Domain names… had I known years ago just how valuable they would be today, I would have spent my high school years working for money to invest in buying domains. But are we past the point that it’s too late? I don’t think so.

It seems like every week I hear about a domain name being sold for a ridiculously high price. At some point those domains were picked up for less than the cost of your Starbucks coffee. Pizza.com sold for $2.6 million by a some average guy that bought it back in the 90’s. :o Domain names as simple as Pizza.com have long been taken, but there are still some .COM names out there.

The prime domain name real estate in the .COM arena has been taken (for the most part) but there are still some left. What about .NET, .ORG, .EDU and other domain name extensions? They are going fast but there are still a huge number of them available because they aren’t “prime real estate”….yet. :-)

Over the last year I have been picking up domain names I find that are clever or will or already have some value. I fully intend on continuing to do so and expanding into other domain extensions like .US, .CA, etc. very soon. The price for domain names is going up and will continue to do so.

I think what bugs me the most is that so many people just assume when they need a domain name, it will be there for them. Those people will be stuck with the domains nobody wants like 7×6gl4.co.uk or something similarly crappy. Companies are investing in domain names because they know what is happening.

Try doing a search to see if you can get your last name in the .COM (”yourlastname”.com). Good luck, if your’s is available let me know because if you don’t buy it I will. These companies are picking up thousands of domains for dirt cheap, then turning around and selling them for 100-1000x what they paid. Even people’s names.

I won’t be left behind while all these are being slurped up. My only regret will be that I couldn’t invest more money.

Want to hear some crazy facts about domain names and the domain name industry? Check this out:

  • A single person owns over 200,000 domain names. (Dr. Lieven P. Van Neste)
  • Business.com sold for $7.5 million.
  • Every last 3 character domain name (for .COM) has been taken.
  • The average length of domain names is 11 characters long.
  • More domains begin with an “S” than any other letter.
  • More domains begin with a “1″ than any other digit.
  • The longest domain you can get is 63 characters long.

While there are still many options available to get yourself a cool domain name, the prime real estate is being swept up fast, prices are going up and the number of people starting websites will continue to rise. If you’re wondering where to start, you might want to read the “5 Step Website / Blog Setup Guide” post I made awhile ago.

Another post worth reading is “Are Domain Names Digital Real Estate?”.