discuss Domaining might be banned because IT is not FAIR.

[Abdullah Abdullah]

Just logged into my FaceBook and someone posted the following in a domain selling and buying group.

"Let's talk. I think it's really a form of extortion to buy a domain just so you can resell it for lots of money. A new domain registration costs $15 on GoDaddy (or $1 with promo code) so why should I or any other startup business have to come up with hundreds or even thousands of dollars to buy a decent domain off some scalper? I sold a domain once for $6,500 because I was actively using it for my own website but the guy just made me an offer I couldn't refuse. But I can't see how it's right to buy and hold domains you have no intention of using and demand gargantuan sums for them. This way all the good domains are taken up by resellers and only wealthy companies can get them. There's something disturbingly undemocratic about this. I wouldn't be surprised if this practice is eventually banned. Your thoughts?"

What are your thoughts on this ? I am not sure if he posted this here too but lets see everyone's comments.

 

[Ms Domainer]

Double post, crappy internet connection.

 

[hxp]

Can we get a link to the original post/FB group?

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

Can we get a link to the original post/FB group?

For privacy reasons, I will not post the direct link but the group is called Domain Name ForSale ( type it like that and you will find , the group has 5.1 K members)

Furthermore, We dont want the discussion to head back to FB, but again, you can search and find. We want the discussion to take place here

 

[trelgor]

"In a free economy you can purchase and resell what you want. If it sells - the price was fair. The buyer freely decided that the purchase was beneficial to them. If you want to live under different circumstances I suggest you move to a place where the government is in agreement with your regulatory views. It might be hard combining any startup-plans with that though. Or finding a restaurant that serves something nice - or anything at all. Maybe any aftermarket or second hand trade should be banned? Antiquities? Ban hotels from charging more for rooms with a view? Your opinion is that of a child who got his toy taken. Get a grip. Oh, and I just sold a nice 4 letter brandable to a startup. They where very happy that the name they needed was actually available for sale."

 

[dordomai]

I won't be surprised at some point when they make domaining a lot tougher and require development to hold a domain. I think every domainer should at least dabble in developing to be prepared.

.

This won't happen, at least in .com.

Here is why;

Imagine they would require "development" for a domain to hold it.

What a nightmare this would create for anyone including developers.

1. How do you define "development"? Putting up a parked page? Putting up a wordpress blog? Creating a "real" website or business"?

If it is the first two many domainers would simply do this and little would change. If it is the last, how do you define what a "real" website is? It's fairly subjective.

Eventually it may get to a point where many websites(like simple blogs) are not good enough and many non-domainers would end up losing their domain. People using their domain for emails,redirects or nameservers would lose domains. People sitting on a domain while creating a website, would end-up losing their domain.

People who bought a domain at auction intending to develop it two years later would end up losing it.

People who paid a lot of money for a domain would worry about losing it because the website they have may not be good enough. People who have to temporary shut-down their domain due to technical problems would have to worry about losing it.

2. How do you enforce it?

We have over 100 million domain names in many different languages. You would need a gigantic infrastructure to do this right.

How do we monitor them? With computer programs and AI? AI does make mistakes. Humans can make mistakes. Many lawsuits would follow.

3. Money

The number of domain registrations would decrease. ICANN would end up making less money. Verisign would end up making less money. The gTLDs might not be able to charge premium prices.
They have little motivation to do so.

 

[tiawalling]

i am not good at explaining things. but hope it will convey the message to the whiner

 

[dordomai]

Another thing is: It's not true that all domains are taken. If your budget is $10 then you will get a $10 domain name. You can still start a website with a somewhat memorable name.

There are established alternatives like .biz, .net, .org, .info. If you don't want to spend more than $10 these are good enough.

If you want .com AND you want premium then it will be expensive and all names will be taken.

What i also find very strange is that it seems that people in communist countries like China seem to have a more relaxed attitude towards domain trading while people living in a capitalist society are the ones who complain about it most often.

Either ban free markets entirely or don't but don't apply idealistic ideas selectively.

I am sure that capitalism has some drawbacks as well, no system is perfect but before I worry about domaining I would worry about hundreds other things first.

 

[trelgor]

China is not relaxed. They just haven't come around to tightening the straps yet. Another argument is to look at the new registries pricing structure for reserved names. Why doesn't he take his beef to the big "crooks"?

 

[dordomai]

Another argument is to look at the new registries pricing structure for reserved names. Why doesn't he take his beef to the big "crooks"?

He likely lives in a privileged country buying cheap goods that were manufactured overseas, investing in stocks and has no problems doing so but complains when he can't get a good domain for free.

 

[tvanrijt]

Love how domainers attack this guy!
Geesh....
Learn business and learn how to deal with negativity.
So much easier to ignore and more on.

Great comment. While I think the original complaint is not very solid, the comments read to me like some people here get the moral complaint. Otherwise, why would you defend it so fiercely?

I understand that end users are not happy with no great domains being available. I also understand they see us as the people to blame, as domainers do hold a large amount of domains and not everyone has basic knowledge about domains.

Don't use your time on people who don't (want to) understand it or who are not aligned. You won't convince them. Talk to people who do get domain value and don't ask ridiculous prices to end users, in the hope of scoring from 1 big sale. That puts the business in a bad light. If we all respect end users, they might respect us a little more too.

 

[Josytal]

What are your thoughts on this ?

Seems the guy is from the "Domain Force" department.

On a more serious note, this is one of the strongest objections which we domainers, being salesmen, should learn how to intelligently overcome (not bypass).

 

[domvault]

Just logged into my FaceBook and someone posted the following in a domain selling and buying group.

"Let's talk. I think it's really a form of extortion to buy a domain just so you can resell it for lots of money. A new domain registration costs $15 on GoDaddy (or $1 with promo code) so why should I or any other startup business have to come up with hundreds or even thousands of dollars to buy a decent domain off some scalper? I sold a domain once for $6,500 because I was actively using it for my own website but the guy just made me an offer I couldn't refuse. But I can't see how it's right to buy and hold domains you have no intention of using and demand gargantuan sums for them. This way all the good domains are taken up by resellers and only wealthy companies can get them. There's something disturbingly undemocratic about this. I wouldn't be surprised if this practice is eventually banned. Your thoughts?"

What are your thoughts on this ? I am not sure if he posted this here too but lets see everyone's comments.

Thanks Abdullah for posting it :

Tell that person to first go and ban all the fuk*n real estate companies that make billions of dollars selling real estate. It's a similar game, you buy a property (real or virtual) anticipating that the value of the area (in domains case : keywords) to appreciate and you buy it, pay the costs involved and then hold it for 10's of years to sell it for profit. Nobody knows if it may ever be sold.
Second thing, there is always an alternative available in domains, why the person only wants that particular domain, aren't the other same businesses have equal rights to the domain. They should also be given equal right to buy that domain and hence the thing called " auction " is there.

To answer, the person is naive and doesn't believe in capitalism.

 

[golan]

There's something disturbingly undemocratic about this.

Some leftist bitch. Democracy is when everyone has equal opportunities. When everyone has equal rights for everything around - it's not democracy, it's fucking communism.

 

[alcy]

good post! nothing like a good exercise in dark humor and irony first thing in the morning! let's see how I manage:

tell him to use hyphens in his domains. those are cheaper. and mostly regfee.

other than this, I'd not worry about bs like this unless comment is made by obama. or someone of equal power.

pee on it and move on.. that's what my dog would do

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

good post! nothing like a good exercise in dark humor and irony first thing in the morning! let's see how I manage:

tell him to use hyphens in his domains. those are cheaper. and mostly regfee.

other than this, I'd not worry about bs like this unless comment is made by obama. or someone of equal power.

pee on it and move on.. that's what my dog would do

Yup.. Hyphens can be handy sometimes specially the double ones lol

 

[alcy]

Yup.. Hyphens can be handy sometimes specially the double ones lol

you can reply and recommend that even more beautiful symmetry and patterns can be achieved by employing more than 2 hyphens. the more the better.. the more the cheaper..

there is a world of possibilities .. for instance a beautiful domain can be obtained by using following pattern:

B--e-a-u-t-i-f-u--l.com

or perhaps this lovely construct:

b-----ea-u-t-i-fu------l.com

do you see what I mean? you can pass these recommendations to the person. these are still beautiful designs and domains.

these beauties can be his for under $10!

 

[S-B]

Wait... You guys aren't giving your domains away?

 

[DNScholar]

Generally, the math is for average domainer atleast your portfolio should consist of 100 domains to sell 1.
i.e. 100 x $10 = $1000
Add renewals and all the other work goes into it (to maintain domains).

 

[alcy]

Wait... You guys aren't giving your domains away?

we are.. but to you

is that okay?

 

[Ehugbo]

Before they ban domaining, they should wait until I make my first million dollars from domain flipping. Thank you

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

Before they ban domaining, they should wait until I make my first million dollars from domain flipping. Thank you

Hehe , I think that applies to all of us

 

[Josytal]

first million dollars

First or Second?
I thought you made your first million last week. I was following your "Million dollar domain hack" post elsewhere. Hope I've not missed something vital.

 

[Ehugbo]

First or Second?
I thought you made your first million last week. I was following your "Million dollar domain hack" post elsewhere. Hope I've not missed something vital.

Oh well.. It felt like my first million dollars, but unfortunately it wasn't. I'm thinking you actually missed something

 

[Silentptnr]

Fact is...I classify domainers as being "Collectors" more than "Investors". Being a collector of domain names, baseball cards, art, or any other commodity is completely fair.

I certainly cannot become a Collector of fine art and decide that Picasso paintings are all taken and should be priced based on the original cost of the canvas.

I cannot want an old, classic car and decide that the entire classic car industry should drop their prices back to the original cost of a car.

Doctors, lawyers, real estate professionals and other service providers also set their own prices.

It is really silly and ridiculous that some people make comments like this one. They obviously are spoiled.

I think when parents talk to their kids in the future, they should tell them to Get a good education, Get a good job, and Work really hard, so that one day they can own a great domain!

 

[disaac81]

Companies pay branding agencies hundreds of thousands to come up with names, domaining is no different, we just have the names ready to buy