discuss .AL Extension

[Casey L]

It seems today there has been more auctions for .AL domains than I have seen in my entire time on NamePros. Any particular reason? What are your opinions on the extension?

 

[Recons.Com]

I have 88.al

 

[UXela]

@UXela , if you could share some knowledge / experience of how to make it easier to sell 2L.al to end users that would be greatful.

Sorry about the late reply guys.
I was busy selling that domain I mentioned a few days ago.
They wanted to make everything bulletproof so I had to go get some papers (some sort of contract) officially translated in English and Albanian and authenticated...
And where I live this is considered weird and took some time and effort.
Anyway, I managed to sell this for a significant profit but I wasted the better part of 2 days doing it.

Back to what you asked:
There really isn't something special to share.
You just surf around and look for businesses that could use a short name. For example mine had the initials.
I wrote a short mail (short but clear enough) asking if they want this domain name.
I never go for the financial details in the first mail.
After that if the other party is interested it's basically a back and forth negotiation process until you settle on a price. Always be nice and polite - never laugh about an offer or consider them stupid just because they don't know the tech details or don't speak very good English. This is normal. Remember - for a good sale to happen both parties need to feel like they're winning.

There are lots of 2Ls that have significance in Albanian too and lots of local companies would be interested in my point of view.
For me this was the first .al sale where I actually contacted the other party.
The other domain I sold to an end user came from a bodis offer.

I guess the key is to find an interested buyer, don't ask exorbitant prices (or prepare to be laughed at) and be really honest with the buyer.

For example I don't see 2L.al going for say $100K any time soon... but then again I might be wrong.
I don't like to push my luck when I find an interested buyer. I go for reasonable pricing.
So far .al in total made me a profit of about $10K. This includes sales to end users and to investors.
Of course I took reg. fees, commissions and paperwork into considerations.
My bank also made a profit out of my last sale... Didn't realize it's so expensive to receive money from Albania...
Anyway, what's done is done.

can i ask how many you sold to end users?

2 .al so far to end users.
14 .al so far to investors. Out of these 14 only 5 were from China / HK / TW - at least judging by their names. And out of these 5 only 2 were what you call CHIP.
I guess it's something to keep in mind

Best of luck!

 

[indam]

AN.AL sold for 6K$ at Flippa.

 

[usernamex]

The hacks are great, yet having a special registrar for a single domain may be a hiccup for some end users. Only have a handful of words/hacks then I have couple dozen LL

Personally, I am happy to renew cheap a few years until it gains popularity, unlike the other expensive higher hassle ccTLDs I regret (GY RS MK)

http://host.al is the only AL registrar I will use now, they are the best with wonderful customer service. Plus they allow upgraded accounts : grin :

AL registry has restrictions on who is allowed to be accredited for AL domains, which is likely why not many big registrars can offer them . . . only local companies can get the registrar accreditation for the Extension . . . The overpriced registrars that specialize in ccTLDs just seem to have agreements with one of the locals to resell.

 

[-EM-]

I have registered two letters for over a year. I will put them for sale. Best one I have have is aa.al

 

[Silentptnr]

I grabbed some .al and a .gy here on NP. I like short, ccTLDs. Somewhat liquid I feel.

JJ.al (CHIP)
BF.al (Best Friends?)
NB.al (NBA Live?)
SZ.al (Shenzhen)
YU.al (YU The Great)
KX.al (CHIP)
XQ.al (CHIP)
QK.gy (CHIP)

 

[JackChan]

I just got this baby into my portfolio

66.al

What do you think guys?

 

[JackChan]

Sold 66.al $250 on Sedo

 

[Sanwal]

One of the best customer support people i've found anywhere online. Other registrars should learn from Host.al.

 

[webhostal]

The 25OFF promo code has been extended until 30/01/2016

also there is a list with all XX.AL domains
http://expired.al/twomore.php

 

[UXela]

Just purchased fly [dot] al a few days back.
Its nice that it already has traffic - WW and Albania.

 

[Silentptnr]

Here's a nice sale reported for .al:

sonax.al 3,613 USD 2016-08-26 Sedo

 

[usernamex]

Purchased one NN, the funnier one : wink :

 

[nothere]

Yp, easier to have all .al in one account /host. When I sell a name I email and then open a ticket to host.al and /or a FB message and ask them to transfer the name to xxxxx account. Super easy and zero transfer fee ...

 

[indam]

20OFF www.Host.al

 

[Leo Angelo]

My current .AL names are:

48.al
84.al
BF.al
JA.al
JJ.al
KP.al
KX.al
NB.al
RX.al
SZ.al
XQ.al
YU.al

PM if interested in any of these.

I got the Ov.al on Flippa the other day. I just like it. It rhymes with your avatar

 

[Kate]

I intend to keep them. But I would treat .al as a long-term investment. It's a small market, and it's among the poorer countries in Europe. If the economy develops, the TLD will benefit.

I was in Albania last month and I was pleased to see that .al was fairly widespread. .com is also common, and I saw a few .com.al (especially from banks, insurance companies) - .com.al is restricted unlike .al.
So Albania looked like a typical small European country with a visible ccTLD and a measure of .com.

Things to keep in mind:

• in ten years from now Albania might join the EU
  
• the country has a lot of potential for tourism. For the moment it is some kind of confidential destination... but worth visiting and it's still a low-cost country

PS: also keep in mind that .al doesn't really have a working whois, so potential end users must be able to contact you from a placeholder page or similar.

 

[UXela]

thats really great news for you

I assume its a chip yes?

good luck

Yes it is a CHIP but also a "no brainer" abbreviation for the industry the buyer is covering.
Anyway, closed negotiation at $4100 - now waiting for escrow to clear.

 

[Recons.Com]

I don't do investments based on Chinese for two reasons:

- They do too much of pump and dump and I am not too much into timing the waves.
- I am not expert in Chinese and don't think can have/use any arbitrage there.

That said, if something have some Chinese upside, that is added value, but the inherent value has to be there without that for me to get interested. Like with .ch: I like that it is Swiss and it is cheap and the fact that Chinese might decide .Ch(ina) thing works is just added value on top, not the main underlying reason for me.

 

[indam]

And a list of available 2 character domain names, regarding this article
Host.al has coupon *25OFF* for 9.74€/domain

A0.AL
A2.AL
A3.AL
A4.AL
A5.AL
A7.AL
A8.AL
A9.AL
B0.AL
B1.AL
B2.AL
B3.AL
B4.AL
B5.AL
B6.AL
B7.AL
B8.AL
B9.AL
C1.AL
C2.AL
C3.AL
C4.AL
C5.AL
C6.AL
C7.AL
C8.AL
C9.AL
D0.AL
D1.AL
D2.AL
D3.AL
D4.AL
D5.AL
D6.AL
D7.AL
D8.AL
D9.AL
E0.AL
E1.AL
E2.AL
E3.AL
E4.AL
E5.AL
E6.AL
E7.AL
E8.AL
E9.AL
F0.AL
F2.AL
F3.AL
F4.AL
F5.AL
F6.AL
F7.AL
F8.AL
F9.AL
G1.AL
G2.AL
G3.AL
G4.AL
G5.AL
G6.AL
G7.AL
G8.AL
G9.AL
H0.AL
H1.AL
H2.AL
H3.AL
H4.AL
H5.AL
H6.AL
H7.AL
H8.AL
H9.AL
I0.AL
I1.AL
I2.AL
I3.AL
I4.AL
I5.AL
I6.AL
I7.AL
I8.AL
I9.AL
J0.AL
J1.AL
J2.AL
J3.AL
J4.AL
J5.AL
J6.AL
J7.AL
J8.AL
J9.AL
K0.AL
K1.AL
K2.AL
K3.AL
K4.AL
K5.AL
K6.AL
K7.AL
K8.AL
K9.AL
L0.AL
L1.AL
L2.AL
L3.AL
L4.AL
L5.AL
L6.AL
L7.AL
L8.AL
L9.AL
M0.AL
M1.AL
M2.AL
M3.AL
M4.AL
M5.AL
M6.AL
M8.AL
M9.AL
N0.AL
N2.AL
N3.AL
N4.AL
N5.AL
N6.AL
N7.AL
N8.AL
N9.AL
O0.AL
O1.AL
O3.AL
O4.AL
O5.AL
O6.AL
O7.AL
O8.AL
O9.AL
P0.AL
P1.AL
P2.AL
P3.AL
P4.AL
P5.AL
P6.AL
P7.AL
P8.AL
P9.AL
Q0.AL
Q1.AL
Q2.AL
Q3.AL
Q4.AL
Q5.AL
Q6.AL
Q7.AL
Q8.AL
Q9.AL
R0.AL
R1.AL
R2.AL
R3.AL
R4.AL
R5.AL
R6.AL
R7.AL
R8.AL
R9.AL
S0.AL
S1.AL
S2.AL
S3.AL
S4.AL
S5.AL
S6.AL
S7.AL
S8.AL
S9.AL
T0.AL
T1.AL
T2.AL
T3.AL
T4.AL
T5.AL
T6.AL
T7.AL
T8.AL
T9.AL
U0.AL
U1.AL
U2.AL
U3.AL
U4.AL
U5.AL
U6.AL
U7.AL
U8.AL
U9.AL
V0.AL
V1.AL
V2.AL
V3.AL
V4.AL
V5.AL
V6.AL
V7.AL
V8.AL
V9.AL
W0.AL
W1.AL
W2.AL
W3.AL
W4.AL
W5.AL
W6.AL
W7.AL
W8.AL
W9.AL
X0.AL
X3.AL
X4.AL
X5.AL
X7.AL
X8.AL
X9.AL
Y0.AL
Y1.AL
Y2.AL
Y3.AL
Y4.AL
Y5.AL
Y6.AL
Y7.AL
Y8.AL
Y9.AL
Z0.AL
Z1.AL
Z2.AL
Z3.AL
Z4.AL
Z5.AL
Z6.AL
Z7.AL
Z8.AL
Z9.AL

 

[-EM-]

Why are you saying .AL is a terrible ccTLD? It is an European country not some unknown island with hundreds of people.

 

[Silentptnr]

Why are you saying .AL is a terrible ccTLD? It is an European country not some unknown island with hundreds of people.

Yes, I totally agree.

 

[Kate]

In my opinion, .al is worth a look simply because it's a European TLD. In Europe the ccTLDs tend to rule but there are disparities from one country to another.
However, the .al TLD is not very mature presently.
it is a small market, and Albania is among the poorest countries of Europe.

Albania is already a member of NATO and it is candidate for EU membership. But this is not for the near future (and assuming the EU has not disintegrated in the meantime).
There is good potential in tourism too.

I would personally NOT set my sights on domain hacks or the mystical Chinese end user. Instead, consider domain names that could appeal to local end users. LL/LLL are always popular for use as corporate acronyms.
Obviously you need a long-term horizon here.

Keep in mind that the TLD is still immature, thus it cannot command high prices. And it will always be a small market.

 

[trampoline]

In my opinion, .al is worth a look simply because it's a European TLD. In Europe the ccTLDs tend to rule but there are disparities from one country to another.
However, the .al TLD is not very mature presently.
it is a small market, and Albania is among the poorest countries of Europe.

Albania is already a member of NATO and it is candidate for EU membership. But this is not for the near future (and assuming the EU has not disintegrated in the meantime).
There is good potential in tourism too.

I would personally NOT set my sights on domain hacks or the mystical Chinese end user. Instead, consider domain names that could appeal to local end users. LL/LLL are always popular for use as corporate acronyms.
Obviously you need a long-term horizon here.

Keep in mind that the TLD is still immature, thus it cannot command high prices. And it will always be a small market.

I think because it's a small market, we should invest in .al . From year to year the online market has grown, and the market is considering the online promotion as an inevitable thing. One thing i read about the Albanians is that, they trend to use more international words instead of albanian ones. Anyway, i am linkink here an article which i came cross. It's in Albanian but you can google translate it, and get the idea of what i mean.

http://shqiptarja.com/ekonomi/2733/...blerjet-online-bankat-nisin-gar-n-234073.html

 

[indam]

Once is step on Sedo auction for LL or NN. The price won't be worse at all

Caution with the SEDO auctions! They will charge a flat 250$ on sales for special TLDs