

Ask HN: How much would you pay for the perfect domain? - evanjacobs

Let's say you're a bootstrapped company about to launch an amazing new web service. You've been thinking about the perfect domain and a quick search reveals that that name is currently up for auction! How much would you be willing to pay for that domain considering that every dollar you spend means that you have a shorter runway?
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michael_dorfman
That depends: how much additional revenue would the "perfect domain name"
generate for me?

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evanjacobs
It's hard to say since an A/B experiment would only be possible if I owned the
"perfect" domain and could test it against a less perfect one.

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jpmc
The perfect domain name today might not be the best name tomorrow. Really
think about what you want your domain to say..if anything. Don't corner
yourself in by your domain name. I am sure a variation or a unique name is
avaialbe. Take that perfect domain name and play with it and see what comes
up. You might find an even better domain at the standard registration rate.

To really answer your question I would have to weigh the cost(are we talking
hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands?) against the return. Is this the most
common word or phrase for your service that a user would search for? Or is it
too generic?

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evanjacobs
As a back-up plan I've been collecting variations of my "perfect" domain at
standard registration rates.

The cost is approaching $10k now but I don't know what the final value might
be. There is less than a day left for the auction.

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byoung2
_The cost is approaching $10k now but I don't know what the final value might
be_

WIll you get $10k+ worth of additional revenue from having that name alone?
What else could you spend that money on that would net the same benefit?

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evanjacobs
That's what I'm trying to figure out. If my service is successful with a less
perfect domain I might be able to come back and purchase this domain at some
multiple of today's price. However, if I spend too much money on the domain
then I may not be able to have enough money to get to product/market fit.

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jpmc
The name is only an ingredient of your success. If you are relying on the name
to make your service successful you have a recipe for failure. If everything
is perfect (interface, design, backup/recovery,scalability) and the name is
the cherry on top go for it. If you have any doubts and will need those
resources to fix issues or get you past "the hump" wait and launch with a
different domain. As you said you can buy it later at a higher price but at
least you will have cash flow.

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brk
I still think that sites like "ebay" or "facebook" (granted that had some
small significance to Harvard students) or "craigslist" or "etsy" or "google"
or "skype" (though that is more oriented as a client software) prove that the
win is in the product itself and the positioning. xkcd is another example,
though not every geek necessarily loves xkcd.

A good domain name DOES help people understand what your product is about, but
it is not the absolute make or break success criteria that so many people seem
to think it is.

