Understanding of the .uk brand

[websaway]

I had an enquiry for a decent generic domain recently. The negotiations boiled down to a mid-xxx value I was happy with.

Then all went a bit silent their end. I chased it a final time and got the message back that they had registered the .uk.com domain instead and were happy with that. They are going to rebrand with that instead of investing in the universally recognised .uk

How do you get the message across to these kinds of businesses who seem hellbent on hamstringing themselves? With this one I get the impression some time down the line they may realise by which time it will be too late.

If the potential buyer read this thread and decided he now wanted to buy the name, what price would you quote ?

 

[tifosi]

If the potential buyer read this thread and decided he now wanted to buy the name, what price would you quote ?

They're still within the quote period so I'd honour that... after that back to original quote price.

 

[ratboy]

We are dealing with one worldwide problem afflicting humans:

95% of people are stupid.

 

[tifosi]

We are dealing with one worldwide problem afflicting humans:

95% of people are stupid.

And the other 5% are stupid AND lazy!

 

[ratboy]

Most people in older style businesses still don't understand the power of the web - what an email address is etc. So those people would baulk at the price of a good generic for their business - some get it, others don't.

Had one of those today as it happens.

 

[sdsinc]

How do you get the message across to these kinds of businesses who seem hellbent on hamstringing themselves? With this one I get the impression some time down the line they may realise by which time it will be too late.

They are shooting themselves in the foot. This is what I would let them know:

.uk.com is not a real extension, but a private subdomain. Think it's as good as .co.uk ? Think again: http://www.domainnamenews.com/legal-issues/centralnics-gbcom-dispute-gbcom-wildcarded/9589

the ten millionth .co.uk domain was just registered, do they think .com will give them an edge when all their competitors use .co.uk. Confusion, traffic bleeding away.
.com is okay but .uk.com... ambitious/high profiles business prefer to use real domain extensions

 

[Rob_F]

Your guy has bought a boat full of holes which will ultimately cost them far more to fix than your domain would've cost them. In fact, that boat will never be fixed, there'll always be leaks in it.

Assuming it doesn't sink entirely.

- Rob

Edit. Oops. I see sdinc has already linked to a similar article. Would have made sense for to read the thread in its entirety before posting

 

[thesmileyone]

How do you make the sale... I thought a business can just send you court summons and take the name from you?

 

[Edwin]

How do you make the sale... I thought a business can just send you court summons and take the name from you?

Only if you're cybersquatting on their made-up trademark.

If you own a generic descriptive domain name they have to pay whatever you're asking for it if they want it.

 

[Bailey]

once they've done the "Howwww much" bit i ask them if they have a personal number plate on their car, they normally go quiet........then i ask then how much they paid for it and how much it earn't them last year !

Love it - but far too polite to ever use it.

I work on the understanding, that i'm a facilitator - Not an educator. The domain is available to you today because of foresight 'Comprendo'

The Yanks are well onboard (even grateful) - Suprisingly not yet here in the UK though, given our supposed internet based economy

 

[retired_member33]

Only if you're cybersquatting on their made-up trademark.

If you own a generic descriptive domain name they have to pay whatever you're asking for it if they want it.

Wow, really?

Thats quite a statement... I was on the phone with an affiliate manager yesterday and we were discussing my business expanding to another country and I told her about the prices which people asked for generic domains in that country which were way too much imo and she agreed with it.

Funny thing she said was... Most probably nobody is ever going to buy that domain for that price so just reg a domain and spend your time on links and content and I think she was right.

Why try to buy a domain from someone who has got it and who is asking way too much where you can buy another domain and get that domain ranking knowing that no competitor is ever going to spend his money on a domain.

Or am I wrong?

 

[Bailey]

Or am I wrong?

In general - your wrong. There has never been a one size fits all..Or even most

I've never been surprised by my lack of knowledge in the development field. but i'm constantly surprised by developers unwillingness to see domains outside their set criteria - thanks for leaving so much space

 

[websaway]

Wow, really?

Thats quite a statement... I was on the phone with an affiliate manager yesterday and we were discussing my business expanding to another country and I told her about the prices which people asked for generic domains in that country which were way too much imo and she agreed with it.

Funny thing she said was... Most probably nobody is ever going to buy that domain for that price so just reg a domain and spend your time on links and content and I think she was right.

Why try to buy a domain from someone who has got it and who is asking way too much where you can buy another domain and get that domain ranking knowing that no competitor is ever going to spend his money on a domain.

Or am I wrong?

Of course she agreed, why should'nt she " of course I love you of course I'll marry you"


I don't really think you can give thought to this kind of generalisation, each case is different and one entities idea of expensive is anothers idea of a bargain ( depending on where they are coming from ). Some people who talk like this about the secondary market are those that would not have even registered the names 10 or 20 years ago when they were available to register, they would have found reasons why you can get along without a domain name or the internet will never take off, they lack forsight, vision and imagination, they are for many different reasons focused on what they are doing and are not allowed to think outside the box.

and for the record some recent domain sales.

park.de $7600
torrents.de 5000 euros
mydriver.de 2975 euros
sharing.co.uk £4000
fishpond.co.uk £3600
bazingo.com $10000
healthyspot.com $11739

Yes nobodies ever going to pay those prices.

 

[tifosi]

You'ge got to laugh. There's an ending to this story with a moral...

I've now sold the domain to another party who 'gets it'. It's a different company, not the same one in disguise. I offered them the same original price as the first. They came back the same day & accepted. Process was delayed a bit by Easter but now done.

Looking at them both they're not direct competitors but different ends of the same sector of which the domain is a play-on-words descriptor.

At the end of the day one company has the prime uk location and another has a back street shop. Thats the way it is, and the way it will increasingly become.

For the price of the domain the new owner will get the kudos (and probably some free traffic) and will 'pay off' the initial investment within months at most judging by the business prices in the sector.

 

[websaway]

You'ge got to laugh. There's an ending to this story with a moral...

I've now sold the domain to another party who 'gets it'. It's a different company, not the same one in disguise. I offered them the same original price as the first. They came back the same day & accepted. Process was delayed a bit by Easter but now done.

Looking at them both they're not direct competitors but different ends of the same sector of which the domain is a play-on-words descriptor.

At the end of the day one company has the prime uk location and another has a back street shop. Thats the way it is, and the way it will increasingly become.

For the price of the domain the new owner will get the kudos (and probably some free traffic) and will 'pay off' the initial investment within months at most judging by the business prices in the sector.

Good News!

 

[sdsinc]

At the end of the day one company has the prime uk location and another has a back street shop. Thats the way it is, and the way it will increasingly become.

That's the perfect analogy for domain names.
Location location location.

 

[Edwin]

That's the perfect analogy for domain names.
Location location location.

Agreed. Very nice analogy. Simple and to the point, and paints just the right contrast...

 

[stellar73]

On a related note I was at the relaunch of a music venue in Glasgow last night, was surprised to see the venue using "clubname.info" for their website.

I initially assumed they obviously hadnt been able to get the co.uk or the.com however it turns out they've owned the co.uk since 2006 and only bought the .info in 2009

I guess this is the domain equivalent of scoring an own goal... Some people are beyond help!

 

[Bailey]

On a related note I was at the relaunch of a music venue in Glasgow last night, was surprised to see the venue using "clubname.info" for their website.

I initially assumed they obviously hadnt been able to get the co.uk or the.com however it turns out they've owned the co.uk since 2006 and only bought the .info in 2009

I guess this is the domain equivalent of scoring an own goal... Some people are beyond help!

I'm going to disagree.

Sometimes a certain extension usage aids memorability - But, yes you certainly want to have the primary extensions owned and pointing towards your chosen url.

I own several "property rental" type domains in .info - Where the .info extension is really the best fit.(yep I'd love to own the .com as well but, I dont)

 

[stellar73]

fair enough Bailey....I dont think .info is the worst extension in the world (it certainly beats .pro), I just cant see why any uk business would choose to use it over a .co.uk when they didn't have to....each to their own I suppose!