Numeric Domain Names are in Demand

It seems like every domain broker is looking to get their hands on one type of domain name – numeric domain names. Every time I have a conversation with a broker where we are discussing domain names for sale, I am asked if I know of any good number names that are for sale.

From what I understand, the Chinese market is very big on number domain names. There is considerable demand for two number (nn.com), three number (nnn.com) and even four number (nnnn.com) domain names. I am not going to pretend to have any more than a cursory knowledge about the topic, but numbers have meanings, and certain number combinations can be worth serious money.

I believe numeric .net and even .org domain names may also be in demand, but they certainly don’t come close to numeric .com domain names. I haven’t seen or heard about much demand for ccTLD numerics, although I am sure they sell.

Aside from selling 887.com and a few nnnn.com domain names, I haven’t done much with numeric domain names. My opinion is that although these names are the most liquid domain name assets you can own, if you are buying them now, you’re buying at the top of the market. That market may improve over time, but it’s considerable risk to be buying at the top of the market.

One of the benefits of numeric domain names is that it is likely much harder to get a trademark for numbers (I assume it’s not impossible). This probably means there’s less risk in owning numeric domain names than say three letter .com domain names.

If you are looking to sell numeric domain names, now is probably a good time to do so. You’ve probably been inundated with offers, and if you need to connect with a domain broker, you might be able to close a deal quickly.

If you know about the numeric domain market, feel free to share some of your knowledge with us.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

79 COMMENTS

  1. Get about 25 inquiries a week for the few ####.coms I’ve got

    Almost all emails in chinese.

    Allow me to share.

    ” 您好!打扰您了!

    请问您这个域名出售吗?什么价格?其它类型的还有什么?

    谢谢! “

  2. What exactly is serious money? Today all domains are undervalued due to high amount of stupid “domainers” that don’t know how to invest, so they have to sell for less money because they are broke…

    • Most people will go broke waiting for a great offer. Some people, like Rick Schwartz, can wait until he receives an optimal offer on his domain names.

      I buy and sell domain names, and I have done pretty damn well in this business.

      As I mention below, I’d love to see what your names are since you’re calling me “stupid” for doing what I do.

    • @Elliot

      (1) I did not mean you to be stupid “domainer”, but maybe you are one of them… Are you?

      (2) It is wrong way to list domain names for sale on each forum, blog, domaining site, etc. Sending list to you would be wrong as well. Don’t ask me why… 🙂

    • I acquire well into the six figures worth of domain names every year. Some names I keep, but most of them I resell profitably in a short period of time. Some people (like Rick) might argue whether that is truly “domain investing,” but it certainly isn’t stupid when it’s a very profitable endeavor.

      I wasn’t suggesting that you list domain names for sale. I am pretty open with my business, and if someone is going to come onto my blog and tell me that I am being stupid, I’d like to at least know a few of the better domain names they own.

    • If I may intervene, there is nothing wrong about selling domains for reasonable prices, especially if it allows you to reinvest in higher quality names instead of always taking money out of your pocket. I’ve done that several times, but yes, sometimes I see similar domains priced too low (and that has caused me to loose some deals)…

    • Just to be clear…

      Flipping is just short term investing. Nothing wrong with that at all. It’s a great way to make a lot of money.

      I just prefer the long term outlook because it is less work and I have the luxury of waiting and that was my approach from the get go so that’s how I roll. 😉

      But even that does not always work out as I lose money on domains sometimes too. lol

      Plus there was no freakin’ people that would buy these silly things in the mid 1990’s.

    • My domains don’t compare with Rick’s but I usually do the same, and I’ve had negotiations that took almost one year to close and ended up with the buyer paying 250% more than their previous top offer. For those that can afford it sometimes it’s better to wait for the right deal, even if this decision has made me loose some deals as well.

    • How would you be happy if your next-door house is sold for 20% of its market value? Will you like it?

      The major point is to not hurt market by some stupid cheap sale. Even you make a nice profit on some domain sale, if it is sold for less than it is worth, it is stupid and wrong, regardless of profit you make. For example, if you buy FB.COM for $500k, sell it for $750k, it is nice profit of $250k, but it is stupid and wrong anyway, as it is hurts domaining market, as such domain has high 7-fig value. Don’t be asshole and stop blah-blah about profit, focus on real value, whole market.

      • Based on some simple economic theory, your argument makes no sense. When my neighbor puts his house up for sale, the market will determine the price. If nobody is willing to pay what I think it’s worth, then it’s not worth as much as I think. If I am so confident that it’s under-priced, I should buy it and sell it for full value and pocket the difference. If he prices it less than it’s worth, he’ll get multiple bids and the sale price will be the actual market value.

        In addition, domain name values are dynamic. Just because I sold a name for 7 figures doesn’t mean your “similar” name is necessarily worth 6 figures.

        If you think I am underselling, you should be buying all of my names to prop up the market. If you’re not doing that, you’re either not confident in your valuation or you are the one that’s broke.

      • @Elliot – Your argument “If nobody is willing to pay what I think it’s worth” is BS if you are not willing to wait. If you want to sell house in month, you have to lower your asking price. If you want fair sale, you need to wait much longer…

      • Guess it depends where you live. In my area, demand is greater than supply, so if the house is on the market below the market value, there will be multiple bidders to bid it up, establishing its value.

        Comparing real estate to domain names in this siuation is silly.

    • M.G, you wrote: “How would you be happy if your next-door house is sold for 20% of its market value?
      Will you like it?”

      Hmmmm, do you mean like the bank foreclosures, short-sales and REO’s that are sitting vacant all over the U.S and have sold for much less than their true value?

  3. ” 您好!打扰您了!

    请问您这个域名出售吗?什么价格?其它类型的还有什么?

    谢谢! “

    nee Hoaw Ma:

    You yankee pig, I kwan your stinkin domain for 10yuan, okay or knot.

    Sei sei
    Why Kong

    • @ Magicpig

      Because Rick can afford to say no to a 6 figure deal hoping to close a seven figure deal.

      If you have the ability to not regret turning an offer like that down, more power to you.

      • @Elliot – You are blind calculator-vestor, not investor. For you 20% profit is a sign of great sale, not seeing a whole picture. You are willing to buy a shit for $1k if you can sell it for $200 more; you love to flip anything as quick as you can… That’s you. Unfortunately, 90%+ of “domainers” are like you, cheap shits, flipping anything.

        • If I was only making a 20% profit, I wouldn’t be in this business. 20% ROI is fine for many investments, but I don’t think it would be wise to invest as much as I do in illiquid assets like domain names if that was the average ROI.

          Based on some of your comments and assumptions, you’ve sort of proven that you aren’t exactly the most qualified person to be arguing your position.

    • Rick, your name sounds familiar; I think we’re both on a list group, m maybe. anyway I thought I’d chime in that in the past week I’ve declined 4 cash offers between 220K and 390K for my 42.com domain.

      Any thoughts on what this market will look like for the next decade? OK… for just the next year?

  4. I get inundated with offers for the two NNNN.coms I have, which are both dates of famous English battles – 1485 (Battle of Bosworth) and 1066 (Battle of Hastings).

  5. I’m also always receiving offers for my numeric domains, especially 2386.com (I bought it years ago because it only has good numbers and it remembered me of the oldie intel’s cpu 386).

      • Liar what? About the offers? If that is it, you don’t even imagine… I receive multiple proposals in good days 🙂

        • Thank you, Elliot. Everyone can believe whatever they want, but calling me a liar in this case was… a lie, and completely uncalled for. In any case let’s move forward, we are just loosing time.

        • I can send you a “screenshot” of whatever, even 8-figure offer… Or let’s do it 9, 10, 11..? Whatever.

        • Why don’t you start by sharing your best 5 domain names. I think your position abd argument are weak, so at least sharing your best names would give you a shred of credibility.

        • I sent screenshot of all offers I received in the last 30 days, twice in May 12th.
          But if you don’t believe it, have it your way, who cares? I won’t enter a flame war.

    • MG. You are a twat. I’ve been getting offers on all my NNNN.com name and also a couple of NNNNN.com names. berkens wrote a post about it recently. I guess he’s a liar too.

    • Today I got another price request for 2386. No great offers until now but there is a lot of interest in NNNN and like Yugo I’ve also received offers on NNNNN as well.

  6. You’d be surprised to hear how numeric .ORG domains can sell rather well. Sold 360.org for $25k a few years ago, and closing on another sizable NNN .org sale soon.

  7. Hi Elliot,

    I bought 8-8-8.com a long time ago,just curious if hyphenated domains are considered toxic to Chinese buyers as they are to US buyers.

  8. well, I thought to step in because I saw that Elliot wrote that he was the seller of 887.com, well I was the buyer 🙂 since then I get many dozens of genuine offers for 10 times more of what I paid and at the time it was not cheap, but as investor I prefer to wait for long term business, I can tell that sometimes I regret turning down very high offers but I think anyone has his own strategy or point of view.

    • I hope you sell it for a huge profit… that’s what this business is all about 🙂

      I could have held onto it for a larger profit, but selling names is what fuels the growth of my business.

    • @Elliot – you should say: “I hope you sell it for a right amount and make a nice profit…” Fuck#ng Fl#pers

  9. I have been talking numerics for 2 years. Everyone that listened is making bank. But of course I sold all mine this past fall. Should have listened to myself and waited a bit longer 🙂

  10. But where are the successful businesses built on numeric(s)?

    I reckon that the Chinese market itself is built on a taboo 4, that is 4.cn??

    But, I am looking for a US company built on NN, or NNN.com that is thriving simply because of the numeric.

    Unless that is demonstrated, then the entire thing is based on voodoo domaining.

  11. I have been buying and selling numberic domains since 2008, while the market crash. I used to own a lot of nn.com, nnn.com and still holding a large portfolio of nnnn. and No, it is never too late, the price will still goes up. more and more money are coming to China’s market and numeric domains is their fav.

  12. Elliot, It’s really a nice thought and a good thing for .com,.net,.org TLD’s. The only downside is what combination to choose out of so many numbers.

  13. OK guys,

    I’m one of those stupid %$#% domainers trying to sell low. Damn, I can’t even sell names that I bought back in 1999 for $7500. Now I’m asking $3,500 for each of them. A lot of 3 and 4 letter/number words!

    Can you help me get a little more stupid?

    Elliott, don’t give up. If it works for you, that is great.

    And thanks for sharing with us.

    Michel

    http://www.YourSuite.com

  14. Having sold NN.com 93.com was the last one, I have a good idea of what the reseller market will pay. Obviously end user is a different story but a decent run of the mill NN will cost you $100k +/- reseller and more if the numbers are “good” or have a rarity to them like repeat.

  15. are NNN.info valuable?

    coachblanco1(at)GMAIL(dot)com

    Because I have one to sell but want to see if its valuable!

    thank you

    • Pretty much it has no value, but you may be lucky. If you find someone willing to pay $20 for that domain name, take it.

  16. Move along M.G. LOL

    A big troll who is a jealous person against people making money LOL

    Notice how he talks game but cant show any of his names.

  17. @ES” If you know about the numeric domain market, feel free to share some of your knowledge with us.”

    Back to the topic at hand, a few years back I purchased a bulk domain deal from a webmaster forum for under $30 with a couple apparently in Pinyin— a combination of letters and numbers.

    About a few months later I got a few offers for one of these Pinyin domains. Judging from the offers I realized the domain had value, though to me and most probably others in the western word the domain looked like and would be considered like pigeon sh*t!

    (and rightly so too as I only got it as part of the bulk domain sale, I was only interested in some of the better domains offered.)

    After lengthly negotiations on the domain I ended up selling it under a NDA
    though an escrow. Finance wise on the percentage return ratio, this sale was like a tsunami!

    Personally though I wouldn’t go investing into Pinyin nor Hmong style domains as I don’t have the knowledge base to determine their full value, and the one I sold I still feel to this day was sheer luck.

  18. I own a FRENCH domain (.co.uk)

    estibot : $31,000

    Alexa: 30,000

    Any idea what to do with it?( preferred to make quick sale )
    sell it?park it?develop it?

    and wheres the best place to sell a domain like this??

    • Hi Chris

      Whats the domain ?

      im afraid just because estibot said $31,000 doesnt mean its worth that if its a french name then it will be hard to sell unless its french.co.uk 😉

      If its a decent domain develop it if not park the domain and wait.

  19. As far as NNN cctlds go, I own 247.in and it receives quite a few enquiries, mainly from the US and Europe, despite it being the main extension for India. I think if the sequence of numbers either has international meaning/appeal or significant meaning within the country’s culture, then NNN cctlds could (and maybe already have?) produce some very strong sales.

    • 247 is one of my favorite number combinations… the .com would have a tremendous value but good luck with the .in , it’s a good domain you have there.

    • Thanks Nuno, I’m very confident I will get a good price for it sometime soon. If anyone here is interested please don’t hesitate to contact via Whois or make an offer on sedo.

  20. I believe only N, NN, NNN or NNNN in .com or .net has got some value. I am not sure about .org.
    So you guys as expert can share whats the scope of .org here in numeric? Then can anyone share any report which suggest any selling of cTLDs?

    There are many other extentions, like .co, .io, me etc. Should we try for numeric for those?

    Your views please

  21. Hi Fah-we’ve been buying NNN.io for two reasons-tech startups and Chinese. We are holding-not selling for the long term. You might find Park.io web site interesting re Mike Carson-a great guy-answers emails and very willing to help. Best of luck to you.

  22. @ Thanks John. Means if i find some useful for “.co” or “.io”, then should go for it?
    i have got few domains like “8880.io”, “22616.net”, “88803.net”. Does these domains have some values?

    Please share your expert opinions

  23. Hi All,

    .io domains are more and more valuable and rare.
    I have seen 3 letters .io sold for $500/$600 so what about 3 numbers NNN.io (that are more rare) ?

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