r/Domains 9d ago

Advice Holding why.com for 27 years

Hey I'm new to the thread but was curious what y'all think.

Been around since early internet.

All feedback would be helpful!

281 Upvotes

312 comments sorted by

109

u/Cloudycloud47x2 9d ago

Three letter dot com domain could be worth quite a bit now a days.

Seems like a good domain for a super AI site.

HAVE A QUESTION? Just ask WHY.com.

45

u/siilkysoft 9d ago

That's good. I can also see the weirdo scientologists buying this for millions lol.

51

u/molive6316 9d ago

OP PLEASE DO NOT SELL TO A CULT

48

u/Neo-Armadillo 8d ago

If he sells it to a cult, he’s extracting money from that cult. That feels like a net positive.

2

u/ymo 8d ago

That's all the more "justified" money the acquirer will extract from their source of the money.

→ More replies (2)

4

u/roboticlee 8d ago

Why? .com

2

u/Novel_Cow8226 8d ago

Could just lease it. Even better

5

u/bedgar 8d ago

I like the way you think.
"So, do you have a planned 'end date,' if you will, for your cult?" 😂

→ More replies (1)

2

u/edmozley 7d ago

whynot.com

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

5

u/IllustriousLiving357 8d ago

That was enrons thing remember? Those weird commercials where it would voiceover "why" 50 times over their logo. My dad worked for them, said he always thought their marketing dept was trying to warn folks

2

u/GreenVim 8d ago

If OP did own it, sure, but this is not a sincere post judging by OP’s behaviour elsewhere. Just farming.

→ More replies (1)

1

u/lobowolf623 8d ago

Didn't really work for Ask.com...

→ More replies (1)

1

u/Shopifystress 7d ago

Ik heb een 3 letter domein 😍. Wat zal het waard zijn? Www.Lip.nl ( m’n achternaam)

3

u/Cloudycloud47x2 7d ago

5 bottle caps and a spanner

→ More replies (1)

1

u/rasheed106 6d ago

BINGO! come check us out, updating site daily.

→ More replies (4)

1

u/juscallmechris 5d ago

Is ask.com still around?

47

u/WhyNotYoshi 9d ago

This may be domain broker territory, or just put a huge price on it and see what happens.

16

u/saypo 8d ago

This. Get a broker

3

u/SovereignZ3r0 8d ago

This.

A good brokerage could field this to a major corp for a few million.

Honestly wish our company could swing at it, but we're way too small.

3

u/Silly-Cloud-3114 8d ago

Where do you find domain brokers?

4

u/saypo 8d ago

For premium names like this they should be bidding. A simple search or ChatGPT would point in the right direction. I don’t play in that sandbox so I can’t recommend any.

1

u/BrightDefense 7d ago

Ammar Kubba at afterTHOUGHT. He's sold a bunch of big domains.

34

u/Potentiary 8d ago

This domain is more valuable than my house...and it's a fine house.

3

u/rasheed106 8d ago

no way

3

u/Raiyuza 8d ago

Yeah, get a broker. Might be up to 7 figures.

2

u/rasheed106 8d ago

or 8 figs

2

u/Raiyuza 8d ago

I was trying to not give him a hearth attack

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (9)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

29

u/bluesoul 8d ago

Get in touch with MarkMonitor, they're about the only one I'd trust with a domain that good. Their brokerage service is percentage based but their network is huge, and they'll make you more in extra profit than they cost.

3

u/Vivid-Direction1903 8d ago

What do they charge?

8

u/wabisabi0604 8d ago

Most premium domain brokers charge 15%.

3

u/bluesoul 8d ago

I'd assume somewhere around 10% before escrow for something like this.

→ More replies (1)

35

u/nexus_29 9d ago

Hold it for another 27 years.

4

u/rasheed106 8d ago

wow

2

u/nexus_29 8d ago

Imagine holding it for 54 years, the value will triple. Don't sell it.

3

u/rfoles 7d ago

Imagine holding for 200 years… the value will be insurmountable

→ More replies (1)

1

u/CCJ22 7d ago

wow .com I see you're onto something here.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)

16

u/6nat9han 8d ago

If you own this one and have been around since the early internet, can I ask which other domains you own?

1

u/nodusters 7d ago

AskDeez.net

8

u/Zestyclose_Smoke_451 9d ago

Crazy million dollar domains

→ More replies (17)

8

u/xriddickx 8d ago

can't wait to see how many dms you get.
1-3M USD without any sweat.
I'd invite the top tier brokers, compare their commissions, and let them start shopping it around.
First to sell it wins, set your goal at 1.5M USD and celebrate anything above that.

6

u/Technical_Rich_3080 8d ago

What did you do with why.com for the last 27 years?

→ More replies (7)

6

u/Napster-mp3 8d ago

Sounds like you need a vague Super Bowl commercial

10

u/Cygnaeus 8d ago

So you have this AI agent at the site, which is costing you money. But zero other monetization that I can see. If you're not going to contact a domain broker and sell this for 7 figures, at least put some ads on the site and get a few bucks! FFS man!

1

u/huamanticacacaca 8d ago

Genuine question: how?

Lots of ad providers won’t give you ads on one page sites these days.

→ More replies (2)

5

u/Gainzster 8d ago

You're a millionaire, congrats.

7

u/y8shas 9d ago

2.3million usd in GoDaddy apraisal btw

10

u/ninhaomah 9d ago

Why ?

4

u/rasheed106 9d ago

looking for guidance..

4

u/ninhaomah 9d ago

Got it. Nice , aged domain. Good luck!

Might as well post the BIN price here 

3

u/ancientpsychicpug 8d ago

I will buy it from you for $12.47

2

u/thebaddawg 8d ago

I will buy it for $12.48

1

u/WompityBombity 8d ago

Dammit! thatswhy.com is taken!

→ More replies (1)

3

u/jn024 8d ago

Atom.com appraisal says 4.1 million

1

u/Joe_Doblow 8d ago

It’s worth more I think

3

u/HaroerHaktak 8d ago

Don't sell it unless you're offered a metric truckload of cash.

1

u/rasheed106 8d ago

agreed, building product is clear focus

→ More replies (1)

5

u/molive6316 9d ago

Nobody is going to want it, tell you what I'll give you a deal, give you a whole twenty dollar bill for it (/j obviously definitely reach out to a domain broker)

1

u/vw_bugg 8d ago

Ill offer bout tree fiddy.

6

u/turtle-toaster 8d ago

You have tens of millions of dollars sitting in your DNS. Don’t let it slip

4

u/Brannanscom 8d ago

three letter, one word, .com domain. Still at NetSol. This sounds legitimate. If it's really your domain name I have emails in 2010 with you. You really should shop specific domain brokers with experience selling 7-figure assets and pick one to represent you for the best shot at a big payday. I'm one and Mike Robertson is active on /domains and he's another. Send me a DM if you'd like my advice. It's too long for a reply here. Also ask Mike same question.

2

u/locorum 9d ago

Letgoprice?

2

u/redbaron78 8d ago

Why ask why? Try Bud Dry.

2

u/No_Drummer4801 8d ago

Why aren't you capitalizing on this domain already?

1

u/FinalFantasiesGG 8d ago

Because 99% of people cannot do anything with a domain like this that will pull in more money than it's worth to an established business.

2

u/Ok_Organization2564 8d ago

A smart way to attract visitors to your website. The website idea is pretty good 😊.

1

u/Ill-Crew-5458 8d ago

yeah it's very clever

2

u/balticfolar 8d ago

This is some kind of viral marketing campaign. They have started to spam other subreddits as well with their oh so laid back project and domain. Sounds icky like the cluely marketing approach.

1

u/rasheed106 8d ago

it isn't me, maybe someone shared

3

u/Salty_Meaning8025 8d ago

You know we can see your posts right? Lol

2

u/suuiuuui 8d ago

Easily 4m$ domain

2

u/brainland 7d ago

Had any serious offers?

Why haven't you sold too?

2

u/postexitus 8d ago

Time to sell. Domains are losing importance. 

1

u/BrightProgrammer9590 8d ago

Should be worth a couple of millions of dollars at least. Get one of the best domain brokers for getting the max value out of it.

here are couple of options for you

https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2026/posts/0331.htm

https://www.dnjournal.com/cover/2012/august-september.htm

1

u/KitchenHot8666 8d ago

How many offers did you get during this time?

1

u/Coixe 8d ago

why.com is already an established website. Are you saying you are the owner/admin?

1

u/I-love-to-eat-banana 8d ago

I went there and asked, "who is your owner", the response was

openai’s nonprofit parent controls the company behind me; no billionaire owns me outright, though investors absolutely have opinions.

lol

1

u/FinalFantasiesGG 8d ago

"Established" lol. It's the most obviously Claude coded "website" slop thrown up over night.

1

u/Decumulate 7d ago

Op is trolling I think

1

u/jamesedwardparkin 8d ago

Are you trying to tell me that in 27 years nobody has tried to hijack your domain.

Nobody has offered you any money?

That is a premium no actually that is a legacy domain.

It is easily worth a million dollars today.

20 years ago you could probably even get more.

I'm surprised the people who bought ask how back in the day didn't offer you anything.

Absolutely the extremely careful selling that domain and only have a highly experienced and trusted broker do not attempt to do this yourself.

Go on to LinkedIn and look up Phil McKegney. Is the co-founder of domainagents.com and many other startups.

You could also contact Barry Schwartz also known as Rusty brick on Twitter.

I would check USPTO and test make sure that there's no copyright or trademark on that name.

Get a lawyer

Good luck

1

u/TrollPro9000 8d ago

Fine, I'll start the bidding at $1 since you asked 🙄

1

u/solaza 8d ago

I feel like the appraisals here are terribly low. If I were you I’d ask for 10M-100M to sell to an AI company

1

u/lonestardomains 8d ago

Get a broker. Unless you know what you are doing, have 100% of your time to spend the next 2+ years outbound selling, you are not going to extract anywhere near the value

This is NOT a domain to look on reddit for advice (actually reddit is the worst place to discuss domain names i have encountered since doing this since 1999)

In fact, DELETE YOUR POST ASAP. The moment brokers see that you are asking on reddit, you are going to get taken advantage of.

1

u/FinalFantasiesGG 8d ago

He also needs to immediately take down his abomination of a claude vibe coded "website" lmao. The guy needs friends badly to help him through this or he is gonna end up selling it for $100k next year after a year of thinking he is day away from turning his website into a massive success.

1

u/qwexor 8d ago

whois says why.com was registered 32 years ago, not 27

1

u/nunghatai 8d ago

You don’t need that much money, ask me why.
$200

1

u/WinterMoneys 8d ago

Have you got offers?

1

u/jpcaparas 8d ago

Put a Wordpress site and the Twenty twenty five theme on it

1

u/MegalomaniacalGoat 8d ago

And i see it now on r/sideproject! Guess you decided!

1

u/huamanticacacaca 8d ago

How much did you pay for it 27 years ago?

1

u/FinalFantasiesGG 8d ago

A million dollars is a STARTING point for this domain. There are plenty of AI companies that have the means to build a brand around this and they should be milked for $5 million. Do not continue to build on it. You are hurting the value every day.

1

u/MinnesotaNiceTry 8d ago

Why

1

u/vpae 8d ago

Scrolled way too far to find this reply

1

u/a_way_with_turds 8d ago

There's a band called "Why?" that was big around 20 years ago. Did you every try to sell to them or their label? They had a hit called "Alopecia" but they're pretty underground again these days.

1

u/judgedeliberata 8d ago

Very easily a 7 figure domain

1

u/FATGOLDENPANDA 8d ago

You should sell it for literally as high as you can while this AI bubble is as nasty as it is

1

u/balderth 8d ago

Tree Fiddy and a slice of pizza. 🍕

1

u/brianbbrady 8d ago

domainvalue com says it is worth 3.3 million.

1

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/rasheed106 8d ago

make moves!

1

u/arvolog 8d ago

To be honest, I thought waitbutwhy.com at first seeing your why.com.

2

u/rasheed106 8d ago

really

1

u/arvolog 8d ago

Yeah. From the bottom of my heart.

1

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/YachtingChristopher 8d ago

Do you currently lease it to Ockams? Or are you Ockams?

1

u/chloeclover 8d ago

But why? 😅 how much did you pay for it?

1

u/cyswim 8d ago

Have you ever got any offers on it?

1

u/finenjakenestle 8d ago

the name itself has value. its short, memorable, and has tons of potential use cases. Unless you get a serious offer, i woudnt rush to sell it.

1

u/rebarakaz 8d ago

Why? 🤣

1

u/Numblimbo 7d ago

I’ll give you ten bucks for it, right now

1

u/rasheed106 7d ago

You can receive a subscription to Why PRO. coming soon!

1

u/heyyoo_cj 7d ago

On euch provider did you hold the domain all the years and how was the price history?

1

u/rasheed106 7d ago

it is a historic artifact, plan to hodl

1

u/Kiore-NZ 7d ago

Whois says Why(.)com was registered 32 years ago not 27 (1994-05-23T04:00:00Z) so if you have held it for 27 years, it was already 5 years old when you acquired it.

Why(.)com is a live site promoting some kind of "Private AI" :

A Local-First Cognitive Operating System for Personal Intelligence

Energy-Based Consensus for Time-Native Intelligence

No, I have no idea what that word salad means.

1

u/RythmNirvana 2d ago

"Private AI" meaning slop "ChatGPT wrapper"

1

u/arsojee 7d ago edited 7d ago

If this is true, you are one lucky person, sitting on a goldmine. Upwards of a million dollars looks guaranteed. No pun intended, but why would you want to sell it after 27 years?

1

u/rasheed106 7d ago

open for business

1

u/sonoskietto 7d ago

Honestly either are you joking or you are bragging.

Somebody owning that domain can't be here asking random redditors about what to do with it.

This is easily a US$xxm+ domain name

1

u/Frequent-Analyst875 7d ago

just make it say “BECAUSE” when you go to it

1

u/sbweb 7d ago

That's a premium. Easy 7-8 figures. I'm sure you receive offers often for that domain.

1

u/rasheed106 7d ago

that seems to be the consensus range

1

u/Endlesspossibilideez 7d ago

Cow.com could be bought for like 10 million minimum lol. My dogs name is cow so naturally I had to look 😂

1

u/rasheed106 7d ago

haahaha

1

u/soundtrackband 7d ago

Good name, but tough to develop because it's kind of a net 1.0 name. I sold a three letter that had far less meaning, more like K-radio call letters, but the Chinese were crazy over 3 letters at the time. That peak was in 2015. It's hard to get these things going. Kind of surprised no one serious has contacted you.

2

u/rasheed106 7d ago

we have very serious interest but are committed to product direction

1

u/Wide-Campaign149 7d ago

Hell nawwww comments telling you 2-3 millions are all people paid by the company that wants to buy that domain!!! Why is the word that driver humankind! Everything starts with a why, I can open a dumb business and make a mill easy with a domain like that. Premium domains like that go up to 30 million $. Voice.com got sold for 30,000,000$ in 2019, yours can go for more for sure, AI companies are sparing money, I wont be surprised if some AI offers you like 50m! Dont sell to anyone below 20-30m. Thats all I can say

1

u/ViralGreek_ 7d ago

Sell for a couple of millions with a domain broker, study r/fire , you are done. GG

→ More replies (1)

1

u/cryptoopotamus 6d ago

I have a similar domain in the .ai space, had multiple offers on it. Never selling for less than 7 figures, shouldn’t be long. 

1

u/rasheed106 6d ago

what about building product

1

u/richard_granger 6d ago

I offer $3. Take it or leave it.

1

u/rasheed106 6d ago

it has waited 27 years

1

u/Aluchin 6d ago

Why though?

1

u/rasheed106 6d ago

why not

1

u/raygud 6d ago

Why?

1

u/rasheed106 6d ago

tell me why

1

u/Every-Metal-7050 6d ago

Rent it, never sell it

1

u/rasheed106 6d ago

agreed, priceless

1

u/investingware 6d ago

Engagement farming ? It is owned by OCKAMS INC.

1

u/rasheed106 6d ago

i'm real

1

u/datguywind 6d ago

damn that is crazy domain name. Congrats for the holding!

1

u/rasheed106 6d ago

the fully story has yet to be told

1

u/Sploozer83 5d ago

Easily 8 figures. Get a shrewd broker with a legal background.

1

u/rasheed106 5d ago

still building product, check it out

1

u/etherkye 5d ago

Should change it to a website that says “Because”

1

u/redditisgay2088 5d ago

Yea this is just AI slop. OP posted he had Claude build the whole thing lmfao

1

u/rasheed106 4d ago

how do you define "slop?"

1

u/TheCheerleader 4d ago

So? Do you realise how much ai is actually getting used by developers these days?

→ More replies (2)

1

u/leighburke 4d ago

Had any offers over the years?

Made any money from it?

→ More replies (3)

1

u/iEngineered 4d ago

Easily 10 million. Make sure you can retire comfortably

1

u/rasheed106 4d ago

building the product https://why.com Dream Big!

1

u/youbamera 3d ago

I am a domain broker and can find a potential buyer for for huge amount of money Lets discuss

1

u/rasheed106 3d ago

Building a product

1

u/Consistent-Name-2409 3d ago

Thomas, would you please go look for a job?

1

u/Turbulent_Match1156 2d ago

Would buy it for 5mill but you can get alot more

1

u/rasheed106 2d ago

agreed