discuss Thank you Radix, NamesCon(.)Online and NamePros

[ThatNameGuy]

Anyone here go to the NamesCon Online conference? While I didn't, I plan to go later because it was virtually online. So why would I be thanking Radix? Because Radix is the registry behind the extension .online.

Here is what the good folks at NamesCon said about Radix;

"The Right Extension for the Right Message"

NamesCon also said this;

"the .online extension remains a total no-brainer for us! We love .online because it both conveys and strengthens our message: it’s easy to remember, simple to share, and powerful in its storytelling. This is what a domain name is supposed to do, after all.

So thank you again, Radix, for helping us smoothly transition NamesCon from offline to .online!"

While nothing is in concrete, I'm looking to partner in some capacity with the fastest growing new gTLD in the world. I see .online as serious competition for the millions of .com domains hiding in the wine cellar just collecting dust because the average business consumer just can't afford them. Someone, not me, but I agree there are literally BILLIONS of dollars of perfectly good domains in the cellar that an even better extension is ready to replace.

Finally I want to thank NamePros for giving me a voice and letting me share my opinions with thousands of domainers the world over.

 

[Joe N]

There you go again....assuming a "small profit" Sorry bud, but I never assume anything on behalf of someone else. Frankly I don't care what you do because I know you have an agenda. I've not once been concerned about renewal fees like everyone has told me I should be. Why do you think that might be Joe? And for the newbies who may be reading this don't fall for the trick "the renewal fees will kill you". Why? You don't ever have to pay a single renewal fee unless you can afford to or you want to.

It's true, I could easily be wrong. My expectation is based on observed data and personal experience, but you could very well find a way to make this work and go gangbusters despite what folks are telling you. I hope you do! It would make for a great success story.

There's one member on the forum who actually seems to do very well with the .xyz extension. His sales are mostly single words, and I think his portfolio must be very large, but he makes good sales regularly. I find this particularly impressive since .xyz was mocked heavily by many domainers in the early days. I mean, it's still pretty sketchy, but this member has shown that it can work well as an investment if you really know what to buy.

I do see your point about renewals (and not needing to pay them). I just think it makes a tough recipe for long term success, because you're constantly putting all your hopes into selling names in the first year. The more sustainable method is to only buy names that are good enough to warrant renewing, but I think people need to discover that on their own. Cheap domains are always so tempting when we're getting our feet wet; it takes time and sunk money to learn that they're cheap for a reason.

 

[Samer]

feel .online will be dead, if not already; well, from higher, (much shorter) .WEB

Verisign bought .WEB for $135 million

Compare .Online; think value auction $0
(See Auction.link)

 

[sellian]

I don't disagree with you per se as you make good points. But to add, "at the moment" I think .com is still the preferred choice. Not because of some .com snobbishness, simply because regardless of what investors are arguing, the world has not yet accepted these extensions in general and global usage.

Of course if the .com is up for $2K and the .online $300 then you have to buy it if you don't have $2k, or consider it if $2k is a notable chunk of the business' money.

And people can argue "but 2500 have been sold in this extension" as long as they want, that is not global understanding and acceptance. Come back when 250000 have been sold and are in use.

When you can say "pianolessonsonline.com" and it be understood whereas you still have to explain "yes it's dot online, no there's no dot com..." then we're not quite there yet.

We don't yet know if they will either, the handful of people buying and using them at the moment doesn't indicate whether that will have a spurt one day or will just remain a handful of alternatives to the norm of com, net etc.

I think it's “only“ a matter of getting used to the extension, as with any new extension.

In the beginning, I found it awful but now that I own a few online domains, they look pretty normal to me and kind of appealing to be honest. I really find my single-word online domains very clean now (probably also biased by the fact that they are getting much more views than my .coms at Dan).

BTW I think this extension has massive potential in the Spanish-speaking market (there are some nice $x,xxx sales reported already). It just makes sense and the word online (always used in English) goes always at the end.

For example, in Spanish, CasinoOnline is MUCH better than OnlineCasino, when in English it's completely the opposite.

Only the future will tell how this extension will perform. I am pretty sure that well marketed, it could do well.

Being said that, I will most certainly not renew any of my .online domains.

If I don't sell any this year, I'll let them expire.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

feel .online will be dead, if not already; well, from higher, (much shorter) .WEB

Not as long as NamesCon and other heavy hitters are behind it. Actually .WEB is pretty good, but with .COM being hoarded like it is, there's room for alternatives. My friend who owns Taste® is a perfect example. Why in the world would he buy Taste.com for $600,000 when he could own Taste.Online for less than $10,000?
Covid has made anything done "online" more popular. Education, remote office, buying from Amazon, and even drinking and reunions.

Letsgo.online

 

[Joe N]

Why in the world would he buy Taste.com for $600,000 when he could own Taste.Online for less than $10,000?

This is a good question. It's the right question to ask. You need to know and understand the answer to be a successful domain investor.

When you say .com is no different than .online or .anything, you're only partly right. In practice, they're pretty much all the same in that:

• You can build a website on them
• You can brand them
• They can rank well

The key difference is global perception. People know .com. They trust it. They put their faith in it. Within .com there is an artificial authority that no other extension has yet come close to matching.

 

[Samer]

Not as long as NamesCon and other heavy hitters are behind it. Actually .WEB is pretty good, but with .COM being hoarded like it is, there's room for alternatives. My friend who owns Taste® is a perfect example. Why in the world would he buy Taste.com for $600,000 when he could own Taste.Online for less than $10,000?
Covid has made anything done "online" more popular. Education, remote office, buying from Amazon, and even drinking and reunions.

Letsgo.online

admire enthusiasm and passion, thatnameguy.

We’ll see if .WEB even launches
(Be on the lookout)
Did Verisign buy .WEB to protect its .com?
Maybe wont have to worry about .web after all!

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I think it's “only“ a matter of getting used to the extension, as with any new extension.

In the beginning, I found it awful but now that I own a few online domains, they look pretty normal to me and kind of appealing to be honest. I really find my single-word online domains very clean now (probably also biased by the fact that they are getting much more views than my .coms at Dan).

BTW I think this extension has massive potential in the Spanish-speaking market (there are some nice $x,xxx sales reported already). It just makes sense and the word online (always used in English) goes always at the end.

For example, in Spanish, CasinoOnline is MUCH better than OnlineCasino, when in English it's completely the opposite.

Only the future will tell how this extension will perform. I am pretty sure that well marketed, it could do well.

Being said that, I will most certainly not renew any of my .online domains.

If I don't sell any this year, I'll let them expire.

Thanks...interesting that your .online's are getting more views than your .com's. What do you think it is? Curiosity? You said something else pretty important; "I am pretty sure that well marketed, it could do well."
Therein lies the key. At least from my perspective, if I'm not able to get the word out to prospects like the NRA for GunSafety or even Police Departments for that matter a name like GunSafety.online won't sell to anyone. btw, I have about 30 just one word domains and a few of them are pretty good as well. As you said, you're starting to get use to hearing "online", and I can see something like this catching on with an infomercial. Do you have infomercials in Spain?

 

[sellian]

Thanks...interesting that your .online's are getting more views than your .com's. What do you think it is? Curiosity? You said something else pretty important; "I am pretty sure that well marketed, it could do well."
Therein lies the key. At least from my perspective, if I'm not able to get the word out to prospects like the NRA for GunSafety or even Police Departments for that matter a name like GunSafety.online won't sell to anyone. btw, I have about 30 just one word domains and a few of them are pretty good as well. As you said, you're starting to get use to hearing "online", and I can see something off like this with an infomercial. Do you have infomercials in Spain?

I would say that they are getting more views simply because they are much stronger than my dot.coms in terms of quality of keywords.

My .online domains appear very fast whenever someone types those nice keywords on Dan.

 

[sellian]

Do you have infomercials in Spain?

I really don't know. It's been more than 15 years since my last TV

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I really don't know. It's been more than 15 years since my last TV

Damn sellian...you haven't ad a TV for 15 years? I'm happy to know you despite getting four "D"s in Spanish in order to get my BA and beer degree. Oh, did I tell you I was captain of my beer drinking team 50 years ago in a small Wesleyan College in N.C. If I drink enough beer maybe I can remember a little Spanish like;

Au revoir....or is that Adios or maybe Bonjour

Thanks again my VirtualFriend.online

 

[sellian]

Au revoir....or is that Adios or maybe Bonjour

French is indeed my second native language mon ami

 

[ThatNameGuy]

French is indeed my second native language mon ami

Sellian....lets move over to the thread "Whats with .online"? Or better yet just send me a PM, and I'll share with you some interesting info I've learned about some .online domains that I can't share here. If I don't get back to you today, i will tomorrow. Thanks

 

[Joe N]

 

[james haw]

I never even looked at the prior sales data for .online and now that you mention it, it doesn't deter me in the least

So you are gambling and not investing? I'm not being slanderous, it is exactly accurate based on the definitions of those words:

• Invest - put (money) into financial schemes or a commercial venture with the expectation of achieving a profit
  
• Gamble - take risky action in the hope of a desired result.

As there is no data to be able to draw a scientific analysis from, or even a vague educated conclusion, no-one has any idea what will happen to .online in the future. Look, it could boom and you sell all your names for $10K average and become super rich. I am not saying that won't happen, I'm saying I have no idea, and neither can you, or anyone

As it stands there is no viable business model at all that can be sustainable with 28 sales per year at average $3k per sale when those sales are shared across millions of domain sales and tens of thousands of domainers (active and successfully selling). I.e. in 3 years of trading you probably won't make 1 sale...

And since all these newfangled extensions started to spring up people have been saying "any day now my portfolio will become a great investment, you watch". Yet, 5 years on, the same thing is being said. Heck even with a full year of the huge internet boom from Covid and stay at home has not pushed these dreams into reality.

Why? Looking at sales like FindMe.online for $10,000, AirConditioning.online for $17,500, MyWorld.online for $2,669, Transparency.online for $10,000 and Design.online for $57,500 speaks volumes to me

Those domain sales are from the top premium keywords in the industry, or where they fit perfectly with the .online extension. Keywords that sell for notable values in every single extension we have. Some oddball extensions have 5 and 6 figure sales for Casino. This is is a reflection on the premium keywords, not the extension they are in. And to be fair, "casino.online" is a great combination. But that is a rare thing and doesn't mean suddenly all .online names will boom.

of my 700 names I have a lot names just as good, and some maybe even better. If you don't believe me just send me a PM and I'll share them

I have no reason to not believe you, but how many offers have you had of 4 or 5 figures? How many have you sold?
How much of a yearly expenditure is that? Even at $5 per renewal, that's $3.5K per year, ironically the average sale price so even with all the luck in the world of selling 1 of those of the 28 sold per year, you break even?
If in 2 years you sell none, that's $7k - you can get a really good domain at wholesale and flip it for triple without much work.
Each to their own of course

You can trash .online and my strategy until the cows come home, but I don't give much weight to your negative approach.

I'm doing no such thing. I'm discussing the validity of investing in a domain extension based on the current market and historical sale trends. The fact that happens to contradict your strategy is not a personal attack nor does it mean I'm being negative. I'm specifically being objective and scientific.

I don't want this to seem like I'm bashing you, .online could flurry and you will have the last laugh (I hope for you it does) but all I'm arguing is that there are no solid metrics or possible future predictions of any kind of accuracy. It is hope based on very little evidence or historical sales

 

[james haw]

Those pockets exist so they must be valuable, I'll take a few of them and sell them for a huge profit next week when demand increases and supply is saturated...

 

[Joe N]

Those pockets exist so they must be valuable, I'll take a few of them and sell them for a huge profit next week when demand increases and supply is saturated...

Exactly! That guy likes them, and he's very personable, so surely lots of people will pay him good money for them!

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Exactly! That guy likes them, and he's very personable, so surely lots of people will pay him good money for them!

Go back and check the "keywords" in the names I just listed and get back to me. As if virtual, sports, golf and the rest aren't "keywords"

Again thanks again for your support....you never know who else might be following us

 

[ThatNameGuy]

So you are gambling and not investing? I'm not being slanderous, it is exactly accurate based on the definitions of those words:

• Invest - put (money) into financial schemes or a commercial venture with the expectation of achieving a profit
  
• Gamble - take risky action in the hope of a desired result.

As there is no data to be able to draw a scientific analysis from, or even a vague educated conclusion, no-one has any idea what will happen to .online in the future. Look, it could boom and you sell all your names for $10K average and become super rich. I am not saying that won't happen, I'm saying I have no idea, and neither can you, or anyone

As it stands there is no viable business model at all that can be sustainable with 28 sales per year at average $3k per sale when those sales are shared across millions of domain sales and tens of thousands of domainers (active and successfully selling). I.e. in 3 years of trading you probably won't make 1 sale...

And since all these newfangled extensions started to spring up people have been saying "any day now my portfolio will become a great investment, you watch". Yet, 5 years on, the same thing is being said. Heck even with a full year of the huge internet boom from Covid and stay at home has not pushed these dreams into reality.




Those domain sales are from the top premium keywords in the industry, or where they fit perfectly with the .online extension. Keywords that sell for notable values in every single extension we have. Some oddball extensions have 5 and 6 figure sales for Casino. This is is a reflection on the premium keywords, not the extension they are in. And to be fair, "casino.online" is a great combination. But that is a rare thing and doesn't mean suddenly all .online names will boom.


I have no reason to not believe you, but how many offers have you had of 4 or 5 figures? How many have you sold?
How much of a yearly expenditure is that? Even at $5 per renewal, that's $3.5K per year, ironically the average sale price so even with all the luck in the world of selling 1 of those of the 28 sold per year, you break even?
If in 2 years you sell none, that's $7k - you can get a really good domain at wholesale and flip it for triple without much work.
Each to their own of course

I'm doing no such thing. I'm discussing the validity of investing in a domain extension based on the current market and historical sale trends. The fact that happens to contradict your strategy is not a personal attack nor does it mean I'm being negative. I'm specifically being objective and scientific.

I don't want this to seem like I'm bashing you, .online could flurry and you will have the last laugh (I hope for you it does) but all I'm arguing is that there are no solid metrics or possible future predictions of any kind of accuracy. It is hope based on very little evidence or historical sales

 

[Joe N]

Go back and check the "keywords" in the names I just listed and get back to me. As if virtual, sports, golf and the rest aren't "keywords"

Again thanks again for your support....you never know who else might be following us

The keywords are mostly very solid.

Are you saying you want me to do an analysis of the value of those names as .online names because you registered them? That's very different than evaluating the keywords.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

The keywords are mostly very solid.

Are you saying you want me to do an analysis of the value of those names as .online names because you registered them? That's very different than evaluating the keywords.

I really don't want you to do anything but admit it's because of domain hoarding that this situation opportunity even exists. I really do want to thank Verisign for for confirming my suspicions of just how screwed up this industry really is. If you admit to that than maybe we can have a civil conversation....just try being honest with yourself for once.

 

[bmugford]

The keywords are mostly very solid.

Are you saying you want me to do an analysis of the value of those names as .online names because you registered them? That's very different than evaluating the keywords.

I really don't want you to do anything but admit it's because of domain hoarding that this situation opportunity even exists. I really do want to thank Verisign for for confirming my suspicions of just how screwed up this industry really is. If you admit to that than maybe we can have a civil conversation....just try being honest with yourself for once.

Joe,

Let me explain something to you.

According to Bulloney, when someone else owns hundreds or thousands of domains for resale, it is considered "hoarding".

When Bulloney owns hundreds or thousands of domains for resale, for some reason, that is not considered "hoarding".

I hope that helps.

Brad

 

[Joe N]

I really don't want you to do anything but admit it's because of domain hoarding that this situation opportunity even exists. I really do want to thank Verisign for for confirming my suspicions of just how screwed up this industry really is. If you admit to that than maybe we can have a civil conversation....just try being honest with yourself for once.

Those are some very vague statements you're asking me to agree with. I find the industry makes a lot of sense... at least as much as any other financial or commodity market. Supply/demand, risk/reward, buy low/sell high... all the usual stuff.

Can we narrow it down to one specific thing? What specifically is it about the domain name industry that you think provides you with an opportunity to make a lot of money selling .online names?

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Those are some very vague statements you're asking me to agree with. I find the industry makes a lot of sense... at least as much as any other financial or commodity market. Supply/demand, risk/reward, buy low/sell high... all the usual stuff.

Can we narrow it down to one specific thing? What specifically is it about the domain name industry that you think provides you with an opportunity to make a lot of money selling .online names?

Au Contraire..... making a lot of money just selling .online names. There you go assuming again. There are opportunities across the spectrum Joe. You've never run a big business have you Joe? Might you happen to have any friends who have started a business in their garage and they're multi billion dollar businesses today? Check out Towne Bank, stock symbol town and see if you see the name Bob Aston, CEO and Chairman of the Board. Then when you're through with that check out DLTR aka Dollar Tree®, market cap 26.27B. You seem to know so little about business you may want to go to Amazon and pick up Macon Brock's book "One Buck at a Time". Macon, sadly is no longer with us, but he was considered the Sam Walton of the Dollar World....do you even know what that means? Then go to stock symbol PRAA aka Portfolio Recovery....Steve Frederickson is the man there, and he took his business from ground level to a 1.5B business today. Then if you haven't had enough, google Amerigroup and read their story where Jeff McWaters started Amerigroup because of a "niche" that he saw at HCA and took Amerigroup from ground level in 1990 to selling it to Wellpoint for 4.9M in 2012. Joe, while I haven't done anything quite like this, I've been pretty damn close so you might see why I'm offended by your demeaning and condescending approach. Bottomline, you don't know what you're talking about. Due to the nature of the Beast known as the domain industry, there's an opportunity staring me right in the face to "start" what has the real potential to be a billion dollar business in five to 10 years. Note I said "start", for I'm a proven starter that's seen more success than failure. How about you Joe? What's your real gig? Agenda? Me? Why would I trust anything about you? I've been known to be a pretty good judge of character and that's all I have to say about that.

You always have the last word Joe, and I suggest anyone reading this to see what psychologists have to say about the lastword.online

 

[Joe N]

There are opportunities across the spectrum Joe.

I agree that there are a variety of opportunities in domaining. I was hoping to focus on the topic of your thread, though, which is the .online TLD.

I know you want to bridge the gap for business owners who can't afford a .com name, by introducing them to .online names at a more affordable cost. I just don't see how that model will pan out in the long-term given current trends and conditions in the aftermarket, paired with the amount of time and money that will be required to help .online gain the necessary traction you're talking about.

Can you share specific details that might educate us on how this will work?

 

[james haw]

700 names would take you around 30 years to sell at 2 per month, which would be amazing volume sales for a currently dead extension of 50 sales per year.
Granted, you'd have millions at even the average $3.5K current sales price, but this is absolutely all entirely speculation and theory at this point.

So, how about we cut the BS and tell us some stats? How many .online domains have you sold? How many for at least the yearly renewal cost of your portfolio? It's great your neighbour or business over the road bought a .online domain, but for how much? Reg fee? $200?

We can debate this forever, but facts always speak for themselves. Sure your sales may come next year or the year after, but I am genuinely curious what, if, you are selling