Franks Schilling Sells 2,000 4 Letter .com for $3 Million Dollars

by 59 Comments

Frank Schilling just announced he has sold over 2,000 4 letter .com domain names for $3 million dollars

Frank also announced that all 4 letter domain names in .link and .click have sold out at the registry level

” All 4 and 5 number combinations in link and click are about to be sold or sold out”

All 6 numbers in link and click are pending sale.”

“All 4 letter domain names in link and click are about to be sold out or sold out. All 5 number combinations in link and click are about to be sold or sold out. All 6 numbers in link and click are pending sale.”

There are only 456,976 Four letter domain names but only 194,481 when common vowels A,E,I,U,O are removed (the Chinese language doesn’t necessarily support transliterations of these vowels).

When you add in 3, 2 and 1 letter combinations there are just 204,000 Chinese alphabet domain names possible per space (4 letters and under) and 475,000 Total 4 letter or under possible combinations.

Enterprising registrants in developing markets are realizing that at $8.50 per year the entire 4 letter spectrum of a namespace can be purchased $1.6 million dollars and then arbitraged against smaller buckets of names which are sold-on to later speculators or distributed to end-users.

This same effect began in universal language numeric name spaces .. There are 1 million six-number names, 100,000 five-numbers, 10,000 four-numbers and just 110 three, two and one numbers .. An entire namespace contains just over 1.1 million names containing numbers (6 characters and under) and at low prices these have all been purchased for arbitrage against future sales.

While this may seem like an area that is ‘too big’ to get one’s arms around, there are really only a few viable new namespaces which have the potential to offer a generic alternative to .com and .net

.xyz, .link, .club, .click .space, and just a clutch of others have generic meaning and low enough prices in a well governed space which will allow investors to register and hold names to extract an arbitrage opportunity.

Investors have realized that at $8.50 per name and entire namespace can be registered for just $13,470,000 per year, with sales activity from the entirety of a space eclipsing the cost to maintain the space.

.com and .net spaces are nearly exhausted of these short and international combinations and now, speculators are moving to lower priced new GTLDs.

500 .SPACE names were registered yesterday at Uniregistry by a single registrant for just $1.88 per name. Investors are taking searching larger tranches of 4 number 5 number and 6 number .link and click names.. This phenomenon is accelerating and all viable generic spaces will likely be exhausted of their viable 1.5 million short names within this year if things continue.

Uniregistry is the only registrar solution which will allow you to register buy and sell and manage easily, in large volume. We have seen 4 letter .com names accelerate in value from 1000 to 2500 per name and Numeric bulk re-sales beginning in new GTLDs such as .LINK for $500-1000 per name. Amazing opportunities to register and trade continue. This is an incredible year with new investors discovering that domain names are an alternative asset class. These new faces are changing the available pool of viable generic namespaces and new GTLDs.

Comments

  3. Are non-English countries going to have use for and understand English word extensions like .link, .club, .click .space? It turns out that .xyz has the huge benefit of being premium Chinese letters that are understood, something they probably never thought of before.
    The second round of new gtlds will bring even more new gtlds, but I guess that’s not for a while.
    Will other new gtld’s lower their registration price to compete with this?
    I’d like to see .co lower their renewal price to be more competitive for long term holders and investors.
    Congrats to Frank on another big sale, short domains are on fire.

    Reply

  4. so thats only 1500 each? or am i wrong? frank must think these prices won’t last or such a bulk deal was too good to pass up.

    Reply

  5. A lof of failed gTLDs will end up with a profit due to this chinese registration frenzy. What about .xxx? Is it banned in China?

    Reply

  6. Investors have realized that at $8.50 per name and entire namespace can be registered ********************************for just $13,470,000 per year,************************************

    Is it me, or is $13.5 million a year ALOT of money ?

    Reply

  7. The money is in the renewals, unless they are free, or at a low rate?

    So now we are going to a see a monster sale on some of these extensions, then we will all run, and try to buy them, and the sky will rain down with domain dollars for us all.

    Reply

    • I strongly believe.SEX is much better than .XXX or .PORN

      In 5 years LL.SEX will be worth 5-6 figures. Patience, patience, patience.

      Reply

      • Do current owners have the patience to afford this wait? Time will tell the .sex story.

        Sure enough, .sex owners could make a bundle. However, they must believe sitting on .sex will produce lucrative gains.

        Reply

  14. Great article. Something seems to be happening in China all starting from the quick rise in price of 2-3-4 character .COM names. Since our 2 character .CLUB auction which had 24 of 26 names sold we have seen all 4 N sell out and someone just picked up 11,000 5 N. We have also had a number of brands approach us this week to buy the 2 characters and have had multiple offers for portfolio buys. Lastly out Sedo 3 N auction seems to be getting a lot of interest. I am on my way back to China (8th time) to try to sort this out.

    Congrats Frank

    Colin.club

    Reply

  15. THREE CHARACTER DOMAINS IS THE NEXT BIG THING! YOU HEARED IT FROM ME FIRST.
    Chinese is buying them like crazy. Do not forget you pay over 1M for NN.com and LL.com
    2600 domains NNL.com
    2600 Domains LNN.com
    6760 LLN.com
    6760 NLL.com
    2600 NLN
    6760 LNL.com

    Reply

    • Most people have missed .cn in the 4,5,6 etc number domains although the Chinese have not. Nothing of any value in the drops nowadays.

      And just about impossible to get a 3 character .cn anymore.

      Reply

  16. I wonder how far the LLLL names will come down when the numerical domains finally crash? (mainly gtlds). This article is talking about millions of additional numerical domains being registered. This is going to flood the market and really minimize their value. I only see the good numbers having any potential (outside of .com).

    Reply

    • …not good?

      I remember when all the experts said avoid .net and .info

      Then they said avoid all gTLDs.

      Then they hated on .xyz

      Then they hated on .blah, .blah …

      Reply

  19. Guys .XXX is a sTLD not a gTLD meaning that it is can only be registered by a member of the adult community

    You have to acknowledge your a member of the adult community to register a .xxx or sell a .xxx which may not be “healthy” for those living in China

    Reply

  21. Frank Shilling really was not up to par on number and letter domains when on domain sherpa. As with all no one is bigger than the market ,weather stocks or commodities or domains, When an asset takes on big supply such as franks quantity of chips at $1500 and Adam dickers chip sale at $400 a piece ,it shows that the market will move a lot higher. Now that we took out the supply ,the higher prices will prevail. Great Sale Frank,this is the best way to get out of a big position,those fruits you picked will be great for new seedlings. ”Buy Sheep Sell Deer”

    Reply

    • @ben Completely disagree. This is a perfect case of irrational exuberance and, “Animal Spirits,” are in full force right now! Congrats to Frank for selling at THE PEAK!

      Reply

      • .com will hold their value for the most part if not continue to appreciate. It’s the gtlds that will bomb. Gtlds are a good investment if you are a registry but horrible for domain investors.

        Reply

      • Have you looked lately The peak at 1500 is now the floor these chips are selling between 2200 and 2800, I know markets although 3 million is a lot of money ,in the big picture here its chump change. Its a big world .com is king. The rest is whats left over on the chess board, queen being the .net ,and so on . Years from now and llll.com will be worth thousands. There not making any more. The chips as they called them I think coined by
        Big Shane C are gonna buy you a nice luxury Car. Remember limited supply ,and in my eyes The more tlds that they conjure up only make the big 3 worth more. “”IN MY OPIONION”

        Reply

        • @ben pedri,

          DomainShane takes credit for many things, but even he would probably acknowledge that he borrowed the term “CHIPS”. As far as I recall, Tim Schoon coined it. Honestly, it’s a brilliant little term. I’d use it myself except that nowadays it has an effect on domainers like Pavlov ringing a dinner bell – instant drool.

          It’s tempting to think there’s a clear Yes/No dividing line between Chinese and non-Chinese domains. But I’m not sure the border is quite as consistent or well defined as being “V”-less + vowel-less. Usually but not always. Talking about “LLLLs” rather than CHIPs versus non-CHIPs allows us to admit we don’t know everything.

          Reply

          • I would love to hear more postulation on non-chip LLLLs, I feel like no one talks about them anymore

  22. As far as non chips or premium american or defined from a great sales tracking site.Quad Premium LLLL.com Minimum Price
    No J, K, Q, U, V, W, X, Y or Z , Let me tell you out of the 100 or so random llll.coms that I picked up for Big money at the time{lol}average $40 ,going thru all my domains 5 ended up being Chips and the total number I had that were QUADs a big fat zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzeeeeeeeeerooooooooooooo. Maybe because they were hot at the time or maybe there just harder to get or less combo .all in all you dont see them going up that often ,So maybe we can put on some chip/quad ratio spreads sell 1 chip /Buy 5 quads and buy some lll.info I dont know what you call this but sound s like a great appetizer and would go great with a .beer

    Reply

    • Congrats..

      One can also buy LLL.in , there is a massive opportunity. .in itself represent .internet , just english word “IN” . LLL.IN sales are quite good in the range of 2K to 5K USD to end users , the floor prices of LLL.in are very little…

      India is going to head the same direction as China in few years time, its a country with 1.2+ billion population and the internet penetration is around only 15% heading fast to add more users , very likely with 50% penetration by 2020. Also almost 90% LLLL.in are available to hand register as of today… I think there are no big investors driving .in space, hence no news outside…. so plenty of opportunity for those who really want to convert their wealth to millions.. LLL.in offers much better proposal than LLL.info… Just my opinion

      Reply

      • 2-3 grand is a great deal if your an company in india. Mark Z=facebook is really trying to make the internet mainstream in india and the world{purchased internet.org}for that reason .Your absolutely right on track on the potential with lll.in but the 4s are probably not ripe just yet,the cost to carry is just too expensive,your probably better off waiting a few years and paying $150 . I was lucky enough a few years ago to get my name Benedict.in but no ones beating down my doors for it,thanks for bringing this up, Shiva ‘ Regards Ben

        Reply

        • 2 to 5k is not a big deal in India thats a small amount for sure, there are several richest people living in India , only thing is they have not focused on this as the internet penetration is very little.. India has already has the worlds second largest internet user base, although most of users are at early stages like using facebook or twitter.e.tc , more of social usage. Lot of youngsters are jumping into the start ups world.

          I appreciate Mr Mark Z efforts, which are very little for a big country like India , its more about getting face book usage more in India 🙂 . 4G will be launched by the Reliance Industries in a year time, that will be the internet disruption force of India.
          LLL.ins are ripe now, offcourse cant compare biggies like lll.com or lll.net … which is beyond comparison , India is perhaps 7 years behind china in Internet adoption. If you buy lll.in it will certainly a rare asset as the demand is huge … LLL.in floor prices are already above $250 and some good quality names like daa.in are sold over $500 in re-seller market, although few drop catchers time to time selling around $100 for lower quality names.. try to acquire few nice lll.in name, for $150, i will be surprised if you get any good quality names for that price.

          Benedict.in is a great name for your personal usage however not in Indian context , perhaps if you own a name like Shiva.in , it might be worth 10K and you could have received 100’s offers by now. I am sure many will regret not focusing .IN market. With in two years time , you will see .in sales across sales report. IMHO.

          Reply

          • Thanks for sharing this. I only own one LLL.in domain…maybe I should pick some more up for cheap while I can.

            Also, I’m starting to get offers on my “iot” keyword dot com domains from India buyers. India seems to have deep investment in iot technology and it looks like as internet usage grows, iot domains may start getting snatched up by buyers in India…your input?

  24. One of THE BEST articles to date! Some facts to add,
    the china market is 3 TIMES the size of the american market. the chinese system of communication is all about
    numbers. up to 9 characters in length. Even with all of the new extensions, the supply is limited for THAT SIZE of a market. Should chinese corps follow american corp buying patterns, it’s even more limited!
    THINK GLOBAL. All of the 2,3,4,5,6 character L’s with short generic extensions have a huge global market 5 TIMES the size of the american market.
    None of the information provided in today’s market projections account for growth of user base globally.
    +++ for quite sometime. THINK 1 BILLION “ADDRESSES” (approx. 1/10 of the world population) by 2026.
    Today, 300 million registered. Corporations Globally will have a minimum of 100+ in their portfolios,
    even taking into account the largest brands with their own extensions.
    This is already happening in the american market.
    Subtract the extensions that users don’t embrace, example: more than 6 characters looong, and there could be another shortage in 10 years!
    Cheers! to rational exuberance.

    Reply

    • @168,

      Yes, China is large. The place wasn’t exactly a ghost town in 2014.

      Population doesn’t explain this phenomenon whatsoever.

      Today many LLLL.com domains are selling above $2500 that would have struggled to sell for $25 last year. We can’t explain that CHANGE by citing a factor such as population that has remained basically CONSTANT.

      China is large. But the price of eggs and paperclips in China didn’t skyrocket by a factor of 100.

      China is large. But it was large in 2014 … and in 2004. During that decade, the wholesale prices of LLLL.com domains were stagnant in the low to mid $xx.

      However people explain this market exuberance, the size of China itself won’t cut it as a rational explanation.

      Reply

  25. Interesting sales by Frank Schilling Now my question to address follows Frank as its brokers and sales department have not yet resposdido my email for 15 days Premum offer to sell domain names in total on June 15 of 9 three letter. club and 6 four letter.online and no response had to be held the very success of his boss.

    Response if you offer me a broker Domainnamesales.com makemoney.online I respond that I hope my email response and 10 days the customer service leaves much to be desired..

    Frank still selling at cheap prices to get yourself so that customers pay more and not vouch email.

    Thank you for your des aid.

    Reply

  26. Nice marketing but it is not going to manipulate smart people to believe in it.

    Do not simply believe anything from other domainers even from me. but i would be honest once to tell you this: The whole thing up there is nothing but marketing for 3 parties. guess who are they ?

    Reply

  27. So he got less than $1,500 per domain on the average…

    I guess still better news than the deal Marchex did…

    where they sold the portfolio for $28 million in the spring….

    the one they had paid $164 Million for in 2005

    They only got around $310 per domain

    Times have changed…

    Reply

    • IMO, that Marchex portfolio was probably a liquidation move. They could have made much more, but that amount of money to move an portfolio was hard to turn down. In bulk, the buyers usually gets a good deal.

      This 4 character dot com portfolio could be worth a good amount in the long term. It really depends on whether this new owner wants long-term and/or short-term goals.

      Reply

  29. Buyer got a good deal. 2,000 4 character dot com can resell for much more than this $3 million price tag. Congrats to Frank for making this sale.

    Reply

  31. Frank has just scored the deal of his life time, 3 Million is a good price tag for those domains but on the parallel side buyer can re-sell it on a much bigger price tag if he opts a clever reselling strategy.

    Reply

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