discuss How to register new gTLD names in 2019 (and actually sell them).

[Brands.International]

How to register new gTLD names in 2019
(and actually sell them).

This is written particularly for new domain investors - I hope it will save you some money
It is only my personal opinion, and I might be wrong (of course). So here we go:
​

1. Register 1 word domain name, in most cases try to avoid 2 word domain names ​

Example of 1 word domain name: holy.life. Example of 2 word domain name: myholy.life or ourholy.life.
Why? Because chances of selling 2 word domain name in new gTLD space is very small (consult namebio.com). Do not think you can outsmart someone with your word1word2.gTLD combo...in most cases you will not outsmart anyone, and usually you will be dropping such names after 1 year. There are exceptions from this rule of course, but safest bet is to simply avoid it, particularly when you just start with domain investing.

2. Register names with not many alternatives in new gTLD space​

This simply means, that end users can not find alternatives for your name in other new gTLD extension, for reg fee.(use uniregistry.com to check that). Particularly when you ignore point no.1 and register 2 word domain name, you will usually find that your string exists in dozens of other new gTLD extensions...and is available to be registered by anyone for reg fee. This subsequently means you will have no leverage when it comes to negotiations with end users.To learn exactly what "alternatives in new gTLD space" means, read this new gTLD appraisal thread here.

3. Register names with large pools of potential end users.​

You can have perfect new gTLD name, but if there are only few suitable end users who can use your name, it will usually take long time to sell it. If you register name where millions of potential end users exist (so something pretty broad and generic), you will be getting much more offers, and you will be able to close much more sales.

4. To be first is not always better...sometimes it is better to be second.​

When registering new gTLD names, consider this: when extension is brand new, there is almost zero awareness about it among end users (unless there is a huge marketing campaign for it you know about).
It can take years for awareness to be created. This also means that for many extensions there is almost 0 aftermarket in early times. Usually only fellow domain investors. This is natural - if something is very new, almost no one knows about it. So if you want to be first to get best names, fine, but budget for your investments accordingly - it is not wise to expect that you will buy something totally new for USD 10, and you will be able to flip it to end user for USD 10k. It happens, but rarely. There are many experienced new gTLD domain investors, who simply wait for drops after 1st year and pick up some very nice names. But this wisdom comes with years of investing experience and is not something what can be intuitively understood, at least from what I see.

5. Make sure renewals of your domain names are sustainable.​

Second most important thing in new gTLD domain investment (after quality of the name) - make sure you understand renewal fees for your domain names. In order for you to be in a long term game, renewal fees of your domain names must be sustainable (aka low). Otherwise you will be dropping almost all of your names after 1 year, and all your effort will be wasted.

6. Make proper landers for your names​

Do not just let your domain names without proper landing pages. Do not be lazy and immediately prepare landers for them. Imo best option is undeveloped.com atm, but many good alternatives are available as well.
Some old school domainers are used to the fact that they were contacted by people who found their contact details in WHOIS database - this is not possible anymore, as due to GDPR legislation most records from WHOIS database are now masked. This also means that when you have new gTLD domain name, your details will be masked in most cases (again, there are few exceptions from this rule, but do not rely on them),. Buyers thus have no way how to contact you. Clear landing pages are a must in 2019.

7. Do not follow the herd.​

Just because all people at Namepros are registering .panda (just an example), it does not mean you also need to register .panda...Most people are not profitable and are actually loosing lot of money - so if you will do the same thing as most people, you will have the same results as most people....

When you follow the herd, it is not only that competition is huge, but you will end up registering nonsense word1 word2 names, in times where there is no aftermarket created yet, when you do not know if there are some renewal promotions in future, when major domain selling sites not yet support that extension, and when there is no awareness yet among end users. Likely result of your action: you will drop your names prior first renewal round. This is happening since 2014 in many forms and shapes, still it seems like most people like to repeat those mistakes happily again and again.

You need to find your niche/extensions/areas of expertise and go from there. The most lucrative way is still to buy new gTLD names from fellow domain investors, but almost no one is doing it, except few people. Typical newbie new gTLD domain "investor" will rather spend USD 10 on 200 bad names and will not sell even 1 of them, prior dropping them all, then to pay USD 2000 for 1 great name which can sell for great profit. Which leads to:

8. Get 2-3 good names instead of 200-300 bad names (which you will drop anyway).​

Buy only quality new gTLD names, as only highest quality sells in 2019. And you know that you have great new gTLD domain name, if you have a good feeling renewing it 9 years in advance.This should be always your test: am I confident enought for this name, so I have no problem to pay years in advance for it's renewal fees? Now to critics which would tell you that you are blocking unnecessarily your capital by paying renewals in advance, I would like to remind:
a) renew your name years in advance if there is a great renewal promotion (you can save sometimes 90% of total cost, as some renewal promotions for new gTLDs are simply amazing)
b) when you renew your new gTLD name 9 years in advance, it tells your potential buyers something about your commitment....in my experience, it is much easier to negotiate if your name is renewed like that.

Buyers are not stupid: they will check everything possible about you and your names, and in most cases they are simply waiting if the name does not expire/if you do not drop it . But when we are in 2019 and your name is renewed until 2027, this waiting game is simply over for them, and they need to approach you if they want the name. But to play this game, you really need to have good new gTLD names.

9. Get to social media and make lot of connections.
​

Do not be a secret seller. Have your portfolio clearly visible to anyone, and go to Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, Youtube and Facebook at least. People with most success have great online presence, and professionally looking marketplaces.

10. Price your domain names as a pro, do not be a chicken
​

Look, if you price your domains with $120 price tag (for example), this will result in following: you will sell your best domains quickly for low price (and when you report it, fellow domain investors will say Congrats congrats, congrats, and you will feel great as super-seller), but at the same time you will be left with portfolio of bad domain names, which no one wants even for this low price tag. This is sure way to poor financial status and poverty. You do not want that. New gTLD names are very unique, as they are are pure phrases without any suffix, and are therefore also geo neutral. They have great value, and this value grows in time.
If you have great new gTLD name, renew it for years in advance, and do not let it go for cheap - as one day you might retire on it...

11. Bonus point - do not listen to "voices of past" with "only .com is an good investment" mantra
​

This is already past us and so not 2019 - luckily we see this nonsense less and less ...

What is your opinion when it comes to new gTLDs registrations ? ​

 

[BrandEntrance.com]

Both equally bad names. $7,000 or 88 cents it is a complete waste.

Johnnie018

May I ask what you develop?

You seem to be a troll right now.

 

[Brands.International]

Everyone should look at brands.international right now. .

I swear I am not paying Johnnie to promote my private marketplace, he is posting all this from his own will

Johnnie, Thanks, and

Yours, lolwarrior

 

[johnnie018]

I swear I am not paying Johnnie to promote my private marketplace, he is posting all this from his own will

Johnnie, Thanks, and
Show attachment 111533
Yours, lolwarrior

I had a DM about this earlier this morning from another member and I can confirm that me and lolwarrior are in no way connected, I have quoted brands.international for illustration purposes only.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Marek aka lolwarrior....thanks for starting this thread. While I was at one time 100% in on ngTLD's (meaning that's all I was buying) that's changed for me over the last six months. My portfolio of 1,500 domains is now about 50/50. Of late I've been accumulating a portfolio of .homes names where I've been registering about a domain a day, and now own about 75 names to the tune of $750.

You may be aware that I'm researching the possibility of creating a secondary market just for ngTLD's whereby an exact match of a .com equivalent that's already registered will point to the exact same name, but in the form of a ngTLD.....how cool would that be Take for example the very first domain that appears on the first page of Domains.International site...it's Virtual.Fund. If a consumer/business owner were to key VirtualFund(.)com to GD's domain search tool all that would come up is: "Bummer. Someone owns this domain" and they would recommend a bunch of funky alternatives. This is where GD could say, Voila!, we've found an exact match, and here it is; Virtual.Fund.

Of course a lot of details need to be worked out, but this would tend to put millions of ngTLD's on the map.

Someone has already asked me, don't i fear someone might steal this idea? First, I'm sure it's not new, but second I wish someone would because it would surely add value to anyone's ngTLD portfolio.

Thanks again Marek and maybe someday we'll have an opportunity to meetup.I met smiling Bob Hawkes in Vegas at NamesCon, and he's every bit the gentlemen and scholar I knew he would be. Cheers!

 

[Brands.International]

Marek aka lolwarrior....thanks for starting this thread. While I was at one time 100% in on ngTLD's (meaning that's all I was buying) that's changed for me over the last six months. My portfolio of 1,500 domains is now about 50/50. Of late I've been accumulating a portfolio of .homes names where I've been registering about a domain a day, and now own about 75 names to the tune of $750.

You may be aware that I'm researching the possibility of creating a secondary market just for ngTLD's whereby an exact match of a .com equivalent that's already registered will point to the exact same name, but in the form of a ngTLD.....how cool would that be Take for example the very first domain that appears on the first page of Domains.International site...it's Virtual.Fund. If a consumer/business owner were to key VirtualFund(.)com to GD's domain search tool all that would come up is: "Bummer. Someone owns this domain" and they would recommend a bunch of funky alternatives. This is where GD could say, Voila!, we've found an exact match, and here it is; Virtual.Fund.

Of course a lot of details need to be worked out, but this would tend to put millions of ngTLD's on the map.

Someone has already asked me, don't i fear someone might steal this idea? First, I'm sure it's not new, but second I wish someone would because it would surely add value to anyone's ngTLD portfolio.

Thanks again Marek and maybe someday we'll have an opportunity to meetup.I met smiling Bob Hawkes in Vegas at NamesCon, and he's every bit the gentlemen and scholar I knew he would be. Cheers!

Rich, thanks for your kind post.

The idea you have just decribed here is very interesting imo. Me, as an new gTLD investor would certainly benefit from it. Many other new gTLD investors would benefit from it as well it seems. Now, what brings advantage to certain group of people, might bring an disadvantage to another group of people. So success of this idea and its implementation in real world would depend on how financial incentives would be distributed among main players, which are registries, registrars and domain investors.

If someone would implement this interesting idea, it would be probably certain domain registrars. They would need to invest $$$ into software code. The question is: would this bring more revenue to them (and how exactly?), comparing to situation when they offer (what you called) "funky alternatives"? This is question which needs to be analyzed in detail, if anyone want to just think about this idea.

Domain investors like me would certainly benefit, but we are not paying for the solution, so it is not really important for the success of this idea. Financial incentives and cost vs profit analysis of those who would pay for this solution are really important here. It is very complex topic, so just my 2 cents on your idea. I have to admit I never thought in this direction or never read about anything similar yet, so from my perspective it is certainly something very new and interesting!

It would be very nice to meet someday in person, I hope more of those domain conferences will move ouside the US to also be in EU, ASIA and other continents as well

 

[oldtimer]

Thanks for the well expressed commentary. I have no doubt that those in .com who do it as a business (i.e. full time or nearly so) for the most part ignore hand-reg in .com.

I think the situation in ngTLDs is somewhat different, however, and I am not as convinced that there is a significant quality difference between the best hand-reg and the best ones available for purchase from other domainers at reasonable prices. I say this for 4 reasons.

1. The saturation is way less in the ngTLD (even when you include the registry reserved names). In .com there are roughly 138 million names registered. Most of the ngTLD extensions considered by investors have about 1 million or less, so naturally more names are still available.
2. Many fewer domain investors are looking in the ngTLD space. In .com many hundreds of thousands of domain investors have been searching the space for decades. It really is true that except for new trends or really creative names, most ideas have already been considered and usually registered. In the new extension space not only have people had at most a few years to look, but also the number of people looking is far fewer and there are many more places to look (500+ available extensions).
3. The registration/renewal pricing favours expiration in the ngTLD space. I never used to do this, but in recent months I have more often used tools like DT to look at a history of names I was considering or had acquired. If I don't include newish extensions (like APP, PAGE, ICU) most names I am acquiring have been held previously even though I am hand regging them. Also, when I let names drop in many cases I see someone else picks them up as hand-reg within a few days. Officially the new owner has hand-regged because of the expiration, but essentially someone has held the name most of its available life.
4. There is not a developed drop-catch and auction system for ngTLDs. I might be uninformed but to my knowledge there are not similar paid services for catching ngTLDs by paying an extra fee as there is in .com, nor has any auction place become the go-to place for domainer to domainer auctions in the way that GoDaddy and NameJet are (and Flippa used to be) for the legacy extensions. The closest would be Dynadot. It seems that there are places in China active in new extension resale market. I actually view it as a positive that there are not companies taking a cut of this, and prefer the new extension system of expiration and being picked up by alert followers at hand-reg fees without an additional charge.

I personally am not opposed to buying from other domainers (or selling to them ) but only rarely do I see names that I want at the available prices. Yes, I do scan the NPs offerings and the Namecheap Marketplace offerings for quality names at discount prices, but it is only a small part of my acquisition strategy.

I think this is another place that the experience of successful .com domain investors, while fantastically valuable in that space (knowing valuations, how to pick up great dropping names and at auction, etc.), has only limited transferability to the new gTLD space. I think @lolwarrior comment at the bottom of his OP has been misinterpreted. He was not discounting .com expertise for commenting on the legacy investing space, but pointing out that unless they have actually followed and invested in ngTLD space the truths they have learned in legacy investing are not necessarily as helpful in new extension investing. At the same time there are factors (like finding competitive renewal pricing) that are important in ngTLDs but not so critical in legacy investing.

Thank you for your well expressed comment. While I feel somewhat differently for the reasons above, I totally agree that the view you made is legitimate and many would agree.

Bob

I tend to agree that there are still some good opportunities out there to find some nice New gTLDs, and by nice I mean something at low registration cost with low renewal charges that also is a good keyword/ extension combination, and I wouldn’t necessarily leave two keyword domains out of this equation if the keywords are strong enough on their own. IMO

Just got:

HomeMortgage.center

Was on sale at Godaddy for $4.95

And I already had:

HomeMortgage.loan

Which in my opinion are decent examples of strong two keyword New gTLDs at standard renewals.

 

[NameLlama]

Please stop hand ragging, guys. Getting NewTlds, especially 2-3words long, is really not good way to spend time and money.
Buy the good .coms from aftermarket .. You'll be wealthy in no time.

 

[oldtimer]

So now we can't discuss New gTLDs in a New gTLD thread without being harassed.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I tend to agree that there are still some good opportunities out there to find some nice New gTLDs, and by nice I mean something at low registration cost with low renewal charges that also is a good keyword/ extension combination, and I wouldn’t necessarily leave two keyword domains out of this equation if the keywords are strong enough on their own. IMO

Just got:

HomeMortgage.center

Was on sale at Godaddy for $4.95

And I already had:

HomeMortgage.loan

Which in my opinion are decent examples of strong two keyword New gTLDs at standard renewals.

I agree with you oldtimer, but I think you should have a plan in place of how you're going to sell your names. For instance, can you, or do you know someone that can present your names to the home mortgage industry? You may already have something in the works like that, but it's imperative names like yours (and mine) get more exposure than what Sedo and Afternic can offer. Anyway good luck, and like you I'm feeling good about my ngTLD's

 

[Brands.International]

I tend to agree that there are still some good opportunities out there to find some nice New gTLDs, and by nice I mean something at low registration cost with low renewal charges that also is a good keyword/ extension combination, and I wouldn’t necessarily leave two keyword domains out of this equation if the keywords are strong enough on their own. IMO

Just got:

HomeMortgage.center

Was on sale at Godaddy for $4.95

And I already had:

HomeMortgage.loan

Which in my opinion are decent examples of strong two keyword New gTLDs at standard renewals.

Those 2 names are actually very nice! They are nice because they make sense, and there are not many alternatives in new gTLD space to them (you can not for example register string HomeMortgage with .basketball, well, you can, but that would be pretty nonsensical).

So that rule no.1 about word1word2 names is just a guideline really...I think it is right maybe in 98% of cases, but if you register something meaningful, you might get very nice domain combo.

In addition, what I like about your .loan names is that (as we all should already know by now), .loan has ultra low renewal fee at many registrars .. so you can renew it for as low as $1,9 per year for years in advance (one can consult namestat.org to see which registrars offers which renewal prices for .loan).

Actually, I think it is pretty valuable name, and you might consider to renew it 9 years in advance, for total cost of 18 USD....this name can easily imo sell for 5k -9k even in 2019, and probably more in future.

Although I think in many cases people are regging bad word1word2 names, this is not one of them

 

[Brands.International]

In addition to above, and despite rule no1., I own such composed names as well..

For example newhomesfor.sale, which contains (let's frankly admit that), pretty horrible string "newhomesfor"....But the domain name got 8 offers so far (and those were not small), as it makes tons of semantic sense, when left and right is combined together. Domain investors will probably tell you it is a horrible name, while it seems end users kind of like it

I just recently sold very long word1word2 new gTLD name for $5000+ (which is not some significant sale really, but that just illustrates that rule no1. is just a guidline, with many many exceptions).

 

[oldtimer]

Those 2 names are actually very nice! They are nice because they make sense, and there are not many alternatives in new gTLD space to them (you can not for example register string HomeMortgage with .basketball, well, you can, but that would be pretty nonsensical).

So that rule no.1 about word1word2 names is just a guideline really...I think it is right maybe in 98% of cases, but if you register something meaningful, you might get very nice domain combo.

In addition, what I like about your .loan names is that (as we all should already know by now), .loan has ultra low renewal fee at many registrars .. so you can renew it for as low as $1,9 per year for years in advance (one can consult namestat.org to see which registrars offers which renewal prices for .loan).

Actually, I think it is pretty valuable name, and you might consider to renew it 9 years in advance, for total cost of 18 USD....this name can easily imo sell for 5k -9k even in 2019, and probably more in future.

Although I think in many cases people are regging bad word1word2 names, this is not one of them

I have also found couple of more in the past month or so at Godaddy that were on sale with standard renewals:

MortgageLoan.center

and

TeamPlay.games

I also like HomeMortgage.loan a lot because it has Home , Mortgage , and Loan all showing in the same domain.

 

[Brands.International]

Please stop hand ragging, guys. Getting NewTlds, especially 2-3words long, is really not good way to spend time and money.
Buy the good .coms from aftermarket .. You'll be wealthy in no time.

@NameLlama

 

[oldtimer]

In addition to above, and despite rule no1., I own such composed names as well..

For example newhomesfor.sale, which contains (let's frankly admit that), pretty horrible string "newhomesfor"....But the domain name got 8 offers so far (and those were not small), as it makes tons of semantic sense, when left and right is combined together. Domain investors will probably tell you it is a horrible name, while it seems end users kind of like it

I just recently sold very long word1word2 new gTLD name for $5000+ (which is not some significant sale really, but that just illustrates that rule no1. is just a guidline, with many many exceptions).

I have the domain:

SmartHomes.forsale

But I like to hang on to most of my domains for now, although I don't mind selling one or two so that I can get some more New gTLDs.

PS: Congrats on your New gTLD sale.

 

[Brands.International]

I have the domain:

SmartHomes.forsale

But I like to hang on to most of my domains for now, although I don't mind selling one or two so that I can get some more New gTLDs.

PS: Congrats on your New gTLD sale.

Exactly the same approach

 

[johnnie018]

Take for example the very first domain that appears on the first page of Domains.International site...it's Virtual.Fund. If a consumer/business owner were to key VirtualFund(.)com to GD's domain search tool all that would come up is: "Bummer. Someone owns this domain" and they would recommend a bunch of funky alternatives. This is where GD could say, Voila!, we've found an exact match, and here it is; Virtual.Fund.

Godaddy already does this.

 

[johnnie018]

Domain investors like me would certainly benefit, but we are not paying for the solution, so it is not really important for the success of this idea. Financial incentives and cost vs profit analysis of those who would pay for this solution are really important here. It is very complex topic, so just my 2 cents on your idea. I have to admit I never thought in this direction or never read about anything similar yet, so from my perspective it is certainly something very new and interesting!

Registrars will only offer this to the degree that it actually results in sales, i.e. in a limited way.

For example I just tried moneyhost.com and money.host came up as one of the alternatives. But Godaddy cannot try and substitute what people want because 99% of people won't be interested in the non .com version. Added to that money.host has been priced at $14,000 per year whilst the .com is on Godaddy at $600 for a one time fee.

It is a bit like the ".mobi button" about 10 years ago, the main beneficiary from that idea would have been .mobi domain owners, it made no sense for phone companies to offer it.

 

[johnnie018]

I have the domain:

SmartHomes.forsale

But I like to hang on to most of my domains for now, although I don't mind selling one or two so that I can get some more New gTLDs.

PS: Congrats on your New gTLD sale.

4 word new tld? Record?

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Godaddy already does this.

No they don't...just key in the example I gave you and see if it brings up the exact match Vrtual.Funds.

 

[johnnie018]

I have also found couple of more in the past month or so at Godaddy that were on sale with standard renewals:

MortgageLoan.center

and

TeamPlay.games

These aren't much better. Need to be doing way more research.

 

[oldtimer]

I agree with you oldtimer, but I think you should have a plan in place of how you're going to sell your names. For instance, can you, or do you know someone that can present your names to the home mortgage industry? You may already have something in the works like that, but it's imperative names like yours (and mine) get more exposure than what Sedo and Afternic can offer. Anyway good luck, and like you I'm feeling good about my ngTLD's

Domaining is currently my only form of entertainment which I consider to also be a good exercise for my mind. Because of my physical limitations I can't participate in any sports or go camping for fun so I keep myself engaged through domaining. I have also learned a lot about many new and interesting subjects while researching new ideas for finding available domains especially in the new technology areas, I consider myself to be more like a collector rather than being aggressive domain seller. Although I don’t mind selling couple of domains in order to keep my hobby going, but I don't have the energy to pursue this any more than just as a hobby.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Domaining is currently my only form of entertainment which I consider to also be a good exercise for my mind. Because of my physical limitations I can't participate in any sports or go camping for fun so I keep myself engaged through domaining. I have also learned a lot about many new and interesting subjects while researching new ideas for finding available domains especially in the new technology areas, I consider myself to be more like a collector rather than being aggressive domain seller. Although I don’t mind selling couple of domains in order to keep my hobby going, but I don't have the energy to pursue this any more than just as a hobby.

Thanks oldtimer...it's certainly been fun for me too. Having worked for myself all my life, it doesn't get much better than this. Good luck, and it's nice to know you.

 

[johnnie018]

No they don't...just key in the example I gave you and see if it brings up the exact match Vrtual.Funds.

There is no such extension of .funds.

.fund is supported but virtual.fund is priced at $70,000 so it wouldn't make sense to show it it as a replacement for the .com which is half the price and has a much lower renewal fee.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

There is no such extension of .funds.

.fund is supported but virtual.fund is priced at $70,000 so it wouldn't make sense to show it it as a replacement for the .com which is half the price and has a much lower renewal fee.

You are correct...that was a typo on my part. However, when keying the .com equivalent of most of my ngTLD's, the exact match is 50-80% less than the price quoted for the .com.

With few exceptions, 90% of my ngTLD's are less than a thousand dollars where the equivalent .coms range anywhere from $2,000 and higher....much higher

 

[Brands.International]

There is no such extension of .funds.

.fund is supported but virtual.fund is priced at $70,000 so it wouldn't make sense to show it it as a replacement for the .com which is half the price and has a much lower renewal fee.

Regarding virtual / fund domain name, you gave correct information about it's selling price. But regarding renewal fee, you got it wrong....it has only standard renewal for .fund attached to it. And this is actually only $6.01 (six dollars and 1 cent) at the moment of writing at registrar where the name is currently located.

$6.01 renewal is less then what would you pay for it's .com counterpart. I tell it all the time ... guys, you must learn more about new gTLD renewals, because you are missing incredible things in this area if you are not aware of all possibilities