DNJ SEDO article

[DaddyHalbucks]

DNJ has a funny article about SEDO==>

http://www.dnjournal.com/columns/cover040504.htm

Although, I don't think it was intended to be a humor piece.

It has so much exuberance, mostly by the company management, that it seems to mask a disaster in the making.

It talks about how they are adding staff of various nationalities and expanding around the globe in their quest to be another GreatDomains.

SEDO's Bentley: "..the secondary market needs a single dominant player to bring everyone together, to become the eBay of domain names, and we will be doing whatever it takes to become that dominant player!”

His analogy is poor. eBay is a diverse marketplace with thousands of products from A to Z. The domain market by contrast is a much smaller and limited specialty market.

Bentley is quoted pushing the pipe dream of the alt TLDs. He almost sounds like a carnival barker in his pitch to domainers:

“From the comfort of their couch they can use Sedo to market their domains around the world, where that new TLD, odd country code, or meaningless phrase might suddenly take on new value...”

He even compares domains to stock: "“It’s like investing in a stock,” he said. "You receive a regular dividend (the parking earnings) but also have the chance for a big payoff at the end when you sell your domain/ stock."

But in all the euphoria of the alt TLDs, Bentley trips himself, “In the end I think we showed that a company can indeed be successful developing on a .us domain name."

He then winds himself like a pretzel to explain why they had no choice but to pay $80,000 for the .COM!

LOL.

Is there a slight contradiction there?

Near the end of the article Bentley is quoted as saying: "..we’ve become a community of over 150,000 domain professionals (members) and that figure increases by around 7,500 new members each month!”

Do those numbers sound ridiculous on their face? In my opinion, they are. There are only maybe 1,000 domainers in the world who are true professionals, and even that number may be generous. The other 149,000 folks might be a nightmarish drain on customer service reps.

In fairness to the author, the article does take a critical look in this paragraph:

"Of course a wise businessman will also keep an eye out for any potential downside. Bentley said “I think the most significant risk to the current growth is that the market still does not behave like a mature market. There is little agreement on the true value of domain names—you still see some people asking 7 figures for worthless domain names, and others going for less than they would generate in 1 month parked at Sedo!”

Uh... YEA! There is great opportunity, but also great risk.

In my opinion, the only thing that may save SEDO is their domain parking system, although I think the other stuff may drag them down anyway. Their recognition of the value of, and system to capitalize on, domain traffic is encouraging.

However, add up these factors:

*Domain aftermarket, which by their own admission is immature
*AfterNIC/ GreatDomains wannabee
*Alternative TLDs
*Possible get rich quick appeal to newbies
*Possible sucky unprofessional customers who may be attracted, all looking for a get rich quick scheme
*What appears to be a young staff
*Outside investment/ possible control
*Low margin domain registrations
*Expenses of expansion of websites
*Expenses of a "united nations" staff
*Expenses of managing global offices
*Expenses of a new Boston office --opened days ago-- in one of the priciest cities in the US
*A name that may sound an awful lot like "Sado," as in "Sadomasochism."
DICTIONARY: "the derivation of pleasure from the infliction of physical or mental pain either on others or on oneself."
*The possible uncertainty of some US customers in doing business with a company that has a foreign parent
*No decisive proprietary technology that I can see
*No keyword rich domain for the SEs or for garnering type-ins


.. and what do you get?

A train wreck waiting to happen?

Someone should start a thread where we can place bets on how long SEDO might last before it goes belly up --I'd bet less than 1 year-- but that is just my opinion.

[Banned: bidawinner]

We'll lets see Hal, they built the company up to 1 million is sales a month on ccTLDS BEFORE they ever went .com ..

You are missing the point ..they built the company ON ccTLDS.. It wasnt UNTIL after Sedo was successful that the .com was worth anything..

Train wreck in less than a year.. I'll take that bet .. !

[Banned: bidawinner]

"Sedo was riding right on Car Financing's bumper and wound up collecting $45,951 (€25,000) for Hardcore.co.uk. That is a hefty hunk of change for a UK country code domain! "

http://www.dnjournal.com/domainsales.htm

[sasquatch]

It was a company that didn't even exist 4 years ago. Fact of the matter is... they are world's number one destination for domain selling/buying. And to achieve that by rising out of dot com bust, is even more so mind boggling... And to achieve that from Europe (as opposed to... let's say a Silicion Valley) is even more mind boggling... And to achive that on .de & .co.uk & .us extensions, is even more mind boggling... and so on, and on, and on...

[actnow]

Hal, It sounds like you have a gripe with them? And, you are not wishing them well.

I don't think we know enough about the "inside workings" to make a negative judgement
about their long term potential of success.

(And, just for the record. I don't have any names listed at Sedo.)

[sasquatch]

"However, add up these factors:

*AfterNIC/ GreatDomains wannabee

> So what? I don't see you consider yourself wannabe of some more succesfull domainer that might have came b4 you?<

*Alternative TLDs

> What about them?<

*Possible get rich quick appeal to newbies

> Isn't that the same appeal you try to project when you're selling your own domains?<

*Possible sucky unprofessional customers who may be attracted, all looking for a get rich quick scheme

> It's a free market. Deal with it.<

*What appears to be a young staff

> So what? Is this a reverse age discrimination? Age has nothing to do with domain "business". In fact, if these "young people" listened to "old people" like you, they should have never bothered to even exist, let alone to get where they are now. Am I right or am I right?<

*Expenses of expansion of websites

> Peanuts<

*Expenses of a "united nations" staff

> What exactly is "united nations" staff, and how does that play into your negative feeling?<

*Expenses of managing global offices

> What about benefits you get in return?<

*Expenses of a new Boston office --opened days ago-- in one of the priciest cities in the US

> They opened an office, not an office block.<

*A name that may sound an awful lot like "Sado," as in "Sadomasochism."
DICTIONARY: "the derivation of pleasure from the infliction of physical or mental pain either on others or on oneself."

> Ridiculous! Following that logic nobody should be named Dick, because of the striking similarity to a "large, throbbing male member" <

*The possible uncertainty of some US customers in doing business with a company that has a foreign parent

> Too funny. In the case you didn't get a notice in the mail, this is 21 century business, and everything, and I mean everything is done globally.<

*No decisive proprietary technology that I can see

> Maybe they will read this, and will satisfy your point - tomorrow? You never know what bright ideas, this obviously bright people, can get one day<

[DaddyHalbucks]

cappuccino wrote:

It was a company that didn't even exist 4 years ago. Fact of the matter is... they are world's number one destination for domain selling/buying. And to achieve that by rising out of dot com bust, is even more so mind boggling... And to achieve that from Europe (as opposed to... let's say a Silicion Valley) is even more mind boggling... And to achive that on .de & .co.uk & .us extensions, is even more mind boggling... and so on, and on, and on...
+++++++++++++

All good, but it feels like we are back to the future.

Now, they seem to be waddling like a DOTBOMB, puffing their feathers like a DOTBOMB, and even quacking like a DOTBOMB.

[DaddyHalbucks]

actnow wrote:

Hal, It sounds like you have a gripe with them? And, you are not wishing them well.
++++++++++++++

Incorrect. I have absolutely 0 experience with them.

[DaddyHalbucks]

cappuccino wrote:

> Ridiculous! Following that logic nobody should be named Dick, because of the striking similarity to a "large, throbbing male member" <
++++++++++++

If DICK is going to open a global business in his name, he may want to seriously consider changing it..

[sasquatch]

Originally Posted by DaddyHalbucks

All good, but it feels like we are back to the future.

Now, they seem to be waddling like a DOTBOMB, puffing their feathers like a DOTBOMB, and even quacking like a DOTBOMB.

I'd say they smell, feel and act more like another great bubble, than the dotbomb. Given, all bubbles are bound to burst, but that's why you could enjoy them while they last.

In fact, one of the most popular bumper stickers in Sillicon Valley is:

"Please God, just give us one more bubble."

[sasquatch]

Originally Posted by DaddyHalbucks

cappuccino wrote:

> Ridiculous! Following that logic nobody should be named Dick, because of the striking similarity to a "large, throbbing male member" <
++++++++++++

If DICK is going to open a global business in his name, he may want to seriously consider changing it..

Wrong. I'd say any "adult" domaineer will attest to that

[NameTower]

"Hello from Sedo! As most of you know Sedo's parking servers
were partially down for 15 hours over the weekend (Friday Night - Saturday).
This was due to an unexpected error, after weekly maintenance on Friday,
that caused significant problems with the tracking of the views and clicks
on your domains. We apologize most sincerely for this mistake and promise
to do our upmost to avoid such mistakes in the future. A 24 hour monitoring
system will be implemented in the next few days that insures such problems
are caught and dealt with immediately.

In the interim we have devised a compensation plan to ensure that none
of our users are penalized for this mistake. We have duplicated all of the
views and clicks that occurred on Thursday again on Saturday. Thus, we have
counted your earnings for this past Thursday twice to ensure that all are
compensated for the missing Saturday traffic. This amount has automatically
been credited to your account and requires no action on your part.

Again we apologize for the inconvenience that this may have caused you and
thank you for your patience in dealing with us. Should you have any questions
or comments please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Daniel H. Law
US Country Manager"

That's pretty fair of them,

[think]

I've yet to find a domain auction site that has as many parts of the domain market in place as I have with Sedo. Though I haven't made a sale there, the ppc incentives are top notch and alluring. I also think their attempt to go global is innovative, perhaps abit ahead of the game, but I'd rather be ahead and make a few mistakes than behind in this game and try to catch up.

There are aspects I find more attactive at Afternic and I think afternic is better for midcap American sales, but the bottom line is Sedo has a complete package that is unparalleled in the industry for top domains in ALL top level tlds.

............................

[mole]

Daddy wrote:-

DNJ has a funny article about SEDO==>
++++++++++++

You sure got a weird sense of humor I thought the article was excellent. People can say what they like, that's democracy for you. I think most of us are intelligent enough to take the best, and throw the rest.

[Leading Names]

Originally Posted by DaddyHalbucks

actnow wrote:

Hal, It sounds like you have a gripe with them? And, you are not wishing them well.
++++++++++++++

Incorrect. I have absolutely 0 experience with them.

LOL… maybe you should actually give them a try before you criticise? d

[seeker]

So far, I have nothing but praise for Sedo.
It is the first time I see such meaningless attempts against them, especially from someone who claims not to have any experience with them.

This is a global economy, and the internet is International.
They have done well, and my bet is that they will continue to do well.

[DaddyHalbucks]

I was told in this thread that it appears that I have experience with SEDO, and therefore, that I must be nursing a grudge.

Now, because it comes out that I DON'T have experience with them, I am also being criticized.

I get lynched --either way.

My experience with SEDO --or more accurately my lack thereof-- is irrelevant to an analysis of their business.

[Steen]

If DICK is going to open a global business in his name, he may want to seriously consider changing it..

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...e=UTF-8&q=dick

First three results appear to be businesses with the name "DICK" in them.

[seeker]

Originally Posted by DaddyHalbucks

My experience with SEDO --or more accurately my lack thereof-- is irrelevant to an analysis of their business.

Not trying to critise. Just point out that to do a fair analysis, especially in such a business, it is best to get as much facts as possible.
And if it is possible in an analysis to get hands on experience, which I assume it is since you do have domains, it would be better to optimize the fact gathering process before concluding the analysis.
Also, i found that the data that your conclusion was based on, was lacking on sound facts for an internet/domain related business assesment such as sedo's.
Especially their opening offices in various parts, their being non US based...etc..., their expantion plans...
Surely, analysis does not equal guess work? :huh:

All above said in good faith.

[sasquatch]

Originally Posted by DaddyHalbucks

If DICK is going to open a global business in his name, he may want to seriously consider changing it..

Yah....

tell that to your vice president