discuss How does the domain industry feel about somebody notifying a domain owner to renew?

[Chris Hydrick]

It's not uncommon for a domain registrant to allow their domain name to expire, and if not renewed in the allotted time, the domain will be auctioned off to the highest bidder, with the proceeds (assuming) going to the registrar / auction venue.

Domains expire for a number of reasons:

• Death of owner
• Payment on file changed
• Old email address
• Email filters
• Domain owner finances
• Procrastination
• ETC

As domainers, we generally capitalize by making money on the buy. This can mean purchasing a domain directly from a domain owner at a price we feel it can be resold for more, or it can mean capitalizing on a domain owner(s) failure to renew a domain, and paying the registrar more than anybody else watching the auction is willing to bid.

Recently, GoDaddy indirectly profited from one families death, by auctioning a slew of valuable expired blockchain domains. TheDomains.com wrote a great summary HERE.

@JaredPantalone, the son of the domain owner, had joined NamePros, and per the below quote, had thanked the kind people who had reached out to him, and let him know what was happening. HERE

Hello everyone,

Jane is my Mom, that section of obit wwweb found is her's.

First I need to thank the kind people who have reached out to me and let me know what was happening, I have hopefully stopped what domains remain in this account from expiring... looks like we've missed a lot but not all of them. My Mom was always a little ahead of the curve. Rank carelessness isn't too far from the truth though I'd like to think I've learned my ~$100k lesson.

From a domainer POV, the actions of the kind people who alerted Jared, sealed a valuable leak of expired domains, and prevented many hopeful domainers from capitalizing on enduser blockchain domains at expired domain prices. But from a human POV, I feel the actions of the kind people who alerted Jared did the right thing.

Is the above an example of why more domainers should contact expired domain owners and let them know they are about to lose a valuable domain if they don't renew?

Here's an example where I feel I helped somebody out...

Some of y'all (+/- 120 bids) might have seen Sofia.com recently at expired auction...

I had wondered who, why, and how a (1996) domain such as this would reach expired auction. So I thought it'd be best if I emailed the owner a heads up.

So I did...

... and shortly after, I received a bounce back failed delivery error.

I clicked the linked, and the email was successfully delivered. This extra step caused me to wonder if the domain owner had received any of the renewal notices sent by hist registrar.

The domain owner responded the next day, and subsequently renewed their domain!

Now, as a domainer, should I feel proud that my actions stopped somebody from losing a valuable domain? ...Or did I do a disservice to my fellow domainers who may have been hoping (bidding) to win the domain at auction?

 

[wwwweb]

It's not uncommon for a domain registrant to allow their domain name to expire, and if not renewed in the allotted time, the domain will be auctioned off to the highest bidder, with the proceeds (assuming) going to the registrar / auction venue.

Domains expire for a number of reasons:

• Death of owner
• Payment on file changed
• Old email address
• Email filters
• Domain owner finances
• Procrastination
• ETC

As domainers, we generally capitalize by making money on the buy. This can mean purchasing a domain directly from a domain owner at a price we feel it can be resold for more, or it can mean capitalizing on a domain owner(s) failure to renew a domain, and paying the registrar more than anybody else watching the auction is willing to bid.

Recently, GoDaddy indirectly profited from one families death, by auctioning a slew of valuable expired blockchain domains. TheDomains.com wrote a great summary HERE.

@JaredPantalone, the son of the domain owner, had joined NamePros, and per the below quote, had thanked the kind people who had reached out to him, and let him know what was happening.



From a domainer POV, the actions of the kind people who alerted Jared, sealed a valuable leak of expired domains, and prevented many hopeful domainers from capitalizing on enduser blockchain domains at expired domain prices. But from a human POV, I feel the actions of the kind people who alerted Jared did the right thing. Is this an example of why more domainers should contact expired domain owners and let them know they are about to lose a valuable domain if they don't renew?

Here's an example where I feel I helped somebody out...

Some of y'all (120 bids) might have seen Sofia.com recently at expired auction...

Show attachment 78738

I had wondered who, why, and how a (1996) domain such as this would reach expired auction. So I thought it'd be best if I emailed the owner a heads up.

So I did...

Show attachment 78741


... and shortly after, I received a bounce back failed delivery error.

Show attachment 78742

I clicked the linked, and the email was successfully delivered.

The domain owner responded the next day, and subsequently renewed their domain!

Show attachment 78743

Now, as a domainer, should I feel proud that my actions stopped somebody from losing a valuable domain? ...Or did I do a disservice to my fellow domainers who may have been hoping (bidding) to win the domain at auction?

Wow Sofia.com is an amazing domains, namejet is really gonna hate you now, lol, good karma points from the owner for saving their domain, hopefully it comes back 10 fold.

I have seen a fair share over the years another one was IndianJewlery.com at Godaddy it closed at $16K, lady who made beaded jewlery had recently died, it ended up selling for $16K.

We see it from an investor point of view, others see it from a small business, or hobby point of view, and the domain many times get's lost in translation. The valuable one word domains pretty much are safe, they already have dozens of offers from companies like Media options who is constantly reaching out, and other brokers. It is those 2 keyword combos that keeps many domainers in business. How much of Namefind, or Name Media's portfolio do you think is from deceased holders, probably thousands of the domains. As domains become more valuable I think this issue should correct itself, you will always have one off events. Auction houses make way to much money to do anything about it.

Can you imagine what sofia.com would have brought in, all profit.

 

[Rich]

I'm sure many people do it, I've reached out a handful of times with limited success. It does feel good to help a family or owner that didnt see that value. Maybe they'll spread that knowledge of valuable domains to others?
On the other hand, I wonder how many more great domains would've expired over the years..

 

[Name Trader]

On the other hand, I wonder how many more great domains would've expired over the years..

Maybe more in the earlier days than today. Now they all get picked up in Pre-Release Auctions. Usually for big bucks for a quality domain like Sophia.com

 

[shorterwinters]

Good on you @Grilled.
If it came down to it, I wonder what I would really do.
I have not participated in many forums but I am constantly amused, entertained, and amazed for many reasons at what I see at this place.
It's no wonder I keep coming back beyond the educational portion of it.
Hmmmm, best or right thing to do? That might be the real question.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Wow Sofia.com is an amazing domains, namejet is really gonna hate you now

I don't think a company is able to express an emotion such as hate.

I do wonder though, if the people of namejet (or any other expired domain auction platform), approve of this behavior (notifying domain owners to renew).

In a perfect world, an auction house would applaud such efforts, because ultimately, I think it helps their customer. ie A network solutions customer was helped. Network solutions is owned by Web.com >> and Web.com owns 50% of NameJet. In this hypothetical perfect world, a registrar would go the extra mile to contact the domain owner when they're about to lose a valuable domain at auction. (rather than do the bare minimum, and subsequently profiting at the expired auction)

Now they all get picked up in Pre-Release Auctions.

Do you think it would help or hurt the domain industry if somebody and/or some entity were to contact domain owners of expired domains in pre-release that receive $XXX+ bids? eg Somebody, and/or some entity, could scan all valuable domains at expired pre-release registrar auction, and notify the domain owners they are about to lose a valuable domain if they don't renew and/or transfer out?

I mean, what's the difference between emailing somebody who is about to lose their valuable domain (receives $XXX+ in registrar expired auction bids), and notifying somebody who dropped a stack of cash on the ground?

 

[MapleDots]

I did not respond to the poll because I thought an important option was left out.

Contact the previous owner, and inform them they're about to lose their domain if they don't renew.

Another needed choice....

Support and congratulate the member who took the time to do the right thing.

As I see the battles and infighting between domainers I am becoming more cautious and trying to chose my battles more wisely. So I probably would not be the one doing the contacting but I sure as heck would whole heartily endorse the person that took the initiative to do so

 

[Name Trader]

Maybe more than you asked for @Grilled

Do you think it would help or hurt the domain industry if somebody and/or some entity were to contact domain owners of expired domains in pre-release that receive $XXX+ bids? eg Somebody, and/or some entity, could scan all valuable domains at expired pre-release registrar auction, and notify the domain owners they are about to lose a valuable domain if they don't renew and/or transfer out?

I mean, what's the difference between emailing somebody who is about to lose their valuable domain (receives $XXX+ in registrar expired auction bids), and notifying somebody who dropped a stack of cash on the ground?

I think it does a service to the current owner. Which is a good thing. I also think if even one of those [Expletive Deleted] auction scrapers loses a quality domain because it gets renewed. I'm happy to remove their future profits out of their miserable bloated pockets, as well as the "ill-gotten" sales profits for the Registrar.

ICANN never intended for the registrars to take unrenewed domains into their own custody FOR FREE, and auction them off to the highest bidder adding the renewal cost to the price paid. What's happening is a complete bastardization of the rules ICANN originally set out about how un-renewed domains should drop. The problem is that these Registrars are now so big, they are dictating the process to the domain watchdog, ICANN. Which is completely the wrong way around from what it should be. It's long overdue time for ICANN to grow a backbone, and stamp out this pre-drop auctions farce. But we all know the truth. That will NEVER happen.

And if they did. They'd push the problem along a notch to drop-catching as the next bottleneck. DropCatch would then catch even more than they do now. And you'd find GoDaddy would start taking drop-catching seriously, and investing heavily in Registrars, infrastructure, and completely replace the currently useless software and posture.

Don't get me wrong. I admire DropCatch's strategy, their investment in registrars and software. It's a free market. They deserve to reap the rewards of their heavy investments.

I also admire how GoDaddy has entered the minds of Joe Public with their edgy SuperBowl Ads, as the only place to choose to register domains. Almost to the point that they are looking out for the small guy. the only Registrar to trust. But GoDaddy's contortions between Registrar and Auction House. Are REALLY ugly. IMHO. But Joe Soap is not a domain insider and will never notice how ugly these contortions have become.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

I did not respond to the poll because I thought an important option was left out.

What's the important option that you feel was left out?

 

[Kuffy]

I think I would have offered to buy it - was that an option?

 

[Chris Hydrick]

I think I would have offered to buy it - was that an option?

I assume for the right price it is available for purchase, but if the domain owner doesn't renew it, then the right price is the highest bid at expired registrar auction.

Based on the domain owners other domains (eg. an LLL.com and a country .com), I don't assume the domain owner is hurting for cash. I tried to contact the domain owner with other forms of communication besides email, and in those I may have touched on his selling options.

I forgot to renew a few domains that were picked up by others at registrar auctions, and really wish somebody had emailed me a renewal heads up. Heck, I've noticed some of my domains for sale via an affiliate link via domainer blogs, and that alone was a reminder I needed to renew before it was too late. Imagine a domaining world where bloggers tried to notify the expired domain owners, in addition to hosting an affiliate link promoting the expired auction of other peoples domain(s)?

If you search the internet for "sofia.com" you will find it promoted on multiple domain blogs with what looks to be affiliate links.

I wonder if the public opinion on domainers would improve if more domainers contacted previous domain owners before they lost their domains. Then, rather than registrar's and auction platforms profiting, more domain registrants will be selling domains, and profiting. I mean, how many domainers are born after selling their first domain?

 

[MapleDots]

What's the important option that you feel was left out?

Support and congratulate the member who took the time to do the right thing.

 

[creataweb]

There are some good people who will do this. Happened to me with a name that dropped and a nice gentleman bought it and gave it back to me. I tried to pay him and he said no thanks.

 

[Jasonn]

so did it get renewed?

 

[Arca]

so did it get renewed?

Yes:

 

[mr-x]

Now, as a domainer, should I feel proud that my actions stopped somebody from losing a valuable domain? ...Or did I do a disservice to my fellow domainers who may have been hoping (bidding) to win the domain at auction?

I've done the same. My motivation is usually to buy the name before you do though.

 

[Nametree]

I have, and would contact domain owners to alert their names are expiring, especially when it is obvious that they aren't particularly domain-literate. If it's an active domainer/reseller, perhaps not, since I might assume they just didn't care to renew. If it seems like the domain owner passed away and their names are not being renewed, that is an alert that something is not right and their heirs may not be aware of the domains, so I would definitely try to contact.

Part of it is karma: my immediate relatives don't know anything or care much about domains, but if something happened to me, I would hope someone reaches out to alert them. Even if you do have a plan established for passing on control of accounts, I think when someone passes away in your family going to renew their domains is perhaps not the first thing you're going to do. Let 30 days pass and you might be losing some very valuable assets that might keep you afloat someday.

I also happen to not lose sleep over billion dollar aftermarket companies missing out on profits on assets people have owned and cared for for many years.

I think some (many?) of us would like to see domains taken as seriously as real estate or other more established asset categories. If the state had the right to auction your house (and keep all the profits) if your heirs didn't pay bills on it for 30 days, wouldn't you be outraged?

 

[Arpit131]

It's not uncommon for a domain registrant to allow their domain name to expire, and if not renewed in the allotted time, the domain will be auctioned off to the highest bidder, with the proceeds (assuming) going to the registrar / auction venue.

Domains expire for a number of reasons:

• Death of owner
• Payment on file changed
• Old email address
• Email filters
• Domain owner finances
• Procrastination
• ETC

As domainers, we generally capitalize by making money on the buy. This can mean purchasing a domain directly from a domain owner at a price we feel it can be resold for more, or it can mean capitalizing on a domain owner(s) failure to renew a domain, and paying the registrar more than anybody else watching the auction is willing to bid.

Recently, GoDaddy indirectly profited from one families death, by auctioning a slew of valuable expired blockchain domains. TheDomains.com wrote a great summary HERE.

@JaredPantalone, the son of the domain owner, had joined NamePros, and per the below quote, had thanked the kind people who had reached out to him, and let him know what was happening. HERE



From a domainer POV, the actions of the kind people who alerted Jared, sealed a valuable leak of expired domains, and prevented many hopeful domainers from capitalizing on enduser blockchain domains at expired domain prices. But from a human POV, I feel the actions of the kind people who alerted Jared did the right thing.

Is the above an example of why more domainers should contact expired domain owners and let them know they are about to lose a valuable domain if they don't renew?

Here's an example where I feel I helped somebody out...

Some of y'all (+/- 120 bids) might have seen Sofia.com recently at expired auction...

Show attachment 78738

I had wondered who, why, and how a (1996) domain such as this would reach expired auction. So I thought it'd be best if I emailed the owner a heads up.

So I did...

Show attachment 78741


... and shortly after, I received a bounce back failed delivery error.

Show attachment 78742

I clicked the linked, and the email was successfully delivered. This extra step caused me to wonder if the domain owner had received any of the renewal notices sent by hist registrar.

The domain owner responded the next day, and subsequently renewed their domain!

Show attachment 78743

Now, as a domainer, should I feel proud that my actions stopped somebody from losing a valuable domain? ...Or did I do a disservice to my fellow domainers who may have been hoping (bidding) to win the domain at auction?

Good work there!! Appreciate it!
You never know what that investment meant to that owner. So yes, big deal!! You made a difference!

 

[Mr. Deleted]

I would like to see this happen: The auction houses paying a portion of the "expired" domain fee they get to the previous owner. It would make it more fair to the old time owners. It would not necessarily have to be 50%, it could be 5 or 10%, but for a 100K sale, if they never let the name expire, the name technically never dropped. I know they let it lapse, but they should not always lose 100% of their investment after 20-30 years for the email address being wrong or whatever.