Firstly, thank you to Elliot for inviting me to do a guest article. I was delighted to be asked.
I’m pleased to say that little by little the Aussie market is opening up at last. For those of you that thought there were just too many rules and regulations, it may well be time to have another look. Perhaps even consider putting a few eggs in other baskets?
The biggest and best change has just been officially announced in the last 24 hours by our regulator auDA. The 6 month prohibition on selling new domain names (or domains bought on the drop auctions) is being abolished come the 10th November. All I and other domainers can say is “hallelujah”! Official announcement here: http://www.auda.org.au/news-archive/auda-06102011/
Yes, we do have a few other rules and a bit of red tape, but compared to a few years back it is paradise. For those that make the effort now to become registered to buy Aussie domains, then I believe this will pay off big time in the future. Imho!
Our ccTLD is .com.au / .net.au etc. Currently there are just over 2,230,000 domains registered. So we’re still a baby compared to other markets. And therein lies the opportunity imo.
The beauty of our fledgling market (compared to .com) is that there are some absolute bargains to be picked up on both the drops and the secondary market. But the other exciting factor – particularly for domainers – are that there are some excellent “enduser” sales starting to happen as well.
The most recent blockbuster sale was investmentproperty.com.au. It cracked $125,001 on the drop auctions at Netfleet.com.au (plus had a similar bid at Drop.com.au)! This was way above what even seasoned domainers thought it would be worth! Have a read about it here in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Two other worthy sales this year were Poker.com.au and Deals.com.au – both went for $100,000. Top Aussie sales this year are listed here on DN Trade. I’m a partner in this forum, and would invite anyone keen on learning a bit more about Aussie domains to please join up. Adam Dicker of DNForum.com was very kind to give us an introduction on DNF as well.
If I can help anyone with information on how to easily set up an Aussie account, or if you have any further questions on the Aussie market, please email me.
Best wishes, Ned
Ned O’Meara is a full-time domainer who lives in Queensland, Australia. Aussie domains are his passion – and he also is the administrator at DN Trade – a domain forum for Aussie domain owners. He was also a panel member on the recent auDA Secondary Market Working Group (that recommended the abolishment of the 6 month rule). He can be contacted at ned at dntrade dot com.au (don’t forget the.au!)
I would stick the the .com’s there is a reason they have become so popular – Checkout some premium domains that only cost $7 to register…www.DomainBatch.com
Nice plug for your site Jay. Noit really sure you can call those names premium – 2sevgi.biz??
It’s a indisputable fact that .com values have declined significantly over the last 3 years or so. Similarly it’s clear that .au domains (and many other ccTLDs) have boomed and are continuing to do so.
Invest in a large declining market or a small growing market… hmmm.
Ned, will it ever open up to non-residents? That’s the stumbling block for new non-Aussie entrants.
Hi Dale – this “non-resident” thing is a bit of a mis-conception.:)
You don’t have to be an Australian or Australian resident to buy Aussie domains. You simply have to be registered to do business in Australia; or even just have a pending TM application.
The following is from our regulator’s policy:
1. To be eligible for a domain name in the com.au 2LD, registrants must be:
a) an Australian registered company; or
b) trading under a registered business name in any Australian State or Territory; or
c) an Australian partnership or sole trader; or
d) a foreign company licensed to trade in Australia; or
e) an owner of an Australian Registered Trade Mark; or
f) an applicant for an Australian Registered Trade Mark
A couple of these options are fairly easy. If you’d like further info, please email me.
Cheers, Ned