Why 3 Letter Names?

Aiden Roberts · 23-10-2011, 09:34:39 AM

Hi All,

As a student of domaining I am often surprised/confused at the prices some names fetch, one particular area is the value around 3 letter domain names. I can understand the value of a 3 letter domain name that means something ie: PDA but other random letters just don't seem to make any sense too me. I am thinking that they are for personal use or professionals type websites but apart from that? I have sort of understood the idea behind short memorable names but random letters with no apparent meaning or value have me stumped.

Without giving too much away can someone give me a generic answer to why they carry such values?

Secondly is there any value in random 3 letter /org/uk or is it strictly reserved for the /co/uk ext, in my uneducated mind I would have thought the /org/uk ext lends itself better to random letters?

Please excuse my naivety!

Aiden

alex · 23-10-2011, 10:07:29 AM

3 letter domains are first of all limited to just over 17,500 per extension which may sound like a lot, but of the 9 million or so .uk domains that�s a small number. The vast majority are also taken by domain investors so it is generally uncommon for an end user to actually use one, relatively speaking. Also, with many companies/partnerships etc comprising of three words, the chances of a three letter combination having an end-user use is fairly high, whatever the actual characters. Thus, the resell potential of LLL.co.uks is high.

Generally speaking I believe LLL.co.uks are selling for lower prices than they did a few years ago, but that could be because the better ones (those in demand) are now being used by end users. That said, I feel they are likely to retain their value and will probably increase again once the economy picks up.

As for LLL.org.uks, there is value, but not as much. Some are probably just worth their reg fee, whereas others will likely fetch a few grand. I have a few including LLL.org.uk which recently received a �300 offer. That shows that people are willing to pay low-mid �xxx, but I doubt many will make more than that. At the end of the day if you go out there and find customers then of course you can sell them.

cc976a · 23-10-2011, 10:13:32 AM

The value is generally in the abbreviation of a company name i.e. Blue Widgets Limited may also be known as BWL so BWL.co.uk is a short memorable abbreviation and valuable to Blue Widget Limited but may also be attractive to Brilliant White Lighting etc....

The fact that there are generally quite a few opportunities for resale, and potential four figure sales (maybe five) make these attractive.......although with a handful of companies owning probably 50-70% of all three letter .co.uk names I do often wonder of the potential resale value of these and why many remain unused

Aiden Roberts · 23-10-2011, 10:19:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex

3 letter domains are first of all limited to just over 17,500 per extension which may sound like a lot, but of the 9 million or so .uk domains that�s a small number. The vast majority are also taken by domain investors so it is generally uncommon for an end user to actually use one, relatively speaking. Also, with many companies/partnerships etc comprising of three words, the chances of a three letter combination having an end-user use is fairly high, whatever the actual characters. Thus, the resell potential of LLL.co.uks is high.

Generally speaking I believe LLL.co.uks are selling for lower prices than they did a few years ago, but that could be because the better ones (those in demand) are now being used by end users. That said, I feel they are likely to retain their value and will probably increase again once the economy picks up.

As for LLL.org.uks, there is value, but not as much. Some are probably just worth their reg fee, whereas others will likely fetch a few grand. I have a few including LLL.org.uk which recently received a �300 offer. That shows that people are willing to pay low-mid �xxx, but I doubt many will make more than that. At the end of the day if you go out there and find customers then of course you can sell them.

Brilliant explanation and one that now makes a lot of sense.

I can now see the attraction and understand why they are holding decent prices even if they do not make any sense.

Regards

Aiden

alex · 23-10-2011, 10:20:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cc976a

The value is generally in the abbreviation of a company name i.e. Blue Widgets Limited may also be known as BWL so BWL.co.uk is a short memorable abbreviation and valuable to Blue Widget Limited but may also be attractive to Brilliant White Lighting etc....

The fact that there are generally quite a few opportunities for resale, and potential four figure sales (maybe five) make these attractive.......although with a handful of companies owning probably 50-70% of all three letter .co.uk names I do often wonder of the potential resale value of these and why many remain unused

Just to add, in terms of .org.uk's beware of trademarks. If a company owns the trademark then there's not much point in registering the domain and trying to sell it to them because they could pull it off you.

I'd also speculate that many of the unsold LLL.co.uk's held by investors have asking prices much higher than the average small company or partnership would be willing to pay. So yes �x,xxx-�xx,xxx sales happen, but a local accounting firm or small business would probably not stretch to this if other options are open to them.

If you're looking to register .org.uk's I'd go down the developing route, buy domains that you see the potential for, rather than potential for others. Maybe in the future companies will use .org.uk's like .co.uk's and there is an upward trend in use, but you'd be playing a long-term game and it's something that I can't see paying off compared with .co.uk's or a strategy to develop .org.uk generics. Just my thought.

Aiden Roberts · 23-10-2011, 10:22:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cc976a

The value is generally in the abbreviation of a company name i.e. Blue Widgets Limited may also be known as BWL so BWL.co.uk is a short memorable abbreviation and valuable to Blue Widget Limited but may also be attractive to Brilliant White Lighting etc....

The fact that there are generally quite a few opportunities for resale, and potential four figure sales (maybe five) make these attractive.......although with a handful of companies owning probably 50-70% of all three letter .co.uk names I do often wonder of the potential resale value of these and why many remain unused

This is what I was thinking in term of professionals; I guess it's the same as all names in terms of when the right buyer comes along the name has value too them.

Appreciate your reply

Aiden

sdsinc · 23-10-2011, 10:25:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aiden Roberts

I can understand the value of a 3 letter domain name that means something ie: PDA but other random letters just don't seem to make any sense too me...

Put simply LLL (and LL too) are used for corporate acronyms

On the other hand LLLL or LLLLL do not fall in that category so most are worth little unless they are dictionary words or brandable...
I'm saying that because there has been some kind of bubble in LLLL.com where people were making undue comparisons with LLL.com.

Now some combos will be deemed 'better' than others.
In the UK there must be more possible end users for a domain like, say, mdc.co.uk than hxq.co.uk....
I believe there is a big gap in value and liquidity between .co.uk and .org.uk.
.org.uk suggests not for profit and .co.uk is much more established than any other .uk subTLD.

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex

The vast majority are also taken by domain investors so it is generally uncommon for an end user to actually use one, relatively speaking.

Really ?

Aiden Roberts · 23-10-2011, 10:26:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex

Just to add, in terms of .org.uk's beware of trademarks. If a company owns the trademark then there's not much point in registering the domain and trying to sell it to them because they could pull it off you.

I'd also speculate that many of the unsold LLL.co.uk's held by investors have asking prices much higher than the average small company or partnership would be willing to pay. So yes �x,xxx-�xx,xxx sales happen, but a local accounting firm or small business would probably not stretch to this if other options are open to them.

If you're looking to register .org.uk's I'd go down the developing route, buy domains that you see the potential for, rather than potential for others. Maybe in the future companies will use .org.uk's like .co.uk's and there is an upward trend in use, but you'd be playing a long-term game and it's something that I can't see paying off compared with .co.uk's or a strategy to develop .org.uk generics. Just my though.

Great advice, funnily enough I have had my eye on a couple or /org/uk but didn't check the TM or development opportunities, I am still suffering from the newbie strategy of "if it's available; reg it".

Thanks again

Aiden

Aiden Roberts · 23-10-2011, 10:36:23 AM

Interesting stuff about the difference between LLL and LLLL names. Now that you point it out it does make sense, I am teetering on buying a couple of LLL/org/uk names as I can see the potential in them from a personal perspective, that said I can now see that they may have future appeal when the /co/uk become too expensive to buy.

Regards

Aiden

alex · 23-10-2011, 10:37:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdsinc

Really ?

'Vast Majority' may have been an over estimation, but that said the last time I ran LLL.co.uk's on the DAC over half the LLL.co.uk's were owned by Giant Games and TagNames, plus there are hundreds of Tags I recognise belonging to domainers. So although I don't have the exact figures, I'd estimate that only a thousand or so are owned by end-users, the others are either not in use, parked or advertised as for sale.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aiden Roberts

Great advice, funnily enough I have had my eye on a couple or /org/uk but didn't check the TM or development opportunities, I am still suffering from the newbie strategy of "if it's available; reg it".

Thanks again

Aiden

Happy to help, I went down the same route. I probably registered over 100 useless domains which have since dropped and bought a couple I shouldn't have. That said, having learned the hard way I now have several prime generics that I'm developing and have lists of names I'm pursuing as I can afford them.

23-10-2011, 09:34:39 AM	#1 (permalink)
Aiden Roberts Join Date: May 2011 Location: UK Posts: 849 No Classified Ratings Domain Trader Rating: (100% / 13)	Why 3 Letter Names? Hi All, As a student of domaining I am often surprised/confused at the prices some names fetch, one particular area is the value around 3 letter domain names. I can understand the value of a 3 letter domain name that means something ie: PDA but other random letters just don't seem to make any sense too me. I am thinking that they are for personal use or professionals type websites but apart from that? I have sort of understood the idea behind short memorable names but random letters with no apparent meaning or value have me stumped. Without giving too much away can someone give me a generic answer to why they carry such values? Secondly is there any value in random 3 letter /org/uk or is it strictly reserved for the /co/uk ext, in my uneducated mind I would have thought the /org/uk ext lends itself better to random letters? Please excuse my naivety! Aiden __________________ New Domainers How I started in Domains including my success and failures.

23-10-2011, 10:07:29 AM	#2 (permalink)
alex Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Crouch End, London Posts: 588 No Classified Ratings Domain Trader Rating: (100% / 12)	3 letter domains are first of all limited to just over 17,500 per extension which may sound like a lot, but of the 9 million or so .uk domains that�s a small number. The vast majority are also taken by domain investors so it is generally uncommon for an end user to actually use one, relatively speaking. Also, with many companies/partnerships etc comprising of three words, the chances of a three letter combination having an end-user use is fairly high, whatever the actual characters. Thus, the resell potential of LLL.co.uks is high. Generally speaking I believe LLL.co.uks are selling for lower prices than they did a few years ago, but that could be because the better ones (those in demand) are now being used by end users. That said, I feel they are likely to retain their value and will probably increase again once the economy picks up. As for LLL.org.uks, there is value, but not as much. Some are probably just worth their reg fee, whereas others will likely fetch a few grand. I have a few including LLL.org.uk which recently received a �300 offer. That shows that people are willing to pay low-mid �xxx, but I doubt many will make more than that. At the end of the day if you go out there and find customers then of course you can sell them. __________________ Tag: ALEXJORDAN Sites: alexjordan.co.uk \| Griptape.co.uk For Sale/Offers Invited: LLL.org.uk \| VVV.org.uk \| adg.co.uk

23-10-2011, 10:36:23 AM	#9 (permalink)
Aiden Roberts Join Date: May 2011 Location: UK Posts: 849 No Classified Ratings Domain Trader Rating: (100% / 13)	Interesting stuff about the difference between LLL and LLLL names. Now that you point it out it does make sense, I am teetering on buying a couple of LLL/org/uk names as I can see the potential in them from a personal perspective, that said I can now see that they may have future appeal when the /co/uk become too expensive to buy. Regards Aiden __________________ New Domainers How I started in Domains including my success and failures.

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23-10-2011, 10:13:32 AM	#3 (permalink)
cc976a Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 1,301 No Classified Ratings Domain Trader Rating: (100% / 32)	The value is generally in the abbreviation of a company name i.e. Blue Widgets Limited may also be known as BWL so BWL.co.uk is a short memorable abbreviation and valuable to Blue Widget Limited but may also be attractive to Brilliant White Lighting etc.... The fact that there are generally quite a few opportunities for resale, and potential four figure sales (maybe five) make these attractive.......although with a handful of companies owning probably 50-70% of all three letter .co.uk names I do often wonder of the potential resale value of these and why many remain unused