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This company didn’t want you to dropcatch BoatSecure.com

by — Expired Domains 9 Comments

It was apparently bombarded by auction frontrunners.

Image about BoatSecure.com on BoatSecure.nz website

The company that owns BoatSecure.nz didn’t want anyone to catch BoatSecure.com.

One of the expired domain auctions on DropCatch.com this afternoon was for the domain BoatSecure.com. I was researching the name and looking at other companies using the extension when I came upon a New Zealand company using the domain BoatSecure.nz.

I was surprised to see the image (above) when viewing its site. The company had this message when you clicked through:

We’re acquiring the domain boatsecure.com

The web domain boatsecure.com is soon available for us to purchase and add to our site.

We are first in the queue to purchase.

Message for Drop Catchers

Do not email us with offers to sell, purchase, transfer or auction the domain boatsecure.com on our behalf.

We will not engage with drop catchers.

Registered Trademark ownership

We are the registered trademark owner of BoatSecure

If you acquire the domain boatsecure.com and then offer to sell to us we will refuse your offer.

Further, we will ENFORCE OUR RIGHTS and DEMAND transfer of the domain boatsecure.com to us at YOUR COST

One Bid

We understand the process for acquiring a deleted domain.

We have registered with a domain drop catch site to purchase boatsecure.com when it is deleted.  Don’t waste your time, effort or money to beat us.

We will not take part in a bidding process at a higher price.

We have made one offer to purchase boatsecure.com when it drops.  We will not take part in a bidding process or auction – if we lose at the drop we can wait.

No Auction

We will not take part in auctions for boatsecure.com

We will not bid a higher price to acquire the domain boatsecure.com   As registered trademark owner we understand our rights to own and use our trademark and associated domains.  If you purchase the domain and park the domain or create a page with either an unrelated or related services we will enforce our rights.

If you take part in an auction to acquire the boatsecure.com domain with expectation to resell to us at a higher price, this will fail.  We will not purchase the domain from a reseller.

We wish to acquire boatsecure.com and WE CAN WAIT

Our present domain is well known and performs excellent with SEO.  We don’t need boatsecure.com to continue our success

We Can Wait

Our present domain is well known and performs excellent with SEO.  We don’t need boatsecure.com to continue our success

WE CAN WAIT.  Anyone else that purchases boatsecure.com is wasting their money and time.  We will enforce our rights to transfer ownership of boatsecure.com to us AT YOUR COST.

Move On – Nothing to See

Domain buying, selling and transfers are an amazing part of the process of website operation.  We recognise this is a legitimate area of business and trading.

However, there are also rules and regulations of who has rights to use a trademark and web domain.  We don’t want to take part in the investment strategy of domain drop catchers and parking.

We wish you well in your strategy, but it’s not how we operate.

One thing that’s apparent when viewing this message is that the company must have been bombarded by frontrunners trying to sell the name to it.

What’s not apparent is what the company actually plans to do about someone else winning the name in the auction. It says it won’t buy it but will enforce its rights. Yet it says it also doesn’t really need the name.

We’ll see what happens. lawyer0247 won the auction for $476.

Here come the $50 closeouts

by — Expired Domains 8 Comments

GoDaddy Auction closeouts now start at $50.

Screenshot of GoDaddy closeouts showing $50 starting bids

The first day of closeouts is now $50.

It’s February, and that means GoDaddy has changed the pricing for closeout domain name auctions.

Expired domain names that don’t receive bids move to closeouts, where a Dutch auction begins. Previously, these auctions began at $11 and dropped by $1 a day until they hit $5.

Now, auctions begin at $50, then $40, $30, $11, and $5. Buyers also pay the domain renewal fee.

The new pricing should better capture the value of domains, as many buyers avoid bidding in the regular auctions because it attracts the attention of other bidders. In theory, it could also give those without API access and development resources a better chance of getting domains if bulk buyers wait until the price drops.

But that might not happen. On our Domain Name Wire Live Clubhouse chat yesterday, Shane Cultra said he doesn’t think it will change behavior. He thinks the same people who buy at $11 will now buy at $50.

Only time will tell.

 

GoDaddy to change closeout auction pricing

by — Expired Domains 32 Comments

Dutch auction will start at higher prices to deter closeout sniping.

GoDaddy is changing its closeout auction pricing structure in a move that will upset some domain investors and make others happy.

When a domain name on GoDaddy’s expired auction platform doesn’t sell by the end date, it moves to closeouts. Closeouts follow a Dutch auction format in which the domain is $11 (plus renewal) on the first day and decreases by one dollar per day to $5. The domain proceeds to deletion if no one buys it by the final day.

As expired domain auctions have become more popular, bidders have refrained from bidding on domains with no other bids at GoDaddy Auctions and hoped to snap them up the moment they went into closeout. This resulted in a sort of closeout drop catching process similar to when drop catching services ping the registry when domains delete.

People with access to GoDaddy’s legacy API have been able to take advantage of this opportunity, but bidders without API access and computing power/development resources have been left out. Smaller domain investors, in particular, have felt disadvantaged.

The new pricing structure should give domain investors without special access a better opportunity to get domains in closeouts. The new pricing (effective February 1) will be:

Day 1: $50

Day 2: $40

Day 3: $30

Day 4: $11

Day 5: $5

It may seem counterintuitive that the closeouts start at more than the starting bid price of regular auctions, but the reality is that if you place an $11 bid on GoDaddy Auctions, you’re likely to see the price quickly soar above $50.

It will be interesting to see how this changes behavior.

Web.com has strong month for aftermarket domain sales

by — Expired Domains 2 Comments

The company’s auction services had a great end to the year. Here’s what sold.

The word "Sold" in big letters in quote on red background

Web.com’s aftermarket platforms NameJet and SnapNames combined to deliver 128 sales of $2,000 or more last month. That totaled over $700,000, making it a strong month for higher-dollar sales on the platforms. The platforms sold 33% more $2k+ domains in December than in November and the average selling price was 32% higher.

Here are some of the sales that popped out to me:

Huodong.com $35,001 – This term means activity, or to exercise.

Wonderment.com $25,388 – The domain is now in the hands of the e-commerce logistics company that uses Wonderment.cc.

Width.com $25,000 – It’s a common word, and we can all spell it. But I’m curious what readers think about the spelling test. If you were to tell someone your business was at width.com, do you think they’d understand what you just said? The buyer has it listed for $85,000.

Fiancee.com $23,000 – I wasn’t sure if this was a typo at first. Fiancee is the feminine version of Fiance in French.

Curtaincall.com $6,538 – Such a great domain for anything theater-related. There are some companies in the space that already use “curtain call” in their names and domains.

Beepers.com $4,999 – The 1990s called and it wants its domain back.

OutofPocket.com $3,500 – I like this as a financial name.

MagicFormula.com $2,638 – A nice common two-word phrase.

Megaphones.com $2,600 – How much more valuable would the singular version be?

Here’s a full list of sales $2,000 or more:

DOMAINNAMESITETYPESALES AMOUNT
huodong.comNamejetDeleting35001
wonderment.comNamejetExpiring25388
goldcurrency.comNamejetExpiring25166
width.comNamejetExpiry25000
fiancee.comNamejetExpiring23000
covcare.comNamejetExpiring16756
derms.comNamejetExpiring16621
firstmark.comNamejetExpiring16602
learnnc.orgSnapNamesExpiring16505
guhantai.comSnapNamesDeleting14523
esourceresearch.orgNamejetExpiring14000
henryjames.comNamejetExpiring12500
megawin.comNamejetExpiring11611
i-cias.comNamejetExpiring11027
luminescence.comNamejetExpiry9138
snuggles.comNamejetExpiry8888
propertyvaluation.comSnapNamesExpiring8820
bendover.comNamejetExpiring8500
lietaer.comNamejetExpiring7750
eventa.comSnapNamesExpiring7502
ezio.comNamejetExpiry7350
homeparty.comSnapNamesDeleting7306
fundsnetservices.comNamejetExpiring7251
customshirt.comNamejetExpiring6808
buildingbrands.comNamejetExpiring6722
ayoub.comNamejetExpiring6666
dicai.comSnapNamesDeleting6579
curtaincall.comNamejetDeleting6538
nivia.comNamejetExpiring6099
climatiseurs.comNamejetExpiring6088
toolbox.ioNamejetDeleting5808
onlineeducation.orgNamejetExpiring5800
wovo.orgNamejetExpiring5750
allusa.comNamejetExpiring5549
chinadream.comNamejetDeleting5506
adoptioninstitute.orgSnapNamesExpiring5472
quill.ioNamejetDeleting5349
bandwidthcontroller.comSnapNamesExpiring5251
vermonthomes.comNamejetExpiring5105
carecompare.comNamejetExpiring5099
yourworkforcecenter.comSnapNamesExpiring5056
beepers.comNamejetDirect Lister4999
thearchive.comSnapNamesExpiring4810
june29.comNamejetExpiring4600
usafishing.comNamejetExpiring4600
autofinancial.comNamejetDeleting4544
mediashare.comNamejetDeleting4500
personale.comNamejetDeleting4499
sparkchange.comNamejetDeleting4477
liquidsky.comNamejetExpiring4400
vitam.comNamejetDeleting4231
superlatives.comNamejetExpiring4222
seabuckthorn.comNamejetDeleting4202
betslip.comSnapNamesDeleting4166
commentators.comNamejetDeleting4089
braza.comNamejetExpiring4062
umbrella.ioSnapNamesDeleting3933
madis.comNamejetExpiring3915
unident.comNamejetExpiring3906
hcad.comSnapNamesExpiring3829
liveball.comNamejetExpiring3821
everydaypet.comSnapNamesExpiring3595
uniquetouch.comNamejetExpiring3523
outofpocket.comNamejetExpiring3500
smyl.comSnapNamesExpiring3500
insightful.ioSnapNamesDeleting3434
inav.comNamejetExpiring3433
corestrength.comNamejetDeleting3412
floorlamps.comNamejetExpiring3336
inmet.comNamejetExpiring3310
teamdata.comNamejetDeleting3306
cafedeluxe.comNamejetExpiring3300
refresheverything.comSnapNamesDeleting3260
heron.ioSnapNamesDeleting3208
binarytrade.comNamejetDeleting3188
meec.comNamejetExpiring3125
facemodel.comNamejetDeleting3120
valais.comSnapNamesDeleting3000
vx.ioNamejetDeleting2988
wannatalk.comSnapNamesDeleting2956
bestcontractors.comNamejetExpiring2902
naturalsupplement.comNamejetExpiring2892
rapport.ioNamejetDeleting2888
alazhar.comNamejetExpiring2723
sail.ioSnapNamesDeleting2656
thewatchstore.comNamejetExpiring2655
mydiem.comSnapNamesDeleting2655
magicformula.comNamejetExpiry2638
compatability.comNamejetExpiring2606
proceed.ioNamejetDeleting2601
megaphones.comNamejetExpiry2600
stmarksbookshop.comNamejetExpiring2600
kinderstart.comSnapNamesExpiring2600
zenica.comNamejetExpiring2555
toysnjoys.comNamejetDirect Lister2550
polp.comNamejetDirect Lister2501
fisma.comNamejetExpiry2500
itzone.comSnapNamesExpiring2480
ucsf-ahp.orgNamejetExpiring2450
accessnewage.comSnapNamesExpiring2450
gummy.ioNamejetDeleting2449
powerful.netNamejetExpiring2383
structuredsettlements.orgSnapNamesExpiring2350
kevincostner.comSnapNamesExpiring2279
premise.ioSnapNamesDeleting2257
noche.orgSnapNamesExpiring2251
angle.netNamejetExpiring2220
marinesystems.comNamejetExpiring2206
abclife.comNamejetExpiring2201
kempersnowboards.comSnapNamesExpiring2195
partyamerica.comNamejetExpiring2138
detail.ioNamejetDeleting2100
wellcon.comNamejetDeleting2100
motherindia.comNamejetExpiring2070
berlin.ioSnapNamesDeleting2069
lexicorient.comNamejetExpiring2061
look3.orgNamejetExpiring2055
wardy.comNamejetDeleting2052
i-luv.comNamejetExpiring2051
modernsilver.comNamejetExpiring2050
educationarena.comSnapNamesDeleting2050
eselling.comNamejetExpiring2042
bingochips.comNamejetExpiry2000
paymentswallet.comNamejetExpiry2000
ellettbrothers.comNamejetExpiring2000
ibmag.comNamejetExpiring2000
actionmarketing.comSnapNamesExpiring2000
mcbridelaw.comSnapNamesExpiring2000

How I decide which domains to renew vs. delete

by — Expired Domains 6 Comments

Some helpful tips for making the keep/delete decision.

Picture of a hand giving a thumbs down and a hand giving a thumbs up

I like to spend the final week of the year preparing for the next. This includes reviewing the domains in my portfolio that expire over the next 6-7 months and renewing the ones I want to keep. I ran this exercise last week and documented my process in the hope that it’s helpful to readers.

I currently have about 1,700 domains, which means about 150 are up for renewal in a given month. It takes time to review 6 months’ worth of expiring domains to make decisions, but it’s time well spent.

Here are some resources I use to determine which domains to keep/delete and my thought process.

Afternic leads: If you have a lot of domains at Afternic, they probably get quite a few leads that you never hear about. The buyers don’t end up being qualified, or their offer is nowhere near your floor price. But knowing that a domain receives offers is important when making keep/drop decisions. You probably don’t want to drop a domain that receives real offers, even if they are only $500. Ask your Afternic account manager for a leads report for your portfolio.

Parking revenue: Parking isn’t what it used to be, but the data is still relevant. Some domains (even new top level domains) can still earn their keep from parking alone.

dotDB: dotDB lets you quickly see how many extensions a domain is registered in, as well as how many other domains the keyword appears in. Search for your second level domain to find out how popular it is in domain names. A paid version will show you if the domains resolve to websites.

Estibot: Knock it all you want, but Estibot is a great tool for figuring out if you’re overlooking a valuable aspect of your domains.

After reviewing all of this data, I ask these questions:

1. Will this domain ever sell for a lot of money? Or is the pool of buyers (or their financial wherewithal) too small to make a difference?

2. Was the domain previously registered in a lot of extensions but the owner(s) let them expire? Perhaps I thought there was a lot of demand for the second level domain, but it was really one person who let all of the alternatives expired.

3. Is the singular/plural version of this domain available for hand registration? If so, the domain might not be worth much.

4. Did I reduce the price substantially last year and it still didn’t sell? If it was priced below $500 and didn’t sell, it’s probably time to cut it.

5. Does this domain have a big/important/valuable subject matter, but it wouldn’t ever make sense for a company to use this domain for a website? The two aren’t always correlated.

6. Have I sold domains that are similar to this one? Some domainers invest in ‘themes.’ If none of my domains within that theme have sold, the market is telling you something. Likewise, have I received inquiries/leads on any of the similar domains?

7. How long ago was this domain registered? If it was a long time ago, resist the urge to think about sunk costs. Why hasn’t it sold?

I ended up turning off auto-renew on about 80 domain names, so roughly 10% of the domains due to renew in the next 6 months. This is more than usual. But I figure the cost of renewing domains is only going up, and perhaps I should have cut some of these domains years ago.

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