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Comment by dmoney | Hacker News Reader

I like the idea of using expiring domain names to generate business ideas (especially domain names that are fetching a good price).

But what if, instead of buying the domain name, you... didn't buy it? What if, instead of dropping $5K on an exact match, you spent $10 on a B+ domain name, where you can set up a landing page to see if there's interest in the business idea you've generated?

That way, if you are getting signups, or even actual customers, then you try to get a better domain name; but if not, you're not out $5K.

Or am I missing something? I guess you can still sell the domain if you don't end up doing something with it, but what if it declines in value?

edit: punctuation

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"I like the idea of using expiring domain names to generate business ideas (especially domain names that are fetching a good price)."

Personally, I think buying domains that seem good, and then brainstorming ideas for them is risky. You're more likely to end up with a questionable foundation ("Maybe it could be a site about dogs with funny socks?") or something outside your area of interest/expertise. IME, it's better to set your idea and then find the domain.

By all means, speculate on domains and collect a few strong ones (I do), but I'd be wary of picking ideas based on the domains you can grab.

You used to be able to make easy money from SEO-oriented sites based on keyphrases, but that's dried up a lot and content/concept is king again.

> Personally, I think buying domains that seem good, and then brainstorming ideas for them is risky.

Your ideas have to come from somewhere, but I think it's risky too. That's why I suggested buying a cheaper domain to vet the idea before buying an expensive one (if at all).

You could use this idea as a MVP quick lab framework of sorts.

1) Get inspired by a soon to be expiring domain name

2) Buy something similar, set up MVP, set target metric and number you want to get to before the domain from 1 expires

3) If you get there, buy domain from 1 and proceed, else redo with another domain name

Forces you to produce something in a short time span and make a decision (10 days?)

author here..

all I can say is, buy a B+ domain name, expect B+ results.

I prefer buying an A domain (not A+, not A-), and speed the process up, whether it fails or succeeds.

If it fails, eh, cost of doing business.. move on..

> all I can say is, buy a B+ domain name, expect B+ results.

Fair enough. I guess the expense could be justifiable if a good domain name really helps. I'm just wondering about quantifying the risks/costs.

If it fails, you can resell it, but how often do domain names increase vs. decrease in value?

Also, how often do you end up not using an expensive domain name, or find out it was a dud?

> Also, how often do you end up not using an expensive domain name, or find out it was a dud? I use & develop every single premium dotCOM that I acquire. I dropped $26k on a domain recently, and the jury is still out whether that one's gonna be a dud.. It's always possible.

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