Leasing a domain name?

[eljefe]

Hey,

Just out of curiosity..does anyone have any experienc on leasing a domainname, or maybe even a sub domain name?

Thanks.

 

[duceman]

http://leasethis.com

 

[Spade]

As of now, Leasing a domain has really never quite taken off. Its just such a complicated issue for both buyer and seller. Seller's use creates more value in a domain name. Thus far, most of the lease companies that popped up, have been a dissapointment.

Justin

 

[KingDon]

I once had a guy lease a name from me, and what I found was after a few weeks of him pushing he name, he was ready to buy. Lease/rent to own worked for me, the one and only time that I tried it.

It lead to a $7,500 sale, I should have asked for $50K. WePayFast~~com

 

[mhdoc]

As domains increase in value and decent names become harder and harder to find I think the creativity of buyers and sellers will increase. Domains share many of the same characteristics of real estate which will make the same kind of fun and games for tax reduction and liability protection work with them too.

Pick up a book on creative real estate finance and substitute Domain registrant for land owner, Web dite developer for builder, content writer for tenant. In a few years I am sure there will be seminars offered on how to structure your domain empire to minimize taxes

 

[Carlton]

I've been thinking LeaseThis.com was a great idea ... but maybe ahead of its time. Their concept is very good, site design is nice too. But, I do not see ads for their leasing service on other popular websites so my guess is that the larger business community have no idea LeaseThis exist.

I know they are listed as a network partner of Afternic. However, I have names accepted into the network that are not displayed on LeaseThis. So maybe the "partnership" is in planning stage only?

 

[Aggro]

It is obvious management (and apparently everyone else) have never even walkthrough-tested their search - it sucks big time.

Not only do potential lessors have to somehow find the site but then the basic minimal search function makes it incredibly difficult to search beyond exact keyword strings.
To use an example, it is impossible to search for "realestate" AND "florida", exclude numbers, keyword at beginning etc..
Right...end users have all day to look thru 1000's of junk and inappropiate names...NOT.
I would think they should be making life easier for end user instead of creating more obstacles...
Compare to the advanced search of buydomains, TDNAM etc..

That said, Proof of concept is flawed and will not take off in a big way that people hope.
"Ownership" (of domains) is a basic desire for most end users - "leasing" (actually sub-leasing since the holder is paying the annual reg fee) is not.

 

[seeker]

imagine you have super domain.
Now, Imagine you lease it.
they turn it into a blacklisted spam site.
What happens to your domain???

VERY hard for this concept to work...

 

[mhdoc]

VERY hard for this concept to work...

That's what contracts are for.

 

[vitalir]

Imagine you have a high traffic domain. The only use you can imagine for it is parking, but others may have better ideas of this traffic usage (hosting a site with related services offered). This is a good case for leasing.

 

[Easydoms]

Would agree with comments above, think it is still a bit early days for this yet, the knock on effect for a company doing domain leasing contracts would increase!!

So many if's and buts to be included in a contract of this type.

We will see what happens with this one

 

[mhdoc]

So many if's and buts to be included in a contract of this type.

True, but business as usual in more developed enterprises. I talked with a man some years ago who had been playing the creative real estate game all his life. On his latest sale it had required 19 deeds to reassemble all the interests in the property so it could be delivered free and clear to the new buyer.

As domains increase in value and the tax and legal environment becomes established in case law, this kind of complexity will develop for them too.

 

[Diabro]

I think this could be dangerous.

Say you own the domain "WestCoastWidgets.com" where that is a premium domain.

You lease to a company. They then start using WestCoastWidgets in trade. I believe they are setting up a TM and they may eventually be able to take your domain from you for legal fees.

Thoughts?

 

[mhdoc]

Thoughts?

That's what contracts are for.

 

[Diabro]

That's what contracts are for.

Just because there is a contract does not mean it will hold up in court. A lot of prenups never hold.

 

[richrf]

Hi,

I tried it and approached Leasethis.com, but nothing ever came of it. I was not willing to enter a least to buy, which is what I think LeaseThis was aiming for.

The only way I think a deal can be reached, would be for a very short-term leasing arrangement, in order to experiment with an idea. A good name, can bring in lots of traffic with a minimum amount of marketing/advertising costs. This can allow a company to experiment with an idea. Sort of like renting a well located billboard. In this case, it is a win-win for both parties.

I think such short-term leases have merit, if the fit is right. Afterwards, the parties can negotiate a more permanent deal, or walk away from it, after the trial run is completed.

Rich

 

[mhdoc]

Just because there is a contract does not mean it will hold up in court. A lot of prenups never hold.

"No guts, no glory."

Seriously, risk is a reality of business. Written contracts are one way folks try to minimize it.

I think it is harder to see the risk from inaction. If you lack the vision, programming skills, marketing muscle, etc. required to put a domain to it's highest and best use you are leaving money on the table. The income you could enjoy from your domain lease might be substantially more than you would earn by parking it or developing it yourself. When and if your worst fears come true and you loose the domain, you might find your net income over the period you controlled it was greater than if you had done something else with it.

Everyone has to do what they are comfortable with. I just wanted to point out that inaction because of real or perceived fears has a price too.

 

[richrf]

"No guts, no glory."

Seriously, risk is a reality of business. Written contracts are one way folks try to minimize it.

I think it is harder to see the risk from inaction. If you lack the vision, programming skills, marketing muscle, etc. required to put a domain to it's highest and best use you are leaving money on the table. The income you could enjoy from your domain lease might be substantially more than you would earn by parking it or developing it yourself. When and if your worst fears come true and you loose the domain, you might find your net income over the period you controlled it was greater than if you had done something else with it.

Everyone has to do what they are comfortable with. I just wanted to point out that inaction because of real or perceived fears has a price too.

I have had lots of experience with poorly drawn up contracts, and if parties do not cover themselves very well, they will end up in court, where only the lawyers get rich. I don't think it is wise to go into any agreement, without a fully reallized meeting of the minds which can be concretely stated in a contract, and which will be enforceable in court. I think most people take this issue to lightly and end up paying dearly.

Rich

 

[sji2671]

I leased a domain out last year for $1k a month, 2 year lease with an option to renew for a 3rd year. If the option is taken for the 3rd year then after the 36 months are up there is an option to buy, this seems to work for both of us.

Looking to do it again with more domains this year however I added value by getting the domain ranking top 10 for it's main generic term - although no guarantee's are given this added a lot of desirability to the domain.

 

[richrf]

I leased a domain out last year for $1k a month, 2 year lease with an option to renew for a 3rd year. If the option is taken for the 3rd year then after the 36 months are up there is an option to buy, this seems to work for both of us.

Looking to do it again with more domains this year however I added value by getting the domain ranking top 10 for it's main generic term - although no guarantee's are given this added a lot of desirability to the domain.

Yes, I think it works better when the domain owner is willing to enter into a lease to sell agreement.

Rich