i think the problem is that not many people/business's know that they can buy on the aftermarket ??? plus also the issue of having a abn makes it harder , and dont forget the tranfer cost may cost more than a cheap domain ? the value come later when the knowledge is greater ???

I was getting offers before the market opened up and had to explain to people that trading names was not allowed. I would assume there are a lot of people out there who had no idea these rules even existed, if you arent in the domain biz its not really general knowledge about .au policy.

The abn makes it difficult to sell to international users, but locally businesses will be the main buyers so an abn is not too much of an issue.

There is definitely a lack of knowledge about the value of domains though, this is where end users need to become more aware. Hopefully over the coming months there are some big sales and the offline media picks up the stories.

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AuDomaining.com.au - Australian Domain Blog

Totally agree with the comments already raised. Things restricting the .au market is lack of knowledge from businesses. I mean, Madison Avenue still don't understand the value of generic domains, and .com domains have been around for a lot longer than .au's.

I know it's bad to say, but Australia is even further behind the eight ball.

Also, the cost of transferring. I have heard differing prices to transfer an .au domain. From $79 to as much as $170. Does anyone know the real cost?

Mike
Fabulous.com

It varies from registrar to registrar.

It's not compulsory from the auDA so it's just the registrars grabbing some cash.

I've been doing registrant transfers with Enetica for $89 and they are dropping prices later this week to $49 once they launch their automated transfer system.

Is there any chance Fabulous will become a .au registrar in the future?

Australia is definitely behind, we've got a lot of catching up to do, although on the plus side affordable opportunities still exist for .au domainers.

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AuDomaining.com.au - Australian Domain Blog

Becoming an .au registrar is something we are definitely interested in doing. We are currently looking into this opportunity now. As soon as I have more information I will let you all know.

Cheers,

Mike
Fabulous.com

Yes the more the mainstream media (television and newspapers) pickup these large domain selling stories, the better the .au marketplace will become. If the auDA relax laws in regards to having an ABN/ACN then it would also open up to international traders and push prices higher.

auDA have closed any applications to become a .au registrar until further notice, but i hope they do open it up to create more competition. The wholesale pricing for domain registration may also be lowered as more demand for domains occurs.

Enetica look to be the best value for ownership transfers, they may be doing this to get owners to transfer their domains to their service, would sure net them a lot more business being so cheap to transfer. Planet Domains charge $110 for a transfer of ownership too, i have heard others to be around the $200 mark, quite ridiculous if you ask me.

I got an offer for a domain at Austdomains and their transfer cost to the new owner was this

"Change of ownership fee" $220
Plus a renewal fee of $69 for 2 years

Total Coast was $289

I lost the sale because of it