Paying for a "premium" domain name?
Mz: I bought a domain name for a non-profit and the only version available was the .us version of their name.  They were happy to get it for the $8 or so that they paid.  I've found that a lot of the domain names I think up aren't already taken, though initially some of the ones I thought up were. Karen Ellis, who does Planet Karen, bought PlanetKaren.co.UK instead of paying hundreds of dollars for the .com.  She just didn't have the money. People who are interested in her comic seem to have no problem finding her website without the .com.  I know of another website using .net that started out piggy-backed onto another site and I think the URL changed a few times over the years before settling on .net.  My observation has been that if you are doing something worthwhile and people really need or want the information, a non-premium domain name can work just fine.  Content is king in that regard.