I keep buying domains before I know what I'm selling
Every time you get excited about a product idea, you open a registrar. You check .com, .io, .ai, invent spellings, and often pay for something just in case. A week later you still cannot say in one breath what you sell or who it is for — but you have another renewal on the card. The domain makes you feel like you started. You know you didn't. This is the same tic whether you sell jewellery online or ship a SaaS. The URL is not the offer.
Context
The blocker, in a nutshell
If this blocker is unfamiliar, start here.
A domain is a label for something worth naming. At idea-capture stage, buying a URL is fake progress if you still cannot say what you sell.
Key Terms
Industry jargon explained
Click any term to see its definition.
The Reality
A day in their life
Solo or two-person bootstrapped founder building SaaS, AI tools, courses, templates, or info-products
Idea hits at 11pm: a status page product for small SaaS teams. Before I write what it does, I'm searching statusfor.dev, upkeep.ai, shipstatus.com. Two are taken. One is £40. I buy it. Instant relief.
Morning I tell myself I'll write the offer. Instead I sketch a logo in a free generator so the domain has a brand. Afternoon I still cannot answer what am I selling this month without mentioning the URL. Small win: I list three leftover domains from last year so I can see the pattern without pretending this purchase was different.
Evening I scroll past those unused names. Renewals are cheap enough to ignore and expensive enough to sting when I add them up. I want the itch to buy a name to wait until I know the thing I'm naming.
The People
Who experiences this blocker
Solo or two-person bootstrapped founder building SaaS, AI tools, courses, templates, or info-products
30-55 • intermediate to advanced
Skills
product thinking
online selling intent
tool hopping
Frustrations
- Domain feels like starting when it isn't
- Cannot explain the offer without the URL
- Leftover unused startup domains
Goals
- Write the sentence without the URL
- Stop buying during idea capture
- Decide what to do with names already owned
Top Objections
- I need the perfect .ai name before I can think
- Domains are cheap so buying early is fine
- Brand first is how real companies start
- If I don't buy it now someone else will take it
How They Talk
Use These Words
domain FOMO.aisolo founderofferreality linestatus pagekill triggerparking list
Avoid
retainersagency scalediscovery callsclient deliveryVC growth playbook
Learning Pathway
Capture the idea
Recognise domain FOMO, capture the idea without a new URL, and deal with the names you already own — real brand work comes later.
Showing 1 of 1 recommendation
Briefing
Briefing Built
◆◆◆◆◆Excellent Fit
Is your Idea, hobby or a business? Decide it in one sitting
You'll build: A written verdict, one real number, a kill trigger and the four decision answers, with the tempting name parked instead of bought.
Root Cause
Finding where this blocker actually starts
We traced backward through five layers of "why" until we hit the source. Here's what's really driving this.
1
Why isn't the domain progress?
They still cannot say what they sell without mentioning the URL.
2
Why does buying feel like a start?
The card charge is dopamine without a stranger hearing the sentence or a number appearing.
3
Why does it lock them in?
Once the perfect name exists, pivots feel like wasting money so they build for the brand.
4
Why does advice make it worse?
Registrar blogs and naming tools push secure the name first and accelerate the tic.
Root Cause
Buying a domain feels like progress without exposing the idea to rejection; once the perfect name exists, pivots feel like wasting money.
The Numbers
How this stacks up
Editorial assessments based on the available evidence. Scores do not establish demand, purchases or measured financial impact.
Overall Impact Score
72/100
Urgency
7/10
Moderate pressure to solve
Build Difficulty
9/10
Complex, needs deep expertise
Market Size
6/10
Moderate estimated reach
Competition Gap
7/10
Moderate assessed gap
"Buying a domain feels productive because it keeps the dream alive without exposing it to rejection."
Original poster describing the pattern in their own projects and in indie startups. Low reach (2 points, 3 comments) — first-hand practitioner signal, not proof. The article it linked to no longer resolves. — Hacker News, 2025-12-28
More Evidence
What others are saying
"Those late night ideas can rack-up a sizeable renewal bill with no real progress being made."
Independent commenter in the same thread corroborating the renewal cost of late-night buying. Amount not quantified. — Hacker News (comment), 2025-12-28
"I have a bunch of unused domain names, with nothing on it."
14-reply thread on what to do with unused domains. Older, but the behaviour is durable and the thread was live at 2026-08-07. Shows the end state this Problem prevents. — Indie Hackers, 2022-06-24
The Landscape
What solutions exist today?
Current market solutions and where there are opportunities.
Leader
B
Buy domain early advice
Approach: Registrar and naming blogs that push secure the name first
Challenger
I
Indie naming / brand kit tools
Approach: Tools that generate brand kits and check domains in minutes
The Gap
Why existing solutions keep failing
The pattern they all miss — and how to beat it.
Common Failure Mode
Purchase dopamine without offer clarity
How to Beat Them
Capture-stage stop rule: no domain purchase; write the sentence and the numbers first; park the name you want; count what you already pay for; defer real brand/domain work to the later stage
The Fix
What a solution needs to succeed
The non-negotiables and nice-to-haves for any product or service tackling this blocker.
The 3 Wishes
The itch to buy a name waits until you know the thing you're naming.
Must Have
Stop rule: no domain during idea capture
Ugly paragraph without URL
A parking list so the name you want has somewhere to go that isn't a checkout
Path to the one-sitting written test
Explicit handoff to the later brand/domain stage
Nice to Have
Inventory of already-bought domains with renewal cost and dates
Out of Scope
Domain availability checking
DNS setup
Trademark
TLD strategy
Any build or Blueprint on this Problem
Success Metrics
No new domain purchased
Sentence works without URL
The tempting name is parked, not bought
Solution Strategy
Which approach fits you?
Buy early advice creates lock-in; the capture stage forces offer clarity first and defers real brand/domain work.
What we recommend
Do not buy a domain while capturing the idea. Run the one-sitting test, park the name you want, and count what the unused names already cost. Brand and domain work belongs later.
The Future
What might make this blocker obsolete
Technologies and trends that could disrupt this space. Factor these into your timing.
high probability
now–12 months
.ai and instant naming tools accelerate domain FOMO
Increases need for a no-domain capture stage before brand work.
SaaS: Medium risk
Course: Opportunity
For Creators
Content Ideas
Marketing hooks, SEO keywords, and buying triggers to help you create content around this blocker.
Buying Triggers
Events that make people search for solutions
- Excited idea triggers registrar tab
- Cannot say what they sell without the URL
- Wallet of unused startup domains
Content Angles
Attention-grabbing hooks for your content
- Domain FOMO before offer
- Name is not the product
- .ai mashup tic
- What to do with the domains you already own
Search Keywords
What people type when looking for solutions
bought domain before ideadomain feels like progressstartup domain graveyardbuying .ai domain earlywhat to do with unused domains
The Evidence
Where this came from
Every claim in this report is backed by public sources. Verify anything.
2 sources referenced
Source note
Blocker published by Collab365 Spaces, reviewed by Collab365 editorial team on . Cite as "I keep buying domains before I know what I'm selling", Collab365 Spaces. 2 sources referenced.
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