. Some I got because they sounded cool, some I got for projects I haven't got around to yet. I didn't register anything specifically to try to sell it.

I sold manual.com for five figures earlier this year, but that wasn't one I was squatting on, I had actually had that since registrations were free and was using it for my freelance tech writing business.
posted by kindall at 11:21 AM on December 5, 2001

I have johnmunsch.com which is where my blog, link lists, and various software projects go. I've also got EphemeraStudios.com (only starting at this point), PetSite.net (unlikely to ever get used, planning to let it expire unless somebody wants to buy it at cost), and ScratchwareGames.com (I'll probably hang onto that one for another year or so, I have hopes that my first game will be out in that timeframe).

Without a doubt though, my best domain is LOL.com. I haven't used it yet but I can guarantee you I will.
posted by johnmunsch at 11:35 AM on December 5, 2001

We have five - two of which host our blogs, one hosts a metaphysical site, one hosts a site for flash animations, and one hosts a site for fiction. But we think of funny domain names all the time. We'd be broker (broker?) than we are now if we registered every one we thought of - LOL.

What annoys me are the people who buy domain names and then just use them for a sales portal. Happened with the domain I wanted for my blog site - I was waiting for it to expire (previously owned), and it did. Then I was waiting for Network Solutions to 'release' it. Next thing I know it's one of those generic 'shop here' portals that has no creative link to the name at all. At least the .ORG version was still available. Not that I think anyone should judge who or what 'deserves' any certain name or who's using what name in an applicable way, but geesh - it's just plain annoying. Addendum - just looked again and now it's for sale again. But now I'm established elsewhere - BLAH! LOL.
posted by thunder at 11:39 AM on December 5, 2001

I've got:
me3dia.com (active, advertised on MeFi)
completewasteofa.com (page up, but inactive for now)
weathertrain.com (active, my little brother's personal site)
newtoit.com (inactive, no page)

I used to have newtowork.com, which I bought along with newtoit when I though I'd be creating a webzine for people entering the workforce for the first time, but I never got around to it. Anyone want to buy newtoit? It'd make a great sex site...
posted by me3dia at 11:50 AM on December 5, 2001

Doh! Apparently I still have newtowork, but let newtoit lapse. That was a mistake -- I coulda been making millions on porn!

Shoot.
posted by me3dia at 11:52 AM on December 5, 2001

I own 40-50 domains, a handful of 'em bought when Network Solutions was the only game in town and they charged $75 per.

I've gotten five offers for doublethink.com in the last few years, but not one deal panned out. Can't say I'm too disappointed, 'cause something very wonderful will live there one of these days (same with blogagog.com, assoul.com, and 18-49.com).
posted by KLAX at 11:56 AM on December 5, 2001

Right now I own 7. I've bought domain names which are names of everyone in my family, and I also own riffola.com, 7evenyearitch.com, and everythin.org. I used to own 1billion.org, mj1.net, lastmistake.com, and alltheyoungdudes.com
posted by riffola at 12:14 PM on December 5, 2001

I've just got the one, but have been considering buying sdrawkcabnettirw.com for years (writtenbackwards), and also moebiuswebsite.com.
posted by j.edwards at 12:18 PM on December 5, 2001

I own beansbeansthemagicalfruit.com. I just couldn't pass that one up. Unfortunately, having a job has impeded my progress on the Fart-Joke-Dictionary I was working on.

Strangely, I haven't heard anything from Old El Paso yet, but feel free to drop me a note at dave (at) beansbeansthemagicalfruit.com!

I have about 3 other domains, one for my blog, one for another neglected project, and one for my resume. at $9 a pop (godaddy.com), it's almost cheaper than a movie and lasts all year.
posted by daver at 12:26 PM on December 5, 2001

I only own one domain. That's enough for me.

I used to own this one as well, which I wanted to use for portfolio / resume purposes, but never really did much with it so I put up a notice saying I'd sell it to whoever was interested. I got an email within two weeks and I made back my 15 bucks that I had left on it. No fuss, no muss.
posted by melissa at 12:40 PM on December 5, 2001

I own somewhere around 50 or so, for reasons from the personal to the professional to the inane. What can I say - whenever a stupid potential project pops into my head, it's worth the $10 or so to reserve the name for whenever I might get around to making it. (Admittedly, I don't know when exactly I'll find the time to create my dorky consulting website, much less turn weedneeds.com into the 420 lifestyle accessory place I'd originally envisioned for it... but once I finally get around to them, it's comforting to know that they're there.)
posted by youhas at 1:00 PM on December 5, 2001

I've owned 4 over the course of my web lifetime.

I got mcguinness.cx when christmas island was giving them out for free. I then paid for one year when they started charging for them. I then let it go.

My next one was eww,gene!com which I still own and will probably hold on for ever and ever.

I then had 2 for pet projects which I let lapse after a year: manualstimulation.com - a group blog about masturbation (which no one contributed to much..... and its still up as well, even though my namedemo account expired early last month. :P), and unionstagehand.com which was another group blog, but for union stagehands like myself ( the problem with that being that stagehands werent very internet savvy, and even though i got 25 people to sign up, not a singl one ever posted a damn thing. :( )
posted by ewwgene at 1:08 PM on December 5, 2001

i own 8 but I used to own several more that I've gratefully given away. I realized that I can't create every site that I have an idea for, so it's better to limit yourself to only a few.

Pardon my usage for advertisement, but I have locolour.com, revous.com, and blueigloo.org that I would like to unload. Please contact me at [e-mail] if you'd like one of them, i'm trying to unload them and I promise I won't ask for much.

other domains i own are: madclouds.com, beforeitwasround.com, undiscovered.nu, undiscover.nu and another one that is tippity top secret.
posted by igloo at 1:09 PM on December 5, 2001

I bought 2 domains a few months ago, when EasyGroup was suing and settling with anyone who had Easy___ as a domain name (lots of stories on it at TheRegister). I've been waiting for the letter from their lawyers, but nothing yet. Maybe if I actually put up some content I would get some attention.
posted by yesster at 1:19 PM on December 5, 2001

I have ComputerMeat.com, SitiGuru.net and my name.com.

I'm thinking of purchasing pissguzzlinggrandmothers.com
posted by Modem Ovary at 1:29 PM on December 5, 2001

Anyone who wanted to set up a Welsh porn site could take their pick of juicy TLDs. Actually, this isn't as surprising as the fact that so many are being squatted.

"sex" - rhiw.com is squatted but rhiw.org and .net are available

"naked" - .com and .net are being squatted - and don't click on noeth.org, whatever you do

"lesbian" - lesbiad.com, lesbiad.net, lesbiad.org are all available (hey, where'd rcade go?)

"asses" - tinau.net, tinau.org are ripe for the plucking

"fuck" - yep, cnuch.com, cnuch.net and cnuch.org, all available

Um, that's probably enough, right?
posted by ceiriog at 1:33 PM on December 5, 2001

I've managed to limit myself to three domains: one my personal site used to be on, one it is currently on, and the sadly unused talentlesshack.com, bought about a year ago after a long night of designing ugly, ugly websites. (I'd never give it up, though.. I get too much enjoyment out of owning it.)
posted by jess at 2:11 PM on December 5, 2001

i have my epersonae.com site, plus my hubby's name.org, and q-writers.org - for a writers' group I belong to. we've been sort of erratic about using the site, and I almost lost the domain recently. there's another name that I keep thinking of registering, from an idea that a friend & I had a long time ago. but we've never gotten around to working on it, so I haven't registered the name. (no, I won't tell you what it is, either.)
posted by epersonae at 2:18 PM on December 5, 2001

I have my last name.com, a few other variations of a project when I was thinking of going freelance and didn't, another domain I liked and bought just in case. Problem is they all need to be renewed around the same time (went on a buying spree over a few weeks) and strain my budget. Need to renew them for a few years at a time.

Actually I'm getting one thing or another online on them. Helps to have a linux box on a cable modem, use ZoneEdit to point them at it, one is typical apache/php sandbox, another a zope sandbox, a third tomcat/java stuff. all I've learned to do is set up apache...
posted by mutagen at 2:43 PM on December 5, 2001

I'm supposed to be getting a domain for Xmas. (And if you're my boyfriend - I really really want it.) Primary reason: email address that isn't going away anytime soon. I had a great spam-taking free account but the company went kaput so I need to make [e-mail] and deal with it myself.

Hopefully I'll do all those great web projects I've wanted to do as well, since I'll be out of work with plenty of time to spare. Hooray for graduation in the post-dot-com era.

Oh, and a friend of a friend has pleasestopfuckingmymom.com for the hell of it. I never understood ones like that, but I guess she has weirder friends than I do.
posted by phoenix enflamed at 3:09 PM on December 5, 2001

As of today my domain ownership stands at a mere 41, including bluesilver.org, my personal playground site (blog and journal and whatnot reside there) and sites for my kids, my mom (I own/develop it for her right now, it'll be her blog in the new year) for my immediate family (mom and 9 siblings) and my entire family on my mother's side. I also have sarkybitch.com which I'll be relaunching in the new year, and a bunch of others, some being actively used for business, hobbies, organisations I belong to and as fun development sites for my circle of hobbyist coders - that accounts for about 30 of the domains. 11 are currently fallow or just held to keep the names. I'm thinking about whether or not to snap up the title of my NaNoWriMo novel.com right now. . .
posted by Dreama at 4:30 PM on December 5, 2001

one. i'm in college and i'm poor, so i can only shake my fist at all of you.

i've got a couple in mind that i want to start, but i won't til i get out of school and have time, and maybe others to help me out with whatever i decide to do. ::sigh:: i thought the whole make-money-the-squatting-way was only a myth.

"shake harder boy!"
posted by lotsofno at 5:09 PM on December 5, 2001

lotsofno: A domain costs $10 a year on an average these days. Definitely within the buying power of college students.
posted by riffola at 5:36 PM on December 5, 2001

I have 9 right now, just various projects I am working on / was working on / identities I have.

surfstart.com/net/org, razedvector, worldaccordingtobenj, gayreporter, cintari (old atari computer club from late 80s / early 90s) benjaminhoppe.com, and videoweblog.com
posted by benjh at 5:41 PM on December 5, 2001

A domain costs $10 a year on an average these days. Definitely within the buying power of college students.

sorry, i wasn't really clear about that. i was thinking about domain squatting a long time ago when NS still had their monopoly, as i'm sure the ideas for names that i came up with a while ago and wanted to "jack" would have benefited me in the long run. you know, before everyone and their mother ran out and got a domain for everything in sight.
posted by lotsofno at 6:11 PM on December 5, 2001