Most .com domains will either retain their value or increase with the launch of new TLDs.
What will happen to values of .com domain names when new top level domains arrive next year?
They’ll go up or stay the same.
That’s according to the majority of over 1,000 people that answered the question on the 7th annual Domain Name Wire survey.
39% think .com values will increase while 45% say new TLDs will have no effect on .com prices. Only 16% think it will cause .com values to fall.
I’m mostly in the “increase” camp myself. That’s especially true for .com domains that are equivalent to a new TLD, such as what we’ve seen with xxx and .xxx. You also see lots of people start with a .org or .net and then “upgrade” to a .com. You can expect to see a lot of that as well.
Where you might see some softness is in the very long tail of .com.
Speaking of non .com, a greater percentage think new TLDs will reduce the value of domains such as .info and .biz. 31% think you’ll see these values drop, although about the same (30%) think they will go up in value.
The rationale for a drop is an increase in choice. Right now “AustinLawyers” is taken in every major gTLD. If I want the domain (and not the .com) I might have to pay $1,000 for the .info or .biz. But if I can register AustinLawyers.web or AustinLawyers.law for much less, I’ll probably do that.
My personal opinion is that most of these .com alternatives will take a hit, at least in the short run. Over time if new TLDs gain more acceptance then some of the less favored new TLDs (and commercialized ccTLDs) may see some value increase. .Ws comes to mind. (Although I’d gladly sell you my lowly .ws domains now, as I think this is a long shot.)
Domain Lo Mein says
It’ll be a couple to five years before the so-called SEO Gurus/Wizards/Deities/Prodigies, as they like to color themselves as, the ones in the limelight that is, start to parrot each other and take two steps back after one forward to voice in chorus how .com, .org, .tv is the best way, after having gone out on a branch telling clients the new extensions are great, when the truth is most of these clowns know almost nothing to zilch about domains and the right use thereof.
Joe says
@Andrew
“The rationale for a drop is an increase in choice. Right now “AustinLawyers” is taken in every major gTLD. If I want the domain (and not the .com) I might have to pay $1,000 for the .info or .biz. But if I can register AustinLawyers.web or AustinLawyers.law for much less, I’ll probably do that.”
OK, but will .law and .web domain names be as affordable as today’s gTLDs (less than $10)? My feeling is that new gTLDs will cost much more (see .xxx) and so that’s why current gTLDs will actually rise in value.
Andrew Allemann says
@ Joe – from what I’m hearing, a lot of extensions will compete on price. Now things like .law, but generic ones will be forced to. But even if it’s $50, that’s still cheaper than $1,000.
Rich says
The problem i see is that,how many .law can you sell as a registry? 5k? 20k? let’s say 50,000.How can you make money on 50,000? when the take off on a new gTLD is minimum $500k.You need 50,000 law offices to buy into this extension,i think it’s a lot.Look at .xxx the industry is not changing from .com to .xxx.
Same thing will be with .com.Personally i think.com will rise in value.
Andrew Allemann says
@ Rich – .law would be more expensive. If they sold 50,000 at even $25 each that would be 1.25M per year.
On The Record says
The whole gtld concept is flawed as was already nicely demonstrated by .aero, .museum, .cat, .biz, .travel, .jobs, .pro, .tel, mobi, and my favorite, .coop. Keep in mind that these weren’t just random sponsored tld’s as we are anticipating now. To the contrary, these were introduced, sponsored and financially backed by ICANN and were introduced only after numerous studies showed them to be in the highest demand.
Yeah, we know how that story ended. Soon, you will be able to add .XXX to the list.
Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
.FAIL
Teddy says
WRONG WRONG WRONG @Ontherecord
Why? XXX is the biggest industry, and let me tell you. The internet would not be what it is today, without Porn as the key driver Pre 00’s. So you can look at XXX domains in another light, that it will keep on moving forward and I believe these will be sort after, as we shift in internet times.
Anyone after finda.xxx or buya.xxx? Super domains e-mail me.