As domain name investors, we are always looking for new domain name opportunities. So whenever a new ccTLD is made available to the public, many of us start to drool.
Because it seems too good to be true. I mean, you can actually get one word and two word domain names, right? Making it sound like heaven to us. But is investing in ccTLD’s all that great? Or is it just really well done hype by the companies behind them? I’m going to jump right out there and say it’s a little bit of both.
Because there is in fact a market for these domains. Look at what .TV has done in their semi successful efforts at branding. When you think of .TV, you do in fact think of television and multimedia. Making it a pretty easy mark in the branding arena. But the same cannot be said for other ccTLD’s that have tried to do the same. Look at .CC and tell me that the marketing there has been effective….
Nope.
But last year when .ME was launched, it was setup in a big way. And boy were the domainers lined up at the Godaddy gates when they became available. (on a side note, be sure and look up the Godaddy .ME registration scandel in your favorite search engine. You’ll see some really heated discussion about who registered what in the first few minutes of open registration. Interesting reading.)
Yup, even I couldn’t resist the .ME temptation. I do in fact have a few one word .ME domains in my portfolio. I have yet to sell any of them, but I have seen several sell on SEDO in the last few months.
Just recently the .MX ccTLD also became available to the general public, though with a lot fewer fireworks then .ME had. Surprisingly, I’ve also seen several of the high profile, one word domains selling rapidly on SEDO for this new ccTLD as well.
Ultimately, there is a small market for the ccTLD investor, though I do suggest you consider these domains with extreme caution. One word and two word domains here do have some value, sometimes. But the risk with ccTLD’s is even higher, and the return might take a lot longer to be seen. If you decide to invest in the ccTLD of the month, do so at your own risk.
