.tv Thoughts and personal views needed about existing premiums .tv domains

[Makis.TV]

Its time to have a dedicated topic for this special matter.
Many of us registered .tv's with premium prices before the resent landrush, that leave us in an uncertain position because we don't know any of the following critical data:

1. Will they leave old premium prices as before, charging premium reg fee per yr?
2a. Will they offer us a buyout and if so how much will it be? Recent Landrush shows that many .tv's characterised as premiums before with mid $$$$ reg fee per yr, had a discounted reg fee during the landrush period, for example munich.tv from $5000 per yr dropped to $319 one time with name.com(Samit beat me over this :kickass
2b. If buyout is the case then when will this happen, since many of us have premiums expiring over a wide period of time, any delay will mean additional costs or even dropped domains and negative publicity(at least).
3a. Will they let us renew domains in normal reg fees since most of us paid already lots in renewals
3b. Like 2.a if this is the case then when will this be applied?

There is already open a conversation at watch.tv blog with Chris Sheridan from eno.com, take a look for yourself and why not add you comment too:
.tv Premium Announcement « Watch.tv Blog

- What do you think its more fair from this options?
- What do you think Verisign will finally decide?
- What will be your actions if Verisign leaves premium fees per yr or ask you for a buyout?

I d love to see your thoughts and personal views over this case, I d also love to see Jeff replying on subject as well.

 

[Jeff]

I d love to see your thoughts and personal views over this case, I d also love to see Jeff replying on subject as well.

Thank you, as you may be aware I have been all over this ISSUE from the very first moment of the initial announcement of all the current goings-on in the .TV; in my judgement, it will weigh very heavily on the upcoming Sedo auction, IMHO.

There's a similar, concurrent thread here from Snoop as well ... I look forward to people's candid opinions on this troubling aspect and, ultimately, its timely resolution as well! :gl:

Regards,
Jeff

 

[discovernow]

I think they will do a buyout. For example, if your premium is $500, make you pay a lump sum whatever that might be and than go standard renewal from there.

I have a love-hate relationships with premiums. The good, it gave me a chance to get really good names such as Religion.tv for $500 premium which I would of never got in the first place if it was non-premium (most likely someone would of got it before me) The hate is paying that price every year. Time will tell.

Thanks, Jim

 

[equity78]

Jeff, something should be done. But its not troubling in any way. Let me ask you Jeff should I come after Comcast that is offering the guy who moved in one apartment downstairs, the same service I have for 40% less and a free tv ?

I entered into a registration agreement with Enom.tv to register Tea.tv for $250. How would the fact that I regged drummer.tv for non premium pricing affect that ?

I mean they are two different names, Comcast,Verizon, Blackberry can offer better deals on the exact same product. There is no repercussion. Guess what in business, a business will focus on getting new customers and not offering the same deal to old customers. While I do not agree with that, that pretty much is the business world.

Additionally no one here "Knows" what Verisign is going to do. So people need to hold on a little. This all took place on a thursday night and then a weekend.

 

[Jeff]

Jeff, something should be done. But its not troubling in any way.

It's an uncertainty ... and that's troubling for the general .TV aftermarket, upcoming Sedo auction, and (if any) potentially interested End users! :yell: :imho:

This all took place on a thursday night and then a weekend.

Understood. :gl:

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Keith]

I don't see how they can continue to charge premium pricing for premium names already registered. If a premium owner drops a name do the registrars then continue to charge the premium fee year after year to the new owner? I think not and that's why I believe they will drop the pricing to standard reg fees on all names

 

[MrRhee]

I don't see how they can continue to charge premium pricing for premium names already registered. If a premium owner drops a name do the registrars then continue to charge the premium fee year after year to the new owner? I think not and that's why I believe they will drop the pricing to standard reg fees on all names

imo, if you drop it, you take the chance it gets repriced, and then new buyers will pay one-time upfront and then standard renewals.

we all agree something must be done.

something will be done.

 

[SKG]

I am sure something will be done, and if not, so what, be happy with the names you have then not have them at all. If the renewal is to much for you or if you feel that the renewal cost can be used to pick up more or better names under the regime then make the switch, imo. I will add, that I am not sure that if Verisign really cares how long someone held onto a premium or how much in premium renewals some has paid. They are in the business to make monies like anyone else. If a relatively small group of people percentage wise are spited and drop their names after paying years of premium renewals, the names if good will get re-regged under the new system or auction. It would be nice of them to hand out freebies, but I would say plan your finances accordingly if you should desire to keep pre-existing domains in your premium portfolio. That "something" they might do is charge one more year. Always plan for worse case scenario, imo.

 

[MillersCrossing]

I am sure something will be done, and if not, so what, be happy with the names you have then not have them at all. If the renewal is to much for you or if you feel that the renewal cost can be used to pick up more or better names under the regime then make the switch, imo. I will add, that I am not sure that if Verisign really cares how long someone held onto a premium or how much in premium renewals some has paid. They are in the business to make monies like anyone else. If a relatively small group of people percentage wise are spited and drop their names after paying years of premium renewals, the names if good will get re-regged under the new system or auction. It would be nice of them to hand out freebies, but I would say plan your finances accordingly if you should desire to keep pre-existing domains in your premium portfolio. That "something" they might do is charge one more year. Always plan for worse case scenario, imo.

Absolutely agree with all the above from a contractual standpoint, but from an uncertainty perspective, having two classes of domains, premium and none premium, it brings back uncertainty to the market....which I thought was the whole point of the recent premium landrush - to take out uncertainty and open .tv to everyone, not just those who know everything about the extension....

---------- Post added at 09:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:51 AM ----------

imo, if you drop it, you take the chance it gets repriced, and then new buyers will pay one-time upfront and then standard renewals.

we all agree something must be done.

something will be done.

From what I have seen in the watch.tv thread - it doesn't look too good for existing premium owners - Verisgn are using language like "the current landrush only increases the value for the existing premium holders......" yeah right!!

 

[SKG]

Absolutely agree with all the above from a contractual standpoint, but from an uncertainty perspective, having two classes of domains, premium and none premium, it brings back uncertainty to the market....which I thought was the whole point of the recent premium landrush - to take out uncertainty and open .tv to everyone, not just those who know everything about the extension....

---------- Post added at 09:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:51 AM ----------




James, I believe the uncertainty will perhaps diminish on its own over time as the number non premium renewal regs overwhelmingly surpasses annual premium holder registrations. It would be best to even the slate, I agree, but Verisign's existing track record is to move slower than a snail in a sprint, so while they might move toward that direction, it is possible many names will be dropped by then.

 

[MillersCrossing]

Absolutely agree with all the above from a contractual standpoint, but from an uncertainty perspective, having two classes of domains, premium and none premium, it brings back uncertainty to the market....which I thought was the whole point of the recent premium landrush - to take out uncertainty and open .tv to everyone, not just those who know everything about the extension....

---------- Post added at 09:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:51 AM ----------




James, I believe the uncertainty will perhaps diminish on its own over time as the number non premium renewal regs overwhelmingly surpasses annual premium holder registrations. It would be best to even the slate, I agree, but Verisign's existing track record is to move slower than a snail in a sprint, so while they might move toward that direction, it is possible many names will be dropped by then.

Agree. I dont think your premium regges will be dropping somehow.....LV.TV for how little?!

 

[*AllThings.tv*]

I am sure something will be done, and if not, so what, be happy with the names you have then not have them at all. If the renewal is to much for you or if you feel that the renewal cost can be used to pick up more or better names under the regime then make the switch, imo. I will add, that I am not sure that if Verisign really cares how long someone held onto a premium or how much in premium renewals some has paid. They are in the business to make monies like anyone else. If a relatively small group of people percentage wise are spited and drop their names after paying years of premium renewals, the names if good will get re-regged under the new system or auction. It would be nice of them to hand out freebies, but I would say plan your finances accordingly if you should desire to keep pre-existing domains in your premium portfolio. That "something" they might do is charge one more year. Always plan for worse case scenario, imo.

I just posted about this on my site. If Verisign does nothing, it will cloud their most recent efforts to boost the dot tv extension and will limit the overall marketability of the extension if some confusion related to pricing remains.

While Verisign eliminated confusion about the future pricing and annual renewal rate of dot tv purchases made on or after March 18th, they still have yet to address the most crippling confusion which relates to the premium pricing policites related to Premium Dot TV names purchased before March 18th. Those names carry hefty annual renewal rates and a domainer, developer, or enduser may get frightened by the carrying costs associated with such domains. This influences such buyers who provide liquidity in the aftermarket to seek other domains in other extensions.

Don't get me wrong. What Verisign did was bold. This move was welcomed by a much larger audience than we know, but if Verisign wants parity with other extensions in terms future marketability in and greatly wider adoption by the aftermarket, then it should consider giving equal treatment to dot tv names purchased before and after March 18th. The extension will experience greater growth than it is today if they unshackle dot tv and let it go free. C'mon Verisign, GIVE FREEDOM A CHANCE!

 

[SKG]

Agree. I dont think your premium regges will be dropping somehow.....LV.TV for how little?!

Yup, you are correct. No chance of LV.tv dropping

 

[virtuali]

At the end of the day this is the situation we have. You have a registrar that had it good for awhile selling domain names at sometimes 100X + the normal reg fee and could lock in the buyer at the rate for as many years as they pleased. From a business / future projection standpoint this was great for verisign/enom. Then they started to see that this scheme was not working and those registration were dropping like flies and not getting pick back up for the rediculous repricing scheme. You guys ever notice how some premiums got repriced? They were put up sometimes another 5 to 10 times more than there original premium pricing.

I believe the reason for this was the scheme was starting to show huge cracks in the premium program and they were trying to recoup monies that they were losing by sticking it to more potential buyers. If you notice they only did this over the past year inabit. After that didnt work they figured that they had to do something else to really make the winds of cashflow change. Enter in the new premium schematic. At this point they really had nothing to lose and only a mass injection of cash to gain. From their point of view why not have one more auction for some great names in order to get another injection of cash and sell some names that have been on the shelf for many years and starting making some return off of them. There you have the sedo auction.

From the standpoint of verisign / enom this is a win, win, win, situation. 1.) They continue to hold previous premium owners at the exorbent prices which is a percentage of their base annual funds. Verisign / Enom = WOO HOO. 2.) They do an auction and get one last "Premium Price" for names that would not, or have not been reg'd for years. Verisign / Enom = WOO HOO. 3.) Many more .TV domains start to get reg'd because of the non-premium pricing Versign / Enom = WOO HOO.

Right at this point in time for them they had nothing to lose and only to gain. They are not truly "getting rid" of the premium pricing. They are only getting rid of the premium pricing for those names that would not have sold under that scheme.

The spin being put on by versign etc is that somehow them selling more domains is going to give past premium owners and advantage is really quite arbitrary and should not be taken as that is going to be the case whatsover. It didnt work for them. So why would it work for a premium owner. Answer: it wont.

If any premium owners want to show that they do not approve of how versign is still sticking it to them the only thing they will listen to is the moving of your business elsewhere. Verisign / Enom couldnt care less about the current premium owners etc.. they are a business.. that said, what they do care about is your continued contributions to the premium scheme and future domain purchases and renewals as any business would.

Just like the downfalls of the previous premium scheme prompted change, so would not using them as a registrar for any other names would make them think again about how they are dealing with their premium owner client base.

Hope all is well for you guys in .TV land.

 

[bigdipper]

I am a but a small fish in a big pond - but last year we regged a very expensive premium .tv name for a period of 5 years. This particular premium cost us well into the $xx,xxx to register.

Now, on one hand, we are happy to have the name but very concerned about how enom will handle this for us. I've already sent an email to Deborah Burditt to try to find out how all of these sudden changes will affect us. I have yet to receive a response.

I can only imagine how others who have done the same with many, many names are feeling right now.

I believe enom really needs to issue some sort of policy statement for those of us who did buy into their old premium pricing model.

At this time, i have roughly 100 non-premium .tv's, and 2 premium .tvs in my portfolio

As for the way this whole pricing change occured, i am very unhappy. There didn't seem to be much of a clear notice ahead of time as to what was really going on just a few days ago. To further complicate matters, people were able to register premiums at standard fees and are just now being told that the pricing was inaccurate. I feel like someone at enom really needs to get their act together b/c this whole thing just seems very unorganized and unprofessional. (another "cash grab" as some have previously stated)

I have always loved .tv and have stated that it's probably my 2nd favorite extension to .com for many reasons which have already been stated many times over. That being said, i have switched my "investment" focus back to .com over the past 12 months due to the sheer number of dropping .com's due to parking income dropping like a rock and the deep, deep recession we have found ourselves in.

I also continue to wrestle with the fact that i can just as easily register a "keywordtv.com" for a fraction of what a true .tv costs to reg/renew year on year. At the end of the day, what are we really getting here with .tv? Where is the true value to those who want to develop or invest in this extension, when other (more affordable) options are available to us???

Just a thought...

:wave:

 

[Jeff]

As for the way this whole pricing change occured, i am very unhappy. There didn't seem to be much of a clear notice ahead of time as to what was really going on just a few days ago. To further complicate matters, people were able to register premiums at standard fees and are just now being told that the pricing was inaccurate. I feel like someone at enom really needs to get their act together b/c this whole thing just seems very unorganized and unprofessional. (another "cash grab" as some have previously stated).

^ I wish I could say that this .TV confusion and "bitter taste" wasn't predictable ... :yell:

Bigdipper, thanks for sharing your side ... I know I speak for MANY in hoping for your quick and professional resolution on these outstanding matters, IMHO. :gl:
Regards,
Jeff

 

[Makis.TV]

Virtuali your scenario has an exit solution, people drop their premiums and try to register them through one time fee, of course thats like having a big window in your house for fresh air while you are living in a neighborhood full of gangs.
I m sure many will take this chance, since many have already some premiums under their portofolio for reg fee so they feel more secure dropping one that doesnt fit.

I wont drop any of my premiums, I had in mind to drop just one but after this frenzy I m going to keep it.

 

[virtuali]

Onspot.. that really isnt a plausible "exit" strategy for any serious premium holder. By now they would have already invested thousands into the name and would not be willing to wager on 1.) enom's / verisign repricing. 2.) losing it to somebody else, and enom / versign knows these facts and that is why they will keep the old premium structure in place. Its a "cash cow" for them and they know it.

 

[gr8trfoo]

...

 

[GoneWalkabout]

Here's a fair and reasonable solution that I think we should all get behind and lobby for:

Existing premiums that expire in less than one year from now pay one more year at their current rates and then revert to standard regfee. Names that have more than one year reg on them ought to be recognized as already haven fulfilled the one-more-year requirement and revert to standard effective immediately.

Fin

Love it!

Count me in on the lobby team.

Then the WHOLE market in the new .TV landscape would be even and .TV itself would be universally accepted and 'believable' for the first time in it's history.