Generic .ca (1.Viewing)

Would you agree that a generic business domain like Sunglasses.ca [just an example] or even Insurance.ca would not sell for nearly as high a price as it did ten years ago?
I think you could wait a long time to get even $10k for Sunglasses.ca. Yes there will be exceptions if there is a buyer anxious for it so save your specific examples. I just think buying Sunglasses.ca ten years ago at $5k I would have been very happy. Today I would not do it.

First of all welcome bluegill

Sunglasses is not the greatest example because very few people or businesses would use it as the their main website. You are narrowing down the end user to one business therefore I would not aggressively pursue it for my own portfolio.

That said, if it were mine would I sell it for 5k?
Not a chance, it is still a category killer and in the right hands commands a much higher selling price.

Now when you take a term like red (one of mine) for instance you can apply it to a broad base of uses. It can imply sale, deal, company name, etc. For domains like that you hold for the right end user or you develop it yourself. The domaining game is not about rushed decisions, it is about carefully considering the end use. They do not make good one word .ca domains anymore and domainers spend years accumulation the right names. We spend more money than most people realize and most of us are savvy enough to understand that one does not rush the sale of a one word .ca

Welcome aboard.

bluegill said:

or even Insurance.ca would not sell for nearly as high a price as it did ten years ago?

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insurance.ca - write your own paycheck

Yes, true generics are much less in demand today, due to both changes in business styles and Google adapting their search engine algorithm to virtually get rid of domain keywords (as well as parking revenues), but as Maple stated, just because a domain is generic doesn't mean it can't be used as a brandable.

And also, something generic that describes a truly key business segment (Insurance.ca) would still bring in the cash, while others (Sunglasses.ca) would not be in demand at all.

But overall, yes, generic domains have tumbled in value from their market height and I don't seem them ever going back up. The world has changed.

I would not be to fast to write off sunglasses.ca that business is worth a mint and for some of the higher end brands a generic forwarding domain can be worth some good money.

insurance we do not have to talk about because the answer is pretty obvious.

Ten years makes a huge difference in the domaining industry and things change continuously, there will be increases and decreases in values but when you factor in availability the pot is getting smaller. As domains are put to use the availability of one word domains gets less with each passing year. Availability is everything and I cannot see any other trend but up for good one word .ca domains. All you have to do is look at the TBR auctions every week to see this. Domains are selling at wholesale for higher amounts than I have seen them in a long time. Using that as a marker you can see things are changing for .ca

I will keep buying them and I have no difficulty spending money on them knowing that they are an investment and as with all investments time is your friend.

MapleDots said:

All you have to do is look at the TBR auctions every week to see this. Domains are selling at wholesale for higher amounts than I have seen them in a long time. Using that as a marker you can see things are changing for .ca.

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This trend is entirely pandemic-related and once people go back to work post-vaccine, including a half-million government employees sitting at home collecting full pay for doing virtually nothing (we have many family members at CRA, Health Canada, and RCMP/CSIS), you will see this trend reverse itself to some extent.

It's happening with everything from the stock market to Bitcoin and it is NOT going to end well for the vast majority:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/21/man...rading-in-pandemic-few-will-be-a-winners.html

Bored at home, many people are turning to the stock market and dabbling in day trading for entertainment and profits.

However, most individual investors do not have the wealth, the time, or the temperament to make money and to sustain the losses that day trading can bring, according to financial experts.

Day trading has become very popular worldwide since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Activity has “increased dramatically” in the first quarter of 2020 compared with 2019, according to data analyzed by Cerulli Associates. TD Ameritrade reports that visits to its website giving instructions on trading stocks have nearly quadrupled since January. Meanwhile, trading apps like Robinhood are seeing a surge in business.

Idle hands are the devil's workshop.

Generics are the backbone of the domain resale industry. I think maybe you're trying to say that _keyword_ domains have lost value. To that, I might agree at wholesale prices. With end user prices on a good one-worder, all bets are off.

So yeah, you can argue that very specific product/service type keyword domains have lost value due to google's algorithm changes. But that has become less and less of an issue as people are searching less because algorithms have evolved to read your mind and present ads to you before you even search for them (facebook).

I also know from spending a million bucks on google advertising that users will click a great domain name more often than a crappy one, especially ones that are keyword based or one-word. I've ran these exact tests to compare them. The reason is that a great domain name brings authority and trust. And that's just intuitive. I mean would you prefer to click on a Sunglasses.ca ad or a BluegillsSunglasses.ca ? And because google's algorithms optimize for maximum revenue, I can actually pay LESS than competing ads to be in the #1 spot. A more attractive ad gets more clicks and earns google more money. So no matter how much you're willing to pay to be in the #1 spot, if no one clicks your ad, google makes nothing and will move you down and out. This is also why good ad writing skills are imperative - it's the same effect. Do you want to buy that new widget you need from someone who writes like a 3rd grader? Or from someone who writes an ad so smooth you're enticed to buy something you didn't know you needed?

Also, just look at Namebio. In .ca, recent sales for keyword domains of a product or service were about 1/3 of sales reported, including nice ones like snacks, finances and ticket (although some were multi-word like carcovers, etc..).

So don't give up on keyword domains. Unless I'm bidding against you, then yes, please give up

Yep, when I refer to generics, I am really thinking of multi-words or compound words that are not brandable . Stuff like Insurance, Ticket, Finances, etc. don't fit that mold and could easily be brandable, though I do look at CarCovers (multi-word) and Sunglasses (compound) more in that way.

That's why I would never pay thousands of dollars for something like Credit Reports.ca, no matter how valuable the keywords are - I just don't see the market moving back in that direction over the next decade or two, so I'd rather put my money elsewhere, like a premium single-word.

DomainRecap said:

That's why I would never pay thousands of dollars for something like Credit Reports.ca, no matter how valuable the keywords are - I just don't see the market moving back in that direction over the next decade or two, so I'd rather put my money elsewhere, like a premium single-word.

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Honestly, the problem with CreditReports isn't that its a keyword domain, its that the entire industry of selling access to credit reports, which used to be very lucrative, has been undermined by banks just giving them out for free now...

rlm said:

Honestly, the problem with CreditReports isn't that its a keyword domain, its that the entire industry of selling access to credit reports, which used to be very lucrative, has been undermined by banks just giving them out for free now...

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True, and maybe the new owner hopes a bank will buy it from him?

That or a credit reporting agency. But those companies already have built their brand, they're not going to want to dilute that brand with an expensive purchase. However, there's still room to make a healthy profit there, even at a price that would be seen as a bargain by a bank or credit report agency. But I think you'd have to do outbound and plant that seed. If they're presented with the idea, they might bite, even as a way to keep a competitor from getting it. I don't think it'd be the kind of thing they're going to come looking for on their own.

Also having the generic like CreditReports would keep a future competitor from being able to use it and start a brand on it.

Domains101 said:

insurance.ca - write your own paycheck

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Awesome domain and very brandable