What will domains sell for at auction?
This week Public Interest Registry, the non-profit that runs .org, announced auctions for 85 one and two character .org domain names. The domains will be auctioned through Go Daddy and eNom in what the company dubs “Project94”.
Although basically anyone can bid on the domains, PIR’s pitch to ICANN to release the short domains said that bidders will have to be “committed to building out the domain name with a sound marketing and branding strategy, including a strong focus on quality, creativity and the desire to launch the site in a timely manner.”
(It’s worth noting that in all auctions I’m aware of with this sort of restriction, the rules were never strongly enforced.)
A domain industry colleague just emailed me asking how much I expect these domains to sell for. It’s a good question. I think there will be a wide range based on the character combinations.
But why not tap the wisdom of the domain crowd? Please answer the two questions below: what will the typical price be for a 1 letter .org? 2 letter .org? For the purpose of these polls, consider only one and two letter .org domains, not ones with digits in them.
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I just saw that Elliot did a similar poll for one character .org yesterday. We have widely different selection points 🙂
http://www.elliotsblog.com/what-are-single-letter-org-domain-names-worth-2525
The attitude that Domainers are not welcome perpetuates the bias and negative connotations associated with domain investing.
Now, even the registries and registrars attempt to label domain investing as evil or greedy …yet they are doing the exact same thing by attempting to eliminate the entrepreneurs that take the risk of investing in domian names and keeping the market to them$elve$.
If they think it is evil for domainers to profit from investing in domains, they should charge the standard reg fee and hold a lottery to determine who gets the domian. Only the winner pays the standard reg fee and gets the domain.
Or, if they are really so concerned that a business is quickly created on the domain, they could take business proposals and have potential registrants submit their business plans and document their ability to finance the desired development. They could award the domain to whoever they determine will make the best use of it.
There are many investment vehicles.
Those people who are willing to take the risk can invest in land, gold, art, jewels, stocks, antiques, small businesses …and yes, even domains.
Investing in domains in no more “evil” than investing in anything else.
This “holier than thou” attitude that says it is acceptable for a registrar or registry to command high prices for domains; but not individual investors, does absolutely nothing for the industry.
gold, stocks, land – doesn’t matter if owner prices too high, buyer has equally satisfactory alternatives.
problem with domain speculation is that each domain is unique. If buyer has desire for particular domain, seller may be able to extract a price well above fair market value.
Domain sellers maximise revenue by refusing fair offers and accepting only excessively generous ones.
Now, even the registries and registrars attempt to label domain investing as evil or greedy …yet they are doing the exact same thing by attempting to eliminate the entrepreneurs that take the risk of investing in domian names and keeping the market to them$elve$.
well said
hi, just wanted to let you know, that your poll (in post) is broken, I mean it doesnt show at all :\
about topic, in 2016 interesting question would be about 1/2 symbol domains with new extensions (.guru, .today). I mean there are hundred of domains available to register, is it wise to register them?
On on side, the are short. On other – they aren’t as popular as .com. org, event .net 🙂
Prescient:
“It’s worth noting that in all auctions I’m aware of with this sort of restriction, the rules were never strongly enforced.”
F.org is a case in point. After being held by 1 or more domain investors, GoDaddy acquired it as part of a portfolio. And only after going through these speculative resellers (individuals and big companies) did it finally sell to an end user.
So it was either naïve or disingenuous of PIR to add this requirement. Will assume naïve.
I vaguely remember applying for 1 or 2 of these domains, but I don’t think I received any reply. Oh, well.