Registry wants to tap into Chinese buyers with auction on EachNic.com.
.Club is auctioning a number of two letter .club domain names, along with the single letter C.club, at auctions beginning later this month.
Most of the two letter combinations, such as TB.club and DS.club, have $5,000 reserves. A couple have $10,000 reserves and C.club starts at $50,000.
Here are a couple observations about the approach .Club is taking to selling its two character domain names:
1. Hoping to take advantage of Chinese investment demand for short domain names, the company is using the Chinese EachNic.com platform for the auction. EachNic.com promotes the .Club auction entirely in Chinese, so .Club is smartly making concierges available to help non-Chinese buyers navigate the system.
2. .Club is taking a different approach to some other registries, and it will be a good test case.
Donuts, for example, released its one character domains through the registrar channel with annual premium renewals. Most of them were quite affordable (under $1,000/year). Donuts recently released its two character domains through a standard dutch auction Early Access phase via registrars, followed by regular registration through registrars. Most of Donuts’ two character domain names are priced the same as other domains in the extensions.
.Club is in a different position than the portfolio TLD companies like Donuts, however. They’ve built a brand around a single domain name. I don’t think many of the small TLDs could pull off an auction for two letter domain names, but I’m sure some registry operators will keep a close eye on how .Club performs with its auction.
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