.tv MARKET - Heating up or cooling down?

[GoneWalkabout]

I have seen a number of comments recently along the lines of: "TV is heating up", yet "another super sale proving how strong the market has become", etc etc

I think what we are seeing in reality is a 'slight upward change' in one area of the market while ignoring the 'massive downward change' in another ...

... and these have to be considered as it would be unwise to suggest to people that .tv is some solid investment when it could actually be exactly the opposite.

This is not just a .tv thing, but right across the board from .com and beyond.


The verifiable and well documented sales in .tv over the past couple of years are evidence that points to an upward movement in the enduser market. This market has consistently shown a steady growth since the changes to the .tv pricing system which has led to a greater confidence from businesses to invest in a .tv name for their project/company/organisation.

The perception of .TV has also improved over the same time and we are seeing many more 'meaningful' sites in existence. Two big areas of growth have been the hyper-local geos like frome.tv where new channels seem to be popping up every week and the celebrity name sites like KJ.tv.

Sales of Talk.tv ($40) Furniture.tv ($24k) Forex.tv ($24k) Cable.tv ($20k), even Concrete.tv ($7.5k) etc have only endorsed the buoyant nature of the 'meaningful' end of the enduser market.

This enduser market seems to have endured (indeed, fought off) the recession/depression that ails the western world and has undermined the value of almost everything else in normal investment life from house prices to share prices.


Sadly, the enduser market is almost lottery-like in who it will make rich and turn a $10 reg into a $25,000 jackpot. The stark reality is that the majority of people actually do most of their business in the domainer to domainer market and in this area there has been a massive downturn.

It used to be the case that if someone bought a name for 12 months and it didn't 'land' a sale they could always get their money back in the d2d market.

This era has now ended. I look to the sales threads here and elsewhere and conclude that even the $10 auction starts are not even get a first bid - even if they contain sometimes exceptional names.

From my own experience I recently tried to sell two LL.tv names for just $2k each in the D2D market. Both great names (YO and IR) which in the past I would easily have pulled much higher figures for in the d2d market - and both of which could patently sell down the line to an enduser for a far larger sum.

Sadly, the cold winds of the real world economy seen to have ensured that for most the emphasis now is simply on maintaining a good portfolio for sale to the enduser market rather than on continued investment in increasing portfolio size.

Selling or keeping is the order of the day - not buying. The real recession has changed the d2d market.


I certainly don't write this to suggest that the market is dead or any old rubbish like that. Indeed I am one of the bigger investors in .TV and I have no reason to change that view. I just wanted to put forward my own observations so people don't get sucked into some old hype about 'great times ahead for everyone'.

It is, in my view, a great niche market and one that will only ever grow - but quality is the order of the day, not quantity. I personally believe that the enduser market is now the 'only' market worth considering when making a purchase. The d2d market is DEAD the enduser market is SMILING.

I don't know if others have a similar view or experience but I would be interested to get other people's views of the market today.

 

[blackjack21]

I think you are spot on with this post Jimbo.

As to whether the d2d will improve time will tell.

The economies around the world are in such a mess and are likely to be for some time, however, maybe the Chinese will start to become big investors and take up the slack.

If you hold quality names, then it should come out ok in the long term, however, maintaining a portfolio can be very stressful, when you are selling few and having to fork out all your costs.

Endusers are good, but finding them can be difficult.

Lets hope that the likes of Godaddy will up the game against Sedo

Excellent post Jimbo, keep up the good work

Kim :santa:

 

[Vito]

There is no doubt that the Market is definitely heating up, matter of fact its so hot now, its on fire.

Sure D2D sales arent as hot as they once were but the only reason being is that everyone is finally realizing the true value in their tv domains.

When you have such a large portfolio and do not re-invest your profits then you become worried...How do I afford all my renewals...What am I gonna do with these last 5 domains I just invested $1k each with but yet I dont have any plans with them? No one wants these anymore???

I like to stick with keywords and try not to invest in too many domains that are just short for the sake of being short, and nothing else. They usually have to mean something to me. So I think that the LL.tv Market is potentially great but also very risky. The couple LL.tvs I have had, I have done well with but I think I marketed the crap out of them and maybe I got a litlle lucky also. Prob had something to do with the timing. I bought and sold when they were extremely hot.

I always reinvest and keep getting better and better keywords and I think that has also helped me in the past couple years. But I havent ever received as many inquiries as I have this past couple of months, so I personally know that this is the best time ever for me here in dot tv land.

It is easy to get scared when you dont have an offer for a while or you really want to move a specific domain and no one bites but

My best piece of advice for everyone is to:
Stay confident in your domains. The minute you worry, you lose.

I could write all day here but I have to reply to an EndUser who badly wants a dot tv for their business. We have been back n forth about 5 times today...

Yeah, without a doubt in my mind, this TV Market is definitely hot as hell right now.

 

[LinM]

Despite having no recent sales at all I agree that endusers are hot on this extension. As I look around the android app market there are only 2 extensions you ever see - .com and .tv
Ive just taught myself how to build a simple android app so Im gonna make some for my sites including .tv, bloody hard work getting my head round that omg.

 

[carob]

Interesting to think about.

Let's say that endusers are still there and still have the same, or more, money to spend. Then let's say there is less of a D2D market (why?). Does that mean domainers exit this space? And if they do, does that mean prices go down? Or are domainers staying in the space but playing safe, renewing good names but not taking on new ones at reseller prices?

 

[hullswingerscom]

I dont see things hotting up at all.
But i do on facebook with companys new facebook pages
Is a good facebook name worth more then a domain name
At the end of the day you dont need a . Tv to have a video site
I can see one day you will not need a domain name .
I see on the news queen going to tuvalo.