I am planning to start a new domain registrar

[Recons.Com]

Dear NP members,

I am planning to start a new domain name registrar within a year.

I am aware that there are tons of them, but I have to find one yet that would be excellent in most categories.

I would love to hear some feedback as to what are the most important factors you are looking for in a registrar.

Some things that I have already decided upon:

- Price (for .com) at under $10 for general public and at $8.49 for domain investors (don't like the term domainers)

- Rich interface and functionality

- Name: probably am going with Regz.com

- Focus on what sells (.com, .org etc.) and stop confusing customers with lots of bad extensions

Again, comments and feedback are appreciated

 

[Natto]

Hi,

As i am quite new for domains investor. i would prefer a lower price with smart and easy UI interface.

Thanks,
Arnat

 

[ngignac]

Depending on how much you have to invest/don't mind working at a loss for a while ,I think perhaps offering the names at cost and making your profit from add-ons and the marketplace could be a strategy.

Edit: Whois privacy included though*. Domains with whois at cost price would enable you to get a big market share of domainers. Once popular, your marketplace can be extremely lucrative (even if not doing the regular 12-15% commission most sites charge).

 

[Recons.Com]

Sounds good. Get on with it and buzz me if you need any help

Of course! I will ) You too keep in touch via pm or here with any ideas/suggestions please ) thank you.

 

[Tia Wood]

Sounds like a huge project. What are you doing for web servers and development?

 

[toughdomains]

That is a wonderful idea! Landing pages with buy it now possibility right from there (or make offer)

take it from me for sale landing pages that everyone likes is no easy task....we spent about a year developing for sale landing pages custimizable in just about every way..

 

[Recons.Com]

"Regz" is impressive - short and memorable.

Thank you ) Bought it here couple years back )

 

[Anjani]

GoDaddy reports 15% revenue growth for 2016, higher loss this quarter from a year ago.
Brutal Business though Bob Parsons personal Net worth is: US$2.6 billion.
Suggest to avoid any business that is capital intensive. It takes big bucks to play at a global scale.
You might be better off outsourcing software projects to India.
Even a medium sized company here with a headcount of 200+ generates 2 Million Dollars profit / Year.

 

[Recons.Com]

GoDaddy reports 15% revenue growth for 2016, higher loss this quarter from a year ago.
Brutal Business though Bob Parsons personal Net worth is: US$2.6 billion.
Suggest to avoid any business that is capital intensive. It takes big bucks to play at a global scale.
You might be better off outsourcing software projects to India.
Even a medium sized company here with a headcount of 200+ generates 2 Million Dollars profit / Year.

GD business model is completely different. They work like Amazon posting losses for years, but compensating by market share and promise of future profits. They offer 0.99 names, spend on superbowl ads etc., but then charge you 15 per name and also get control of thousands of valuable names that they auction off as their own.

 

[Recons.Com]

take it from me for sale landing pages that everyone likes is no easy task....we spent about a year developing for sale landing pages custimizable in just about every way..

And that is ok ) Few nice options and possibility to sell right from there will attract some. And will provide some extra income to the registrar.

 

[Recons.Com]

I like "i can has domain.com" better.

not sure what you mean )

 

[Recons.Com]

David Vs Goliath

Hope you have a disruptive idea to vie for the market share.
Entry barrier is definitely low but the devil seems to be in the Advertising & Promotional Expenses.
Anyways, Good Luck with your venture!

I do have disruptive part of it too, but wouldn't make sense to make it public before going live ))

 

[Recons.Com]

Sounds like a huge project. What are you doing for web servers and development?

I am considering my options right now. Might go with an existing provider of the backend, if I like one enough.

 

[LucidDomains]

NameSilo is probably the best registrar out there, but that doesn't mean you can't come a close second.

Good luck with your new venture.

 

[GetBigDomains]

I would say that ease of use, single or bulk settings buy/forward/dns, monthly/quarterly promos.
Affiliate program where people can add the names held in your site to a widget or port link/page.
That will be great for regular users. And maybe have a promo for NP and other investors to transfer in.
Bold, Useful, Landers (perhaps), cheap wp hosting... The sky's the limit!
PM for more

 

[GetBigDomains]

Just a shot in the dark, but maybe there’s a cost effective way to offer some sort of membership that entitles people to $5 .com renewals. If they pay a $100 a year and have at least a certain number of domains, or something like that

Members could pay for or earn bulk membership and other features easy push/transfer. Separate from regular customers.

 

[Recons.Com]

I would say that ease of use, single or bulk settings buy/forward/dns, monthly/quarterly promos.
Affiliate program where people can add the names held in your site to a widget or port link/page.
That will be great for regular users. And maybe have a promo for NP and other investors to transfer in.
Bold, Useful, Landers (perhaps), cheap wp hosting... The sky's the limit!
PM for more

Agreed. I also, as an owner, look for ease of use and bulk settings.

Could you explain about the affiliate program?

 

[blockchain]

Nothing yet. But they got bought out so you never know what's going to happen.

how bought? who is buyer?

 

[GetBigDomains]

How would I compete for domains? Expiring names? My goal will be in minimizing them and maximizing the chance of good names remaining with owners. But if there were sufficient supply of those to warrant "expiring auctions", then, of course, there can be no competing and transparency would be required.

Bulk users could have a wallet. Regular users different payment method. You can have a page where the bulk users/members let unwanted names go.
Like a names pool.
OR
You could say for example - swap un wanted .com names for a new reg. (trade in)..
Or you could include that with your affiliate branding.
I will get back to you with replies in a while. I'm just stepping out...
Happy to talk in PM.

 

[Recons.Com]

start with small, and if you think you can do it more further , then scale the hell out!

in Biz, what most important is not about how big you are or how much money that you have! because even if you run a register biz, in your mom basement! but you already have huge costumers, I am sure, soon or later! you have to be GD rival/Competitor!

but even if you have the biggest capital in the world! but you have no idea how to get 1 Million costumer! I am sure soon or later you will run out of money/capital! If I were you I will start from reseller, if I can get 5 thousand or even 10 thousand, costumer, then level up or upgrade your level, and become ICANN member, or what ever it is!

And to be honest with you, actually I CANN member, or not or just reseller, actually most ppl here don't really care that much(well, maybe 5% ppl care) and if I were you I will think the same! I.e don't care what they think! what I do is focus to get costumer with cheap cost! and if you already have 5k or 10k costumer, then upgrade! and scale the hell up! but before that can happen! stop right there! and watch big dog playing! , learn from them, take 1-2 hints! I am sure you can learn something!

BTW, marketing cost for Domain industry are quite big! I don't think you can compete with them or win the game!

Just FYI, 99% ppl that do biz, most of the time will end miserably! unless for 1 % group of course!

btw, try FB fanpage, I think that the cheapest way! or maybe, some PPV networks! , or maybe nampros, who know , you can get cheap ads!

I can build 10K portfolio myself )) so getting to 5K to 10K should not be a problem ))

reseller is not an option, because I want to create a value proposition that is not there yet and resellers just use pre-packaged stuff and features and have too much dependence.

Marketing: not worried about that part. I will be able to try out various ways and venues and I have very strong educational background in this.

 

[Recons.Com]

Good luck to you but I can't imagine the juice being worth the squeeze.

If I would look at the current "pie" there is not much of "crumbs" left for viable business. However, I believe there is a way to make the "pie" larger and keep the incremental portion of it

 

[Recons.Com]

Hi,

As i am quite new for domains investor. i would prefer a lower price with smart and easy UI interface.

Thanks,
Arnat

What is lower price for you? Low promos even when you know the renewals are way high and you will probably drop 90%+ of the names after a year? Or almost at cost pricing?

By the way, regarding UI, would love to hear, which one is considered good and which ones are the worst and why.

 

[Recons.Com]

Just a shot in the dark, but maybe there’s a cost effective way to offer some sort of membership that entitles people to $5 .com renewals. If they pay a $100 a year and have at least a certain number of domains, or something like that

The cost for registrar is over $8 per name. There is no way to offer unlimited $5 names and recoup them via membership fee.

 

[Recons.Com]

Depending on how much you have to invest/don't mind working at a loss for a while ,I think perhaps offering the names at cost and making your profit from add-ons and the marketplace could be a strategy.

Edit: Whois privacy included though*. Domains with whois at cost price would enable you to get a big market share of domainers. Once popular, your marketplace can be extremely lucrative (even if not doing the regular 12-15% commission most sites charge).

Whois privacy for free is I guess current industry standard ) Unless, you are GD or Netsol, of course ) Pricing will probably be very close to at cost for investors and in $9-10 range for regular buyers.

 

[Recons.Com]

Bulk users could have a wallet. Regular users different payment method. You can have a page where the bulk users/members let unwanted names go.
Like a names pool.
OR
You could say for example - swap un wanted .com names for a new reg. (trade in)..
Or you could include that with your affiliate branding.
I will get back to you with replies in a while. I'm just stepping out...
Happy to talk in PM.

You have some interesting ideas ) Will revisit, once I get the core service right ) In any case, anything incremental would be added if it can truly work. A dead additional offering is probably worse than no additional offering. So, if I will consider a marketplace, for example, I will need to make sure that it will be lively one, not to waste anyone's time.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

how bought? who is buyer?

It is a Vancouver BC Canadian investment company Brisio that invests in promising companies. There are no plans to alter the operation of Namesilo according to information from Namesilo and Brisio. Here is the press release.

https://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=7189047137354279&qm_symbol=BZI:CNX