The 3 Day Domain Name Rule
I will share one of my little “secrets” that have saved me hundreds or thousands of dollars - “The 3 Day Domain Name Rule”.
The Rule
Whenever you have an idea of a great domain name, wait for 3 days, at least, before buying it.
It’s that simple. However, be warned, there might be an uneasy feeling that someone is going to grab the domain before you. It will be haunting you on the back of your mind. You have to resist it and stick to the rule. Both your future self and your money will thank you.
Also, you could be thinking “But, it’s only $8.95”. Yet, it’s more. Usually, a few times more. Let me tell you why. We, people, hate losing things that we own. Hence, once you own the domain and have put your credit card in, it is very very likely you will be paying for that name for a few years. Domain registrars are aware of that, too. That’s why the registration price, on many platforms, is %30 - %50 less compared to the following up renewals.
Here it is an example with GoDaddy: Reg $12; Renewal: $18 (+50%).
I’d say that you will keep your shiny new domain, on average, for 3 years at least.
That makes ~$50!, and NOT $11.99.
.io domains are the worst. First, they are heaps more expensive - $54 to reg it and $60 to renew => a $174 idea ownership cost. What is more, they seem short, trendy, and many of them are not registered yet. If you are building a tech product, you will be lured into buying one of those. Do yourself a favour and either try coming up with a .com name or at least apply the rule and don’t rush.
Now, back to the rule. At some point, after buying many domains and losing some money, I realised that my enthusiasm for the “great” idea I had the day before would start disappering more often than not. Only the “good” ideas stuck for longer than a few days. Then, I came with this rule of thumb for myself - never buy a domain name without waiting for at least 3 days after coming up with the idea of it. I’ve never had a single case when someone else would grab the domain before me. NEVER. The closest one was about 3 months afer I had the idea. The domain name was vivanotes.com if you are curious. To be honest, it felt a bit bad, as I still had the idea written down in my notes. Yet, I will most probably never build that project and have saved hundreds or thousands of dollars along the way.
Why 3 days? There is no scientific reason! It’s easy to remember, it’s longer than a weekend and it works for me.
// Ideas