status-resolved What happened to Top Domains?

[slader23]

Can someone explain to me why on Earth Snoopily.com is considered a top domain?

The domain was registered in August.

The minimum requirement to be selected is $1k wholesale value.

There is no tld demand. No retail use. No sales history. No trends. No backlinks. No traffic.

No offense to the owner whatsoever, such a name is not worth more than $xx. So how did it get past the selection process?


I think a proper explanation from the mods is needed.

 

[JB Lions]

Decided to check it out, also noticed another name that shouldn't be there, from same member:

Sapphiric.com

Seriously? You devalue the section by putting names like that in there.

https://dotdb.com/search?keyword=Sapphiric&position=any&exclude=

It's registered in 0 other extensions. I had to Google the word because I had no idea what it was. It comes across as somebody hooking somebody up with 2 names that obviously shouldn't be there.

 

[slader23]

Now I want to point out none of this is exact science and I don't have much of a problem with TOP Domains. But after noticing Snoopily I purposely put up a one word .io Recon.io regged in many more extensions than Snoopily, (With 5 offers in 5 places over the last three weeks) 3x the valuation from GoDaddy and it was rejected.

Look I believe the section is just a section to Peacock it doesn't generate many sales and is probably best retired to avoid these types of debates. Again IMO.

Lastly even though I don't believe the GoDaddy valuation tool is the end all be all, if a name is not over $1,000 there then saying it's $1,000 wholesale is sketchy at best.

I don't even use top domains. I just find it ridiculous that names submitted must specifically have a minimum wholesale value of $1k to be selected but names like Snoopily.com get approved.

Let's put it this way if you go to an exclusive exotic car auction and see a Toyota Corolla as part of the selection among Ferrari's and McLaren's, are you not going to find that a problem?

 

[Dave]

One more thing that's bad about accepting top domains that aren't. What if some newcomer to domaining sees those posts and believes they're genuinely top domains and they blow their money?

To any newcomers reading this. Snoopily and Sapphiric ARE NOT top domains with min $1k wholesale. DO NOT BUY.

I really think you guys need to remove those domains pronto before some newcomer makes a terrible decision.

 

[equity78]

Can someone explain to me why on Earth Snoopily.com is considered a top domain?

The domain was registered in August.

The minimum requirement to be selected is $1k wholesale value.

There is no tld demand. No retail use. No sales history. No trends. No backlinks. No traffic.

No offense to the owner whatsoever, such a name is not worth more than $xx. So how did it get past the selection process?


I think a proper explanation from the mods is needed.

I saw that too and not to degrade someone else's name but it does not seem to rate as a "TOP Domain"

 

[equity78]

It gets better every year.

---

To reiterate the responses from your support ticket for others to read:


The registration date of a domain name does not matter to us in any way.


Correct.


We respect your opinion even if you disagree with ours.


We will not discuss or debate the topic of what a domain name is worth, but you are free to do so on the forums with other members.

Learn more at the links below.


Here are the articles that explain Top Domains:

• https://www.namepros.com/threads/why-is-this-domain-name-in-top-domains.1044806/
  
• https://www.namepros.com/threads/the-selection-process-for-top-domains.1047414/

We hope that helps.

Now I want to point out none of this is exact science and I don't have much of a problem with TOP Domains. But after noticing Snoopily I purposely put up a one word .io Recon.io regged in many more extensions than Snoopily, (With 5 offers in 5 places over the last three weeks) 3x the valuation from GoDaddy and it was rejected.

Look I believe the section is just a section to Peacock it doesn't generate many sales and is probably best retired to avoid these types of debates. Again IMO.

Lastly even though I don't believe the GoDaddy valuation tool is the end all be all, if a name is not over $1,000 there then saying it's $1,000 wholesale is sketchy at best.

 

[nafti]

I applied for a “top domain” for my do.ca earlier this year but was rejected.

Is it the same person/people who say yes or no when it comes to a top domain or is it always different?

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

What happened to Top Domains?

It gets better every year.

---

To reiterate the responses from your support ticket for others to read:

The domain was registered in August.

The registration date of a domain name does not matter to us in any way.

The minimum requirement to be selected is $1k wholesale value.

Correct.

No offense to the owner whatsoever, such a name is not worth more than $xx.

We respect your opinion even if you disagree with ours.

I think a proper explanation from the mods is needed.

We will not discuss or debate the topic of what a domain name is worth, but you are free to do so on the forums with other members.

Learn more at the links below.

So how did it get past the selection process?

Here are the articles that explain Top Domains:

• https://www.namepros.com/threads/why-is-this-domain-name-in-top-domains.1044806/
  
• https://www.namepros.com/threads/the-selection-process-for-top-domains.1047414/

We hope that helps.

 

[urlurl]

Wow, just lost confidence in the 'Top' level rating

both words border on TM infringement too,

 

[Dave]

Snoopily and Sapphiric are NOT top domains. If these were on an expired auction you'd likely pick them up for $50 or less. Most likely $12.

It genuinely just looks like someone is hooking a friend up with a couple of top domain listings.

 

[Vito]

Most everyone here is in agreement. Some people are just plain ignorant. Period.
We all know Snoopily is a reg-fee domain. Maybe on a good day it might fetch $69 at an NJ auction in a weak moment of someone reading it as a typo. Been there, done that.

The title itself of "Top Domains" is subjective.

There do have to be rules in place to be able to list domains in the "Top Domains" section.

1k and above seems like it does separate the Top Domains section from other domain sales forum sections. 4 figures is a lot of money. It is a good place to start. One would think this 1k start would limit the audience of tire kickers and $1 & $10 bidders from all of the other auction sections.

I saw a domain on auction recently - Hardened-php.net It sold for over 60k. I screamed #BS. Whatever happened to that domain sale and a half dozen other BS domain sales this year, all I can do is shake my head and hope that most people reading those sales posts aren't that naive. It sucks that people report those, even though we all know they are BS.

Whether there are 20 questions in place or a team of domainers deciding what domains get into that "Top Domains" forum, we definitely all won't agree 100% of the time.

In a nutshell...

We all know many things we read in domaining forums and blogs are sometimes full of $hit.
The domain name here at NP always needs to be in the title of the thread.
That is all I need to see in order to click that thread open.
I really don't care at all what the section is named.

 

[equity78]

I don't even use top domains. I just find it ridiculous that names submitted must specifically have a minimum wholesale value of $1k to be selected but names like Snoopily.com get approved.

Let's put it this way if you go to an exclusive exotic car auction and see a Toyota Corolla as part of the selection among Ferrari's and McLaren's, are you not going to find that a problem?

Where did I disagree with you? I agree, I don't like ripping someone else's name, any name can sell SampleDoc.xyz for $4,100 so that tells the world anything can sell.

But by the rules of the forum I would agree 100% it's not $1,000 wholesale, and I know I have the experience to back that up. Let's get @bmugford @Josh R @stub @Vito @ikehook @Keith and I could list 100 more I think they would all agree.

It's why I think a section like that becomes divisive, if I see BBG.com in Buy it now sales here, I know it's a great name it needs no other special category.

 

[LarryDomain]

i can see a correlation between snoopily.com and stupidity.com .. it's definitely worth over 1k.

 

[Beezy]

Mods, please move those names to the barain bin section. Thank you.

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

Hello,

Breaking.News would likely get approved by everyone on the team if there were slots available. Express/News may only get approved by some team members when slots are available.

Please keep in mind that if a domain name is not approved today, it could still get approved on a different day when there are more slots available. Learn more.

book.club, wine.club, travel.agency type of new gtld, then I would let those thru

Agreed.

 

[slader23]

It gets better every year.

---

To reiterate the responses from your support ticket for others to read:


The registration date of a domain name does not matter to us in any way.


Correct.


We respect your opinion even if you disagree with ours.


We will not discuss or debate the topic of what a domain name is worth, but you are free to do so on the forums with other members.

Learn more at the links below.


Here are the articles that explain Top Domains:

• https://www.namepros.com/threads/why-is-this-domain-name-in-top-domains.1044806/
  
• https://www.namepros.com/threads/the-selection-process-for-top-domains.1047414/

We hope that helps.

So you don't discuss your selection process and then ambiguously respond to the question of valuation. What help is that in regards to finding the root of the problem.

The point I'm trying to make is that domain valuation isn't rocket science.

Anyone with experience in domains would understand with 100% certainty that such a name is not a top domain. So the problem lies in regards to the selection process and the selector as well as any other variables that may affect the names consideration.

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

What help is that in regards to finding the root of the problem.

There is no problem, and we've explained it in detail at the links provided in this thread.

Anyone with experience in domains would understand with 100% certainty that such a name is not a top domain.

That is your opinion. It is not a certainty, and by you stating it as such, you are effectively wrong.

Please try not to underestimate the experience that we have on our team.

 

[slader23]

Where did I disagree with you? I agree, I don't like ripping someone else's name, any name can sell SampleDoc.xyz for $4,100 so that tells the world anything can sell.

But by the rules of the forum I would agree 100% it's not $1,000 wholesale, and I know I have the experience to back that up. Let's get @bmugford @Josh R @stub @Vito @ikehook and I could list 100 more I think they would all agree.

It's why I think a section like that becomes divisive, if I see BBG.com in Buy it now sales here, I know it's a great name it needs no other special category.

I'm not disagreeing with you .

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

I applied for a “top domain” for my do.ca earlier this year but was rejected.

You may submit it again. Sometimes, it may be approved, and other times, it may be declined.

Learn more.

Is it the same person/people who say yes or no when it comes to a top domain or is it always different?

There are different people, and the people change over time.

If thats the case you can't reject any submission now since every name has potential

It's not about potential. The question posed was, "how many must be" (not "how many may be").

It comes across as somebody hooking somebody up with 2 names that obviously shouldn't be there.

It genuinely just looks like someone is hooking a friend up with a couple of top domain listings.

While it may appear that way to you, we hope you realize that we have no special relationship with this seller and never have.

We will provide more details in our next post.

 

[golan]

I saw a domain on auction recently - Hardened-php.net It sold for over 60k.

That was unbelievably powerful SEO domain. Probably the most powerful drop i ever seen in my SEO life. Few of my buyers would grab it for $10k easily. If someone has a right knowledge of how to use drops, he can easily pay these $60 back in a few months.

 

[JB Lions]

So, I submitted one of my better names, domain name express / news into Top section, as following:

"Taking serious offers ($ xxx xxx) on probably one of 3 best domain names in .news extension. Express / News can form truly global brand for any news organisation worldwide.
Registrar - Name.com (Transfer OUT is OK). Renewal is only $120 / year.
Payment Options - Escrow.com or Dan.com imported escrow"

Was NOT choosen.

What I am learning from it: person who made selection process seems to believe, that express / news is "less liquid / less valuable / less ... you define it" that snoopily / com and/or similar names which are curently choosen to be in Top secton. No one can argue with this - as it was correctly stated above, valuation is more art then science.

But the Top domain section should (just my assumptiom here) serve us, Namepros Users - and if you do make poll to ask Namepros Users what they would prefer to have in Top section, there is a large probability it would not be snoopily

Also, it is a fact that 5 years after introduction of new gTLD domain names, we can not get even very good new gTLDs to Top section and actually there are 0 new gTLD names there at the moment of writing. This is not in favour of those of us who invest in this category of names. I do not wish to invest in legacy names, and I do not have time to go via mostly very bad quality submissions in New gTLD section, or to always open WLTB threads and basically to investigate which Namepros User has which good new gTLDs. If there is something of high quality and with reasonable renewal fee, I would like to see it in Top section

There hasn't been a reported .news sale over $1,000 in over 2 and 1/2 years, just 1 reported sale this year for $122. Now, if somebody submitted a book.club, wine.club, travel.agency type of new gtld, then I would let those thru.

While it may appear that way to you, we hope you realize that we have no special relationship with this seller and never have.

We will provide more details in our next post.

Didn't see it. You have to look at it from a normal domainer perspective. 2 names I wouldn't even hand reg, in the Top Domains section from same person. They stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

Now I want to point out none of this is exact science and I don't have much of a problem with TOP Domains. But after noticing Snoopily I purposely put up a one word .io Recon.io regged in many more extensions than Snoopily, (With 5 offers in 5 places over the last three weeks) 3x the valuation from GoDaddy and it was rejected.

Look I believe the section is just a section to Peacock it doesn't generate many sales and is probably best retired to avoid these types of debates. Again IMO.

Lastly even though I don't believe the GoDaddy valuation tool is the end all be all, if a name is not over $1,000 there then saying it's $1,000 wholesale is sketchy at best.

Thanks for sharing your opinion, Raymond.

 

[Bravo Mod Team]

Let's put it this way if you go to an exclusive exotic car auction and see a Toyota Corolla as part of the selection among Ferrari's and McLaren's, are you not going to find that a problem?

This is a fun analogy, but the valuation of domain names is much closer to art than cars. Your analogy does not work with art, and it does not work with domain names either.

---

Debates are ineffective without the right questions.

The question that should be asked is how many domain investors must be willing to pay at least $1,000 for a domain name before it qualifies as worth $1,000 at wholesale?

What's your opinion?

 

[urlurl]

Well if you were at an auction and they were selling Picaso's, Rembrants, Dali's originals

i doubt people would be impressed to see a no-name artist on the block

 

[urlurl]

This is a fun analogy, but the valuation of domain names is much closer to art than cars. Your analogy does not work with art, and it does not work with domain names either.

---

Debates are ineffective without the right questions.

The question that should be asked is how many domain investors must be willing to pay at least $1,000 for a domain name before it qualifies as worth $1,000 at wholesale?

What's your opinion?

If thats the case you can't reject any submission now since every name has potential

this is what i mean about loosing value of 'top' names