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Is Domaining a declining marketplace / industry

shags38

Top Contributor
Nice Car James,

interesting comments so far and as always some differing opinions or slants on things. For the record yes I screwed up big time with the 2000 odd domains I frantically regged but as Ned Kelly said as they put the noose around his neck ... "soooch is loif" ... ("such is life" with an Irish accent, but you figured that right?).

I find this type of conversation very stimulating because it strikes at the very heart of what we are doing here.

Just to throw some more fuel onto the fire. Not only in this forum but others also and indeed on every domain listing website I have ever visited I continually hear about "Premium" names and how valuable they are. As it is with SEO and other things there are certain common denominators but there are always variants of opinion, application, experiences and goals. So who decides what is a premium domain name? I would have thought it would be the marketplace, the potential buyer / user, but it is becoming more and more apparent to me as time goes on that this is not the case. It appears that self appointed experts, using both their industry earned experience and historical data as well as a wet finger raised into the breeze, are making the decisions in many cases well before the marketplace gets the opportunity to decide for themselves. Let me clarify marketplace, I mean the whole marketplace, not the "club".

Examples are in our faces every day - try submitting names to ANY seller for auction or premium listing and wait for the thanks but no thanks response. bYes I know my names are mostly shit but I do have some good ones but not according to the people who decide whether anyone else gets to see them to then decide whether they will part with their money. It is knd of like someone being at the front door of a major department store eyeing you up and down and then assessing that you really should be shopping at cheap as chips and not here at Myer, based on their assessment AND historical "teachings / data" - (being brought up to assess that someone wearing shorts and thongs and unshaven would not have money .... WRONG).

Premium means top quality, top position etc etc - who determines that standing, or if someone creates some premium then generally they have done so with someone in mind - a discerning buyer maybe?

I will use the Gen Y+ (Y is moving on, Y+ is following close up though) up and coming business entrepreneurs as an example - they have no fear and importantly have foresight whereas many currently sitting in the decision making chairs are looking back over their shoulders. Hopefully Gen Y+ will change things.

Domain names are like internet real estate right? Not everyone can live on the actual foreshore of Sydney Harbour but there are truck loads of people living or wanting to live just a street or two or 3 away from the huge mansions on the shore. But the real estate agents ignore those houses and those potential buyers whilst they wine and dine the owners of the few shoreline properties that may be up for sale - right?? ..... WRONG, they would go broke.

Not everyone can live on the shoreline but second best is still very attractive.
Not with domain names though, second best is crap, there is premium then there is crap ........ according to the decision makers. How often have you submitted a name or two to one of the big guys only to be told in an email it didn't meet thier criteria whilst reading that email and looking at some of the absolute crap names they have in their featured domains whilst you have another look at the most recent offer you got for a domain that they said was crap?? (ok, they don't say crap).

I submitted some names recently and got the standard thanks but no thanks (big deal) but I sent an email back asking a few questions for clarification just to see what their rationale was. Need less to say that was a wasted exercise. 3DPhone.com is aparantly a good name but 3DPhones.com is not. Gee if I couldn't get that absolutely magnificent mansion on the harbour foreshore I would certainly think seriously about the one next door.

Oh, by the way - this is NOT about 3D names - it applies to any topic names.

I figure that letting the whole marketplace decide on the suitability and value of a given name is the smart thing to do.

This to me is another sign that domaining is not growing, not developing - it appears to be floundering and the big players are grasping at straws, all trying to get the sales for the declining super duper names whilst ignoring the bulk of the market. There is nowhere, no suitable platform for selling "next best / not crap" names (aha !! what is the determination of next best / crap names :D .... list them on Sedo amongst 3million others ... good luck.

Hey David, Mark and George - none of this is targeted at you guys, you do a good job .... I was particularly pointing to the dot com situation.

Albeit it does still raise the health of the AU market when the ONLY AFTERMARKET AUCTION gets only 50 names and likely less than 50 contributors out of how many domainers ?????? The 30,000 plus names listed on Netfleet must all be being kept for future investment?

Ok, enough for now ....... getting blisters on the tips of my typing finger (fingers, I use - I've been practicing 2 :D)

cheers,
Mike

I was having this dream last night ........ a domain broking company, one of the big ones (a legit one), contacted me and said they had a client interested in one of my names. I replied ... "oh that name, the one that a few months ago you told me you didn't want to list or auction, that one? .... thanks but no thanks, if the client really wants it he will find me ..... have a nice day".

Hey, we are all allowed to dream right ? :) :) 2 D)

Mike

Seeing as there is some interest in this thread how about you guys have a look and comment on the thread I started about selling an AU domain under 6months reg age .......... I started the thread for a reason and it seems that it is all quiet on the western front on the subject ??
 

Shane

Top Contributor
I see a "premium" name as one that the average person could start making $100+ per month from in a fairly short timeframe. Of course some people could make $100/month with a shit domain, but I'm talking about the average part-time developer like myself.

With 3Dphones.com - do I think I could start making $100+ from that anytime soon? Not a chance. But... maybe a few years down the track 3D phones will be the latest big thing, and yours will be a premium domain.

It all comes down to the individual. Some car rental companies will say that a Holden Stateman is a "premium car", whilst others will say that nothing short of a BMW 5 Series is a premium car.

If you think your domains are premium, or have potential to be premium, then why offer them up for auction?
 

Data Glasses

Top Contributor
unsure who has claimed to have premium domains ? in my case the vlaue is not there to sell 3dphones.com but i do thank you reminding me i have something worth waiting for, not every domain is a winner , now or in the future , we are in fact speculators , i think unless an ultra generic term , cars, houses, jobs you would be wasting your time putting it to auction at the moment
 

Chris.C

Top Contributor
Wow shags - that was a rant and a half!

:D

I must admit I would love to see some sort of clearing house for Australian domains in the future where domain owners could cheaply list their domains for auction with no reserve and where buyers could know they wouldn't have to pay an outrageous COR on top of their bid price.

That way the market can tell you if you have a "premium" domain or not.

I think NetFleet's Aftermarket auction is a step in the right direction, though it could drop it's reserve a bit and AUDA need a couple of policy tweaks along with Australian registars picking up their game a little and next thing you know we might have quite an efficient domain aftermarket.


in my case the vlaue is not there to sell 3dphones.com but i do thank you reminding me i have something worth waiting for, not every domain is a winner , now or in the future , we are in fact speculators , i think unless an ultra generic term , cars, houses, jobs you would be wasting your time putting it to auction at the moment
Though the thing about being a speculator is whilst no every investment is a winner, you need to make sure you make hay while the sun shines. The thing about a truly speculative domain like 3D Phones is the product doesn't exist in the mainstream market yet, and may never exist, therefore the best time to sell is when the euphoria is at its highest, not for a day that may never come. In which case selling it today may be a great move because tomorrow it may been obvious that 3D phones are never going to exist.

The above case is the exact reason why I normally don't bother speculating. Everything I invest is largely based on metrics.

There is an old business wisdom that goes along the lines of "it's far easier to make money selling something people already want and buy than trying to create a new product and needing to first sell the idea to them". That's the problem with domains like 3D Phones - you are forever selling the "idea" rather than the "metrics" and it gives people the ability to interpret whether the domain is "premium" or not.
 
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DomainNames

Top Contributor
My understanding is a Premium name is 1. Generic 2. One Word or 2 words example cars.com.au, boats.com.au, scooters.com.au, doctors.com.au, restaurants.com.au, sex, jobs, graphicdesigner.com.au websitedesigner.com.au etc

This used internationally as a basic standard and proven in domain sales results ( not traffic) .
 

shags38

Top Contributor
OK ....... before we go any further ........ none of this is to do with 3D NAMES ....... I just used an example ( a bad one it seems) ..... so lets stay on track here ok :)

Mike.
 

shags38

Top Contributor
HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how do you highlight just a section of someones post to comment on - reply with quote gives me the whole post ...... gggrrrrrr
 

shags38

Top Contributor
"There is an old business wisdom that goes along the lines of "it's far easier to make money selling something people already want and buy than trying to create a new product and needing to first sell the idea to them". That's the problem with domains like 3D Phones - you are forever selling the "idea" rather than the "metrics" and it gives people the ability to interpret whether the domain is "premium" or not."

I totally agree :) 1000%

Now, let me tell you about this new technology and the benefits it will give you ..... :) :) :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

shags38

Top Contributor
P.S. CNC

Samsung is releasing a 3D capable Phone "by New Years Eve 2010" according to their press release last month. What they didn't say is whether it will have a 3D Camera or that the screen will be 3D ..... either way it is happening. Small 3D screens don't require glasses (e.g. like the Nintendo P3D) so a phone will be suitable for no glasses viewing (me, I would need a magnifying glass ..... I am eagerly awaiting the market release of the Seniors Big Button Phone ... :) ) ........ 2D buttons mind you
 

Chris.C

Top Contributor
HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how do you highlight just a section of someones post to comment on - reply with quote gives me the whole post ...... gggrrrrrr
It will give you the whole post, but just delete out the words within {QUOTE} tags that you don't want.

If you want to respond to multiple parts of a post individually then just wrap {QUOTE} tags around each individual part of the post then make sure you respond outside of the {QUOTE} tags.

If you're still struggling I recommend Google... it knows everything - just type in "quote tags" and "vbulletin" and I'm sure you'll get some good information.
 

shags38

Top Contributor
It will give you the whole post, but just delete out the words within {QUOTE} tags that you don't want.

If you want to respond to multiple parts of a post individually then just wrap {QUOTE} tags around each individual part of the post then make sure you respond outside of the {QUOTE} tags.

If you're still struggling I recommend Google... it knows everything - just type in "quote tags" and "vbulletin" and I'm sure you'll get some good information.

Bummer ....... HTML code ........ I have only just finished learning the alferbet, now I have to lurn a puter langwaje
 

marketingweb

Top Contributor
Bummer ....... HTML code ........ I have only just finished learning the alferbet, now I have to lurn a puter langwaje

Actually technically it's called BB code shags rather than being HTML. So not only have you got to learn HTML for other reasons, this darned BB code that looks similar but isn't the same comes along! lol (It's actually not new, been around for years).

Matt
 

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