discuss A Wake-Up Call for the Domain Industry

[Haroon Basha]

It’s truly alarming to see a respected domainer like @AbdulBasit.com stepping away from the Afternic marketplace. This is not just an isolated decision — it’s a reflection of the growing frustration and despair among small and mid-level domainers.

The domain industry is going through a deeply troubling phase. Costs are shooting up. Everywhere. And honestly, it’s getting harder and harder for small domainers to stay in the game. Costs are spiraling out of control on every front:

• High registration and renewal charges are eating into profits.
• Transfer fees have become another unwelcome burden.
• Marketplace commissions are touching unbearable levels, often exceeding what’s fair or sustainable. Commissions have shot up — and it feels like there’s no ceiling anymore.
• And to make matters worse, PayPal’s usury-like transaction fees are cutting even deeper into already thin margins.

For small domainers trying to survive, these rising costs make the business increasingly unviable. Honestly, the domain industry’s taking a beating these days — fees everywhere, and nothing seems to slow down. The once “merry and cherry” days of domain investing — when fair prices, reasonable commissions, and transparent systems gave us hope — seem to be long gone. I’ve been in this business for 20 years, and I’ve never seen so many domainers feeling this helpless.

Unless marketplaces and payment processors take meaningful action to reduce commissions and charges, the domain community risks losing its diversity and spirit. In my view, unless these marketplaces reduce commissions, small domainers like us don’t stand a chance. Only the biggest players will survive, while the small independent investors — the true backbone of this industry — will be thrown out.

It’s time for the entire domaining community to raise its voice for fairer policies and a sustainable future. It’s high time we all spoke up. Something’s got to change — and soon. Otherwise, we’re all just watching the industry we love slip away.

What’s your take on this situation? Are other domainers facing the same pressure?

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

What the procedures to set up domains at NP?

We're happy to help; contact us anytime for one-on-one assistance.

The first step is to set our name servers on all your domains using the instructions from your registrar. Here are two popular ones, but each registrar is slightly different:

• https://www.dynadot.com/community/help/question/set-name-servers
• https://help.sav.com/hc/en-us/articles/11932926219163-Changing-Nameservers-on-Your-Domain

Our name servers are listed here for your account: https://www.namepros.com/parking/domains/verify

Then, add all of your domains on this page:

• https://www.namepros.com/parking/domains/add

That’s it! Just those two steps.

Please let us know if we can help answer any additional questions.

 

[domainsaurus]

You mean like NamePros 0% commission and NO fee's landing pages that let you customize them and monetize them yourself?

I've personally generated $400 in revenue with them in the last few months, so it amazes me more people aren't using them or at least testing them out to see if they will work for them.

thanks, this is an interesting take. did i get it right, this was coming from only 2 landing pages?

 

[nicenic]

Solid point, Haroon.

Rising infrastructure costs are real, but the real tipping point will come when ROI no longer justifies scale.

 

[cuanta]

Solid point, Haroon.

Rising infrastructure costs are real, but the real tipping point will come when ROI no longer justifies scale.

We can drastically reduce some of the costs, some of it with tadeoffs, but nevertheless, it might worth to do it in order to stay competitive

 

[cuanta]

For selling the “Low-Hanging Fruits" - yes.

Why should I use a third party for selling 2L or authority names?

Use your own channels. If you don't have .... start networking... referral and a recommendation is the key.

Regards

It comes with more work, that using established channels, and you might sell them cheaper, but once you have your own channels in place, it might bring you an extra buck.

 

[Eric Lyon]

thanks, this is an interesting take. did i get it right, this was coming from only 2 landing pages?

The $100 came from 1 (which was easily tracked by asking the new client) and the $300 came from a few different ones combined (it was multiple new signup bonuses and the only pace the ad is, is on all my landers)

 

[domainsaurus]

The $100 came from 1 (which was easily tracked by asking the new client) and the $300 came from a few different ones combined (it was multiple new signup bonuses and the only pace the ad is, is on all my landers)

Sounds very good, did you set it up on a big pool of domains, to reach this result or only a few? I wonder if multiplied at large scale if the return rate stays the same. Even if it could only cover part of the recurring costs, that would be golden.

 

[Eric Lyon]

Sounds very good, did you set it up on a big pool of domains, to reach this result or only a few? I wonder if multiplied at large scale if the return rate stays the same. Even if it could only cover part of the recurring costs, that would be golden.

At the moment, its only 8 domains on NP landers using that monetization strategy. You can check one to see how i formatted it to get an idea, then do your own with your personal touch to make it unique.

 

[Haroon Basha]

Hello Sir @Eric Lyon,
I am facing issues verifying the names. Please see the screenshots below and let me know how to set it right.
Thank you very much.
Haroon

 

[Eric Lyon]

Hello Sir @Eric Lyon,
I am facing issues verifying the names. Please see the screenshots below and let me know how to set it right.
Thank you very much.
Haroon

A moderator may be able to assist you better than me with that @Bravo Mod Team

 

[Brother Bob]

Hello Sir @Eric Lyon,
I am facing issues verifying the names. Please see the screenshots below and let me know how to set it right.
Thank you very much.
Haroon

Be patient; it is still propagating.

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

Hello Sir @Eric Lyon,
I am facing issues verifying the names. Please see the screenshots below and let me know how to set it right.
Thank you very much.
Haroon

This is happening because DNSSEC is erroneously enabled on your domain: https://www.spaceship.com/domains/whois/?domain=rojv.com

Once you disable it, it'll work.

Sometimes you have to contact Spaceship for them to fix it if it's a bug on their end.

 

[teadom]

I'll never pay any company 20% commission, let alone 25% or more for any reason. It's not worth it for me.
I've 11,000+ domains and have enough data which is encouraging to leave and try out any other landers.
For sure I'll be sharing the new journey on the way.

Especially nowdays when there are so many marketplaces and many solutions for domain parking.

 

[teadom]

Thank you AbdulBasit.

@GoDaddy --

Losing a Top Seller who was featured on your blog last year is significant.

Will Afternic reevaluate the commission structure, the external-NS punishment, and the Boost program that appear to have contributed to his departure?

Sure, you can kill Dan.com and clone Atom on your new Ultra Premium site. But unless you fix the core issues sellers complain about, you'll continue to drive sellers away.

Afternic is acting as it's 2000 and there are no other options.

 

[marijuanadomain]

Especially nowdays when there are so many marketplaces and many solutions for domain parking.

They should pay you for using your domains....
Without our domains,they are nothing.
Without Messi Ronaldo and other soccer players,they won't be World Cup.

We should rise up and ask them to pay us.

 

[marijuanadomain]

This is happening because DNSSEC is erroneously enabled on your domain: https://www.spaceship.com/domains/whois/?domain=rojv.com

Once you disable it, it'll work.

Sometimes you have to contact Spaceship for them to fix it if it's a bug on their end.

Why is DNSSEC enabled as default in the first place?

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

Why is DNSSEC enabled as default in the first place?

It definitely should not be. Some registrars have a glitch/bug that enables it by mistake. Sometimes, users enable it without understanding what it is or how it works. Etc.

 

[Future Sensors]

It definitely should not be. Some registrars have a glitch/bug that enables it by mistake. Sometimes, users enable it without understanding what it is or how it works. Etc.

Domain investors in particular may be confronted with domains on which DNSSEC was active in the past.

The DS record will typically remain in the parent zone until the domain is officially deleted by the registry, which is usually right before or as it enters the "Pending Delete" status.

 

[Future Sensors]

Domain investors in particular may be confronted with domains on which DNSSEC was active in the past.

The DS record will typically remain in the parent zone until the domain is officially deleted by the registry, which is usually right before or as it enters the "Pending Delete" status.

I've analyzed a sample of domains delegated to Afternic, Sedo, and Atom to check for DS records in the parent zone. Domains with legacy DS entries fail to resolve for visitors using DNSSEC-validating resolvers, leaving landers inaccessible to those visitors.

Afternic
Sample size: 72,304 .com domains
With DS Record: 213

Sedo
Sample size: 10,605 .com domains
With DS Record: 26

Atom + Squadhelp (combined)
Sample size: 26,552 .com domains
With DS Record: 165

This probably deserves a PSA in the Advisory section.

 

[CashproofAi]

You mean like NamePros 0% commission and NO fee's landing pages that let you customize them and monetize them yourself?

I've personally generated $400 in revenue with them in the last few months, so it amazes me more people aren't using them or at least testing them out to see if they will work for them.

Thanks Lyon for this useful and impressive reply. A lots of information you provided for guidance of common domain investor's future sustainability.