Here are today’s snippets about the domain name industry (and other stuff) that I hope you find interesting.
What’s Happening On The Drops
The massive cull of domains by a large portfolio holder continues. Not that many of these are being picked up on Netfleet – though I imagine there are plenty being sold for minimum prices on Drop and Domain Shield (far cheaper than Netfleet when it comes to these).
Yesterday there were 26 contested domains on Netfleet – they had a good day winning 25 and losing only 1.
Highlight of the day was a hyphenated domain – car-insurance.com.au for $970 +/+ (bid on Drop was $707). Once upon a time, a domain like this would have easily sold for mid 4 figures – if not higher.
My bargain of the day was wyi.com.au for $1 on Drop (plus reg fees).
Domain Disputes In NZ
NZ has its own unique Dispute Resolution Service (based in part on UK system). This is totally different to our auDRP.
Whereas a complainant in Australia (and the dot com world as well) has to succeed on three levels in order to get a domain transferred to them, in NZ the following applies:
The DRS requires complainants to show that ‘on the balance of probabilities’ they:
- have rights to a name which is identical or similar to the domain name in dispute; and
- that the current registration is unfair.
There are three stages to the DRS. Disputes can move up a level if a solution hasn’t been reached earlier.
The DRS process begins when a Complaint is lodged:
Level One – is informal mediation, which is a free service.
Level Two – is Expert Determination. Here, the person making the complaint can choose to continue the process by paying a fee of $2,000 + GST.
Level Three – only occurs if an appeal is lodged. At this point, a panel of three Experts are appointed to make a final decision. This costs $7,200 + GST for the person making an appeal.
Tomorrow I am going to highlight a particular case that went to appeal. This domain belongs to an online friend of mine, and so I have some good background info on how he lost a Level 2; but won a Level 3. Even though he “won”, the whole process seemed extremely unfair – plus it was immensely costly for him.
Website Of The Day
How to sell a multi-million dollar home in Bel Air, Los Angeles.
Check out this website. In particular though, have a look at the video. This apparently cost $40k to produce! There again, when the price tag for the house is over $40 million, that is a drop in the ocean. 🙂
This particular “realtor” is at the forefront of using technology to sell real estate.
Good on him!
Motivational Quote Of The Day
Another favourite from my old mate Zig Ziglar.
“Success is the maximum utilization of the ability that you have.” – Zig Ziglar
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If you have any comments on any of the above, as always I’d love to hear them.
And please feel free to hit the buttons below and share with your friends and colleagues!
Thanks. 🙂
I hate hyphenated domain names dot com ones are dropping a dime a dozen now . I am seeing a large number of domain portfolio dropping must be the high cost of renew year in year out or even as easily as forgetting to update credit card details and not checking old email addresses . But some good names do come up
Interesting idea to buy the domain name of a physical property address. Since the domains would generally be available, the cost is insignificant to property value. If a website is included, it could well be an incentive to a prospective buyer if they throw in the domain and website for free. It could be valuable if you mean to resell!
I’ve seen it done a few times here in Australia Alex – but nothing as classy as that video!
It’s interesting that if netregistry or drop we’re to increase fees to push domain portfolios to expire then those registries with drop catching platforms are the beneficiaries.
Example….Netregistry, netfleet, melbit…are in alliance, make one wonder …..
Great link to an amazing property – the video is very well done.
Reading between the lines the large portfolio owner is Domain Active.
The domains that are dropping now would be the among the initial batch registered in 2008 – from recollections initially around 14K domains (trimmed back to about 10K over the years), all based on available search metrics (global, not AU) and dictionary words. Not the best way to build a portfolio and yes, a lot of them should not have been registered in the first place.
However, it must have been a lot of work to decide what to drop – if it’s been done on just metrics there could be opportunity. There have been a few bargains for sure… some of which have been picked up in the drops, and some that have dropped all the way through and have been available for registration.
It would be interesting to find out how much fat is going to be trimmed – there could well be quite a few more bargains…
@Andrew, I just loved that video. I notice they haven’t sold the property as yet, but what a great marketing initiative.
As for those domain portfolio holder, you are correct!
I’d hate to be in the position of working out what to keep, and what to let go. 😉