discuss Now the price increase for .com is starting to hit...going to be dropping lots of names

[Mister Funsky]

It seems the price increases are kicking in across many registrars as the hours tick on. Just noticed they went from 8.49 at Epik to 9.99 in the last little while.

Perhaps others could post any price increases they have/are experiencing. The thieves that run .com will soon notice a decrease in registrations. In my case, I will let 25 to 30 percent of my names drop.

 

[NYJimbo]

In my case, I will let 25 to 30 percent of my names drop.

Seems kinda drastic. I mean, the increase is about $1 per domain. For me it's like 58 cents because volume buying.

Is the $1 per name increase really cause to drop 25-30% of your names ?

 

[Mister Funsky]

Seems kinda drastic. I mean, the increase is about $1 per domain. For me it's like 58 cents because volume buying.

Is the $1 per name increase really cause to drop 25-30% of your names ?

In post #18 I went into a little more detail about my thinking.

Of my names, I would likely have let about 10% drop (or wholesale them away) as a matter of normal culling.

That leaves me about 15 to 20% I will have to take a harder look at. Many 5L/6L and some EMD's have been held on to since the good old days of pricing at Epik before pricing began to increase.

Most of those names were purchased for specific niches and trends that have faded or are fading away...for $8 (or less) it was easier to hold on to them but at $10 it is a bit tougher. I would rather apply those funds to purchasing better quality .coms from other investors or at the drop(s).

 

[Recons.Com]

Seems kinda drastic. I mean, the increase is about $1 per domain. For me it's like 58 cents because volume buying.

Is the $1 per name increase really cause to drop 25-30% of your names ?

First, it's already around 1.2$ per name in the last 13 months or 14.5%.

That is considerable. If that was all your profit margin or brought you below your required IRR given the high risk involved.

Remember that even before the raises, around 2/3 of the forum members said they are either losing money or barely breaking even.

 

[bmugford]

If you are letting a large percent of your portfolio drop over a $0.70/year (or less) increase, the average quality of domains are likely not that good or it is just a drastic decision. If you have domains that are worth around reg fee it does make a difference though.

Much of the issue is also registrars adding their own premium to the renewal increase.
.COM wholesale is up 7%, but many of their prices are up 10%, 15%, 20%.

Brad

 

[topdom]

There is inflation everywhere. This is not a surprise. Natural solution: increase your asking price (or drop price?). But it may not work. Drops expected. Some people may consider this as an opportunity, until they realize they are out of cash, or they see "too many worth registering" and no new sales happening. Economies had to go down (a little bit), because gvts (I mean, deep versions) needed to be changed, and "RU-UKR war" is part of this game (in multiple ways).

 

[bmugford]

There is inflation everywhere. This is not a surprise. Natural solution: increase your asking price (or drop price?). But it may not work. Drops expected. Some people may consider this as an opportunity, until they realize they are out of cash, or they see "too many worth registering" and no new sales happening. Economies had to go down (a little bit), because gvts (I mean, deep versions) needed to be changed, and "RU-UKR war" is part of this game (in multiple ways).

I would argue this is artificial inflation though, as it is based on a no-bid contract which creates a de facto monopoly. It is not based on supply and demand.

There are many other companies that are technically capable of handling this contract.

If it was opened for qualified public bidding, the fees would come down dramatically.

Brad

 

[KTC]

All this really means to me is that my prices are going up for the minimum I'm trying to sell a name for while keeping a hold to the same procedures that I'm trying to keep in place.

Not dropping as many names just because of a small increase. Now, if it was going up by $10? I'd take a different stance.

 

[NYJimbo]

The other side of this is that there seems to be a bit better quality in the names in the expired list. Its like all the negative factors out there are causing people to drop more AND register less.

Those of us who are surviving this might be better prepared with a good portfolio when things turn around.

 

[DomainNature]

Xyz now cost more than COM to renew, going to drop half of them.

 

[KTC]

The other side of this is that there seems to be a bit better quality in the names in the expired list. Its like all the negative factors out there are causing people to drop more AND register less.

Those of us who are surviving this might be better prepared with a good portfolio when things turn around.

Absolutely agree with this. If more quality names drop with domain name price increases, I expect to make a better portfolio from it.

 

[Recons.Com]

If the bad economy + price increase lead to lots of drops that don't get picked up, the fact that better names might be available won't matter. Most buyers will be comparing your 3k, 5k, 10k better name to a $15 handreg that used to be for sale at $1500-2500 in the previous market. And a lot of them will settle for $15 ok name.

So before:

An ok name at $1500, better name at 3k-10k -> decision to go for the better one

Now:

An ok name $15, better name at 3k-10k -> decision to settle for the ok one.

And, if the spiral keeps unwinding, it will change the notion of what is considered a better investment-grade name.

 

[TASSIE]

It seems the price increases are kicking in across many registrars as the hours tick on. Just noticed they went from 8.49 at Epik to 9.99 in the last little while.

Perhaps others could post any price increases they have/are experiencing. The thieves that run .com will soon notice a decrease in registrations. In my case, I will let 25 to 30 percent of my names drop.

And Epik has gone from $8.49 to $35 to renew. That is disgusting and cannot be justified.

 

[TASSIE]

I don't see what all the fuss is about. From what I've seen the increases are quite small. If your names are valued at 3 figures or above, is this small increase really a problem ? Those with huge portfolios may find it a bit challenging if they are not selling many though

From $8.95 to $35 to renew on Epik is shameful.

 

[Laguna]

From $8.95 to $35 to renew on Epik is shameful.

Everything Epik does is shameful!

 

[NYJimbo]

If the bad economy + price increase lead to lots of drops that don't get picked up, the fact that better names might be available won't matter. Most buyers will be comparing your 3k, 5k, 10k better name to a $15 handreg that used to be for sale at $1500-2500 in the previous market. And a lot of them will settle for $15 ok name.

So before:

An ok name at $1500, better name at 3k-10k -> decision to go for the better one

Now:

An ok name $15, better name at 3k-10k -> decision to settle for the ok one.

And, if the spiral keeps unwinding, it will change the notion of what is considered a better investment-grade name.

It always gets better. I've been through 60 years of these. Having solid names a year or two from now will have been a good investment. I'm buying.

 

[internext]

From $8.95 to $35 to renew on Epik is shameful.

My epik renewal price is $9.99

 

[.X.]

I just don’t see the significance of the increase , $1 to $2 per name , everything else has gone up , food - clothing and ect … the increase is minimal IMO , nothing of a fuss IMO

 

[HotKey]

If the bad economy + price increase lead to lots of drops that don't get picked up, the fact that better names might be available won't matter. Most buyers will be comparing your 3k, 5k, 10k better name to a $15 handreg that used to be for sale at $1500-2500 in the previous market. And a lot of them will settle for $15 ok name.

So before:

An ok name at $1500, better name at 3k-10k -> decision to go for the better one

Now:

An ok name $15, better name at 3k-10k -> decision to settle for the ok one.

And, if the spiral keeps unwinding, it will change the notion of what is considered a better investment-grade name.

If anything this might be an underlying shift to better quality domains on the aftermarket. An "ok" name at hand-reg will still nag at people, and gear them towards going for that better name. A trim-down on portfolios along with some price adjustments could help compensate for investors.

I know what it's like to "settle", and it never sits properly.

 

[Recons.Com]

It always gets better. I've been through 60 years of these. Having solid names a year or two from now will have been a good investment. I'm buying.

So how many names do you have and how many are you planning to buy a) in the next 12 months with 9.6$ pricing and the 12 months thereafter with $10.3 pricing?

 

[Recons.Com]

If anything this might be an underlying shift to better quality domains on the aftermarket. An "ok" name at hand-reg will still nag at people, and gear them towards going for that better name. A trim-down on portfolios along with some price adjustments could help compensate for investors.

I know what it's like to "settle", and it never sits properly.

Yeah, settling would be going for .net, io, xyz etc.

Choosing completely different brand is often not seen as settling.

You are looking at TopChoice, GreatChoice and BestChoice at 15k and SuperiorChoice at $2.5k (all made up), and decide to go for TopChoice. Now, if SuperiorChoice is at $15, you are wondering if 1000x price difference makes sense. And, frankly, SuperiorChoice for your plans works fine.

 

[Recons.Com]

I just don’t see the significance of the increase , $1 to $2 per name , everything else has gone up , food - clothing and ect … the increase is minimal IMO , nothing of a fuss IMO

It is irrelevant. Unless the inflation is at the stage that buyers feel $3000 in 2022 is the same as $2500 in 2020, you will not get away with price increase to compensate. In fact, it would be dumb seeing 20-30% decline in sales volume from 2021, to raise them noticeably and risk plunging your sales further.

Premium domains are not considered an absolute necessity by most. It is not like the gas you have to put in your car, or bread you have to put on your table.

So, again, it is not $1 or $2 dollars, it is 14.5% cost increase over 13 months. And that 14.5% cost increase can be difference taking your profitability from the required 25% IRR to 18%. Or, for others, from being profitable to making loss.

To make things worse, it will not stop there. Verisign is greedy and they will go for year 3 and year 4, after which the cost increase will constitute 30%. If I don't grow my portfolio further, for me personally, that is $5000/month shifted from me to Verisign just because they are the monopoly over the resource.

The real question is, why they are entitled to make around 1.4 billion a year from .com alone.

If there were an open process, a company or consortium of companies would agree to do exactly the same with the same or better security for 0.5 billion a year. The remaining 0.9 billion/year could be spent developing Internet and IT in the developing world, for example.

 

[Mister Funsky]

And Epik has gone from $8.49 to $35 to renew. That is disgusting and cannot be justified.

Although it would be preferable if someone from Epik came in to clarify/explain pricing, I believe the $35 is the full retail public price.

If someone is an investor and reaches out to them, they will/would adjust pricing based on volume, etc.

 

[NYJimbo]

So how many names do you have and how many are you planning to buy a) in the next 12 months with 9.6$ pricing and the 12 months thereafter with $10.3 pricing?

1450 .COM right now plus 600 .XYZ

Buying price for .COM is never factored in. If I try to see a certain STR (sell through rate) at a certain sale price ($2285 for .COM for example), then $9 or $10 or $11 each doesnt mean anything to me. The only thing that throws me off here is when .XYZ goes from 88 cents to $2.00 and then back down again. Thats like .COM going from $8.80 to $20.00 back to $8.80. Makes crunching numbers very hard.

Most of the .XYZ will not be renewed as I am doing pattern bulk buying (50-100 at a time) and seeing STR of each pattern. They are dumped at end of first year. Trying to work odds and percentages on these buys. Seeing 3% STR so far priced at $488 on some patterns. Want to get that higher. My new switch to Sedo for .XYZ should be interesting. Expireddomainslist and daily .com sales help with making decisions on the XYZ. Its too complicated to go through here, PLUS I don't want anyone learning from me.

The .COM will be 85-90% renew (not including "meta" names, which will be about 50%), was renewing 75% last year. I buy about 30-90 a month right now. Bought about 35 so far this month, but part of that was a test based on keyword1+term swapped for keyword2+term against sales history of the keyword1+term. Again, its complicated and I am not going to share what works. Simply not enough good names expiring every day to share.

I've learned its all about STR, sales prices and scaling. It took me 4 years to get here and I am still learning. People ask, "How many names do I have to sell a year to afford to live like...". Thats the wrong question. I ask, "How do I improve my STR ?". Quality of name + selling price is a tricky part of STR, not to mention all other factors outside of that. Improve your STR first (reliable, proven STR is critical). Raise your prices second. Scale third. Then figure out what you need to do with all that to live like you want. But this is MY process, it might not work for you for various reasons.

One thing I will say is that if you sell too low, eventually you will go broke even if you keep making sales. But if you price too high you may not make enough sales and you will run out of money to buy new or renew.

Sounds simple, right ? You would be surprised how many domainers never stop to crunch the numbers.
Anyway, too much typing. My hands are tired.

 

[Recons.Com]

1450 .COM right now plus 600 .XYZ

Buying price for .COM is never factored in. If I try to see a certain STR (sell through rate) at a certain sale price ($2285 for .COM for example), then $9 or $10 or $11 each doesnt mean anything to me. The only thing that throws me off here is when .XYZ goes from 88 cents to $2.00 and then back down again. Thats like .COM going from $8.80 to $20.00 back to $8.80. Makes crunching numbers very hard.

Most of the .XYZ will not be renewed as I am doing pattern bulk buying (50-100 at a time) and seeing STR of each pattern. They are dumped at end of first year. Trying to work odds and percentages on these buys. Seeing 3% STR so far priced at $488 on some patterns. Want to get that higher. My new switch to Sedo for .XYZ should be interesting. Expireddomainslist and daily .com sales help with making decisions on the XYZ. Its too complicated to go through here, PLUS I don't want anyone learning from me.

The .COM will be 85-90% renew (not including "meta" names, which will be about 50%), was renewing 75% last year. I buy about 30-90 a month right now. Bought about 35 so far this month, but part of that was a test based on keyword1+term swapped for keyword2+term against sales history of the keyword1+term. Again, its complicated and I am not going to share what works. Simply not enough good names expiring every day to share.

I've learned its all about STR, sales prices and scaling. It took me 4 years to get here and I am still learning. People ask, "How many names do I have to sell a year to afford to live like...". Thats the wrong question. I ask, "How do I improve my STR ?". Quality of name + selling price is a tricky part of STR, not to mention all other factors outside of that. Improve your STR first (reliable, proven STR is critical). Raise your prices second. Scale third. Then figure out what you need to do with all that to live like you want. But this is MY process, it might not work for you for various reasons.

One thing I will say is that if you sell too low, eventually you will go broke even if you keep making sales. But if you price too high you may not make enough sales and you will run out of money to buy new or renew.

Sounds simple, right ? You would be surprised how many domainers never stop to crunch the numbers.
Anyway, too much typing. My hand is tired.

That is all cool.

So, basically, for your specific model, and at just around 1400 .coms, the raise might not be that important. You just need to focus on one extra sale at around $1800 post commission as your personal tax to the success of Verisign each year (and 2 such sales post 2024, provided your portfolio doesn't grow).

Not a biggie. I bet you can easily scale up your STR to absorb that.

Of course, you could have just reinvested that 1800$ and earned 2 more sales for yourself, but, who cares, right?

 

[NYJimbo]

Of course, you could have just reinvested that 1800$ and earned 2 more sales for yourself, but, who cares, right?

Not sure what this means. In order to scale I am always reinvesting.

Also, just wanted to add some clarity:

If you have 1450 .COM names and it costs you 57 cents more per name (as it does me now (Superbulk Dynadot)), then that means this increase costs me $826 extra this year. But at 1% sales, that means it eats up about $59 per sale. At 2.2% (me) its even less.

If you increase your STR (even a fraction) or slightly increase your per name price, it costs you nothing extra.
If you are already selling at a decent price, then you can eat the increase and you dont have to raise anything.