Where does a domain's value actually take shape in practice?

[nicenic]

From a registrar's point of view, we see the same domain behave very differently at different stages.

From your experience, when a domain is judged as "valuable" (or suddenly not), which layer tends to dominate in real-world situations?

 

[connor4really]

This is the base layer. If there’s no traffic or history attached yet, or previous drops. If the domain has been moved to a bunch of different registrars.

 

[nicenic]

This is the base layer. If there’s no traffic or history attached yet, or previous drops. If the domain has been moved to a bunch of different registrars.

Yeah, it protects downside, but the upside often comes from how usable and replaceable the name is in the current market.