Now is the Time to Invest. — Don’t Panic.

Much like in the stock market, the time to buy in the domain market is when domains are “on sale.”

Fear. Worry. Panic.

Those are common words to describe the U.S. stock market these days. And it’s becoming the word of the day in the domain name market.

Over the past few weeks I’ve shifted much of my cash into the stock market, even as my current stock holdings have had massive losses. Following all, why would I buy into the Dow at 14,000 if I wouldn’t at 11,500? I like to buy things when they’re “on sale”.

To be sure, the stock market may continue to go down. This may not (and probably isn’t) the bottom. The U.S. is going to experience quite a hangover from excess credit and government debt. Oh yeah, and that little “oil” and “inflation” thing (very much related). But I think it will eventually turn around. Right now you have a lot of people who are tired of seeing their stocks drop, so they’re selling at the bottom. That’s not exactly “buy low, sell high”.

You’ll see the same thing in the domain name market. Many of the people that got rich in the domain business (e.g. Frank Schilling) did it when other people were getting out. As others panic, it’s your chance to get domain names cheap.

Just this stretch I received a call from someone whom I tried to buy a domain from in the past. He wouldn’t sell. Now he’s trying to cover some bad bets he made and needs cash. You’re going to see a lot of people in this same situation. They need cash and they’re holding relatively illiquid assets. That means you can get them cheap, they can sell them, and both people are happy.

If you have the stomach for it, now is the time to invest.