The new GTLDS have muddied the water a lot. Last year I think domainers looked at them and then went out and bought the .com or .ca. We had a banner year. This year I think domainers are pausing and waiting to see what happens with renewals and survival of the new extensions. Some ext. have had a year already with no progress and frankly most have had little acceptance. An avalanche of domains dropping and or extensions folding (yes it's going to happen) will bring a lot of bad press and depress the market. Historical example:
http://www.damninteresting.com/the-dutch-tulip-bubble-of-1637/
Like so many domainers I've depended on being able to come in here and sell the odd domain to raise cash from time to time. Once that dries up we have to find a new market and that is the end user.
It's not that we haven't used brokers in the past we have. Extensively. We've even been offered exclusive runs on their newsletters. But for the .ca the enthusiasm just hasn't been there. They like the extension. they like the keywords but don't or won't (to my knowledge) lift a finger to find an end user. After all if you can sell a primo .com for xxx,xxx or even x,xxx,xxx the commissions will easily outstrip the xx,xxx or x,xxx type of deals we see on .ca. But the broker market is evolving with more and more people getting involved. Like Realtors some will start to specialize in smaller markets and smaller deals so I think things will get better in the future.
BTW I'm about to post a clearance deal for domains I won't be renewing so have a look over on the sales board.
