Is registering .uk on non-premiums a waste of money?

[DaveP]

Seeing some recent sales threads (where the .uk isn't even registered) has got me thinking, are we just wasting our money registering .uk domains? I mean for those of us who may sometimes catch/register 20-30 domains a month, is that extra cost for .uk worth it (20 domains is like an extra £90 or so)? I ask because even with domains I've sold to end users, not one of them even asks or cares about the .uk. This is more for domains with expected low £xxx value or less really.

 

[foz]

Just a nuisance, doubles the holding costs.

The public aren't demanding .uk yet.

Whether that changes over the coming years is the gamble on acquiring them now (or not).

 

[ian]

Complete disaster if you ask me, catching both has become almost as difficult as catching one, but there is still a desire with domainers to own the pair, just in case.

 

[deluxedomains]

still always better to have the pair in my opinion guess we all just have to wait to see if the .uk will take off.

as has been said in earlier threads when/if the big players ie.bbc etc change then the public may start taking notice but it is going to be a long road I feel.

 

[Sam]

Yes at this current time not many endusers want the .UK but maybe in time things will change but none of my clients want .UK

 

[Murray]

I mean for those of us who may sometimes catch/register 20-30 domains a month

You register 30 domains a month?

 

[Skinner]

Out of the last dozen enquires (this dozen is excluding domainers) only 2 have specifically asked about the .UK. One of those 2 materialised into an sale, and the .uk was registered and setup within days.

The other one, which I think is the more typical case.

The enquiry concerned keyword.uk, where their business was called Keyword UK and they operated off keyword.tld (where tld was non-uk) and they wanted to move to keyword.uk.

Aside from that, I think another year with minimal push from nom and no big players. I'll stop getting .uk's for now its defensive.

 

[bluerock]

Unless its a very good .co.uk I dont bother now with .uk.

Extra expense and probably only about 1/30 end users ask for it.
Its only handy if your going to flip to domainers as most end users still don't know it exists.

 

[Leeroy]

We pick up around 200 .co.uk a month and its a bitch having to catch the .uk too. I am going to give it 2 years then forget the .uk. since the .uk was realised for registration, we have sold 79 .co.uk domain names and of those 79 only 3 took the .uk.

 

[Retired_Member38]

I think if you're looking at it thinking the .uk isn't worth an extra fiver for, then the .co.uk wasn't worth registering in the first place.

 

[websaway]

I think if you're looking at it thinking the .uk isn't worth an extra fiver for, then the .co.uk wasn't worth registering in the first place.

Exactly !

 

[stellar73]

I think if you're looking at it thinking the .uk isn't worth an extra fiver for, then the .co.uk wasn't worth registering in the first place.

Totally agree!

I'm hardly registering anything now. When I do it's always hand reg drops and I always take both.

 

[Leeroy]

I think if you're looking at it thinking the .uk isn't worth an extra fiver for, then the .co.uk wasn't worth registering in the first place.

Not really, like i said, sold a bunch of .co.uk's with only a few takers of .uk. I know it's early days but if it's like this in 2 years time i will be dumping .uk domains.

 

[anthony]

You'd be better trimming down the shit .co.uk domains, and using the money saved to protect the good ones with their .uk matches.

 

[Mgx]

For me at the moment it's a no for non premium domains. As Invisible mentioned it's very subjective and depends on many factors. Maybe once i see more evidence in the reseller market and from end users will i start to register more.

 

[monaghan]

The problem is the drop pattern leaves both the .co.uk and .uk available, so when catching you really need to go for both to stop someone else getting it. For renewals, I've not bothered with the .uk for anything yet as I can keep the .uk secure for another 4 1/2 years, perhaps by then the market will have sorted itself out.

 

[monaghan]

Interesting concept, as a drop catcher, it would certainly be useful to know I could bag the .uk as well regardless of the competition

How long do you retain the .UK rights for though, unless it is until the same 5 year cut off as the rest of us, then you still have decide unless you already have a buyer for it.

 

[Murray]

Ultimately the statements are opinions

But some opinions are worth more than others; my esteemed opinion of course is very valuable

 

[ian]

At the previous Nominet AGM I did make a suggestion in respect of existing 3LD's that were to be deleted by the registry after several members raised concerns about it here. The suggestion was to reserve the matching 2LD for a short amount of time and allow the 3LD that had the right prior to its deletion to register the 2LD before it became available FCFS. Should this issue be raised again with Nominet?

Yes, this should be raised again if you'd be so kind. I agree that the .uk should be reserved for the new owner of the .co.uk for a period of around 7 days, but in that time the condition is they must register it (therefore Nominet still get their revenue). It would make the process of drop catching much simpler for such, as this split pairing isn't good for anyone that I can see.

 

[Retired_Member38]

Okay. I'll see what I can do. The likely perception will probably be that this requirement only suits a small number of "drop catchers" that are attempting to register a certain percentage of domain names immediately after deletion and also how does it benefit wider stakeholders.

Why would Nominet agree to this as they gain nothing from it. And in the process they admit that one without the other isn't really worth anything. Which is effectively admitting the full .uk launch was a cash grab in the first place.