Or, they could spend $6,498,000 acquiring a premium .COM, and putting the other $2,000 away for the next century of domain renewals.
Devil's advocate:
What will the world of internet and domain names look like 100 years from now?
Will .COM be what your grand parents and great grand parents used?
Is that a good thing, suggesting longevity?
Or will it be overplayed and considered old school. Maybe even a first generation, or legacy feel. Depending on what the next 100 year of internet technology brings us.
The other thing to consider is smaller sample sizes. In thinking how long will .COM dominate, in comparison to newG's making real traction.
I mean, if it takes 20 years for newG's to fully adopt, 20 x $65,000 = $1.3 million in renewal fees anticipating that point.
That's a lot of money to be tied up that long. Especially considering (I assume this to be true) the renewal rate can raise at any point, without a cap? Or is there a cap?
Regardless, I think some people are hedging (waiting) until newG's to pick up traction before investing. E.g. if you buy car.rent 10 years from now, you would save $650,000 in renewal fee's.
This might be a different equation for those with development purposes.
Could car.rent generate more than $65k per year in value from the name to justify the year expense?
Would $65k per year be better spent on development or other operational costs?
Given the high renewal, do they see this as a domain investment with reseller value?
Would this look good on a balance sheet for investors to understand?
Would the results differ if one was willing to spend $500k on .COM?
When I think of a start up car rental company, first think that comes to mind is Turo.
Turo, a company that's received over $187 million in funding with three acquisitions under their belt: Croove, Social Studios, Wheels.
Will they ever pivot to a newG such as car.rent?
Can they explain the $65k/year? Or is that an unnecessary burn at this point in time?
FWIW, Turo does own Turo.Agency (doesn't resolve for me) since 2015 but my guess is that only carries an estimated $20/year renewal unlike the some $500/year or so renew that accompanied the infamous Travel.Agency auction a few years ago (if memory serves correct).
So why the $65k year renewal?
Simply supply and demand?
Holding out for a big car rental company wanting to take a marketing gamble? If so, why charge an Enterprise or big car company like it such a premium given all the consumer awareness they could bring to the .Rent TLD should they implement it to their makreting strategies.
I wonder if the .Rent people would get creative with their negotiations, and be willing to wave their renewal fee's in exchange for equity stake in a funded development project wanting to use the name but can't justify burning operating capital on renewal fee's thus the requested partnership.
What's really going on with these $65,000/year renewal fees?