news .WS Changes 2-3 Character Premium Policy. 5-20 Number .WS domains will be released tomorrow.

[.WS Registry - WebSite.ws]

The .WS registry is excited to start a presence on Name Pros with this account. We will continue to update you with the latest news.

New Premium Domains Will Renew at Standard Prices

Our premium domain pricing for all 2 and 3 character .WS domains is changing. Beginning Monday, 2-22-16 (February 22, 2016), all new registrations of 2 and 3 character domains will be sold for a onetime premium rate which includes one year of registration. All renewals and transfers will be charged at the same rate as all other standard .WS domain registrations. This pricing change will be extended to all our registrars as well. So whether someone buys directly from us or one of our registrars, everyone will be able to take advantage of our new pricing.

5-20 All-Number Domains Made Available for the First Time Ever on 1-28-16.

5-20 all-number .WS domains (5N-20N) have been held back at the Registry level since we launched the .WS top level domain. We will officially make these domains available for registration on Thursday, 1-28-16 (January 28, 2016) at 8:00pm EST / UTC -5 (check time). These newly released 5N-20N domains will be charged at standard domain pricing.

Please see the below link for the complete press release that has more info about the demand coming from the Chinese domain market.

We appreciate you checking out this post!

https://www.website.ws/news/index.dhtml?func=shownews&article=new_low_character_pricing

 

[webquest]

.ws for $4.99 at GD now. I could have swore they were more last time I checked.

 

[daj]

A .WS domain was one of the first domains I owned when I was a teenager, back than the only way to register them was through this huge MLM pyramid scheme called GDI (Global Domains International)/Website.ws that they were connected with. You would pay $9.99/mo for the domain name ,a ripoff hosting package, and to be apart of their mlm business that promised you'd make tens of thousands of dollars a month. I realized after a few months how much of a scam it was and had to call my bank to put a block on them charging me monthly. I believe they're still ripping people off through Website.ws after all these years.

http://website.ws/gditraffic/show

Yep the same business scam as in the early 2000s. lol

 

[hugegrowth]

.ws for $4.99 at GD now. I could have swore they were more last time I checked.

They were double that a day or so ago (when I was regging them ...)

 

[.WS Registry - WebSite.ws]

A .WS domain was one of the first domains I owned when I was a teenager, back than the only way to register them was through this huge MLM pyramid scheme called GDI (Global Domains International)/Website.ws that they were connected with. You would pay $9.99/mo for the domain name ,a ripoff hosting package, and to be apart of their mlm business that promised you'd make tens of thousands of dollars a month. I realized after a few months how much of a scam it was and had to call my bank to put a block on them charging me monthly. I believe they're still ripping people off through Website.ws after all these years.

http://website.ws/gditraffic/show

Yep the same business scam as in the early 2000s. lol

Hi Daj,

Our domains have always been available through our official Registry site and all major registrars since we launched the .WS top level domain in March 2000. In 2004, we introduced our tiered (yes, it pays out on multiple levels) affiliate program for those that want to get paid for referring others. And yes, the affiliate program is still alive. We even link to it from the home page of our Registry site.

The affiliate program is not specific to .WS though. We offer several TLDs through it, but we definitely make .WS domains a focal point. You get a domain, email, a SiteBuilder, URL forwarding, subdomains, WordPress hosting, etc. for a $10 monthly fee. It’s intended to be a basic, all-inclusive “domain-in-a-box” offering… Something more for online novices who just need a simple one-stop shop to get their beginning site online.

And yes, we have many affiliates that make money from the affiliate program: some a lot, some a little, and absolutely many who make nothing at all. But we’ve been making monthly payments to our affiliates for their referrals for 142 months in a row like clockwork.

Hey, I get it… Don’t get me wrong; it’s not for everyone. It takes a special breed to make money for referring others in any business. I would fail spectacularly in that regard. There’s no question it wouldn’t make sense for power users and domainers like yourself. And that’s okay. The affiliate program is just a small aspect of running the .WS Registry. The overwhelming percentage of .WS registrations has always been through our registrars. There has never been a requirement to be part of the affiliate program to own our domains, and there never will be.

I’m genuinely sorry about the bad experience you had many years ago. We’re excited about success we’re seeing out of the Chinese market and focusing on this push to maximize the opportunities that await. I hope you can forgive us, and perhaps someday, you will consider .WS domains for your own portfolio.

Best,

Savannah
.WS Domains

 

[jbjbjbjbjbjb]

any idea what the 'premium' will be? for nn or nnn?

 

[mirul]

.ws at Dynadot is $7.99 (regular pricing). By the way, how many % 4N.ws left?

 

[bobbarato]

.ws for $4.99 at GD now. I could have swore they were more last time I checked.

I haven't used GD for a long time. I setup an acct and thought I was buying a bunch of .tech / .info for 99 cents each (as stated when I was adding to cart) but huge shock at checkout - must need some fancy discount code or membership? Back to good old no bs dynadot for me.

 

[brindle123]

I think .ws is still trying to gauge the market or something before setting their prices for the 2-3char
I haven't seen or heard anything yet. I'm sure that whatever it is, is more than I would pay for it. Someone in china might or those that fall for it, due to the rarity and hype/marketing. We won't find out until the release of the 2-3char though.

 

[usernamex]

This was the best guess so far as far as pricing:

I have been working with the .WS registry on this process as a consultant. What I can tell you is that Dynadot was selling 2 character premiums for recurring yearly fees of $995.00 and 3 character premiums for $495.00 per year before they were pulled and the policy change was implemented moving forward. My understanding is that they plan to keep that pricing except at only onetime fees not recurring ($995,$495). Don't hold me to that. When they release that info is when anything is official. I can't speak for any of the registries but that is a range to except. I think a few places will carry the premiums but again unfortunately for now it is a wait and see.

@.WS Registry - WebSite.ws
I hope you will consider releasing the pricing before February 22, 2016 and letting us know here - Thanks!

@mirul

I updated the list - 4726 still available
https://www.namepros.com/threads/ws-nnnn-ws-4900ish-still-available.915877/

It is interesting to watch buyouts!

 

[Recons.Com]

66.al sold at Sedo for $250. And that is repeating lucky NN. What makes .ws 4-10 times better to justify $1000 price tag on even worse combos?

And LLL pricing at $500 is just crazy and meaningless. LLLs with most cctlds are still available even at reg fee, including .al, .ch and others. And here they expect to sell LLL.ws for 1/2 of LL.ws which is already overpriced. For your info, normally extra letter reduces the value by 10-30 times for short names.

 

[hugegrowth]

Between .al and .ws, I think .ws is a better extension. I can see it having more demand in China. Plus .ws is probably available at more registrars and easier to push/transfer.

 

[Recons.Com]

That is arguable.

.AL has

1. A real multimillion population country in the middle of Europe behind it
2. Is well supported with no premium name BS
3. Could be applied for Alabama
4. Has considerably more domain hack possibilities compared to .ws (adjectives ending in .al, suffix in Slavonic languages (past tens of verb), mean "buy" or "red" in Turkic languages (couple hundred million people)...

 

[wwwweb]

So you guys are betting you can offload .ws numbers to hungry Chinese registrants looking for a simple 18% return on their money?

I always thought .ws meant wallstreet, or website, I guess western is out there also, just a game of musical chairs, just don't want to be holding when the music stops.

Buy 500 names for $5 at $2500, sell them for $15 make $5K? Rinse & Repeat? Any domain that has been an issue to transfer, is really hard to guage. Especially if you trying to get to ENAME, they want verification for everything now.

 

[Kate]

The hunt is on, and domainers are the prey

 

[hugegrowth]

If I can continue to sell hand regs that are less than a year old for 10x to 100x what I paid, I'll be the prey all day long.

 

[donnied79]

I think LL.ws are repriced at 5K each. At least the one I found available at the moment (I made a random scan of 100 names, so nothing statistically valid)

 

[campout]

I just scanned all possible LL.ws and found none available.

 

[Domain Shane]

All LL.com, NN.com, and NNN.com are gone. And as of today just a few hundred NNNN.com left. The 5Ns were released a few weeks ago and I think a total of 5K or so were initially registered but haven't checked since. The release tomorrow is LLL.com and NL, LN. Two character are $1200 and three letter are $600 initial price but renewal fee is regular fee.

The great thing about domains is if you don't like them you can move to a different extension and invest in that.

When I "pumped" dot cc for the last 5 years everyone said exactly the same thing. I constantly was told I was a fool for saying that it was a good buy. So I get it. Been there

Domaining is buying and dumping. We buy a name and hope that someone will want to pay more for it later. We spend our days trying to convince people why the domain we bought is worth more than we paid for it. We search endlessly for data that will confirm our purchase price and validate our asking price. I think that there is a chance to make money here. Only time will tell but sure as hell don't buy it because of me. Make your own decision.

 

[N-A]

few hundred NNNN.com left

I wish

Just did a whois lookup on a random 5N: 85855 :P

 

[Weber]

Puff. Rush is over before it started. Wtf (not an endorsement).

 

[webquest]

I'm pretty sure Shane was talking about .WS. I guess it's a natural thing to type.com after all

 

[Weber]

Anyone know at what time/zone domains are available on Feb. 22?

 

[campout]

@Weber I read 0:00 UTC

 

[FPForum]

I decided to do a fresh scan of 5N.ws chips to see what was left. Below is what's still available..

Total Count: 32768
Currently Available: 28959
Currently Not Available: 3809

http://www.multiupfile.com/f/749411f3a4

 

[hugegrowth]

Lots 5N chips available, but we've seen how fast domains can be hoovered up. These could be all gone over a few days, at any time.