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

[TOXX]

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.

 

[john29]

Newsfeeds.co
HairRemovalProducts.co
LesbianVideo.co
Brill.co
DogShampoo.co
PetShampoo.co
GardenOrnament.co

Worth the reg? Any helpful hints on where to go from here?

Cheers!

 

[emjohn]

Some good points.

The problem here is that advertising by the "merit" of .CO has gone by the wayside. There are more articles praising Juan Calle as a great entrepreneur. This doesn't help anything.

If a person can brand having lots and lots of money or they own the very best .co keywords, it's possible to build something. I've made a nice return from .CO but I don't recommend buying for investment unless you can deal with end-users and have a lot of time on your hands.

As an investment, it is forgettable. I have sold quite a few in the past 2 years but will be dropping the remainder (around 20) of my portfolio save 2 or 3 names I have development plans for. I have some major one word keywords that don't sell and that tells me .co is more for brands than anything else.

So for those who are hand-regging .co domains thinking about profit, think again. Although I've made a great ROI, I don't recommend it. The number of calls you will have to make will be staggering.

There just doesn't seem to be that much going on with .CO in general.

The .CO blog's most recent post in a month old.

The second most recent blog post was in early May, where Juan Calle was forced to clarify what he said about domainers in the LeWeb.co interview.

The advertising is not as visible as it once was. Many domain blogs that used to feature .CO ads no longer do.

There are a few isolated sales here and there still, but there is still hardly any usage in general.

Brad

 

[NLP]

It's interesting that this board is pretty quiet, and some of the biggest supporters are now not recommending .CO as an investment. I would love to drop my .COs, but it's hard when you know there's some value there. I met a guy at a Lean Startup meetup last month who has started and exited 15 companies - his most recent endeavor is a food delivery service for people on Paleo diets. We were.discussing domains, and it turns out I used to own exact match of his company's .CO, but I'd dropped it last year. The .com is $60k (he's inquired about buying it), and he wanted the .CO as well. I would have practically given it to him (I wasn't thinking "cha-ching," he was a nice guy and money is never my.priority, unfortunately), but when I checked the WhoIS, I'd deleted it from my account, lol.

I could have at least made a few hundred on that name, if I'd only held onto it.

However, I know that's a one-off chance, and that you can't count on running into end-users for your domains everyday. I wish the renewal price on .COs were lower, and I agree that it is an uphill battle to proactively sell them. I have no idea if the .CO team is planning on continuing their efforts. I think there is an opportunity for .CO to receive a boost from consumers searching for gTLD-related options, but chances are that Juan Calle's company will be focusing on their gTLD investments.

 

[Kate]

Correct, Calle is already moving on to new extensions.

 

[the_poet]

Yes, the .CO 'fever' among domainers has been slowing down, no doubt about that. However, one thing I have been noticing for the last couple of years is that you always have at least a couple of .COs on auction at Sedo. For example, currently there are 3 domains at Sedo, Angeles.CO at $850, Bradford.CO at $260 and EarMuffs.CO scheduled for July 10th. A couple of weeks ago I sold OnlineForex.CO for $330 with an opening bid of $150 (handregged at $20) and currently have a low $xxx offer pending on a premium italian 1-word .CO. I'd say that what has changed is mainly the infamous hype that made some people invest 5 or even 6 figures in the extension, so we will very rarely see huge sales again, but you will always have a market for (not necessarily premium) quality keywords at 3 or even 4 figures, which, for a $xx investment, still represents a nice ROI.

 

[emjohn]

Yes, noticed that. Negative indicator.

Correct, Calle is already moving on to new extensions.

---------- Post added at 07:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:39 AM ----------

For me, it's about time factor. I had to work very hard for the great ROI I got. I don't have the time to do that anymore. .CO still is a good investment, as long as you have the time to sell it. But I wonder how many domainers are willing to put in the hours. As far as I've seen, not many are. That's why I said investing in .CO may be a great disappointment for many.

It's interesting that this board is pretty quiet, and some of the biggest supporters are now not recommending .CO as an investment. I would love to drop my .COs, but it's hard when you know there's some value there. I met a guy at a Lean Startup meetup last month who has started and exited 15 companies - his most recent endeavor is a food delivery service for people on Paleo diets. We were.discussing domains, and it turns out I used to own exact match of his company's .CO, but I'd dropped it last year. The .com is $60k (he's inquired about buying it), and he wanted the .CO as well. I would have practically given it to him (I wasn't thinking "cha-ching," he was a nice guy and money is never my.priority, unfortunately), but when I checked the WhoIS, I'd deleted it from my account, lol.

I could have at least made a few hundred on that name, if I'd only held onto it.

However, I know that's a one-off chance, and that you can't count on running into end-users for your domains everyday. I wish the renewal price on .COs were lower, and I agree that it is an uphill battle to proactively sell them. I have no idea if the .CO team is planning on continuing their efforts. I think there is an opportunity for .CO to receive a boost from consumers searching for gTLD-related options, but chances are that Juan Calle's company will be focusing on their gTLD investments.

 

[hawkeye]

That's why I said investing in .CO may be a great disappointment for many.

Looks like the 'cool aid' is finally going sour.......

 

[DU]

Looks like the 'cool aid' is finally going sour.......

It was kind of sudden..

Perhaps, it was left in the sun that started shining more brightly out ot of Juan's you-know-what...

 

[NPer]

Correct, Calle is already moving on to new extensions.

And this time, if he's awarded those gTLDs, he will be the laughing stock of the domaining industry because those extensions will fail.

He is getting ahead of himself. I don't know where this confidence of his is coming from, but if he thinks registrars are going to throw their weight behind his dumb ideas every time, he is making a huge mistake.

:wave:

 

[emjohn]

There is no "kool-aid" factor. It's about time and money. I haven't soured at all. I made a nice profit and am thankful for that and .co is still a very nice extension. It's the time factor. It takes invariably longer to promote (and more money) a .me or .co. Don't have the time. Domain investing is one thing and developing is another.

Once I saw that Calle is applying for a new TLD, well, that is something to really think about. It means that he has ceased to stand behind the ".co is changing the internet" marketing. That is problematic. .CO is a great extension, but if the marketer is not standing behind it fully and chooses to reap rewards only as a registrar and for other new registrars, well, this is highly problematic for many reasons.

Looks like the 'cool aid' is finally going sour.......

---------- Post added at 10:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:45 AM ----------

And this time, if he's awarded those gTLDs, he will be the laughing stock of the domaining industry because those extensions will fail.

He is getting ahead of himself. I don't know where this confidence of his is coming from, but if he thinks registrars are going to throw their weight behind his dumb ideas every time, he is making a huge mistake.

:wave:

The confidence comes from being an administrator. If you ARE the registrar,well, you can say what you want to everyone and it doesn't matter. Until recently, I wasn't aware that he was a big .com owner. Applying for a new TLD while marketing .co as "changing the internet" is really tough to handle. You would like to say that he shot himself in the foot with this one but he doesn't care. As long as he is the admin for the these registrars he will say anything to just get more registrations which lottery-people won't drop in two year's time.

It's such a shame people don't watch their portfolios closer.

---------- Post added at 10:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:03 AM ----------

They have been promoting the "entrepreneur" rather than the quality extension. Yep, big problem.

It was kind of sudden..

Perhaps, it was left in the sun that started shining more brightly out ot of Juan's you-know-what...

---------- Post added at 10:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:06 AM ----------

We all got the memo that it's easier to type in .co than .com as it's one letter less. lol

This is true. It is easier and very recognizable. problem is that merit has been undermined by promoting the entrepreneur rather than the product.

If I want a good pair of shoes, I want a good pair of shoes. If you are going to promote the shoe salesman more than the shoes, for me it doesn't make sense. There is a malfunction at the junction. For me, and many others, I want to know about the quality of the shoes.

In this case, something has been turned around. It has occurred in the last 6 months. I would rather know what they are doing to promote .CO rather than glorify the administrator. Bit of a turn-off...

 

[dragtastic]

it seems that everyone here is focusing on selling .co domains - has anyone been buying any?

I personally just bought a .co for low $xxx with the plan to one day develop it.

Are there any people here that are keeping their .co's with the intent to develop it one day?

 

[NPer]

it seems that everyone here is focusing on selling .co domains - has anyone been buying any?

I am sure there will be guys here who would possibly buy a .CO- but that's only if the price is right, and there is a potential to flip the name.

I personally just bought a .co for low $xxx with the plan to one day develop it.

Are there any people here that are keeping their .co's with the intent to develop it one day?

I've been developing some of my domains recently; .COM/NET/ORG/CO.UK, etc, but I will not consider .CO.

I guess it would be ok if you are only planning on receiving traffic from search engines, back-links, etc- but I wouldn't suggest developing them for a business where the domain will be used in media such as prints/radio, etc- will create too much confusion. ".CO? You mean .COM/CO.UK?"

:wave:

 

[emjohn]

We all got the memo that it's easier to type in .co than .com as it's one letter less. lol

This is true. It is easier and very recognizable. problem is that merit has been undermined by promoting the entrepreneur rather than the product.

If I want a good pair of shoes, I want a good pair of shoes. If you are going to promote the shoe salesman more than the shoes, for me it doesn't make sense. There is a malfunction at the junction. For me, and many others, I want to know about the quality of the shoes.

In this case, something has been turned around. It has occurred in the last 6 months. I would rather know what they are doing to promote .CO rather than glorify the administrator. Bit of a turn-off...

---------- Post added at 11:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:06 AM ----------

Yes, I am. But it's only two or three.

it seems that everyone here is focusing on selling .co domains - has anyone been buying any?

I personally just bought a .co for low $xxx with the plan to one day develop it.

Are there any people here that are keeping their .co's with the intent to develop it one day?

 

[JB Lions]

"Once I saw that Calle is applying for a new TLD, well, that is something to really think about. It means that he has ceased to stand behind the ".co is changing the internet" marketing. That is problematic. .CO is a great extension, but if the marketer is not standing behind it fully and chooses to reap rewards only as a registrar and for other new registrars, well, this is highly problematic for many reasons."

You make your money, milk it while you can, next. It's kind of funny reading on some of the blogs with people mentioning Schilling and his love for these new extensions and taking it as he's souring on .com. When it's probably more, he knows .com is King, he knows he has a lot of good ones but he also knows how domainers and such go gaga over new extensions. So why not tap that as well, milk it for all it's worth and he's still got all those .coms.

 

[emjohn]

Exactly. It's called hedging your bets.

"Once I saw that Calle is applying for a new TLD, well, that is something to really think about. It means that he has ceased to stand behind the ".co is changing the internet" marketing. That is problematic. .CO is a great extension, but if the marketer is not standing behind it fully and chooses to reap rewards only as a registrar and for other new registrars, well, this is highly problematic for many reasons."

You make your money, milk it while you can, next. It's kind of funny reading on some of the blogs with people mentioning Schilling and his love for these new extensions and taking it as he's souring on .com. When it's probably more, he knows .com is King, he knows he has a lot of good ones but he also knows how domainers and such go gaga over new extensions. So why not tap that as well, milk it for all it's worth and he's still got all those .coms.

 

[TheWatcher]

Simply expanding his business. He doesn't care if you make money with your .co registration, all he cares is to meet his revenue. That's all.

The new gLTDs are just another flavor of candy in your local store.

"Once I saw that Calle is applying for a new TLD, well, that is something to really think about. It means that he has ceased to stand behind the ".co is changing the internet" marketing. That is problematic. .CO is a great extension, but if the marketer is not standing behind it fully and chooses to reap rewards only as a registrar and for other new registrars, well, this is highly problematic for many reasons."

You make your money, milk it while you can, next. It's kind of funny reading on some of the blogs with people mentioning Schilling and his love for these new extensions and taking it as he's souring on .com. When it's probably more, he knows .com is King, he knows he has a lot of good ones but he also knows how domainers and such go gaga over new extensions. So why not tap that as well, milk it for all it's worth and he's still got all those .coms.

 

[the_poet]

myn.co sold for $1,350 at Sedo.

 

[emjohn]

Simply expanding his business. He doesn't care if you make money with your .co registration, all he cares is to meet his revenue. That's all.

The new gLTDs are just another flavor of candy in your local store.

And what surer way to meet revenue than to run your own registrar and assure yourself an average of 30000 regs per year per registrar. Do the math. It's staggering. .CO is a fairly successful extension. Imagine the ones coming next year. There will be absolutely no aftermarket for them. And the only ones left with assets are the registrar and people who bought names for brands and development(a la Instagr.am).

 

[stingrae]

When do the big drops come from the landrush period?

 

[TheWatcher]

Renewal is month of july for .co, so anytime now.

I'll drop some of my .co

---------- Post added at 05:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:50 PM ----------

@emjohn

I agree.

 

[buckshotdots]

WHat would you keep? Value?

A-B-C.CO
WestBank.co

Only other one I had was 1234.co which I parted with.

g-

 

[stingrae]

WHat would you keep? Value?

A-B-C.CO
WestBank.co

Only other one I had was 1234.co which I parted with.

g-

I wouldn't keep either. I can't even get a decent price for the triple premium LLL.co listed in my link below at this point so I know you can't get anything for a double hypen.

There is no liquidity in .CO that I can see so your only hope is for end users or develop them yourself.

 

[Blitz]

Is there a "drop or keep" thread for .co domains or could we do that here? I have a few am hoping for opinions on.

 

[MicroGuy]

Is there a "drop or keep" thread for .co domains or could we do that here? I have a few am hoping for opinions on.

I'm sure the staff could just setup an autoreponder that would reply with "drop" for each domain posted.

This would seem quite a time savings. Hehe. J/K

 

[DU]

I'm sure the staff could just setup an autoreponder that would reply with "drop" for each domain posted.

This would seem quite a time savings. Hehe. J/K

Drop
Drop
Drop
Drop
Drop

I don't have time to spend in all the threads so that's my next five keep / drop posts in advance.