.co .CO - The Discussion, Showcase and Sales Report Thread

[ZOX]

Well, it seems like Colombia will be releasing .CO to the internet market:
...
http://www.mincomunicaciones.gov.co...ge=./mods/contenido/noticia_user_view&id=1043
...
This could truly be a big competitor to .COM (especially being a "typo").
I would say with proper guidance .CO could REALLY have a bright future!
...
Let me know your thoughts please.

 

[DU]

The amount of tlds taken means nothing. I looked up the definition and now I'm certain you should run to cancel!

They should try to find the leader of a Māori iwi and see if they have interest first.

---------- Post added at 10:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 AM ----------

Of course, acquisition costs always come into play! I might sell a domain for $100k and look like I'm a power player when secretly it cost me $99k to obtain :hehe:

Welcome to the land of what people don't tell "noobs". This is where the deal in the .com/.net aftermarket and stay away from new TLDs is good AND bad advice.

Often the case is you sell for $100K and look like a power player when you bought it for $105K and paid broker fees. No one tells "noobs" these things - it's like registering new names is bad but the aftermarket is a goldmine. The secondary market has bigger bombs in it that the primary market - and as the pool of domainers grows... the number of bombs increases.

There's a blog post there somewhere.

 

[the_poet]

Welcome to the land of what people don't tell "noobs". This is where the deal in the .com/.net aftermarket and stay away from new TLDs is good AND bad advice.

Often the case is you sell for $100K and look like a power player when you bought it for $105K and paid broker fees. No one tells "noobs" these things - it's like registering new names is bad but the aftermarket is a goldmine. The secondary market has bigger bombs in it that the primary market - and as the pool of domainers grows... the number of bombs increases.

There's a blog post there somewhere.

Exactly. Many of these "big" sales are just a way for the sellers (often the usual names we all know) to get even more exposure and free promotion for their portfolios. That's why mr. Schwartz periodically used to publish many of his domains on his blog with the number of enquiries received. And that's why Mike Mann almost daily reports his sales on Facebook (and receives a ton of likes and comments). You never know how much that 5-6 figure sale originally cost, but you know that making it public will surely help increase your future sales.

 

[FUTRS]

Sneaker this, sneaker that. IMO the buyer will most likely not realize a profit. The problem is that nobody on a forum would give $110 for it. Now the buyer is going to need an offer via Sedo or another auction house and be hit with commission fees!

...OR....
...i, being the buyer... can either SHOP the name to potential buyers and not pay ANY commission fee's

...OR...
... being as i am skilled in this area, i can build this out, design and develop it, and monetize it.

I got a lot of barb for investing into 3d domain names and future trend domain names and now the few sites that i have built out are earning close to $200+ a month alone now - without even a market or content. Not a ton of money, virtually paying for the portfolio alone and again - there's barely a market yet or ways to monetize. A strong domain name is just one piece to the puzzle.

DesignCompany.co has also landed me a nice amount of new clients, new work and a very handsome amount of money from placement on from BING alone... now i have equity to go along with the name.

There's a lot of different ways to play this... patience would even be another option. From day one, i have looked at dot co as a minimum of a five year plan... while you may not be a fan of this extension, there really are others that ARE...and DO like it.

I'm not exactly well versed in other extensions, such as dot biz, but what would you estimate Sneaker.biz is worth?... just curious.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Why is .CO different?


<snip>
What's .NET to an end user? No one goes flowershop.net - must be a network of flowershops.


.ORG has that "charity" aura but as domainers and people dilute that notation it is lessening.

the answer to this question is easy...
.. NET, ORG, INFO, ME, TV...etc... can NEVER MEAN COMPANY while only COM and CO CAN.

It has that instant marketability if the right company decides to use it... you can not even attempt to market any other extension as 'Company'

also.. ask any normal person what dot com means, dot net mean, hell, ask them what WWW means and not many are going to know that either... it's all about the marketing and dot co carries with it an instant marketing bonus by utilizing that extension.

Sneakers.CO makes more sense (you don't ever do anything with one sneaker though I found a one shoe store online recently).

i would rather have 'Shoes.com' than 'Shoe.com'... but would you rather have 'SHOEStore.com or SHOESStore.com?.. This Sneaker(s) debate is the same thing.

It's potentially a very good brand. Potentially worth a lot more than $110.

I hope John sells it for $1,000,000
I hope he gets a more realistic X,XXX.

Thanks DU.. seriously
... i think for a little more than a buck it was low risk with a high upside.

 

[DU]

i would rather have 'Shoes.com' than 'Shoe.com'... but would you rather have 'SHOEStore.com or SHOESStore.com?.. This Sneaker(s) debate is the same thing.

I actually think sneaker works better as a hacker site - or a young web development studio.

The 20 somethings could setup a boutique web design studio on Sneaker.CO.

It's subversive enough to be cool - but generic and odd enough pairing to make sense as a brand. I love brands that don't necessarily mean the obvious

Single keywords do have lots of options for the creative (doesn't mean lots of $$$$$ just that it's interesting).

 

[MicroGuy]

I actually think sneaker works better as a hacker site

I agree.

The domain really makes a lot more sense used for something other than sneakers which contains an "S" (I guess a sneaker is one shoe). Now if we could only do something about that missing "M". ((:o)) IMO.

 

[emjohn]

Fact: Domain auctions that have too many names always end up diluting it. This goes for physical property auctions as well. People come with x number of dollars in their pockets. And they will spend x number of dollars. That means if you put too much stuff out there you are doing no one a favour. There is a balance somewhere out there.

200 names, that's WAY too many.

.com auction results have been very poor this year. But I don't think it matters. Daily sales matter.

This was a .co reseller auction, not really indicative of anything.

Sneakers.co was one domain that sold for a low amount, and the owner was left with pocket change (initial acquisition fee + Sedo commission).
Most domains sold in the 3-figure range, the average price paid being <$500.

Do we have a fact here now or an opinion ?
You can look at it in two different ways, whichever suits you better:

• buyer got a deal
• the market sucks

</snark>

Fewer domains ? Are you kidding ? The number of domains on display was moderate. Buyers cherry-picked and that's it.
What you saw at the auctions were normal market conditions.
$110 for sneakers.co was not an anomaly. It was the .co market being further established.

Extensions can be hyped a lot but the market is always right :gl:

 

[Kate]

Fact: Domain auctions that have too many names always end up diluting it. This goes for physical property auctions as well. People come with x number of dollars in their pockets. And they will spend x number of dollars. That means if you put too much stuff out there you are doing no one a favour.

I think your logic is flawed.
To begin with, some names are better than others and will get more interest. Some names are not great and hardly belong to a 'premium' auction. Predictably they will be ignored.
Buyers are not looking to buy a maximum of domains until their budgets are exhausted. They are focusing on the domains that they like most and where they feel they can get value for money.
That's why a number of domains did not get one single bid. All auctions feature a number of unsold names. That is perfectly normal.

I think you are trying too hard to rationalize the poor results. I understand that you don't like them and prefer to selectively discard them.

Now, if you remember the previous .co auction of February, it fetched twice as much money. Arguably the names were much better.
Buyers pay what they think the names are worth imo.

This was a .co reseller auction, not really indicative of anything.

That begs the question: where are the end users then ?

You say that a reseller auction doesn't matter, the daily sales do. Do the daily sales among resellers count as well ?

 

[johname]

Saying there way too many names in the auction (dilution) doesnt work with me. This wasnt a garage sale in a little town, it was on the internet and everyone in the domaining world knew about it. Its more of a case of resellers not wanting to dig too deep in their wallet unless its a name like safe.co End users dont necessarily show up at these type of auctions.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Just sold ManualLinkBuilding dot CO $1000

 

[the_poet]

Just sold ManualLinkBuilding dot CO $1000

Congrats, Abdul, great sale! That's what I call a real indicator of the current market conditions. If someone had submitted that name to the Sedo auction, they would have been laughed at by everyone :D

 

[BitcoinDK]

Just sold ManualLinkBuilding dot CO $1000

Did the buyer realize that it was a .co and not a typo-error you had made and forgot the "m".



But good job you have made. Thats a great sale.

 

[DU]

Saying there way too many names in the auction (dilution) doesnt work with me. This wasnt a garage sale in a little town, it was on the internet and everyone in the domaining world knew about it. Its more of a case of resellers not wanting to dig too deep in their wallet unless its a name like safe.co End users dont necessarily show up at these type of auctions.

This reminds me of the selling Ferraris in the Ghetto thread... one of Dongsman's finest.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

@ the_poet

Thanks mate. Yeah, it was a nice sale. Actually this name would not have accepted by Sedo at all :D

@ testingyou

Thanks dear. Actually the buyer is smart enough to know what he bought because he already has the .com

 

[BitcoinDK]

@ the_poet

Thanks mate. Yeah, it was a nice sale. Actually this name would not have accepted by Sedo at all :D

@ testingyou

Thanks dear. Actually the buyer is smart enough to know what he bought because he already has the .com

Now this detail is very important. Because this shows that it was a defensive buy from the .com owner.

No matter what it was a good sell. Happy (almost) New Year btw.

 

[the_poet]

@ the_poet

Thanks mate. Yeah, it was a nice sale. Actually this name would not have accepted by Sedo at all :D

@ testingyou

Thanks dear. Actually the buyer is smart enough to know what he bought because he already has the .com

It looks like he owns the .co.uk as well.

 

[DU]

Now this detail is very important. Because this shows that it was a defensive buy from the .com owner.

No matter what it was a good sell. Happy (almost) New Year btw.

It also shows that cybersquatting is still profitable.

 

[emjohn]

It also shows that cybersquatting is still profitable.

Is "Manual Link Building" really a brand? Too generic to be considered cybersquatting.

 

[PNW]

This reminds me of the selling Ferraris in the Ghetto thread... one of Dongsman's finest.

Thank you - It's good to be reminded from time to time. Opportunity cost was another one, but I believe that went to the graveyard.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

It also shows that cybersquatting is still profitable.

Wrong statement. It's not a trademark and is generic term. However, the current owner happily bought from me and we have good relations with each other.

 

[Keith]

Wrong statement. It's not a trademark and is generic term.

You do realize that TMs can be established through usage? If you would have used the .co and built a similar site to the .com it would have been a problem for you! To say something is generic is pointless.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Developing in the same niche may have caused problem but that wasn't the case. Buyer could sue me if he think was worth enough but didn't. At the end we are not here to discuss about the detail of this issue. I just wanted to share the sale and that's it guys!

You do realize that TMs can be established through usage? If you would have used the .co and built a similar site to the .com it would have been a problem for you! To say something is generic is pointless.

 

[Keith]

Developing in the same niche may have caused problem but that wasn't the case. Buyer could sue me if he think was worth enough but didn't. At the end we are not here to discuss about the detail of this issue. I just wanted to share the sale and that's it guys!

Congrats! I assume buyer and seller are happy with the deal

 

[FUTRS]

Nice job abdulbasituae

Congrats - way to end/start the new year

 

[DU]

Is "Manual Link Building" really a brand? Too generic to be considered cybersquatting.

Wrong statement. It's not a trademark and is generic term. However, the current owner happily bought from me and we have good relations with each other.

Is International Business Machines really a brand? What about Computer Associates? Bavarian Motor Works? British Airways? British Telecom? Generic is meaningless argument most of the time. Domainers skirt the line of ethics with every sale they make imho.

On their website:
"Manual Link Building are a UK based SEO and Link Building company"

Obviously they believe they have a TM (though unregistered). In this case it probably is too generic (and in the same area as their business). That said, as far as something like UDRP goes you can defend your position without a trademark so it should work both ways depending on the strength and how well known you are by that name ( but interestingly it doesn't - see Knicks.com)

You do realize that TMs can be established through usage? If you would have used the .co and built a similar site to the .com it would have been a problem for you! To say something is generic is pointless.

True.

Developing in the same niche may have caused problem but that wasn't the case. Buyer could sue me if he think was worth enough but didn't. At the end we are not here to discuss about the detail of this issue. I just wanted to share the sale and that's it guys!

Value the domain less than the cost of the lawsuit = Profit. The domainer registered the .co, the .com bought the .co without a lawsuit. It's the quickest way I've seen to make money in .co.

It's not Cybersquatting in the technical sense (hell the ACPA doesn't even apply in the UK) but underneath it's the same thing. Buy the .co and sell to the .com. On a daily basis people checking the .CO droplist are looking to see what the .com has on it.... domainer deny but the truth is obvious.

I'm not judging. Just stating. Not really looking for debate.

 

[MicroGuy]

Actually the buyer is smart enough to know what he bought because he already has the .com

That's understandable.

I think defensive registrations are really the only practical use of this TLD outside ccTLD purposes. This is a strategy employed by many companies to protect their "namespace" and grab a few typos. IMO.