domain examples.com - advice please?

[sdl]

examples.com

First owner since 1996. I didn't get the domain as an investment - at least not for resale. I got it because I wanted to do something with it. And I still do. And I still don't know what!

It sounded great to me - examples.com - 8 letters, easy to remember, easier to spell. But it might as well be generic.com. It covers anything and everything, yeah? And that's part of the problem.

I'm embarrassed to type this, but if you look at my pathetic (unused) site you'll see...I haven't even parked it. Same old java rippling water page, year after year. I've always felt like I was sitting on a potential goldmine, but after all these years, I still don't know what to do with it, and there it sits.

Every year I get offers for the domain - usually domain collectors/dealers who want to turn a fast nickel into a faster dime, but always a steady few who are serious and want to do something with it, and who will make a serious offer, usually between $5-15K. But I've always turned them down. Now I'm feeling...guilty? I still want to do something with it!

Why am I typing this? I've received three offers in the past 30 days, and it's wearing on me, getting to me, reminding me that time's ticking by, and that I've done nothing.

So yes, I would like very much to get some appraisal opinions and advice (kind of sigh, okay, what's it really worth?), but a deeper part of me would like to know: what would you do with examples.com (besides sell it)?

Ideas? Advice? Anything?

 

[cmason]

Haha! That is probably the oddest landing page I have ever seen on a super-premium domain like this - I love it!

First of all, that is an amazing name...you have more patience than I if you have held onto it for this long with out selling - congratulations! In my opinion, this is definitely a $xxx,xxx domain name. If you really aren't "in love" with development ideas, I would recommend selling it - but if you don't need the cash now, hold on for 6 months and hope the market turns around. There have been some good premium sales recently, but also a lot of bargains for buyers.

I am sure many others will respond to this and I look forward to seeing the responses from others.

 

[phantom4444]

The cash value of this domain is $xxx,xxx IMHO

I admire the fact that you would rather develop

I have a development proposal, can I PM you with the idea?

Speak soon

ak

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

Very nice name get some proffesional advice before making any sales.
Rick latona.com is good.
Value,lots more than I will ever make domaining.

Development..examples of course.
Have videos of people doing stuff by example,sewing,fixing things,painting
everything...
One of my domaining tools is wordtracker check it out

Free Keyword Suggestion Tool from Wordtracker

 

[shane mac]

Awesome name.Those $5 to $15k offers you say are serious are nothing but.They have seen the site undeveloped for years and thought they could rob you blind.The domain as it stands is worth low/mid $xxx,xxx even in this market,in another year maybe mid+ $xxx,xxx

The development posibilities are endless.I can see why you have hesitated (coma hesitated) lol.I would send it over to sedo,pay for a top domain listing and see what serious offers come your way.If you need the cash you could turn in a sale quick,for good money but if you can hold out you won't regret it.

 

[Giode]

15k for this domain is not unreasonable in this economy. It's a nice name, but just far too generic to be anything close to 6 figures. Targeted names sell well today. Untargeted, generic domains simply don't. This name probably would make next to nothing on a PPC lander, and any development would take a great deal of work in branding and SEO. I've had many names that fit in this category.

Of course you never know what an end-user would pay for this domain, but to domainers, I say 15k-20k is stretching it.

Just my .02

 

[bmugford]

This is a nice generic domain, at the same time like Giode says it is almost too generic.

I agree that targeted domains sell better today than generics.

I think it would do well at public auction, but I doubt it hits $XXX,XXX

Brad

15k for this domain is not unreasonable in this economy. It's a nice name, but just far too generic to be anything close to 6 figures. Targeted names sell well today. Untargeted, generic domains simply don't. This name probably would make next to nothing on a PPC lander, and any development would take a great deal of work in branding and SEO. I've had many names that fit in this category.

Of course you never know what an end-user would pay for this domain, but to domainers, I say 15k-20k is stretching it.

Just my .02

 

[MicroGuy]

Why am I typing this? I've received three offers in the past 30 days, and it's wearing on me, getting to me, reminding me that time's ticking by, and that I've done nothing.

If any one of these new offers are in the 15K ballpark as you stated, take the money and run. That would be a FANTASTIC price for this domain considering the current state of the domain markets. IMO.

 

[donnied79]

You've hold the domain for 13 years. It's not time to sell so take it undeveloped and wait better times.

 

[sdl]

I have a development proposal, can I PM you with the idea?

Speak soon

ak

Yes, by all means PM me, and thanks to you and others who have taken the time to respond so far.

It's interesting to me that there are two distinct schools of thought here, and oddly enough, I agree with them both, each within their own context.

If I'm looking at this from a strictly "domaining" POV, then the "it's not targeted/too generic" school of thought (which I consider completely valid), kicks in, and market trends will tend to dictate the price. I think the low estimates given are on the lower, more conservative end, but I can see the market at play there too. But my reality has been a little on the higher side.

The $5k-15K offers are averages. I get three or four of those a year. But I've also received a $35K offer (this year, when everything was tanking), one for $50K last year, and one for $50K about six years ago. Those are the highest numbers I've ever been offered, but at no time was I tempted to "take the money and run". Like I said initially, the domain has value to me as well, and it's NOT just based on what it might resell for. Ultimately the value of this domain, like anything else, is based just as much on what a buyer is willing to pay as how much I'm willing to sell it for.

On the second school of thought, my instincts have always told me that the site really may only be truly valuable (universally) from a development POV.

When I Google *examples.com -- content with anything ending in examples.com returns 36,200,000 hits. If you Google "*examples.com" (with quotes) you get 35,700 hits, most of which are actual sites that end in "examples.com". I was surprised by that number, which I thought would be in the several hundreds, which leads me to question whether or not there is some targetability to the name. Out of how many thousands, which of them would prefer to tell people to type 8 letters instead of 13 or 14? From that standpoint also, I think there's some prestige value to the name.

If none, fine. I still love the name, and believe in it. It's just too easy to remember, and type. I still believe that if it was developed, and heard only within a given target context, it would have steady traffic within that context at the very least for years to come. '

Phantom, looking forward to your thoughts in PM, and thanks again.

 

[Jaco]

This is a fantastic name. That's for certain.
Whenever an unarguably 'great name' is posted in the appraisal forum, you will get wild-ass shots in the dark, as far as appraisal prices. I do believe this is an XX.XXX name, but, ya know. Domains are art. Two people want it bad enough...

 

[DnEbook]

it jumped out at me ..... what the hell you do with it i dont know ???? still i am jealous ...LOL

 

[GiftedDomains]

nice name and nice story behind it!
patient "seller" (i like them)

i assume that you don't need the money (based on what you told us).
others may have sold it for 50K (i assume you tell us the truth) immediately. you didn't.
so it would hurt me to sell it for less than 50K if i were you, no matter in which economy we are right now. you hold this name for 13 years, so it should be no problem for you to hold for 2 or 3 years more.

yes, it is quite untargeted generic word, but if i were you, i would develop the name (maybe in cooperation with others if you don't have the knowledge or ideas, etc.), then either sell it for a price starting 100K or keep the name forever.

however, if you look at the other extensions, you see that really no one has an idea what to do with this generic Word!
i also checked translation of "examples" in other languages like german to see if anyone have had a good idea, but no, all pages are either parked or unused.

so you really need hours and hours of brainstorming to find a good usage of this name for development.