The worst I let drop. Do you think it is a bad sign that something like 40.com.au could be picked up for reg fee in 2002 and sold at break even 10 years later? That is a weak market in my view.
No the domain sucks. Well not completely but it doesn't match the Australian market.
1) Has no search volume
2) Has no commercial angle (something which you always point out as being essential)
3) Is not an acronym for a business
4) Has brandable value if you get really, really lucky with an Australian business
5) Has some small scarcity value amongst investors
The usual 'com.au is worth 1/20th-1/50th of the .com' rule doesn't apply with numerics or brandables because they need a massive market to have any hope of getting really, really lucky.
PS - I also made the same mistake as you and grabbed a bunch of NNN.com.au's in 2008, based on values of corresponding NNN.com's. Got lucky with a few but generally it was a bad choice.
What I did pick up I spent a lot of research on at the time and the returns haven't been good compared to where the money could have gone. eg I could have bought a 3 letter .com for $200 which would be worth $3000 today or a nn.com for a few thousand which would be worth 10 times that now.
Short domains have 'scarcity value' - look at the LLLL.com boom. Values were inflated solely by domainers for no other reason than there were only a limited amount.
Australia doesn't have anough domainers to create this 'ponzi effect' so the domains that appreciate in Australia are those better suited to development or end-user sales. Like LostSuper.com.au or WeddingInvitations.com.au.
Keyword .com's are still selling for 10 times 2002 level despite the market halving from the peak.
Sure I'll take your word for it - I'm not as familiar with .com market as you. .AU domains didn't really change in value between 2002 and 2008-ish so the best time to purchase (with the benefit of hindsight of course) would have been around 2008. Paying renewals (which were a lot more expensive back then) inbetween 2002 and 2008 was just dead money really.
Lostsuper.com.au I sold. Again it was a name with a fair bit of traffic.
Congratulations. Mind me asking how much? Did you recoup reg fee?