Dump Dying Domains

[DNbuy]

All domain speculators know the anguish of not wanting to pay huge renewal fees for domains they have been collecting. They figure there is probably someone out there that will pay something for their names but they are not sure how to find them or how much they should ask. They go back and forth between, "I really can't afford to renew these names" and "If I renew for one more year I am sure some of them will sell". Please bear with me as I propose a solution.


In my humble opinion there is no difference between business fundamentals on and off line. The laws of supply and demand will always apply. At the same time ," one mans junk is anothers treasure" is also very applicable. This seeming paradox is actually not as impossible as it sounds. There is a limited supply of good, intuitive domain names which will over time enhance their value. There is also the odd person who for some unknown reason will pay $100 K for stupidness.org. The common denominator is that a domain name is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Ever since I was known as 91corvette at AN chat, I have tried to get others to buy into an alternative concept for selling expiring domain names. Please let me share one of these concepts with you.



Dump Domains

When someones domain name is expiring they face a choice. Do they fork out the money for another year or do they let it drop and get nothing? I don't think they should be forced to make that decision. I propose a sudden death diminishing cost domain auction. Here's how it would work:

1. Domain owner lists his expiring names for sale to the public.
2. Listing price is determined by length of time left until expiry.
3. Price drops incrementally every 4 hours.
4. Price bottoms out at $15 on day of expiration.
5. Price continues to drop towards zero until domain is returned to registry.
6. Anyone may purchase the domain name at anytime.
7. First paid bid takes the name.
   [/list=1]
   
   Let me explain the thought behind this process. The domain owner has nothing to lose because he is planning to let his name drop anyway. A small membership fee as opposed to a listing fee would encourage many listings. It is in the buyers best interest to purchase as quickly as possible because the first bid takes it and if he waits another hour he may lose the name. The "house" would take an agreed upon fee (25%?) of any successfull sale plus would make the renewal fee. The renewal fee would be built into the purchase price and would be automatic upon a successfull sale.
   
   There are many other details not mentioned here and if you contact me in person I would be more than willing to share them with . I have in the past had an investor willing to back this concept but could not find the appropriate tech talent to make it happen. I am curious as to what you feel about this last ditch effort for those adventurous risk takers that bit off a little more domain than they could chew.

 

[greggish]

I like it. It's actually a pretty good idea. I'll give it a shot and let you know it goes after I get the site up and running.

 

[Duke]

Originally posted by greggish
I like it. It's actually a pretty good idea. I'll give it a shot and let you know it goes after I get the site up and running.

Does that mean you are stealing his idea?

 

[fizz]

DNbuy, I think your idea has good merit, and with regard to Duke's question, were you offering the idea here for someone else to run with, or are you planning to incorporate the concept into your own website?

 

[greggish]

Originally posted by Duke of Earl


Does that mean you are stealing his idea?

Maybe. I haven't decided yet.

 

[dotcom]

although i only have 6 domains, i think this is a great idea. i for one would use this service if it was available as i am sure that 90% of what i have will be dropped when the time comes, and to have something like this at least may recoup enough to re-invest in another more calculated purchase .:razz:

 

[Ed30]

It's a great idea - somebody get it out there please.

 

[DotComster]

I like the idea to, a lot.

but change the hourly to daily increments, more time for decisions. The increment can be a known fraction of the selling price (1/30 or 1/10 ect).

It doesn't have to be only expireig domains either- any domain listed can offered for sale, but it's prices decreases to, untill a value set by the seller is reached (reverse reserve?)

Would be nice to see this idea online soon.

 

[DomainPairs]

It's called a Dutch auction (don't be mislead by Ebay's incorrect idea of a dutch auction). They still have them in Holland, but I don't know if they are on-line - might be worth a search to see if you can get some ready written software.

 

[BDM]

Sounds good to me, except why charge a listing fee as well as take 25% of successful sale? If I understand the idea correctly, I say get rid of listing fees and keep the rest of your excellent idea.

BDM

 

[DNbuy]

I would like to thank all of you who have responded and PM'd me on this idea. The reason I have shared it in this public forum and run the risk of someone stealing the idea is that there are a few critical things that must be in place for this concept to work. A few I've talked to understand why not just anyone could make this happen. I am flattered by those who want to run with this idea and I would congratulate you if you did. However I am trying to elicit support for this concept because I want to see it happen and believe there are a specific set of requirements needed to pull this off successfully.

I believe a half-hearted effort to implement this concept quickly and without the proper budget will doom this project to failure. If any of you would like to go it alone, please post the URL so that all of us may learn from your mistakes. The backend programming is a critical piece of the puzzle that we have not had or this concept would have already been implemented and marketing begun. I am not interested in making this a division of Dnbuy. This would be a stand alone project developed by the domain community for the domain community.

I don't think there is a speculator out there who would not use such a concept if they were going to let their names drop anyways. Please forgive me if I sound a bit harsh as this next statement is not directed to anyone in particular but rather domain speculators as a whole. The question is not whether or not this idea is a good one. The question is whether a lot of risk taking individual business people can put their ambition and greed aside and contribute to a fantastic project that will benefit not only those who develop it but also those use it. If you think that describes you, I encourage you to make your thoughts public by posting to this thread or email me directly as I would be happy to work together with you for a better, more lucrative domain marketplace.

 

[DomainPairs]

I don't mind doing a banner exchange with my name dump site that I mentioned the other day. I haven't done much with it yet (I don't think the DNS pointers have resolved ), but it should be fairly easy to start as it's not as sophisticated as yours.

 

[DNbuy]

I have verified that my registrar is willing to help out with this project by allowing me free transfers for this project. This is the key to making this concept work because without it no domain owner would be willing to transfer over his/her expiring names. I still need input and tech help folks. If you are interested in building something something that will allow us to profit before Snapnames, namewinner and Netsol get their hands on expiring names, contact me as soon as possible. We have the ability to change the way people aquire pre-owned names and to profit handsomely from it. Let's not waste this golden opportunity!

 

[adoptabledomains]

It looks like it would beat trying to get it by snapnames or the WLS, and would benefit both parties. This might work IF it's not so full of awful names that you can't find a good one. (like afternic got to be). Bad names won't sell for any price, so even less than reg cost may not be a bargain leaving lots of still unsold names.

 

[GiantDomains]

sounds like playing the stock market....watch the price drop and drop..and decide to buy, or watch it drop some more...with the possibility of someone snagging it.

What about proxy-bid? The computer buys it for you when it hits a certain price, but all proxys are hidden...so the first one it reaches, this is what it sells for.

Sounds like an okay idea....definitely pro-seller

 

[DNbuy]

Originally posted by doberry
sounds like playing the stock market....watch the price drop and drop..and decide to buy, or watch it drop some more...with the possibility of someone snagging it.

What about proxy-bid? The computer buys it for you when it hits a certain price, but all proxys are hidden...so the first one it reaches, this is what it sells for.

Sounds like an okay idea....definitely pro-seller

This is exactly the principle we are shooting for here. The stock market is a very successfull business( despite current market conditions) and a great analogy. It works for all involved. The owners have an opportunity to monetize an otherwise lost cause, the buyers are able to grab names before they expire and we are the owners of the exchange. In this way all names will actually go for what people feel they are worth and buyers will get the ones they want quickly for fear of losing them to another bidder.

This concept could actually could be extended to take a proactive stance to expiring names. Notifications could go out to the owners of names that are about to expire asking them if they would like to list them( Stretching SPAMing laws I know).

 

[Brujah]

Love the idea.

 

[StockDoctor]

Count me in.

Doc

 

[liquidstar]

me too

 

[clemzonguy]

What about these senarios???

1) A person bids on the domain and does not pay after the close of the auction. Then the domain ends up expiring anyways and either this person or someone else ends up grabbing it. Seems to me a great way to dupe people.

2) If the domain expires too close to the end of the auction there will be no time to renew the domain or complete the transaction especially in a transfer senario. What if it's with Verisign??

Might want to list the current registrar the name is with and include this as part of the auction info especially the policies regarding transfer which would be regarded. I do not think the seller should be specific about transfer costs and should not charge outrageous fees for otherwise free transfers.

3) 25% is rather a large amount especially for valuable names that may grab large prices. I would have a structure set up like that it's 25% for names less than $50. 10% for names $50-100 and so on.

It seems to me that if the person does not want to renew the domain then it's not worth keeping in the first place. I'd hate to see a lot of names on a site and not see any of them get sold simply b/c they are bad names such as afternic. If people cannot put in a minimum starting bid there then what's going to make people bid on names other than when they are at $2?