discuss Are gTLDs affecting .Com price and growth

[Isac]

I think there is a decline in demand and price of .com domains because of new gTLDs. What's your opinion ?

 

[boker]

I am based in Italy and I can tell you that after .it comes .com. If you make business also outside Italy like an ecommerce or a fashion brand, just to make some examples, you go with .com. Also Italian keywords in .com do sell in the aftermarket, last week I sold a two word .com for mid XXX, note that both .eu and .net are still available for registration, this happens often. There is no reseller market for .eu or .net so I can't imagine how you can try to sell a gTLD, nobody uses them here and this is also true for almost all other European countries.

The story is not that it's not used, but it's used by a small minority. Also, when you ask the question to 100 italians on the street, what they will trust, a website using .com and a website using.it and 80% of them will trust .it, it should say something about usage. Of course, there are tourist related companies, others involved in international trade using a .com, but that' s just normal.
Regarding ngtlds, when you have a .uno in top 50 italian websites and I know at least two retailers using a .srl, that should say something.

 

[JB Lions]

It says semi-restricted for .srl, only 4,000 regs. How would that affect the price and growth of .com?

".SRL Domains are only available to companies, which are administered i.e. as Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada or Società a Responsabilità Limitata."

Has nothing to do with any .coms I own.

So .uno. 1 out of 50. Says what's already been posted. Doesn't seem like European countries are into these new gtlds. passini's post above makes sense.

 

[boker]

I don't see gTLD's affecting the price of a .com
But I do see them in direct competition of all 'alternate names'.
(being any name someone will not pay or can not pay a premium price for ...2nd/3rd best representation)

Till someone can show me a data chart where they are in use by END USERS in volume,
I will refrain from using them as a investment tool with minor exception.
Now, the alternatives have alternatives and you can't corner that market. But good luck trying.

I do have a hard time understanding investors buying a gTLD where the tld 'does NOT compliment the name' and the .net and .org are still available for a hand reg.
Doesn't that tell you that the name is weak even to investors ? The gTLD won't help in that case.

You misunderstood, I don't think that somebody is trying to convince somebody else to invest in them, I think it will e good for everybody less competition. Also, ngtls will be a hard investment for domainers, because there are over 1000 of them and it will hard to cover everything. Also, with over 3k sold in the last 2 years, with around 1,7k sold over 1k, that should mean that somebody can do some money by selling them.

 

[boker]

It says semi-restricted for .srl, only 4,000 regs. How would that affect the price and growth of .com?

".SRL Domains are only available to companies, which are administered i.e. as Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada or Società a Responsabilità Limitata."

Has nothing to do with any .coms I own.

So .uno. 1 out of 50. Says what's already been posted. Doesn't seem like European countries are into these new gtlds. passini's post above makes sense.

So, they are restricted to small companies, there should be around a couple of millions just in Italy and 90% of the websites in Europe are run by small companies( excepting personal websites, which don't count for domainers)

 

[JB Lions]

So, they are restricted to small companies, there should be around a couple of millions just in Italy and 90% of the websites in Europe are run by small companies( excepting personal websites, which don't count for domainers)

Right, so doesn't affect .com price and growth, title of this thread. And not much usage since they tend to use .it. Makes sense, it's what the people know already.

 

[boker]

Right, so doesn't affect .com price and growth, title of this thread. And not much usage since they tend to use .it. Makes sense, it's what the people know already.

At 3-5% usage of .com it can't affect to much, they are the one's involved in tourism an international trade, they will keep them. I deal with at least two retailers using a .srl, so maybe it should say something. Also, having a possible market of around 2 millions just in Italy, it should be enough for them

 

[dordomai]

I think the main point is that businesses are usually not experienced domainers and buy all kinds of junk and shiny objects because they don't know any better but that does not mean it is a good idea to invest in junk and glass perls.

I can't see thew Gs ever being successful in non-English speaking markets, because you would have to create domains that consist of one English language TLD and one local language SLD.

I don't think this will give you good combos. A few exceptions apply: .club, .tv, .internet etc. these words can work because they are globally used.

.com can work with any language because it does not mean anything.

I would say the new Gs are dead in Asia(at least China) and hardly used in Europe.

 

[dordomai]

The story is not that it's not used, but it's used by a small minority. Also, when you ask the question to 100 italians on the street, what they will trust, a website using .com and a website using.it and 80% of them will trust .it, it should say something about usage. Of course, there are tourist related companies, others involved in international trade using a .com, but that' s just normal.
Regarding ngtlds, when you have a .uno in top 50 italian websites and I know at least two retailers using a .srl, that should say something.

IMO .srl is not good as a consumer brand. Why would one use the legal structure of the company as a brand?

Also you make it seem like new TLDs are all over the place. In reality you hardly find any when searching Google.

 

[boker]

I think the main point is that businesses are usually not experienced domainers and buy all kinds of junk and shiny objects because they don't know any better but that does not mean it is a good idea to invest in junk and glass perls.

I can't see thew Gs ever being successful in non-English speaking markets, because you would have to create domains that consist of one English language TLD and one local language SLD.

I don't think this will give you good combos. A few exceptions apply: .club, .tv, .internet etc. these words can work because they are globally used.

.com can work with any language because it does not mean anything.

I would say the new Gs are dead in Asia(at least China) and hardly used in Europe.

I think that domainers are valuating a domain because of the legacy, but you should not forget that the end users are the one's who give value to a domain by usage. The same was with .com in the 90's, when pushed by US government and the lack of competition by other tlds, the first companies in from 'the com bubble' start using it. Also, what peoples tend to forget is that there are over 1000 ngtls. So,is like a single entity. If the top 10% will reach the 1 million usage mark, like club for example, it will be enough for them to have more registrations together than .com, and 1 million is not that hard. Also, it's very possible that 50% of them will have just a few thousands registrations, but they willl be just niche tlds and don't really matter.

 

[boker]

IMO .srl is not good as a consumer brand. Why would one use the legal structure of the company as a brand?

Also you make it seem like new TLDs are all over the place. In reality you hardly find any when searching Google.

I never said that ngtlds are all over the place, just that europeans are more open to use them then US, so they have a market here. The hard market for them is US because of .com usage, but in most places end users are not tied to a certain tld so much. For us as a domainer .com for sure has more value because of the sale tag, but for an end user from outside US not so much...I can give you another example, a it company with offices in 7 european countries and Australia and I needed two months to explain them why they could use .com, the owner never wanted to buy, eventually the it guy said the will pay some symbolic amount just to forward it, otherwise they don't need it.

 

[dordomai]

never said that ngtlds are all over the place, just that europeans are more open to use them then US, so they have a market here.

I would say they are less likely to use them not more.

The hard market for them is US because of .com usage, but in most places end users are not tied to a certain tld so much

They are very ccTLD and local language centric and that works against nGTLDs.

For us as a domainer .com for sure has more value because of the sale tag, but for an end user from outside US not so much...

They are using ccTLDs that is why they don't buy nGTLDs.

I can give you another example, a it company with offices in 7 european countries and Australia and I needed two months to explain them why they could use .com, the owner never wanted to buy, eventually the it guy said the will pay some symbolic amount just to forward it, otherwise they don't need it

I think this logic is faulty. You assume because some companies on a ccTLD don't care about .com means that the nGTLDs will be used.

I say if a company don't want .com they will want nGTLD even less.

The fact that ccTLDs are popular does not make nGTLDs stronger it makes them weaker.

 

[JB Lions]

I never said that ngtlds are all over the place, just that europeans are more open to use them then US, so they have a market here.

Not based on reality/numbers. I posted links earlier. There is more adoption in the US. China half. Europe, not so much.

 

[boker]

Not based on reality/numbers. I posted links earlier. There is more adoption in the US. China half. Europe, not so much.

More reality than actually talking with end users? You should say that to some of my friends using them, when .com is available and try to convince them. Also, I know at least 5 companies which are using a ngtld when the com is available and I'm talking about companies who could afford to pay xxxx for their tld or who are paying premium renewal for their ngtls, but I could not find a cheap offer for .com and I will not pay 50$ to register them to prove my point, when I will find a cheap promo, I will point them out. Also, for sure that out of 30 million regs you will find other thousands-hundred of thousands doing the same, that doesn't mean that they are the majority, but it's a trend which means acceptance.

 

[JB Lions]

More reality than actually talking with end users? You should say that to some of my friends using them, when .com is available and try to convince them. Also, I know at least 5 companies which are using a ngtld when the com is available and I'm talking about companies who could afford to pay xxxx for their tld or who are paying premium renewal for their ngtls, but I could not find a cheap offer for .com and I will not pay 50$ to register them to prove my point, when I will find a cheap promo, I will point them out. Also, for sure that out of 30 million regs you will find other thousands-hundred of thousands doing the same, that doen't mean that they are the majority, but it's a trend which means acceptance.

Yes, more reality. Real numbers, not somebody talking to a few friends.

 

[atinc]

People who are commenting here and assuming that gTLDs or other extensions do not affect .com market have no idea about basic economics or how the markets work.

Of course, any other extension than .com is affecting .com sales and growth.

If you have more competitors in a market this means you will lose a certain amount of percentage in the market. If the number of competitors raises you will lose your customers to your alternatives.

If there were only .com available in the market it means that this extension is the monopoly for the industry.

But today there are hundreds of extensions available to register and millions of them registered by end users and domainers. So .Com is losing their market share to their competitors. Period.

 

[boker]

Yes, more reality. Real numbers, not somebody talking to a few friends.

I'm talking about acceptance..not real usage, I would like to see how you can measure that if you choose to stay in US and suppose that you know what most europeans are thinking, you can have a taste of reality by visiting some EU countries.

 

[JB Lions]

I'm talking about acceptance..not real usage, I would like to see how you can measure that if you choose to stay in US and suppose that you know what most europeans are thinking, you can have a taste of reality by visiting some EU countries.

Besides real numbers I posted, you had Kate, passini etc post about what they're seeing. But you talked to a few friends.

People who are commenting here and assuming that gTLDs or other extensions do not affect .com market have no idea about basic economics or how the markets work.

Of course, any other extension than .com is affecting .com sales and growth.

If you have more competitors in a market this means you will lose a certain amount of percentage in the market. If the number of competitors raises you will lose your customers to your alternatives.

If there were only .com available in the market it means that this extension is the monopoly for the industry.

But today there are hundreds of extensions available to register and millions of them registered by end users and domainers. So .Com is losing their market share to their competitors. Period.

Maybe, you're unaware of the alternatives to .com that existed before the new gtlds came along? That's where it's having an affect.

If they couldn't get a .com, then they settled for a .net, .info or whatever. Now they can settle for one of the new gtlds.

 

[boker]

I would say they are less likely to use them not more.



They are very ccTLD and local language centric and that works against nGTLDs.



They are using ccTLDs that is why they don't buy nGTLDs.



I think this logic is faulty. You assume because some companies on a ccTLD don't care about .com means that the nGTLDs will be used.

I say if a company don't want .com they will want nGTLD even less.

The fact that ccTLDs are popular does not make nGTLDs stronger it makes them weaker.

It's faulty for you...as I said earlier, I will not register names at 10$ a piece just to prove my point, when I will find a 1-2$ com promo I will point it out. They are using ngtlds as combination of brandables and a hack, exactly how you would use a cctld for a suffix, the only thing is that they have real words to do so, they use fire.club instead of fireclub.com or real.estate instead of realestate.com, so they have a general tld to do so and a catchy/brandable, where the actual tld looks better and catchy for them than with something extra.

 

[dordomai]

People who are commenting here and assuming that gTLDs or other extensions do not affect .com market have no idea about basic economics or how the markets work.

Of course, any other extension than .com is affecting .com sales and growth.

If you have more competitors in a market this means you will lose a certain amount of percentage in the market. If the number of competitors raises you will lose your customers to your alternatives.

If there were only .com available in the market it means that this extension is the monopoly for the industry.

But today there are hundreds of extensions available to register and millions of them registered by end users and domainers. So .Com is losing their market share to their competitors. Period.

Nonsense. The question is not if they lose but how much. If they lose 1% does it matter? No.

Coca-Cola do not care if you bring hundreds of different unknown cheap cola drinks on the market.

That is the point of having a strong brand. .com is a very strong brand. Virtually anyone on earth knows it.

A strong brand does not have to fear smaller competitors. Do you think flooding the market with fake gold or gemstones will threaten the real thing? Of course not.

That is businesses 101. Also if you mention economics. Supply and demand. Where is the demand for your product? 37 sales a month?

 

[boker]

Besides real numbers I posted, you had Kate, passini etc post about what they're seeing. But you talked to a few friends.



Maybe, you're unaware of the alternatives to .com that existed before the new gtlds came along? That's where it's having an affect.

If they couldn't get a .com, then they settled for a .net, .info or whatever. Now they can settle for one of the new gtlds.

Yes, and I pointed out tens number of companies which they are using ngtld( for which they paid xxxx-xxxxx) and the com is parked or not revolving, or in some cases .com is available and we are talking about companies who raised hundred of millions, companies who have owners like Robert Downey JR or companies who work with Lego, Disney and others