I noticed a high profile domain name hit the expiry stream recently. The domain name is owned by a pretty big company, and if it is not renewed within the next several days, it will be auctioned to the highest bidder. When I saw the domain name in auction, I started to wonder if we will see more high profile domain name expiries due to corporate layoffs and furloughs at companies throughout the world.
When I set my prices for domain names I am looking to sell, it is more of an art than a science. There are a number of considerations I balance to set prices on my domain names. Here are some of the factors that I consider as I am setting prices:
After evaluating all of these factors – some more than others, I set the price for each domain name. Most of these factors are considered very rapidly, and I often defer to gut feel above all else, thinking, what can I imagine an end user paying to buy this domain name in a reasonable amount of time?
Andrew Allemann wrote an article yesterday to speak out about taking advantage of the coronavirus outbreak in order to profit from it. I understand that in dire straights people might do things they would not ordinarily do to feed themselves and their family, but I echo what he said and would strongly urge people to not buy coronavirus related domain names, especially if they intend to do outbound marketing to sell them.
Case in point, PRWeek published an article that discussed one such outbound marketing effort made to try and sell coronavirus related domain names to Carnival Cruise Lines and its Chief Communications Officer, Chris Chiames. Not only was Mr. Chiames upset by this outbound marketing effort, he posted the exchange on LinkedIn for all to see. Here’s an excerpt from the PRWeek article:
I recently shared a video posted by Amanda Waltz, who discussed various aspects to being a domain name buyer’s broker. One thing I do on a somewhat regular basis is reach out to domain brokers like Amanda and share some of the top domain names I have in my inventory at that moment. I think this can be helpful in getting deals done, and I regularly hear from brokers asking me if I still have certain domain names.
The legal section of a domain forum is a popular place for people to ask domain name related questions pertaining to trademarks, UDRP, legal threats, and other legal-related topics. I don’t think it’s wise to post specific legal questions in a public domain name forum, but plenty of people value getting some / any feedback over the potential that it could harm their case or lead them astray.
As I’ve written in the past, it is wise to get the advice of a domain name attorney who has experience and expertise in Intellectual Property Law, specifically related to domain names. There are quite a few exceptional attorneys who have many years of experience helping domain investors with many different legal issues.
If you’re a NameJet customer attending NamesCon, the company will be hosting focus groups during the conference. Here’s what was emailed to me this morning:
“NameJet will be conducting a series of focus groups at NamesCon 2020 in Austin TX from Jan 29 – Feb 1, 2020. If you are attending NamesCon and would like to participate, please click the link below.
NameJet will be providing a gift to everyone that participates in the focus group.”
There was a sign-up form to choose a time, which you can access via this NameJet tweet:
NameJet News – BIGLEAGUE·COM – THEBOOT·COM – and More! – https://t.co/uqRuvTCY0a Going to #NamesCon? Sign up to participate in a focus group. https://t.co/QJMdzztHX3 #domains pic.twitter.com/Qdkcm6GeDT
— NameJet (@namejet) January 28, 2020
I am not going to participate in a formal focus group, but I thought I would share some feedback as a NameJet buyer:
