discuss Future of .CO

[abstractdomainer]

.CO has changed their policy. Although there are a number of good domains and the extension, by the virtue of it being a short for .COM, is solid, according to me.

Here are some issues recently:

1) A lot of the good .CO domains have been priced at $100
2) Investors can hardly manage and own a portfolio of .CO given the pricing
3) The sales seems to have declined - Mainly by the price at which .CO are selling

My questions is, given all these scenarios, do you think .CO is still a good investment?

When you shortlist like 100 names and try to purchase them, you get this message where out of the 90 odd domains which are available, only say, 20 are prices at the registration price. they categorize even simple names at premium prices and it so happens that you end up not investing in the extension. I personally planned to purchase 1000-2000 domain during promo codes that provide the domain in $1.99 or $2.99 but then, the issue is, you do not have so many names to register.

Even the simplest possible names by putting say ly, ed, etc. are priced super high. For domain investors like us, who like to invest and own a huge portfolio of names in the extensions that we see promising, this has huge implications.

Inviting all .CO investors to share their comments on this new(or rather old from a year), strategy to price the domain name higher. Any way you are surviving this change?

I personally will have to change my entire business model, which was built around this extension itself. Is the registry only targeting end-users by this? Super worried with this.

 

[equity78]

Your business model really shouldn't be built around one repurposed cctld unless you were there early and got all the low hanging fruit.

I know @Josh R has been having success with .co and the same with @Nikul Sanghvi Hopefully they can chime in and help you out. Check out Josh's Josh.co.

 

[Josh R]

1) A lot of the good .CO domains have been priced at $100. A lot of these "premium names" are good investments. I register $100+ .co names frequently because that's a great price for many of them.
2) Investors can hardly manage and own a portfolio of .CO given the pricing. Why? I know loads of investors that manage and own .co portfolios very successfully.
3) The sales seems to have declined - Mainly by the price at which .CO are selling. I haven't seen price decreases but maybe @Nikul Sanghvi or @Nikhil Jain can better answer that. I bought a 1 word .co for $1,500 in Q4 2019 and sold it for $12,500 a few months ago.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

FWIW this is how .co domain sales volume, as represented by NameBio listed sales which of course only cover some venues, has changed over last four years. Data from this post.

Below is how .co average prices have changed over the same period, taken from this article. So average prices actually holding up well.

My apologies for including things other than .co, but that is how the graphs were grouped and easiest to display here.

Bob

 

[Peak.Domains]

I'd rather spend $25 a year to hold a premium .co than $10 a year to hold a $10 'brandable' handreg .com.

Very small sample size here, but I was looking over all of my past sales recently and *most* of them were .co, *most* of which are now developed and being used.

That trend points towards one of my favorite traits for this extension, which is that end users seem to like it a lot for the value it provides, short 1 word names for relatively inexpensive, and some domainers seem to really dislike it. That's a GREAT combo. When investors shy away from it, and end users steer into it... that's a good formula for making money imo.

 

[abstractdomainer]

Your business model really shouldn't be built around one repurposed cctld unless you were there early and got all the low hanging fruit.

I know @Josh R has been having success with .co and the same with @Nikul Sanghvi Hopefully they can chime in and help you out. Check out Josh's Josh.co.

Followed them. I still think that even though you are late, if the names are cheap and you can get a hold of them, it is still a good extension.
Also, the fact that it has been in demand so far, given that some good names sell for upwards for $2k, overall, I thought this was something I could rely on.

1) A lot of the good .CO domains have been priced at $100. A lot of these "premium names" are good investments. I register $100+ .co names frequently because that's a great price for many of them.
2) Investors can hardly manage and own a portfolio of .CO given the pricing. Why? I know loads of investors that manage and own .co portfolios very successfully.
3) The sales seems to have declined - Mainly by the price at which .CO are selling. I haven't seen price decreases but maybe @Nikul Sanghvi or @Nikhil Jain can better answer that. I bought a 1 word .co for $1,500 in Q4 2019 and sold it for $12,500 a few months ago.

To the second point, isn't the price too high. Like investing $100 on a name you are not sure will sell or not. Maybe also because I come from registration fee background and haven't cracked the non-registration fee game.

Was your sale in point 3 inbound or outbound?

FWIW this is how .co domain sales volume, as represented by NameBio listed sales which of course only cover some venues, has changed over last four years. Data from this post.

Below is how .co average prices have changed over the same period, taken from this article. So average prices actually holding up well.

My apologies for including things other than .co, but that is how the graphs were grouped and easiest to display here.

 

[abstractdomainer]

FWIW this is how .co domain sales volume, as represented by NameBio listed sales which of course only cover some venues, has changed over last four years. Data from this post.

Below is how .co average prices have changed over the same period, taken from this article. So average prices actually holding up well.

My apologies for including things other than .co, but that is how the graphs were grouped and easiest to display here.

Bob

Superb, Bob. Thanks for sharing! Insightful!

I'd rather spend $25 a year to hold a premium .co than $10 a year to hold a $10 'brandable' handreg .com.

Very small sample size here, but I was looking over all of my past sales recently and *most* of them were .co, *most* of which are now developed and being used.

That trend points towards one of my favorite traits for this extension, which is that end users seem to like it a lot for the value it provides, short 1 word names for relatively inexpensive, and some domainers seem to really dislike it. That's a GREAT combo. When investors shy away from it, and end users steer into it... that's a good formula for making money imo.

What's the price range you would say?
What kind of names - one word, two word or something.
Percentage of portfolio conversion?
Average number of years held?

 

[ecomslice]

Related Question , does anyone think the registry will ever offer a reasonable renewal discount ?

 

[Nikul Sanghvi]

My questions is, given all these scenarios, do you think .CO is still a good investment?

I think it's hard to give specific advice on what constitutes a 'good' investment without knowing your ability as a domainer, your own personal circumstances (financially) and your capacity to take calculated risks.
This would be as true for .COM as it is for .CO or .IO... there is a method and a skill in effective buying across any extension and the particular nuances that come with each extension.

If you are new to domaining, I would recommend sticking with .COM because investing in any other extension involves some element of swimming upstream. You have better odds of being able to swim against the current once you have competency in normal conditions.

For domain investors like us, who like to invest and own a huge portfolio of names in the extensions that we see promising, this has huge implications...

...2) Investors can hardly manage and own a portfolio of .CO given the pricing...

I once read that the trick to making your butter last longer is to spread it more thinly on your toast
Jokes aside, yes the costs are higher since the registry introduced the premium tiers, but you can manage this by buying fewer domains.

The core question for me is: Over the course of 12-48 months, does a $100 .CO domain have a similar probability of selling for $2k to $5k (when compared to a $100 .COM domain) ?

If the answer for you is yes... then it's maybe a calculated risk worth taking. To manage the higher renewal fees, you can keep a smaller portfolio.

If the answer is no... then it's better to put your money into .COM

.CO has changed their policy. Although there are a number of good domains and the extension, by the virtue of it being a short for .COM, is solid, according to me...

...I personally will have to change my entire business model, which was built around this extension itself. Is the registry only targeting end-users by this? Super worried with this.

I shared some thoughts around this back in Sept 2018 - I'm still thinking along similar lines:
https://www.namepros.com/threads/co-pricing-strategy-your-views.1095802/#post-6879028

 

[kaposzta]

.co is a great investment if it comes to hand-registering available / expired names.
I don't know any other extension where the sales price can be fairly close to a .com, while there are plenty of domains available for hand registering and the promos are very frequent (there's always a $3 or $2 promo somewhere).

On the other hand, you are right when you mention that if you want to register thousands of domain during a promo it's extremely difficult, as there are simply not enough good names to register.
It's not a huge problem though.

During the February, March and April promos I managed to register around 100 great .co names - I could have regged much more, even 3 times more, but that wouldn't mean that any of those 200 extra domains would sell. I prefer registering the best names only, put the rest on my list and register them later if an even better promotion comes (e.g. $1). So far I'm very pleased with .co domain sales, as the ROI is great, and the pretty frequent sales keep this thing fun (as domaining is just a hobby for me, altough a very lucrative one)

 

[centurymeme_com]

I also recognize the .co as an extension with many good possibilities

 

[Nikhil Jain]

I think @Nikul Sanghvi has summed it up aptly.

There is really no single answer, as your results with .co would depend a lot upon your own financial position, your risk appetite, your understanding of what type of domains work, your hold time, and their true price point based on these factors, and this in fact applies to any extension.

There are certainly good ones available even at the Premium price of $100+. Solid brand-centric 1 word, 2 word domains in .co, if offered at the right price point can move the inventory pretty quick.

 

[Ntmt]

Hey @Nikul Sanghvi, do you invest in “premium” .co domains? I remeber you were thinking about this some time ago.

What stops me from investing in “premium” .co is that it is not allowed to list them at Afternic.

 

[Tushar Batra]

Many Regular-priced .co domains after expiry marked as $120 premiums, like CVCV, have seen other names too.

 

[King]

I only invest in single word non .com domains.

 

[mAd MaX]

It's overpriced cctld trying to steal some traffic of .com

 

[Nikul Sanghvi]

Hey @Nikul Sanghvi, do you invest in “premium” .co domains? I remeber you were thinking about this some time ago.

What stops me from investing in “premium” .co is that it is not allowed to list them at Afternic.

Yes, I do buy some - but not at scale.

It is possible to list them at Afternic, and will also show up in GoDaddy now if they are Fast Transfer enabled.

 

[abstractdomainer]

Related Question , does anyone think the registry will ever offer a reasonable renewal discount ?

Never!

I think it's hard to give specific advice on what constitutes a 'good' investment without knowing your ability as a domainer, your own personal circumstances (financially) and your capacity to take calculated risks.
This would be as true for .COM as it is for .CO or .IO... there is a method and a skill in effective buying across any extension and the particular nuances that come with each extension.

If you are new to domaining, I would recommend sticking with .COM because investing in any other extension involves some element of swimming upstream. You have better odds of being able to swim against the current once you have competency in normal conditions.



I once read that the trick to making your butter last longer is to spread it more thinly on your toast
Jokes aside, yes the costs are higher since the registry introduced the premium tiers, but you can manage this by buying fewer domains.

The core question for me is: Over the course of 12-48 months, does a $100 .CO domain have a similar probability of selling for $2k to $5k (when compared to a $100 .COM domain) ?

If the answer for you is yes... then it's maybe a calculated risk worth taking. To manage the higher renewal fees, you can keep a smaller portfolio.

If the answer is no... then it's better to put your money into .COM



I shared some thoughts around this back in Sept 2018 - I'm still thinking along similar lines:
https://www.namepros.com/threads/co-pricing-strategy-your-views.1095802/#post-6879028

Fantastic advice Nikul! Makes sense! But personally for you, what do you think is preferreable:

1) Spreading risks across multiple names of $2-$3 each with low value
2) Less domains with $100 value.

What has been a good investment in your experience, so far?

.co is a great investment if it comes to hand-registering available / expired names.
I don't know any other extension where the sales price can be fairly close to a .com, while there are plenty of domains available for hand registering and the promos are very frequent (there's always a $3 or $2 promo somewhere).

On the other hand, you are right when you mention that if you want to register thousands of domain during a promo it's extremely difficult, as there are simply not enough good names to register.
It's not a huge problem though.

During the February, March and April promos I managed to register around 100 great .co names - I could have regged much more, even 3 times more, but that wouldn't mean that any of those 200 extra domains would sell. I prefer registering the best names only, put the rest on my list and register them later if an even better promotion comes (e.g. $1). So far I'm very pleased with .co domain sales, as the ROI is great, and the pretty frequent sales keep this thing fun (as domaining is just a hobby for me, altough a very lucrative one)

Few questions:

1) I see the .CO come once a year usually. How did you find 3 promos. Doesn't .CO offer promos on their anniversary?
2) Frequent sales - What is the sale conversion
3) When you say good names, can you share an example of a good name in $2?
4) What is the average sale price, when you say there are frequent sales?

 

[abstractdomainer]

I also recognize the .co as an extension with many good possibilities

Of course! It is amazing!

I think @Nikul Sanghvi has summed it up aptly.

There is really no single answer, as your results with .co would depend a lot upon your own financial position, your risk appetite, your understanding of what type of domains work, your hold time, and their true price point based on these factors, and this in fact applies to any extension.

There are certainly good ones available even at the Premium price of $100+. Solid brand-centric 1 word, 2 word domains in .co, if offered at the right price point can move the inventory pretty quick.

Do you share your sales here on NamePros by any chance? Just to get to know, what moves.

Many Regular-priced .co domains after expiry marked as $120 premiums, like CVCV, have seen other names too.

Exactly. And the renewal fees is pretty high as well.

I only invest in single word non .com domains.

And how has it worked out for you?

 

[kaposzta]

Few questions:

1) I see the .CO come once a year usually. How did you find 3 promos. Doesn't .CO offer promos on their anniversary?
2) Frequent sales - What is the sale conversion
3) When you say good names, can you share an example of a good name in $2?
4) What is the average sale price, when you say there are frequent sales?

1) I know 6 registrars offering a .co promo from time to time: Dynadot, Godaddy, Name.com, Namecheap, Rebel, Epic
Name.com $3 in September, Dynadot $3 in November, Godaddy $1 in November, Namecheap $4 in January, Name.com $2 in February, Epik $2 in February, Godaddy, $1 in February, Rebel $3 in March, April and May, Epik $2 in May, Dynadot $3 in May.
Dynadot, Rebel and maybe Name.com usually offer the discount for at least a month (see Rebel's now 2 month-long promo), Godaddy's promos are shorter, and Epic usually offers promos for a couple of days or hours.

2) Hard to tell, as I continuously registering domains since last September.
September: 17 regs, 2 got sold ($500 revenue after fees)
November: 112 regs, 2 got sold (~$1600)
December-January: 8 regs, 0 sales
February-March: 40 regs, 0 sales
I'm not in panic because of 0 sales for the February-March domains, as I think .co domains need 3-4 months before they get sold (their chance of selling vastly increases as Afternic fast transfer option kicks in).

3) Here you can find 5 names I registered for $2:
Star/Solar
Thousand/Islands
Learning/Online
Black/Crown
Black/Key
All nice for $2, but Learning/Online is a steal!

4) I tend to add $395, $595, $895 price tags to my .co domains, with a few exceptions. If a name really stands out, I put a higher tag, e.g. $1588 to Virtual/School (it got sold). Low-mid $xxx is the sweet spot for good names and low-mid $x,xxx for excellent names.