I'm James Iles: Q&A (Interactive Interview Session)

[James Iles]

Hey NamePros! I'm James Iles, I'm the lead writer for the NamePros Blog, where I've written about 630 articles since May 2015. I also buy and sell a few domain names and I operate as a broker, working with select startups and established companies regarding domain name strategy.

Away from domains, I have also worked as a photo retoucher (of course, I own PhotoRetoucher.com!) for an established portrait photographer. In my spare time, I'm an amateur runner, doing two 24-hour events this year.

Ask me anything! Post any questions here and I'll do my best to answer them

 

[James Iles]

Hi James,
I am a new member..I would like to know about Prerelease domain names? How can I get a prerelease domain name? Is prerelease is an auction and the highest bidder wins the domain name? how it works? should I bid on prerelease domain names? If you read my msg please guide me.
Reply back. Thanks.

I believe that pre release domains are names that have entered the dropcatch/auction system a week or two before they’re due to be released back to the registry.

Rather than pending delete in which you’re bidding on domains that are due to be deleted.

These work like normal auctions - you’ll win the name as the highest bidder on platforms such as NameJet.

You should bid on names that you believe are valuable only after careful analysis of the domain market... in my opinion

 

[James Iles]

How can I reach CEO/owner via customer service, such as chat on their web site?
Can saying "please tell your boss that this domain is for sale for this price until this deadline" work? What if I promise to pay 10 percent to that person in case of sale? And ceo/owner doesn't need to reply, if they visit the domain this would be enough.

I'm not talking about 6+ figures domains.Only low 3 to mid 5.

I may be willing to sell for 100 if this is the only option but first I want to know if they would be willing to pay 10K. What to do in this case: Ask 10K (in counteroffer) then they will probably quit, and I can't drop to 1K , because they would think I was a scammer. If I ask 1K, the same thing happens if they can only pay 100, and also I may be missing a 10K sale. For generic domains, value of a domain can be predictable, but for brandables they can vary significantly.

Don’t go through live chat! The operator won’t care about your name at all. Do the work and seek out the CEO, or the CMO or whoever you’re targeting.

Be sure of the domain’s value to you and price accordingly.

 

[James Iles]

You may be right, but such a trend will be relatively short-lived when domainers start realizing how dangerous it can be to lease or rent a domain. A renter can ruin your domain's reputation/value in more than one way.

Maybe. Which is why I believe deals would need to be selective and have tight agreements on usage.

 

[James Iles]

I am a newbie, so I am not sure if I am in the right place to ask this question:
I bought some domain names from GoDaddy and I set them with my usual email address. However, later on, I found out that is was highly inconvenient to mix personal emails with business ones. So, I created a different email account only for business and I want to update all my domain names with my new "business" email address. If I do this update, would Godaddy lock my domains and prevent me from selling them for a certain period of time ? If I do not update my email address in my domain names, which are now different from my updated GoDaddy account, would I have problems on selling them ?

I think GoDaddy may impose a 60 day transfer lock (preventing transfer between GoDaddy and another registrar like Name.com), but you can still sell the domain - use a GoDaddy account transfer.

 

[James Iles]

Hey everyone, thanks for taking part in the AMA! I’m going to stop it there - It’s been a fun experience.

Please feel free to email me james (at) jamesiles.co.uk if you want to connect etc.
Or DM me for any queries related to articles, suggestions etc.

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn