status-cantfix-or-wontfix Can we look at reducing "premium" being misued?

[james haw]

The word "premium" being used in sales threads is misleading to people and in other industries misleading sales tactics are not allowed because it's designed to entirely fool people into thinking they're getting something which they are not.

If a face cream ad stated "will make you look 20 years younger guaranteed" they'd be sued for false advertising.

So is it right that in the NP sales threads people state "premium domain" then "$1" or "$10" start? Or two threads I saw here recently: "Premium name, next bid $18" and "Premium dictionary word $10 start $1 increments".

I know there's some degree of difficulty in determining what minimum value would constitute a "premium" domain name, but there can be a line drawn somewhere. An $18 domain name is not ever premium. If it was premium it would have a high starting price, or be listed in "top domains" not "bargain bucket get em while you can".

I don't want to offend anyone here, nor sound like a nagging bore, but the word "premium" should carry some level of prestige in the industry, not just be thrown around as some advertising ploy. And I think domainers and the NP people providing a market place in domaining should actively work towards combatting that.

I think NP could look at perhaps setting a base limit of name value (or whatever) to be able to use the word premium. The "top" forum requires a limit of $1k value before submitting in there, and those are not even deemed as "premium" just "top". So arguably we already have a lower limit of $1k where anything below that is not premium.

What about until the highest bid is $1k or more you are not allowed to use the word "premium" in your sales thread?


I know those who use the word like it's a sales ploy will be against this, but please think about how it looks silly using the word "premium" to sell a cheap name. Nothing wrong with cheap names, but please sell them as such.

If you were to sell your 8 year old basic family car, would you sell it as "super sports car, very fast, gets all the men/women looking, will beat a Ferrari from the lights"? Or do you sell it for what it is and thus aimed at the right market and audience? "Clean and comfortable family car, kid friendly, economical for those family days out, plenty of space for the shopping".

The former will waste peoples time looking for a sports car, including your own with less chance of a sale. The latter will sell your car to someone as you stated attributes which it actually has and what those people are looking for.

So with "premium" attached to a $10 domain name sale, you get people who are confused, people who know it's a stupid thing to state, etc etc. This means you are possibly missing out on a sale because your markettng is aimed at the wrong people.

If instead you just sold it as it is, not "cheapo crap" but "reasonably priced domain name, easily make a profit over time" etc.

And to touch upon the freedom of speech etc, that would be stating "this is a fantastic domain, starts at $1". To me, and many I would imagine, a "fantastic" domain is not really $1 start, but this is subjective so cannot really be stopped. However a "premium domain" does have some definition already. It is not a $1 start in a forum auction with a BIN of $50! And if someone has listed a premium for that, I for one would DM them right away and let them know.

 

[Kenny]

Hello James,

Thank you for bringing this up.

This is a matter that has been discussed many, many times already, and here I can only give you my opinion as a member of the forum.
Management opinion may differ.

Every time this was brought up in the past, by the time all the points were made the one that couldn't be denied is everyone's perception of "Premium" is different.

I realize this doesn't sit well with a lot of people, and your suggestions above will be considered by Management, I'm sure, but from my point of view, again as a member of this forum, this is a dicey situation.


Thank you.

Peace,
Kenny

 

[Satyajit Adhikary]

Domainers don't have a very good reputation in the eyes of end users. Many think us to be cheap opportunist sitting on their business name.
Marketing a $20 domain as 'premium' goes to prove those people right who thinks bad of us.
People who take domaining as a business should be honest and should not resort to such practices.

Such cheap headlines only proves one a lier..!!

 

[james haw]

Kenny, thanks for replying.

I totally understand the difficulty of defining such things. But a line can be drawn simply with a decision from the admins.

The forum already does define a certain quality and value of a domain type with its definition of "top" - "a domain name of $1k value or greater". I am already hindered where I can post, and can't post my $18 domain name in there so am forced to use the other sales forums instead. Is this unfair? Or is it just NP defining higher value names? It's fine imo.

Surely "premium" is at the very least aligned with "top"? Or, is "top" more valuable than "premium"?

I'm not even suggesting limited their ability to post in certain forums like "top" already does, just not use a specific word - a rule enforcing that isn't harmful IMO.


I don't believe it's ambiguous to state something like "premiums are not bargain names such as <$100".
Maybe the limit could be $100?

When I started domaining I looked at seasoned domainers trying to learn, and tried to learn why their domain name was "premium". Looking back this was all very misleading, hindered my learning and I probably bought a few names thinking something like "maybe they just have too many names or just didn't sell this one and I'll have more luck. Must be ok right, it's premium after all".

 

[Kate]

Without taking a definitive stance on the use of the keyword, maybe Namepros could simply charge for using certain keywords or adjectives like premium, outstanding etc. Basically you need to develop some forum plugin that can charge for ad enhancements. So if you want to post words such as premium you will need to first deposit a number of posting credits to your user account

 

[karmaco]

Never going to happen. People with mediocre domains call them premium all the time everywhere. Look at GoDaddy perpetuating it everything listed there is premium Every expired name caught by a registrar—-you guessed it is suddenly “premium”.

You cannot control other people’s adjectives or personal valuation of their own domains or selling tactics. JMO.

Also just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it’s not a premium or valuable domain and a real bargain.

For those annoyed by the term there is a staff approved section for valuable domains. That should suffice. You don’t have to frequent the bargain bin.

 

[mr-x]

Trying to police words sounds like an awful waist of time. No one is fooled when people use words like top or premium in a description.

 

[Paul]

Enforcing a rule like this would require a lot of overhead; people have a hard enough time following the rules as it is. We've got some plans in the pipeline that might help eliminate the ambiguities and phrasing issues, but, for the time being, I think we just have to tolerate it.

If a face cream says that it makes you look "20 years younger", that's a concrete claim that can be proven or disproven with proper science. Calling a domain "premium" is much more subjective; there's no way to prove or disprove it. Some industries do have regulatory bodies that set thresholds for terms that would otherwise be subjective (e.g., to call a product "honey", it must contain a certain percentage of real, natural honey), but the domaining industry doesn't really have that.

 

[james haw]

Thanks for your reply Paul.

e.g., to call a product "honey", it must contain a certain percentage of real, natural honey, but the domaining industry doesn't really have that.

It does - to call a domain name "premium" it must carry a certain potential value, otherwise we're saying all domains are premium. I know there's no exact distinction made by science or whatever, but I think it's fair to state (for example) that names with bids of double figures are recognised by decent domainers and the industry in general as not being premium.

If someone was selling CasinoOnline.com in the forum, the bids would not be under $100, and thus they can then put "!premium" in their title. If they are selling MyLeftFootHurtsToday.com, should we really allow "premium" to be in the title/thread?

Registrars declare a definition by having 4 figure prices for "premium" names. Sometimes 3 figures, but they make and stand by a definition as it is in their interests to do so.

Calling a domain "premium" is much more subjective; there's no way to prove or disprove it.

Not with science as with the honey, but it's just about drawing a sensible line in the sand and stating "that's what we call it". Like with laws, who's to say X units of alcohol means I am unsafe to drive? A 6 foot person at 250 pounds vs a 5 foot person at 150 pounds are not equal. Yet there has to be a line drawn and the law makes a sensible distinction.

One has the simple choice to not drink any alcohol before driving, like simply not using the word "premium" in a bargain domain name sales thread.


I think sometimes we all hinder our progress and actual bringing about good order in an effort to be not be unfair, but bring about unfairness anyway by not taking action.
Like not having a definition for "premium" means false advertising and thus people being mislead.

 

[Paul]

It does - to call a domain name "premium" it must carry a certain potential value, otherwise we're saying all domains are premium.

That's not true. For honey, a regulatory body sets the exact definition. In the US, that's the FDA. It's illegal to use it incorrectly. The closest thing we have to a regulatory body is ICANN, and they haven't set a definition.

Like with laws, who's to say X units of alcohol means I am unsafe to drive? A 6 foot person at 250 pounds vs a 5 foot person at 150 pounds are not equal. Yet there has to be a line drawn and the law makes a sensible distinction.

That's not how alcohol laws work. Alcohol laws take BMI into consideration. BAC and cognitive impairment directly correlate, because it's a measure of the amount of alcohol currently entering your brain via your blood. If a 100 lb person and a 200 lb person consume the same amount of alcohol, the 100 lb person will have a higher BAC than the 200 lb person after the same duration, assuming similar metabolisms.

There are plenty of marketing terms that companies love to throw out there that mean absolutely nothing. In our industry, "premium" is one of those words. If you go to Starbucks, the smallest (standard) size is "tall". That sounds like it should be big. It's not. The thing about restricting these words is that sellers always come up with a new one. Restrict "premium", and they'll switch to "rare" or "coveted" or "organic" or "GMO-free". It's always fun buying a bag of potato chips that brags about the lack of added sugar. Fat-free domains!