jeffoverman said:
Do I think mobi is a bubble? Yes and no. Us mobi going very well, yes it will. When I look at other mobi sales like insurance.mobi for over 100k I think wow. Or flowers.mobi and Rick Schultz true reason on that. I won't leak that out. Maybe one day he will write up on that but let me say this. He didn't buy the name for it to be a mobi or brand. That's all I am saying on that one
Jeff, what do you know about Rick's purchase of Flowers.mobi? The "true reason"? Is it so hard for people to believe that he has enough money to buy what he wants to. Try to imagine how much he makes a day and if that was "you" in his shoes seeing a large player in the Flower industry bidding on Flowers.mobi, and you had a huge warchest and understood the domain game, or better still, had lots to do with growing and evolving it... wouldn't you also bid on Flowers.mobi, too? He wasn't bidding against a ghost... there was another buyer that wanted it and they got outbid. I'm not defending Rick, but I think it is pointless to circulate rumors, or... how we do I explain this better to you... "secrets" that you "know", but can't share with us. It's better to not bring it up than to perpetuate a rumor that no one has ever proven. It only hurts the domain industry, the aftermarket, the auction/conference industry, etc. Look at the fiasco Jay (DomainTools) started over the weekend by posting misinformation that clearly had no truth behind it. If you've got the proof behind your claims abotu Rick & Flowers.mobi...please share it, we'd love to see it.
Now, when it comes down to .mobi VS .tv and alternate extensions VS .com - I am excited when anyone (especially end-users) buys any domain in the aftermarket (regardless of extension) because it proves to other end-users that domains aren't FREE... and that there is a healthy thriving marketplace and if you want a domain, you've got to make us an offer we can't refuse, or leave us alone if the names not for sale. I get countless emails each week from end-users (for my .com .tv .mobi domains) who ask me if the name is FREE. or $10? or can i donate it to their kid's science fair project, or I'm doing a class for college and my budget is $100, or since you're not using it (in their eyes) that you should GIVE it to them... etc. All BS. It's a waste of my time and theirs. IMHO, the more aftermarket sales that reach mainstream media newswires, the better for the domain industry aftermarket as a whole, regardless of extension. And there's good chance that news of the .mobi auctions may get picked up somewhere and bring more endusers to the marketplace... looking for .mobi, but also potentially finding out that .TV exists and may or may not be available for the right offer.
Regarding the huge price difference between .mobi & .tv, let's all agree now that .com is at the top of the list... I won't debate where .net, .org, .whatever fall in line, but we can all agree that .mobi & .tv are side by side.
In my eyes, both extensions can fill a need, while at the same time both are truly unnecessary. Does that make them Worthless? Of course not. But as an end-user myself, I could've launched a mobile site I'm developing on one of my existing .coms, and been fine with it... but I found a suitable .mobi that fit my branding concept perfectly, much better than the .com I had. If I wanted to buy the corresponding .com, I doubt it would even be for sale, and if so, 5-7 figure price tag. Was the .mobi necessary to my success and launch? Of course not. Did I pay more for it than the .com I was going to use instead? oh yes, by a long shot. Am I happy with my purchase? Most definitely... and that's what many domainers that analyze the aftermarket fail to realize is that the enduser who buys a domain (even though you may think he overpaid or the extension sucks) may be entirely satisfied with his purchase because it was WORTH it to them. If someone overpays for a domain, it doesn't mean the market should correct itself, and it doesn't always influence an entire marketplace... it means the end-user was willing to pay that amount to make sure they got the name and no one else.
When I read about "obsolete" extensions, I find it truly funny. If you own a domain and you are running your business on it, unless the TLD has gone out of business or actually converted to another extension, how can a domain name extension be "obsolete"? I am a huge supporter of .mobi and an equal supporter of .tv,, and I never lost sight of .com itself.
.mobi and .tv are unnecessary, and .com itself is unnecessary, meaning that none of these extensions guarantee success nor are they vital to development. There are plenty of successful companies using a variety of extensions.
All the extensions can co-exist and imho, they are interchangeable... that's been my strategy all along.
If I own:
Domain.COM and want to build a mobile site, I will simply use m.domain.com or another similar subdomain. If I wanted to build a feature rich video portal/channel, I would simply use Domain.COM or videos.domain.com, whatever. the matching .mobi doesn't matter.
If I own:
Domain.mobi and want to a mobile site, obviousyly it's going to be: Domain.mobi - but if I want to launched a larger full-out feature rich PC site with or without videos, I'd simply buildout PC.domain.mobi and make sure that anyone who visits my site from either device formats: PC or Mobile can see the version of the site they prefer and set it as their default. Simple.
If I own:
Domain.TV and wish to launch a mobile portal, I don't need to own the corresponding .mobi, I'd simply use m.Domain.TV and build a site that works across most mobile browsers, but most likely I would a .mobi-compliant layout because I like their format.
One of my favorite projects is Clubs.TV, obviously I'll have video enabled, but there's no doubt in my mind that I'll be building a mobile version of my site for users that need access and the url might be: m.clubs.tv or mobile.clubs.tv --- but that's far down the road because I've got more important projects that require my time & effort now. Do I think that Clubs.mobi is worth more than Clubs.TV - nope, and vice versa. Do I think .com is worth more than both, of course... no doubt. Will not owning .com and .mobi stop me from developing the site I envision... not at all. Would I have paid 10X the amount for Clubs.TV than I did... at this point in time, yes, because I truly believe it is worth it to me. Would I buy Clubs.mobi right now for a substantial amount, no, I DON'T NEED IT. I've got the domain I want in at least one extension I like and I'm satisfied.
re: Motels.mobi
If I was in that industry, that names sold for cheap. If I was building a site to target that industry, they paid virtually nothing to own the category killer for that industry.
re: Motels.TV
I believe the same exact thing for this domain, that I believe for the one above it. Is Motels.TV worth as much as Motels.mobi?- if someone is willing to pay it, then yes, but because there is such a huge gap means nothing... it all comes down to who you're bidding against and how well the domain sale was promoted pre-bidding.
Good Luck to everyone... and I'm truly am sorry I wrote so much.
