.Rich zone file only has 22 names in it.
Last week the .rich top level domain name quietly launched in general availability.
And I mean quietly.
.Rich registry I-Registry’s website is still promoting the January launch of the .rich sunrise. There’s no mention of registrars carrying the domain, either. I can only find a handful of registrars supporting the domain.
Oh, and it comes with a steep price tag: about two grand a year.
That’s not a typo. IP Mirror is offering .rich domains for $1,899 a year. 101domain.com wants $2,599.
The net result is only 22 domains have been registered to date. That’s how many are in the zone file, so it’s possible there are a few more without nameservers.
Rich people are not registering .rich domains to flaunt their wealth as I-Registry had hoped. Instead, a handful of brands that have registered their names in every extension they can have stepped up to the table.
Samsung has gone a bit further, registering the names of some of its key executives (e.g. leekunhee.rich).
I can’t envision a rich person registering one of these to show off. But maybe Paris Hilton will and they’ll go viral in Hollywood and 50 people will register them.
Maybe.
Is this the worst new TLD launch to date? From a size perspective it appears so. But if the sunrise price was anywhere near the general availability price, it’s possible the registry has pulled in a good $25,000. That beats a registry that sold 1,000 names at $15 a pop.
I-Registry is apparently also launching .onl on Thursday. It’s short for .online. I don’t think it will get much more revenue out of the gate than .rich.
rich.sucks two of the worst in the same phrase
They really thought 180k for an application on dot rich was going to pay off with its business model based on flaunting?
They make the backers of .ceo look ilke geniuses, by comparison.
Still… 22 domain registrations at $2K / year. That’s a total of $40K+ per year (if the registrants renew). In 4-5 years they have the potential to break even with their initial investment and then they’ll need a few more years to pay off their additional costs and they may even start making a tiny profit after that. They won’t be .rich though 😉
Don’t forget the annual $25,000 ICANN fee per TLD…
Can the registry really expect Samsung and other companies to continue wasting roughly $2k per year per domain for the sake of stockpiling unusable names of executives in .RICH?
Presumably those companies reevaluate their expenses periodically, and audits would include these.RICH extravagances. How many years before someone in the meeting raises an eyebrow? It only takes one junior accountant to declare the emperor nude.
Or maybe I’m overestimating corporate competence when I imagine them taking a second look. Perhaps their policy is to leak money annually without listening to the splish splash about their feet. If so, what’s a small drip?
At $2,599 a pop it only takes around 70 registration to recoup their initial 185k investment. They know they will never get major volume at low registration fees so they figure there has to be at least another 50 people that will pay the higher cost. They get back the majority of their investment, cut their losses and move on from a bad business decision.
You are just looking at expenses, not overhead, and other consultation fees involved with launching an extension, they have more than a simple application fee into this. Right now, it really depends who is consulting you, and what they charge, if the consultant takes 10% of everything registered, they will say go ahead, and register every extension for protection. As more information comes out, they will drop these lame extensions. No way a corporation can register 2000 extensions as brand protection, it is absolutely crazy.
@Robbie
Obviously. That is why I said they get back the majority of their investment.
Any business that can be launched and fail but still be able to recoup any of the investment than you are doing really well.
If they got 22 fools to register this lame extension than over the course of the next year they are bound to get 50 more fools.
It’s actually 21 domains so far. You must take out nic.rich.
And as Robbie said the cost for each new gtld application is more than 500k if you only have a couple new gtlds.
And I think that the wholesale price is about $1500 so that makes us about $31,500. If nothing changes they will make their money back: never.
They have to pay for the ICANN fee, ongoing office and company costs including salaries, backend fees etc. etc.
And even if the get 100 suckers to register this stupid new gtld they would be making just enough to support a couple of employees each year. Is this what new gtlds are about? Destroying a new gtld just to make 100k per year if you are lucky?
gives new meaning to stinking.rich
die.rich works on multiple levels here
How do you know how many domains are registered in a given zone?
Wish list:
Filthy.Rich
Richie.Rich
MakeMe.Rich
I’m.Rich/Bitch
BC.Rich
I am totally going to buy Minecraft.Rich
I’m happy with guru TLD. Just registered korat.guru, nice & pretty cheap. With 25$ per year its cost a bit too much for personal stuff and very reasonable for any with biz targets
Most of the new Gtlds have a Crazy business model on their “premium” domains. People don’t mind paying a premium price for a good dot com because they know it is a ONE TIME investment and the renewal is not an issue. New Gtlds wants you to commit to paying same premium price EVERY YEAR as if they are your business partner and that is their cut. I don’t mind seeing some reasonable premium pricing when you register a domain, but all domains should be renewed at general availability prices, and this should be mandated by ICANN.
Face it, y’all. The new gtlds are a HUGE bust.