My Easter Present = A Domain & Namecheap Coupons

While eating my hot cross buns this morning I received an email from Snapnames support. It seems that 4 months ago I won a domain at auction and did not receive the credentials from the registrar, Directi.

This wasn’t a pro-active step on the part of Directi or Snapnames; I had contacted Snapnames after winning the auction requesting their assistance to get the credentials. When I logged into Directi I noticed that auto-renew was conveniently turned OFF.

Here are the lessons I learned (again) from this experience:

1. Keep track of the domains you win at auction.
2. Ensure you are sent the credentials – if you don’t get them, follow up with the auction/backordering company.
3. Have your default DNS settings (at the auction company) point to your favorite parking company.
4. Add the domain name to your parking company a few days after you win the auction.
5. When you get the credentials, transfer the domain to your favorite registrar – that way you dont have domains spread everywhere.

Points 3 and 4 will ensure that when the transfer happens, you start earning $$$ immediately. The domain I won had traffic and was directed to my favorite parking company. Unfortunately I did not add it to my portfolio! As such, the parking company has made 4 months of revenue from it. This makes me wonder; what is the % of names pointing to a parking company that don’t have an owner? Must be a nice little earner for the parking company!

I eneded up transferring the name to NameCheap. While doing that, I tested out a few coupons. Here are the ones that work today:

SWITCH2NC – $6.99 transfers
7TULIPS – $6.99 transfers

Happy Easter!

Slept In, Missed The Auction, But Found Some More Names….

Over the past week or so I’ve observed a number of premium names in the drop process. While not unusual I was surprised at how low they went for.

I’ve always maintained that now is a great time to buy domains. Those that are focused on the short term (or need cash to pay off their mortgages) are selling or simply not renewing. Those with cash (who are buying), have less competitors in auctions because some people don’t want to spend.

Here is an example of a name that went for more than $2,300 this morning over at NameJet. It was InternetMarketing.org. To be honest, I was in the auction but decided to sleep in on Sunday. The drop times are not that attractive to those outside the USA.

After I got up and had a coffee, I decided to have a look over at Snapnames and found some great domains with low starting prices. Check them out:

• tuition.com – $60 min bid
• corporateevents.com – $79 min bid
• rentalpackages.com – $79 min bid
  
• punishable.com – $79 min bid
  
• socialiser.com – $59 min bid
• letteropener.com – $79 min bid
• ferriswheel.com – $79 min bid

My favorite is of course tuition.com, followed by ferriswheel.com. Tuition is highly searched on, just think of all the college students! People are addicted to going on FerrisWheels, so having FerrisWheel.com might be a good novelty / niche site.

Luv.Me For A Price

Not a week goes by where I’m not sent portfolios to buy, auctions to promote, conferences to go to. Such is life. What was unusual about today was that I received an email from someone who actually did their homework! As such I thought it was worthy of a post.

luv.me is for sale at Sedo and is currently at 5,600 EURO. That’s quite a lot of $$ love for a .me.

Anyway, what got my attention was the research they sent through. At first I thought the person was a domainer, but then I found out that the domain is currently owned by two partners of Brands-and-Jingles, an advertising firm. Here is a cut down version of what they sent through:

• Date.me went for $70,000
• Love.me went for $32,000
• A three-letter domain is the shortest you can have with .me
• It sounds better as a statement

According to Wikipedia, Luv or LUV may refer to:

• Luv (song), a song by Janet Jackson.
• Luv (television series), a BBC sitcom.
• Luv, a Broadway play and 1967 film.
• The Dutch pop group Luv’
• The Chevrolet LUV, a “light utility vehicle”
• Linux Users of Victoria (http://www.luv.asn.au)
• The New York Stock Exchange symbol for Southwest Airlines
• The IATA airport code of Dumatubin Airport in Langgur, Kai Islands, in the Maluku province of Indonesia
• Large unilamellar vesicle: a type of phospholipid bilayer micelle.
• The L*u*v* color space, a perceptually uniform color space used in computer graphics
• A heart-shaped friendship token used on Bebo that can be giving out daily
• The windward or “upstream” side of a dune; compare “alluvial”
• Lava (Ramayana), a son of Rama in Hindu mythology

What do I think? Its a good name, very brandable, short, sharp and probably going to end up being a dating site. Best of luck with the bidding. Would I buy it? If I was planning to run a dating site, absolutely.

Aftermarket Premium Auction – LIVE from Traffic DownUnder 2008

Here we go – live from TRAFFIC. All names are in US$ including .com.au’s

• exhilarating.com – starting price $3,500 – SOLD $3,500
• hunting.com.au – starting price $1,850 – SOLD $1,850
• DentalPolicy.com – starting price $500 – SOLD $500
• JobListings.com.au – starting price $3,000 – passed in
• HispanicKids.com – starting price $500 – passed in
• UnderGraduate.com.au – starting price $500 – SOLD $1,500
• BirthStoneJewelry.com – starting price $400 – SOLD $500
• NightScape.com – starting price $3,500 – SOLD $3,500
• BusinessFirms.com – SOLD $500
• 2o.com – starting price $8,5000 – SOLD $8500
• camp.com.au – starting price $351 – SOLD $2,600 (Congrats Dan)
• newTLD.com – starting price $1,800 – passed in at $1,500
• stealin.com – no reserve – SOLD $101
• IndianaHome.com – starting price $1933 – passed in at $1,800
• migrant.com – starting price $3,500 – SOLD $3,700
• jackets.com.au – starting price $200 – SOLD $3,000
• PersonalChauffeur.com – starting price $102 – SOLD $202
• barbecuing.com.au – starting price $500 – SOLD $500
• blackcherry.com – starting price $6,000 – SOLD $6,000
• landdownunder.com – starting price $1,100 – SOLD $2,100 (ausadmin)
• essays.com.au – starting price $150 – SOLD $1,600 (Dan)

• Card-Processing.com – starting price $500 – SOLD $800
• BikeRims.com – starting price $1,500 – SOLD $3,000
• SurfingLessons.com.au – starting price $135 – $2,200
• GourmetStores.com – starting price $300 – $1,200

• camera.co.uk – starting price $15,000 – SOLD $35,000
• CheckRegistry.com – starting price $51 – SOLD $101
• InsuranceOffers.com – starting price $350 – SOLD $1,600 (hawkmoon)
• shout.com.au – starting price $1,000 -  SOLD $1,000 (Dan)
• ThisDay.com – starting price $24,000 – Passed In
• Veg.as – starting price $201 – SOLD $350
• SafariAdventure.com – starting price $400 – SOLD $1,800
• refrigerate.com starting price $3,500 – SOLD $4,500
• BookTemplates.com – starting price $0 – SOLD $550
• DownloadIt.com – starting price $5,000 – SOLD $5,000

• Income.info – starting price $600 – SOLD $2,100 Ron Jackson
• CheckoutLane.com – starting price $151 – SOLD $151
• StartingCapital.com – starting price $1,100 – SOLD $1,300
• BusinessFinancials.com – starting price $150 – SOLD $1,400 (Eastbeck)
• iUS.com – starting price $25,000 – Passed in.
• rules.com.au – starting price $51 – SOLD $700
• sello.com – starting price $4,000 – passed in
• nocalorie.com – starting price $51 – SOLD $400
• PassYourTime.com – starting price $300 – SOLD $300
• Carpenters.net – starting price $6,722 – passed in
• Toons.com.au – starting price $500 – SOLD $500
• LightGauge.com – starting price $1 – SOLD $301

We have taken a 5 minute break due to computer problems with the auction provider.

There appears to be a sync issue with online bids vs bidders in the room.

• ImageViewer.com – starting price $1,500 – SOLD $2,400 (Eastbeck)
• CreativeSoftware.com – starting price $300 -  SOLD $500
• DigitalVideos.com – starting price $5,000 – passed in
• Jeweller.com.au – starting price $1,557 – SOLD $9,200
• Athletic.com.au – starting price $2,000 – passed in
• HotMag.com – starting price $51 – SOLD $500
• ebon.com – starting price $1,995 – SOLD $1,995
• HandicapShop.com – starting price $450 – SOLD $800 (hawkmoon)
• Southwest.asia – starting price $51 – SOLD $101 (eastbeck)
• ExamServices.com – starting price $2,000 – passed in.
• Knit.com.au – starting price $101 – SOLD $700
• ClearanceHouse.com – starting price $2,000 – SOLD $2,000 (eastbeck)
• TaxDownloads.com – starting price $101 – SOLD $151
• Laughter.com.au – starting price $2,000 – passed in
• Coed.com – starting price $50,000 – passed in

The auction skipped a number of items to focus on .com.au domain names. Continues:

• MensClothing.com.au – starting bid $750 – SOLD $4,000
• CDs.com.au – starting bid $750 – SOLD $2,000.
• branding.com.au – starting bid $330 – SOLD $2,500
• authentication.com.au – starting bid $500 – SOLD $500
• Pollution.com.au – starting bid $228 – SOLD $3,000
• enter.com.au – starting bid $2,000 – passed in
• plans.com.au – starting bid $300 – SOLD $2,700 (dougs)
• parasailing.com.au – starting bid $150 – SOLD $1,700
• dirtbiking.com.au – starting bid $500 – SOLD $500
• JetSkiing.com.au – starting bid $101 – SOLD $2,000
• Bake.com.au – starting bid $306 – SOLD $800 (Narkov)
• broadcasting.com.au – starting bid $1,500 – SOLD $2,000
• up.com.au – starting bid $971 – SOLD $2,500 (Narkov)

It appears that other bids come through after the gavel dropped.

• saws.com – starting bid $52,000 – SOLD $52,000
• privateresort.com – starting bid $1,500 – SOLD $1,700

As we ran out of time it was reported that the auction will remain open post this event for online bidders.

Letting Go Of Your Domains

I had to make a few hard decisions this weekend, both of them philosophical in nature when it comes to domain name investment.

I backordered two domains (com and net) last year that were closely linked together by topic. Both of them were parked at a well known parking company. While both domains got a bit of traffic, they just werent converting. To be honest, I probably could have sold them on DNF for $XX, but I just don’t have the time.

Another domain name I won at auction many years ago has been declining in both traffic and consequently revenue. In 12 months to date its made US$4.50 on a very popular topic. In my book, that’s not enough, so I decided not to renew any of them!

The domain names are now gone, expired, thrown back into the drop. Some domainers that I know would have a heart attack and say “But you could build a site around X and use Adsense and blah blah blah”. But do you *REALLY* have the time to do this? Are you *REALLY* going to do it anyway?

What are your thoughts on this? When do you draw the line and say, enough is enough?

Snapnames Auction Won/Lost = Monikers Fault ?

Update: Snapnames responded to me overnight stating:

—

Dear Simon,

The registrar was Moniker. They have informed us that they have put a
system in place to prevent this from happening again.

Sincerely,

SnapNames

—

I’d like to keep an eye on this issue. If you find yourself in the same position, with Snapnames or any other backordering company (NameJet / Godaddy) then please let me know or post a comment up here.

In the meantime, who’s really to blame here? Moniker for not passing the name onto Snapnames (I wonder what their contract says) OR Snapnames for not checking that they can auction a domain name?

What do you think?

Torex Appoints Sedo To Sell RSS.com

Jason Richards, global vice president, information services, Torex said “Following our review of our digital assets, we’ve concluded that the domain name RSS, while having significant value in the marketplace, is not totally indicative of the Torex product, support and service offerings on a go-forward basis. Rather than maintaining this asset, we feel that it is better suited for a company in the media, publishing or entertainment sector where it should have stronger market appeal.”

Here are the stats:

• 3,810,000,000 page results for “rss” in Google
• 20,000 unique views a month.
• $750,000 USD reserve

Nora Nanayakkara, director of business development at Sedo stated: “It’s not often a name with such pertinence comes onto the market. As well as being short and memorable, the name has a widespread meaning. It’s a fantastic opportunity for an online media company to acquire it and grow its readership.”

To be honest, I can’t see how this will get $750k. Lets just wait and see.

Lessons Learned From A 5am Auction

Exclusive: TDNAM Explains 7-Day Grace Period

Ever purchased a domain name using Godaddys TDNAM auction site, only to wait 7 days until it was transferred to you?

This happened again to me last week. I won an auction for a .us domain name. Now, I wouldn’t normally buy a .us domain. This is in fact my first, however it was a single English word AND was also being used as the name of a product line. How could I not buy it? So what happened?

Date Won:      9/8/2008 12:28:00 PM
Yours On:      *9/16/2008 12:00:00 AM

The domain name I won was parked at Godaddy when I purchased it. I must admit, I was quite irritated by the fact that I have to wait 7 days while the parking revenue, from a domain that I purchased, went to Godaddy. As I type this; 6 days later its still parked at Godaddy.

The 7-day grace period has been discussed in many forums, but without an explanation from Godaddy. As such, I asked Godaddy for an official view on this particular issue. While I’m not going to name specific individuals, Godaddy was both highly professional and very responsive.

Here is their unedited view, in full:

“When a domain name expires, the original registrant has a 42 day grace period to renew or redeem the domain.

If the customer has not renewed the domain name 26 days after expiration, the domain is sent to auction through TDNAM.  The auction for the domain runs from the 26th day to the 36th day of the domain’s expiration.

As the original domain registrant has 42 days to renew or redeem the domain, there is a 7 day grace period from the end of the auction (day 36) to the day the domain is no longer available to the original registrant.  While there is a chance for the domain to be renewed by the original registrant, many auctioned domains bid upon are awarded through TDNAM.

When a TDNAM bidder enters an auction for an expired domain, TDNAM states on the bid page (as part of the terms and conditions) the original registrant still has the opportunity to redeem the domain name.”

There you go. It’s pretty self explanatory. If I was to summarize it, I’d say that buy the time a domain expires, Godaddy has a buyer and cash in the bank from a) parking revenue and b) the auction process.

While it might irritate people having to wait 7 days, when you take the time to understand it, it makes good business sense. That’s Bob Parsons for you – which is why I have his 16 Rules for Success poster on my wall.

Premium Domain Auction at Traffic NY 2008

A few days ago the guys at Moniker sent me a list of premium names that are up for grabs at the opening night auction for Traffic NY. The auction is taking place on Thursday, September 25 at 3 p.m. EDT (noon PDT) at the New York Marriott, Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, NY.

Here are a few that I like:

• Ad.com
• Adware.com & Adware.net
• BirthdayPresents.com
• CancerResearch.com
• Cleaning.com
• FootballJerseys.com
• Pay.com
• Rebate.com, and Rebates.com

I’m sure I’ve seen pay.com and rebates.com somewhere before though. Ad.com, adware.com and pay.com should be HUGE. Lets wait and see!