desperation hits a new level

[julian]

If only it didn't cost money to hold on to those development dreams..


Oh.. its a bit like musical chairs here now.

 

[doodlebug]

If only it didn't cost money to hold on to those development dreams..

I to wish it didn't cost money

Oh.. its a bit like musical chairs here now.

You always talk in riddles

 

[murph]

Implying constantly switching focus (and resources) from project to project?? I know what you mean...

 

[websaway]

The question is knowing when a domain is a liability not an asset.

 

[BREWSTERS]

Well Julian, that name sold at the weekend, and I've sold a couple more cheapies since.So there is a market - a buyers market!

I'm involved in both sides; I'm selling none core domains to fund purchases of names relating to an area I'm focusing on.

Holding out means I'd eventually make more per domain but I could miss out on some great names that I want now. So what might appear to be a fire sale, probably is - but in my case it's not to get out of domains but to get into the right ones (for me).

BTW, look at this - where else could you get a deal like this? I could look at it as underselling one domain, but instead I see it as funding several others.

 

[Edwin]

BTW, look at this - where else could you get a deal like this? I could look at it as underselling one domain, but instead I see it as funding several others.

You posted that sales thread at 10:22 but it hasn't sold yet, so I'm not sure it's going to tell you much about the state of the wider market (stuff has sold in as little as 1-2 minutes on here when it's a real bargain). I'm not sure why you're turning your recent sales attempts into some kind of referrendum on market sentiment?

 

[WalkinDude]

Buyers are getting savvier, who'd have thought 10 years ago lil old ladies would be controlling iphone4's, humanity evolves, so if you have domains you no longer need and no one is beating down your door for, best to get rid and or consider letting expire.

Also think a section of this site should be open to search crawling so that end users can see domains going for knockdown prices. Got some okay domains i'm happy to let go a fiver each just to recoup, but there's almost nowhere where end users can pick these up because it's all geared towards the sole interests of the domaineer. Both options should be open.

The entire system and methodology is holding back the progress of the UK internet and all because a bunch of guys want xx,xxx pricing on domains they have no personal intention of ever developing.

 

[WalkinDude]

Would also be interested in any initiative where domaineers promote each others domains on their sites and not merely their own. I'd be happy to do it and only been here a fortnight but getting the impression this little community controls hundreds of thousands of domains. Get things moving a bit wouldn't it.

 

[Edwin]

Would also be interested in any initiative where domaineers promote each others domains on their sites and not merely their own. I'd be happy to do it and only been here a fortnight but getting the impression this little community controls hundreds of thousands of domains. Get things moving a bit wouldn't it.

Why would it? If people are even half-smart about selling their names, then they'll ensure that typing the domain in will give a potential buyer some means to contact them, whether via Sedo or another parking company, or off of their own For Sale lander. So how would promoting the names owned by others create more sales? If somebody wanted them, they can already get in touch with the owners easily enough...

What would happen in practice is the people with the kind of names that attract attention would essentially end up "subsidising" everyone else. If zero people a day land on any of your names, there's automatically zero cross-promotion you can do. But if a bunch of people come to your names then why would you advertise those that don't get any visits rather than devote the opportunity to trying to sell the name the visitor's looking at right then and there?

 

[WalkinDude]

That actually isn't true, the average man woman and child on the street has no clue how all this works and places like Sedo [double glazing salesmen], are and appear quite daunting, there are barriers to entry which put off people who have bright ideas, but rather not know f all about domaineering when all they want is a simple pre owned domain at a reasonable price and to knock up a website. Should be simple and it isn't.

 

[Lovekraft]

Given the mystic nature of the original post, is anyone actually talking about the same thing here?

 

[Blossom]

That actually isn't true, the average man woman and child on the street has no clue how all this works and places like Sedo [double glazing salesmen], are and appear quite daunting, there are barriers to entry which put off people who have bright ideas, but rather not know f all about domaineering when all they want is a simple pre owned domain at a reasonable price and to knock up a website. Should be simple and it isn't.

If they're interested enough they'll do the research.

People don't just walk into this industry and make an £XXX or £XXXX (or higher) purchase knowing nothing about domains. A domain name is an investment like any other regardless of what you do with it or how long you hold it for. I don't sit here and complain that the investment wine industry is hard to understand or there isn't a 'Stock Market for Dummies' book, or complain no one will hold my hand and explain how either of those things work. I'd look into it myself. That's true for practically all industries.

Obviously that's not a perfect analogy because domain names are more complex than that, but still.

Also, lower price domains are obviously a different story.

 

[WalkinDude]

And in answer to your second point. End users are shoppers. People who pop up to the high street with nothing more than a vague idea they want a pair of shoes or a carton of milk. When they arrive they then see far more and typically purchase something they had no intention of buying until they actually saw it, especially if the pricing is attractive.

Your theories rely on assuming an end user who perhaps just wants to startup say local flower business for example must know EXACTLY what domain he/she is looking for, search for it online, understand the means to make contact with it's owner when in fact half the pro's in here struggle with that aspect, know how to negotiate and so on.

Most UK websites are utter sh'te, cos those controlling the domains put up sh'te homogeneous websites mostly scrounging for affiliate money, and those with the bright ideas can't get hold of them. Utter hoarding and shortermism in the worst possible mix and my days of thinking like that are over. The UK needs an awesome internet and when you can't shift a decent brandable domain for tenner but you can EASILY shift a knackered old mobile phone for tenner something is very wrong. This market is utterly failing to capture the imagination of the general population.

The future comes faster every day, every single person will need a website, everything will have an ip, an unstifled market could deliver this and make the UK internet what it should, the best in the world. Rant over.

 

[cc976a]

With so much push online, every business from one man band to international corporation having a website, if anyone is waiting for that magical day when end users are going to, en mass, get or be anymore interested in domain names then they are now, it's not going to happen.

Time to think project and development time - or stop renewing.

There will always be domain sales, and end users, but it's not changing or rapidly growing anytime soon.

All my domains (mainly bought for development than resale, although a couple of potentials in there) are listed on a website, where the domain redirects to the promotion page for that domain. The page is dynamically driven, so adding the domain name on a basic CMS (in less than 10 seconds) does everything else.

It's clearly laid out for the visitor (text as well as video presenter) explaining they have two choices if they have an interest in the name:

1. Click the Sedo link, to take them to the selling page for that domain on Sedo, and make a bid (in case they are familiar and more trusting than handing money to me direct through the website);

2. Use the form on the page to enquire about the name;

No fluff, no parked adverts, nothing confusing. Just two simple options to buy or enquire about the domain.

Without turning this in to a cheap plug like Brewsters - can build something similar for your own portfolio. Just drop me a PM.

 

[WalkinDude]

With so much push online, every business from one man band to international corporation having a website, if anyone is waiting for that magical day when end users are going to, en mass, get or be anymore interested in domain names then they are now, it's not going to happen.

Time to think project and development time - or stop renewing.

There will always be domain sales, and end users, but it's not changing or rapidly growing anytime soon.

All my domains (mainly bought for development than resale, although a couple of potentials in there) are listed on a website, where the domain redirects to the promotion page for that domain. The page is dynamically driven, so adding the domain name on a basic CMS (in less than 10 seconds) does everything else.

It's clearly laid out for the visitor (text as well as video presenter) explaining they have two choices if they have an interest in the name:

1. Click the Sedo link, to take them to the selling page for that domain on Sedo, and make a bid (in case they are familiar and more trusting than handing money to me direct through the website);

2. Use the form on the page to enquire about the name;

No fluff, no parked adverts, nothing confusing. Just two simple options to buy or enquire about the name.

Without turning this in to a cheap plug like Brewsters - can build something similar for your own portfolio. Just drop me a PM.

I salute you sir, now that's what i'm talking about.... will be in touch.

 

[Blossom]

And in answer to your second point. End users are shoppers. People who pop up to the high street with nothing more than a vague idea they want a pair of shoes or a carton of milk. When they arrive they then see far more and typically purchase something they had no intention of buying until they actually saw it, especially if the pricing is attractive.

That works to some extent, but there's a ceiling of the amount they're going to spend. You're not going to go out to buy a bike and come back with a BMW.

Your theories rely on assuming an end user who perhaps just wants to startup say local flower business for example must know EXACTLY what domain he/she is looking for, search for it online,

Most people know what potential domains name/s they want if they're starting a physical business. If they're registering it with Companies House etc. they will have a name in mind. Even if they don't have an exact idea, it will be one of three things: a brandable name they've already thought of that they like, their name or the generic of what they are.

understand the means to make contact with it's owner when in fact half the pro's in here struggle with that aspect, know how to negotiate and so on. Most UK websites are utter sh'te, cos those controlling the domains put up sh'te homogeneous websites mostly scrounging for affiliate money, and those with the bright ideas can't get hold of them.

That's their problem, same as any other industry there are people who get it right and people who get it wrong. If sellers choose to risk losing sales from not having contact details on the website that's for sale, or any way to make an offer, or a parking page that redirects to an advert or another site, that's up to them. If they fail at negotiating or get greedy, then supposedly they won't last very long.

Utter hoarding and shortermism in the worst possible mix and my days of thinking like that are over. The UK needs an awesome internet and when you can't shift a decent brandable domain for tenner but you can EASILY shift a knackered old mobile phone for tenner something is very wrong. This market is utterly failing to capture the imagination of the general population.

I agree that there shouldn't be such a high percentage of unused domains (isn't it at least 70% or something?). But phones are a consumer market, domains are niche. They aren't really comparable.

I do agree with your point that secondary domain selling should be more mainstream generally. But even web hosting isn't mainstream yet so realistically it's not going to happen for a long time regardless.

The future comes faster every day, every single person will need a website, everything will have an ip, an unstifled market could deliver this and make the UK internet what it should, the best in the world. Rant over.

I've been waiting for it to happen for 10 years and it's still not. I think social media has slowed the whole process to be honest.

 

[BREWSTERS]

You posted that sales thread at 10:22 but it hasn't sold yet, so I'm not sure it's going to tell you much about the state of the wider market (stuff has sold in as little as 1-2 minutes on here when it's a real bargain). I'm not sure why you're turning your recent sales attempts into some kind of referrendum on market sentiment?

I'm not looking for it to tell me anything about the wider market, I just want to sell it to buy more names. The .co.uk domain last weekend was different as it was so long since I'd had a bite on a .uk name, I wanted to see if the Acorn market for .uk names was breathing or terminal.

Also, I always find that sales come in bunches, so I was happy to kick-start a trend. This week I've sold three .uk names at bargain prices, and a two word .org for just into four figures.

Sometimes bargain names sell quickly - sometimes they don't. I've hand reg'd names and sold them within an hour for three figures. Other times I've pushed a domain at a low price and got no interest - taken the thread down and sold the name for 3x the previous amount within a few days.

 

[BREWSTERS]

Given the mystic nature of the original post, is anyone actually talking about the same thing here?

I get the feeling my first post missed Julian's point.

 

[WalkinDude]

Blossom, it's UK culture to always argue for the status quo, the current UK online and domain status quo simply isn't fit for purpose so whilst I certainly don't have all the answers, arguements that amount to 'well that just the way it is' simply are not good enough and not the way they think in America which is why they control all the most popular webs.

You don't need the worlds biggest economy to invent facebook do you? An the UK could actually offer a two tier domain approach, utter premium for the hoarders, but a vibrant lower tier domaining market which encourages mass participation at a cost no different to someone going out and buying some clothes which they end up not bothering to wear but which certainly doesn't put them off going and doing it again for the rest of their lives does it?

I think it's possible to do this with lower tier domains which are a less risky bet than scratchcards, betting shops etc which people routinely p'ss money up the wall on. Maybe it's our job to actually make this happen rather than simply accept this boring market.

 

[Nova]

Does anyone here actually list other people's domains on their domain name list sites, in exchange for some commission if they sell? This seems like a straightforward process. I'd be happy for others to list my domain names in exchange for 10-15% commission if sold. I know Sedo etc do this but if 10-20 of us did this with each others domains, surely that would drive your chances of a sale? You could just added "Third party domain names for sale" or something at the bottom of your page.