1997 and 2017

[onlinestoreca]

In 1997 I bought about 100 .coms through Network Solutions. The names were all average because even at that time most names were taken.

In 2000 I made a decision to drop all of my .coms because I didn't think there would ever be a market for average .com domain names. I saw that the .ca domain names were going to become available to individuals and started purchasing quality .ca domains. In 2003 I started purchasing the .ca domain names heavily because I saw how the .com market was developing.

Today, I could sell every one of my average .coms now for about $2K - $10K each. I can see now that they were not average but good names in today's market. I kick myself every day that I think about my lack of patience.

I still find myself getting frustrated by the slow pace of a developing .ca market. I am even letting a few domains drop, but I am keeping the majority of them. I think of all of the money I have spent buying these damn names and how I am losing money each year, although for the first time, this year I have already made more in sales than my full year renewal fees. I see many people here also talking about their addiction of buying.

In 2017, I will not be looking back and kicking myself in the ass for dropping my .ca domain names. It is rare in life that you get a second chance at something worthwhile. I hope that you fellow addicts don't get too discouraged with your problem and start dropping too many. The market will be there by 2017, it seems a long ways away now, but it's a lot closer than 1997.

Just a few words of encouragement...

[hugegrowth]

Great post, I've always thought the .ca market will follow the same trend as the .com market, just 3 or 4 years behind unless there is a major shake up (like CIRA opening up the extension to non-Canadian presence). Still, every year the .ca market seems to get a little better.

It is always a battle, making those renewal fees and registering new names with potential, deciding which names to drop, and trying to make more in domain sales, affiliate sales, and other domain revenues than you are paying in renewals and registrations each year. Most years my revenues have covered my expenses for domains.

As we see every week and on DNF, if you can make just one or a few big sales it can make up for a lot. I still think there is so much potential in domain names and the internet. My final general thoughts are "buy less - develop more or what you have", and "stick mostly to .com and .ca (or your own country code)".

[DOTCA]

I think I am also guilty of dropping several .coms, since I did not see potential, but jumped the bandwagon on .Cas, since it was where I lived. But I am very positive that the .CA market will soon pick up or at least wake up, with some major sales happening.

Interesting post and I felt I had to add my thoughts also...

[katherine]

I am exactly in the same boat.
Back in 2000 I too thought the opportunities in .com were gone. So my first landrush was .ca.
I landed some decent .ca domains but never sold many.

I should have bought .com domains instead. LLL.com were already bought out but at $200 a pop on ebay, come on

The restrictions are a pain, but the local market is limited too.
#1 is not going to change any time soon, I'm afraid
#2 is not going to change either, even with the healthy flow of immigrants

I have invested a lot in ccTLDs and I still do, I like the European extensions in particular. In Canada .ca is doing OK but nothing spectacular when compared to other countries.
I am nearly done with .ca and moved on to greener pastures

[Provider]

OnlineStore.ca, great post. I want to mention that few years ago when Blogs.ca was sold for $20k or so, I was very surprised. Not that many people would pay that much to get a .ca domain name. Right now we are hearing about more sales, but still we some problems. The market is very small, that means there are very small amounts of domain names actually listed for sale, and there is a very small amounts of the end-users who is looking to buy. To sell a Canadian domain name you will need to sit and wait few years waiting for the offer, develop it, or being pro-active and try to contact the end-user by email or phone. It is a totally different approach from the major extensions.

[DropWizard.com]

Good post! Most of my 98,99 regs went the way of the dodo bird. Extinct! Although I wish I had a couple of them now....

When I did this interview with dnjournal back in 2008 I predicted cctld's would someday surpass the value of .com for a variety of reasons.

http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/low...s/07-24-08.htm

But I've been dismayed at the surprising ability of CIRA to screw the aftermarket up. I put the blame squarely on their protectionist policies and the anti-business attitudes of some of the directors.
Bluntly, CIRA should have been privatized years ago! Then we'd have a vibrant market here like the .de or .co.uk.

But it will come hopefully in time to enjoy my retirement.