Since the dawn of the internet in the 1980s, smart companies and individuals have realized that the shorter the domain, the better. The amount of time saved on URL type-ins and e-mails alone is worth its weight in gold. Many businesses have difficulty conveying to their customers what their website address is, often because the domain is too long or the spelling is confusing. With 3-letter .com domains, these issues are no more. There are 17,576 3-letter .coms in existence, however, not every 3-letter combination was created equally. Certain combinations have much more versatility and are used by a plethora of companies, and thus competition for these unique names is fierce. There are many 3-letter words too which are extremely valuable and coveted commodities. The majority of 3-letter domains were registered in the early–mid 1990s which is when Network Solutions first started making domains available to register. Just because a 3-letter .com domain doesn’t resolve, doesn’t mean it isn’t owned. All of them are very much owned and very rarely will you find one expiring due to the immense value they command. The 3L .com landscape has changed dramatically over the last decade. In 2013, Chinese investors came along and started buying 3Ls due to their scarcity. Prices sky-rocketed in the reseller market (among domain investors), making it tougher for end-user companies to purchase them. What is a 3-letter domain worth? That is a difficult question to answer. Prices range dramatically from $10,000 wholesale pricing for the very worst letter combination, into the millions of dollars for a premium at retail pricing. From time-to-time, you may encounter a 3L selling cheaply on an auction, however they are generally the ones that are less coveted and don’t have the same demand as a premium. For a list of recent published sales, see below.