Seriously speaking though .. let's start by removing the sexist portion of this discussion .. by "Is there a Boy's Club" I'm assuming the question is more "Are there secret groups of domainers privately working together"?
I'm pretty new to the full domaining part of the business (I've owned domains for years .. but previously with the intention of developing them). Sometimes I think it would be great to have partner(s) so I wouldn't have to spend 3-4 hours a night trolling through lists. but on the other hand there is the trust factor as well as the complicated issue of how to split work/profits/etc.
As Shane mentioned above, I think some of it is natural .. as you get to know your peers more and more you'll naturally form friendships and alliances. For the most part I'd have no issue with this ... where it could potentially cross the line is unethical stuff like driving up auctions or writing positive comments that aren't entirely representative of what you truly think of a domain.
But I think the reality is that there is a lot of room in the domain industry for many people to have their own niches. Not meaning that there are enough niches for everyone to have their own .. but more that within a smaller group of 3-5 domainers, you're likely to each have your own speciality (different price ranges, coms vs non-com, acronyms vs brandibles vs key-term, different regions, etc etc) and not naturally find yourself competing too much. When that happens then you're more likely to help your peers for their particular niche. Like someone who has no interest in gardening but knows
@Domain Shane, might contact him when they see a plant domain about to go on auction.
I'd think in the domain industry that could go a long way if you find someone with similar purchasing interests as you ... instead of fighting for the same domains in auction and driving up the prices, you'd be able to get domains for much cheaper ... which can really make a huge difference as a huge chunk of the profit in domaining is made on the buy.
My actual concerns are more a level higher of "secret clubs" .. possible strategic business alliances like let's say GoDaddy (or any registrar with an aftermarket) sells my searches to a 3rd party (or even a possible staffer stealing the data and selling it black market style). Or any of the tools as well could do that. Let's say I run domains I'm looking at buying through one of them .. how can we truly know the staff aren't looking at those domains as well and cherry picking the best ones to eventually compete with you in auction or grab them first.
Actually .. it doesn't even have to be aftermarket .. even hand-reg searches are logged. And while a registrar might have strict rules for keeping information and data private, data is VERY easy to copy/steal internally from a rogue employee working with an outside partner(s). Looking at some of the threads in this forum there are certainly people who believe this sort of information is being stolen and used .. but the unfortunate truth is that because it's all digital, that it's almost impossible to prove either way.
So at the end of the day .. much more important and relevant than whether or not you think there are private groups working together .. you really should have defined what exactly you meant by "Boy's Club". That term is too broad and open ended .. which is why you're seeing such huge disagreements in this thread .. because different people are actually talking about their own different definitions of what they personally see as a "Boy's Club".
Anyhow .. on that note .. please nobody grab this domain before I register it ...
https://ca.godaddy.com/domains/searchresults.aspx?domainToCheck=boyz.club
