Dotster just launched a new coupon code for FREE WhoIs privacy. The coupon is only valid from 12:01AM PST Sept 1 to 11:59PM PST Sept 4.

Enter coupon code STOPSPAM at checkout for free WhoIs privacy on up to 100 domains per order. Click here to go to DotsterM.

Communicate.com (OTCBB: CMNN.ob) just released some comparable stock returns for its business versus other profitable internet companies. Communicate.com invests in valuable domains and turns them into functional sites, such as importers.com. Marchex (MCHX) on the list is also a domain name company. As you can see the domain name business is a good place to be these days:

CMNN: 303.846%
GOOG: 181.352%
APTM: 94.437%
MCHX: 57.717%
NILE: 25.422%
YHOO: 16.135%
AMZN: 10.907%
EBAY: -7.996%
TZOO: -48.689%
FRGN: -59.016%

*Data according to Bloomberg.com (Aug. 31/05).

The new agreement between ICANN and Verisign to manage the .net registry holds a big surprise: although the initial wholesale price of domains is lowered from $6.00 to $4.25, the price cap is completely removed in January 2007 (see .net pricing timebomb?).

Registrars were given the chance to react to this pricing scheme, and they had a fair number of complaints about the pricing. In a report recently released by ICANN, the registrars gave the following suggestions:

a. The price must be maintained at $4.25 and not changed for the remainder of the contract term of six years.
b. The price could rise over time, limited by a fixed escalation percentage (10%) and not to exceed $6 per name over the six-year period of the agreement.
c. The price could rise over time, limited by a fixed escalation percentage.
d. It may be acceptable to lift price controls so long as ICANN starts adding TLDs immediately, rapidly and in (relatively) great number in order to create competition.
e. Price controls are somewhat important to registrars in the .NET agreement but ICANN and VeriSign should provide assurances that price controls will be included in the renegotiation of the .COM agreement.

Also, the latest ICANN report says that smaller registrars object to volume pricing for .net domains, which would make it harder for small registrars to enter the market.

I recently decided to add a list of about 300 domains to both Afternic and Sedo, the two leading domain sales sites. I’ve sold domains through both of the systems, and find that just listing domains there can spur interest.

The usual process for adding domains to each service involves entering details one by one…by one…by one. If you’re entering 300 domains, it’s going to take you a couple days. Fortunately, each site offers a service that lets you add domains in bulk via a spreadsheet.

Afternic
Afternic lets you download a spreadsheet with your existing domains, add your new domains, and upload the spreadsheet back to Afternic’s servers. The spreadsheet has 9 fields:

1. Domain
2. Minimum offer
3. Reserve (you can leave blank if you don’t want a reserve)
4. Asking price (leave blank if you don’t have a set price)
5. Top level category
6. Second level category
7. Parking status
8. Description
9. Traffic (leave blank)

There’s a simple category list that makes adding the top level and second level categories fairly easy. It took me about 2 hours to add the details for all of the domains. Uploading the list is automatic–you don’t have to wait for an Afternic representative to review the spreadsheet. The system tells you if any domains were rejected from listing. There were two types of rejections I received: (1) if someone had already listed the domain for sale in the system; and (2), if I listed a domain in the “one word” category that Afternic couldn’t find in the dictionary. I was able to clear up the duplication errors with a simple note to Afternic support. As for the “one word” category, I changed the category on most of the domains. I was a bit bummed that it didn’t recognize some true words, like my Ethernet.ws domain.

Sedo
Sedo’s spreadsheet is fairly similar, except that someone at Sedo has to manually add your domains. It’s not added instantly like at Afternic. You complete a spreadsheet and e-mail it to Sedo’s support team. Also, the spreadsheet isn’t specific to your account like Afternic. At Afternic, the spreadsheet you download has all of your existing listings in it. Sedo’s spreadsheet is blank, which proves to be a real pain if you already have a number of domains listed with them (you don’t want to submit them again).

The Sedo spreadsheet has 7 fields:
1. Domain
2. Language
3. Price
4. Currencty
5-7: Categories

The categories fields are fairly simple, as you just need to enter a 1-3 digit code for each category. The spreadsheet includes a reference of all of the codes.

The bottom line: Afternic is better for adding domains in bulk!
Why? After spending hours on the Sedo spreadsheet and sending it in to support, it still hasn’t been added to the system. That was on August 11! I emailed support, and they said they have no record of receiving the spreadsheet. But they requested I send it to them and they’ll get to it by the beginning of next week. Also, Afternic’s spreadsheet includes your existing domains at Afternic already.

In a world of instant results, Sedo’s system doesn’t fit the bill. How about a round of applause for Afternic?

According to the “Recent Sales” section of Afternic.com, EQ.com has sold to $100,000 to user name mgleiss. This wasn’t the first offer for the domain, but previous offers didn’t amount to more than $21,000. Hopefully the escrow will go through.

EQ.com is a huge sale, but Afternic has sold some other great domains today. DirectFax.com sold for $10,500 and several other domains sold for over $1,000.