opinion

Know When to Drop Domains You Don't Need

Know When to Drop Domains You Don't Need

Do you own too many domains? If so, you’re not alone.

Like other things we accumulate, every registered domain means something to us. Sometimes a domain represents a dream project we have always wanted to do but have never quite gotten around to. Yet we keep the dream alive by holding onto the associated domain in hopes that one day, it will come to fruition. Other times, we think a domain will appreciate in value and that our patience and original investment will finally pay off with a big sale and a fat profit.

Most domains are valuable only to the person who registered them. There are exceptions, but if you openly registered a domain and didn’t buy it from someone else, odds are you’re the only one who wants it.

The hard truth, unfortunately, is that there aren’t enough days in the week to do it all, so most of those pet projects will never actually materialize. As for making that speculative killing, very few domains ever turn out to be hot commodities.

So before you pull out that credit card and once again renew that domain that’s been gathering dust, let’s examine why people hold onto domains much longer than they should — and how to know when it’s time to let go.

Fear of Missing Out

A primary reason why people cling to domains is FOMO. If you think a particular domain is valuable, memorable or unique, the idea of losing it may trigger anxiety even if you don’t really need or want it. You might think, “What if I drop the domain and someone else buys it?” or “What if a competitor takes it?” Worries like these end up driving the decision to renew, rather than a more clear-headed assessment of your actual current needs.

Loss Aversion

As a rule, people are very good at acquiring more things but very bad at giving things up. This syndrome is called loss aversion. We don’t cope well with losing things, and take drastic steps to avoid it — including annually renewing domains we don’t need because we can’t bear to let them go.

Sunk Cost Fallacy

Bad decisions are also driven by the sunk cost fallacy, which drives people to invest more money into something simply because they’ve invested a significant amount into it already. This is also known as throwing good money after bad, and for good reason. It is the equivalent of doubling down on a bad poker hand after you are already in over your head. It prevents people from knowing when to cut their losses and move on. The sunk cost fallacy often leads people to renew “aged” domains they’ve held for years or purchased at high cost.

Inability to Admit Failure

Finally, the inability to admit failure is a significant driver of repeated bad decisions. Too often, we would rather keep banging our heads against the wall than admit that the wall is harder than our skulls. It can be hard to accept that what we thought was a worthwhile purchase of something valuable was in reality a waste of money. Human beings are very creative with how they justify their mistakes after the fact, but it is better to learn to accept failure than to compound it by desperately holding onto the notion that you were right.

The Truth About Domains

Yes, there are premium domains with high value, and they sell for big money. OpenAI recently purchased the domain chat.com. Since the company owns the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, the domain had obvious value for it. However, most domains are valuable only to the person who registered them. There are exceptions, but if you openly registered a domain and didn’t buy it from someone else, odds are you’re the only one who wants it.

Nevertheless, sellers routinely grossly overvalue their domains, giving rise to the standard joke amongst big-league domainers: “If you have to tell someone it’s a premium domain, then it’s not.”

Escrow.com facilitates online transactions of many kinds, including the buying and selling of domains. The site’s 2024 sales data shows the average price of two- and three-letter .com domain names is $60,000. Four- and five-letter .com domains average between $10,000 and $15,000 each, while six-character .com domains only come in at around $6,000. This data may shock sellers hoping to make much more money for much longer .coms and alternative TLDs.

Applying the 80/20 rule to these sales averages tells us that a handful of high-value domains will offset the far more numerous low-value domains of the same length. This means that most four- and five-letter domains are worth considerably less than $10,000, despite sellers often trying to sell longer nonpremium alt-domains for prices many times higher.

A Guide to Letting Go

Ask yourself this: Would someone else actually buy this domain? If your honest answer is no, then toss it. Anything that is an obscure extension, or that includes hyphens, random numbers or misspellings, should be at the top of the junk pile. Be a minimalist. A good rule of thumb is if you still haven’t used a domain you registered after three years, it’s time to let go. Try selling it, but if that doesn’t work, get rid of it.

Looking around the web, you’ll see that many good domains remain unused and for sale. It’s cheaper to acquire a good domain later, when you actually need it, than to hold onto dozens — or hundreds — of domains you think you “might” need one day. I’ve already canceled or earmarked over 200 domains to sell or drop in 2025, primarily from domain portfolios I acquired to get a few specific domains that were included.

If you need any more encouragement to make this the year you finally ditch your extra domains, maybe this will help: After dropping hundreds of domains over the years, I can’t recall a single one I tossed that later became a successful project for someone else. They usually remain unregistered, parked or for sale at an absurd price nobody will ever pay.

Juicy Jay is the CEO and founder of the JuicyAds advertising network and the Broker.xxx dealmaking platform, which helps people buy and sell adult websites, businesses and domains.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More Articles

profile

WIA Profile: Reba Rocket

As chief operating officer and chief marketing officer of Takedown Piracy, long at the forefront of intellectual property protection in adult entertainment, Rocket is dedicated to safeguarding the livelihoods of content creators and producers while fostering a more ethical and sustainable industry.

Women In Adult ·
opinion

Protecting Content Ownership Rights When Using AI

In today’s digital age, content producers have more tools at their disposal than ever before. Among these tools, artificial intelligence (AI) content generation has emerged as a game changer, enabling creators to produce high-quality content quickly and efficiently.

Corey D. Silverstein ·
opinion

How Payment Orchestration Can Help Your Business

An emerging payment solution is making waves in the merchant world: the payment orchestration platform (POP). It’s quickly gaining traction as a powerful tool for managing online payments — but questions abound.

Cathy Beardsley ·
opinion

Fine-Tuning Refund and Cancellation Policies

For adult websites, managing refunds and cancellations isn’t just about customer service. It’s a crucial factor in maintaining compliance with the regulations of payment processors and payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard.

Jonathan Corona ·
profile

WIA Profile: Laurel Bencomo

Born in Cambridge, England but raised in Spain, Laurel Bencomo initially chose to study business at the University of Barcelona simply because it felt familiar — both of her parents are entrepreneurs. She went on to earn a master’s degree in sales and marketing management at the EADA Business School, while working in events for a group of restaurants in Barcelona.

Women In Adult ·
profile

Gregory Dorcel on Building Upon His Brand's Signature Legacy

“Whether reflected in the storyline or the cast or even the locations, the entertainment we deliver is based on fantasy,” he elaborates. “Our business is not, and never has been, reality. People who are buying our content aren’t expecting reality, or direct contact with stars like you can have with OnlyFans,” he says.

Jeff Dana ·
opinion

How to Turn Card Brand Compliance Into Effective Marketing

In the adult sector, compliance is often treated as a gauntlet of mandatory checkboxes. While it’s true that those boxes need to be ticked and regulations must be followed, sites that view compliance strictly as a chore risk missing out on a bigger opportunity.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

A Look at the Latest AI Tools for Online Safety

One of the defining challenges for adult businesses is helping to combat the proliferation of illegal or nonconsensual content, as well as preventing minors from accessing inappropriate or harmful material — all the more so because companies or sites unable or unwilling to do so may expose themselves to significant penalties and put their users at risk.

Gavin Worrall ·
opinion

Understanding 'Indemnification' in Business Contracts

Clients frequently tell me that they didn’t understand — or sometimes, even read — certain portions of a contract because those sections appeared to be just “standard legalese.” They are referring, of course, to the specialized language used in legal documents, including contracts.

Corey D. Silverstein ·
opinion

5 Steps to Make Card Brand Compliance Easy

It’s February, the month of love. Just once, wouldn’t it be great to receive a little candy heart asking you to “Be Mine” instead of more forms to fill out and documents to submit? Of course, regulatory compliance does have one important thing in common with romance: Fail to put in the work, and your relationship is likely over — your relationship with the card brands, that is.

Cathy Beardsley ·
Show More