.tv Premium Drop Example: EB.tv

[Ammudamus]

This is a perfect example of why I believe the new premium renewal policy is an aftermarket killer. EB.tv is dropping and I have confirmed with Name.com that the renewal will be $937.50 per year. Crazy how things have changed and how much more confusion is being added to this extension.

A

 

[RogueWriter]

Definitely an extension killer as far as growth goes. I wonder if the purpose is simply to force domains back into their fold so they can make private deals.

 

[The New Guy]

'Premium' registry pricing reminds me of how ticket agencies and venues hated the aftermarket ticket sellers. They set them up as evil - greedy scalpers buying up tickets and then charging above face value for them.

The real problem they had with it was that THEY were not the ones able to charge the high aftermarket rates. They were more than happy to sell the supply of tickets to the 'scalpers' and take their money, but when they saw those tickets going for top dollar their real concern wasn't with the poor buyers who had to pay it - it was that they weren't the ones selling them for top dollar.

I've seen registries saying how domainers are bad because they don't develop sites and try to sell for top dollar, but now the registries are happy to sell for premium keywords for as much money as they can get.

 

[garptrader]

The registries are not the domain investors friend. I cannot see any sane investor buying a .TV with a $937 renewal. On the other hand if domain investors who traditionally have focused on drops find the drops no longer affordable, perhaps the reseller market become a reasonable alternative.

 

[DU]

This is a perfect example of why I believe the new premium renewal policy is an aftermarket killer. EB.tv is dropping and I have confirmed with Name.com that the renewal will be $937.50 per year. Crazy how things have changed and how much more confusion is being added to this extension.
A

It's more of a first market killer - where the first market is the domainer population. If you look at aftermarket purely from an end user perspective then it hasn't really changed anything at all. If you go to a registrar like name.com it's not confusing - it clearly tells you, for example, what the renewal is - I put a screen shot over a week ago in another thread. You called to confirm it was accurate not because it wasn't clear but because you were disappointed in how this impacts you personally. To take it one step further this doesn't even impact most domainers because the asinine backorder and premium system that exists in .TV that allowed names to be concentrated in the hands of a very few.

To me and the average person? This don't mean shit.

The confusion, as you call it, isn't unique to this extension - the whole new gTLD set the ball rolling. If you are ethical in your sales then there's not much confusion at all - you sell a name for $x and the current renewal rate is set by Verisign and is currently set to $y. I don't see how it's that much more confusing than someone asking $20,000 for a name they registered for under $50 - except when that person doesn't tell you it's going to cost anther $1000 a year to renew it.

To summarize.
Go to a registry it's very clear the price and renewal. Go to the aftermarket and everything is unknown from actual price to the renewal.

So tell me how this is Verisign's fault and not domainers?

I've seen registries saying how domainers are bad because they don't develop sites and try to sell for top dollar.

Where did you see that?

 

[The New Guy]

Where did you see that?

I believe it was in a story posted on thedomains.com within the last month or so.

 

[Ammudamus]

Got confirmation from Verisign that EB.tv will have an annual premium renewal. Their answer is .TV is unregulated and they are free to do what they can to increase revenue. Crazy!

A

 

[Nitaky]

This is a big problem for .TV market !!! Crazy registrar !!!

 

[Ammudamus]

I always find your responses humorous when you discuss you or the "average" person. We are all "average" people. Don't fault me for my hard work and diligence for the past 9 years for capturing backorders. It seems like a way of passing accountability and being lazy. If it doesn't mean shit, why do you provide your feedback? I am simply reporting my feelings on it. I understand the revenue model -- let's not pass everyone as an uneducated idiot. The point is there is no transparency from Verisign. They need to announce changes. Take some customer feedback.

Either way, it is what it is.

A

It's more of a first market killer - where the first market is the domainer population. If you look at aftermarket purely from an end user perspective then it hasn't really changed anything at all. If you go to a registrar like name.com it's not confusing - it clearly tells you, for example, what the renewal is - I put a screen shot over a week ago in another thread. You called to confirm it was accurate not because it wasn't clear but because you were disappointed in how this impacts you personally. To take it one step further this doesn't even impact most domainers because the asinine backorder and premium system that exists in .TV that allowed names to be concentrated in the hands of a very few.

To me and the average person? This don't mean shit.

The confusion, as you call it, isn't unique to this extension - the whole new gTLD set the ball rolling. If you are ethical in your sales then there's not much confusion at all - you sell a name for $x and the current renewal rate is set by Verisign and is currently set to $y. I don't see how it's that much more confusing than someone asking $20,000 for a name they registered for under $50 - except when that person doesn't tell you it's going to cost anther $1000 a year to renew it.

To summarize.
Go to a registry it's very clear the price and renewal. Go to the aftermarket and everything is unknown from actual price to the renewal.

So tell me how this is Verisign's fault and not domainers?


Where did you see that?

 

[umask077]

Got confirmation from Verisign that EB.tv will have an annual premium renewal. Their answer is .TV is unregulated and they are free to do what they can to increase revenue. Crazy!

A

Name staff can say whatever they want,I'm not sure what they understand by "regulated".Just because there's been a change in their policy doesn't mean the registry isn't regulated anymore.I don't see ICANN taking any kind of action because of this... All the crying comes from the fact that you business plan is over from now on.Don't fool people,this doesn't hurt anyone but you(and your friends).

This is actually good news,it's the end of the monopoly in the dropping system.It will benefit for sure the end user.

 

[DU]

You discuss you or the "average" person. We are all "average" people.

The average person is one that is not heavily invested in this space:
End users who don't really care about the verisign pricing on upcoming premium drops? Average
People with non-premium holdings/backorders ?
Not average

I'm not talking 2.4 children average and it has nothing to do with how much hard work or not someone has done and. I'm sorry I had to explain this but I try not to pass everyone off as an uneducated idiot

Why do you provide your feedback? I am simply reporting my feelings on it.

I am simply reporting my feelings on it.
There might be a monopoly on backorders but there isn't one on simply reporting feelings [That was tongue firmly in cheek]

I understand the revenue model -- let's not pass everyone as an uneducated idiot. The point is there is no transparency from Verisign. They need to announce changes. Take some customer feedback.

The point I want to make is that domainers add far more confusion and destroy what transparency there is. A little transparency in the form of a window into the inner workings of Verisign does no good if domainers throw a big blanket of inconsistency and unknowns over the top.

Maybe you want more transparency from Verisign.
Maybe people would want more transparency from Legacy Fund.

Truth be told, you're one of the last people that should be talking about transparency in the .TV marketplace. I don't meant that as an insult, I don't mean that to be mean, I'm not trying to belittle your hard work or say anything controversial.

It is what it is.

 

[DU]

Name staff can say whatever they want,I'm not sure what they understand by "regulated".Just because there's been a change in their policy doesn't mean the registry isn't regulated anymore.I don't see ICANN taking any kind of action because of this... All the crying comes from the fact that you business plan is over from now on.Don't fool people,this doesn't hurt anyone but you(and your friends).

This is actually good news,it's the end of the monopoly in the dropping system.It will benefit for sure the end user.

This is a ccTLD so it has been delegated to IANA. It's "unregulated" because really, in a largely known secret, they can change the pricing on anything whenever and however they want.

There's some certainty in-so-far as Tuvalu is not going to try and lose a fairly lucrative revenue stream (for them). This is, as I understand, true of gTLDs and some other ccTLDs. There are contracts etc. but none are really regulated in the same way as .COM, .NET. This change is a pricing change that just happened but as usual it hasn't truly impacted already registered names and is limited to future availability.

There is some confusion but not a lot. The hysteria in .TV was that for a while there were unscrupulous sellers who would sell names with a renewal premium without clearly notifying people - particularly via Sedo auctions.

Ammudamus did not fall into this category of unethical sellers and was very vocal about his distaste for those that did do this - and that's a lot of the confusion to which he speaks.

It's a fair point but it's not Verisign's responsibility - it's between the buyer and seller - but its the middle man (domainer) causing the real issue. Sedo also had a part to play.

I was probably of the same view - but now with the gTLDS domain pricing is in a new world... just need to get on with it, whatever it is.



Quick edit:

Turns out that the renewal is not as obvious as I thought - congrats to name.com for actually being extremely clear about it. Others, not so much.