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eNom Names Won on NameJet Subject to 42 Day Auction Lock

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As a domain seller, the quicker I can move inventory, (usually) the better. When I win an auction at NameJet, I try to find an end user or domain investor buyer as quickly as possible. I’ve never encountered an issue with this until last week.

I recently bought a domain name at auction on Namejet. I was informed the domain name would be moved to my eNom account, and I quickly scouted out buyers. I reached a deal to sell the domain name a few days later, and upon trying to push the name to another account, I learned that there was an “auction lock” on the domain name.

I inquired about the lock, and at first, technical support wasn’t very helpful. I asked why I could transfer a name I bought on NameJet that was registered at Network Solutions a few weeks prior, and the person tried to explain that it had something to do with pre-release and pending delete status differences, although I learned that explanation was incorrect.

According to Laurie Krick from Enom/NameJet, all domain names that end up at eNom will have a 45 day correction: 42 day lock on them. Owners can change the DNS to use the domain names within this period of time, but they can’t be pushed to another account or transferred out of eNom.

This lock is something I did not know about, but I will take it into consideration when bidding on NameJet domain names going forward, as it adds 45 days correction: 42 days to when I can flip names.

Update: it is 42 days, not 45 days

WarStrategy.com – For Sale

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Domain Name for Sale: WarStrategy.com
Buy it Now Price: $4,500.00

Creation Date: July, 2001
Domain Registrar: eNom

I really like this domain name and think it would be the perfect site for either a MMO gaming website or a portal for war strategy games. Incidentally, Name Administration owns the longer tail WarStrategyGames.com.

Both WarStrategy.net and WarStrategy.org are registered by others. I have not changed the DNS since buying it a couple of months ago, so I don’t know if there’s any traffic. I should probably change it though, so perhaps by the time you read this the DNS will already be changed.

This will be listed for sale in a couple other places, so the first one to post “sold” will get it.

Hosting Companies Should Not Be Listed as Domain Owner for Clients

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I was looking through some upcoming NameJet dropping domain auctions via FreshDrop, and I noticed something that I found to be appalling. Hosting companies either dropping the ball on renewals or not doing enough to help their current or former customers with their domain name assets.

I generally do a historical Whois search for domain names I might have an interest in bidding on at auction. From this, I can see who previously owned it and try to figure out why they either didn’t find the domain name valuable enough to keep or why the domain name may have been allowed to expire.

On four consecutive searches today, I saw that the previous registrant email was a hosting company. What this means to me is that the hosting company didn’t pay the renewal bill either because they didn’t realize it needed to be renewed, their client no longer works with the company, or, probably the least likely of the bunch, the client no longer wanted the domain name.

Since these were very good domain names I searched, it’s unlikely that the client simply opted to not renew the domain name. Another unlikely thing is that the hosting company dropped the ball. I presume they manage other domain names and they would certainly get emails, so it’s unlikely they simply forgot because there would be some severe liability for that I would think.

What is likely in my opinion is that the client no longer works with the hosting company, and the hosting company didn’t feel compelled to let the client know their domain name was going to expire. They probably just didn’t feel like going through the effort of ensuring a safe transfer. Instead, since they didn’t have orders to renew the domain name, and since they wouldn’t be compensated for renewing it without those orders, they took the easy way out and just let the domain names expire.

Of course it’s the client’s job to keep tabs on its assets. However, I think it’s irresponsible or a hosting company to register a domain name on behalf of a client and keep the Whois information in the name of the company – specifically the registrant email where renewal notices are sent. If a relationship ends, the hosting company shouldn’t have to pay for a former client’s renewals, but the responsibility shouldn’t become theirs either.

Restaurants.com Up for Auction

I was just informed of some of the Snapnames/Moniker live auction inventory for the DomainFest conference in Prague next month, and there are several fantastic domain names up for sale, including Restaurants.com.   The reserve prices are high (“$5MM and up” for Restaurants.com), but it’s nice to see some great quality new inventory at live auctions.

Some of the featured live auction names include:

  • Restaurants.com
  • Zip.com
  • Digital.com
  • Sexy.com
  • Cheat.com
  • Physicians.com
  • Campaign.com
  • Vehicles.com
  • Commercial.com
  • MX.com
  • LawFirm.com
  • Democracy.com

The live auction will take place on Wednesday, October 6, at 10am ET (7am PT). Bidding can be done on the Snapnames platform, or bidders can choose to bid over the phone with a company representative. After the live auction has been completed, there will be a silent, extended auction until Wednesday, October 13, at 3:15pm ET (12:15 pm PT).

Using the iPad as a Sales Tool

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When I walked into a photographer’s studio in Lowell a few years ago to speak about my new website, the photographer was very interested in what I planned to do. I wanted to show him the first concepts of the site, and after taking several minutes to load his computer, we loaded the site on his browser. Unfortunately, due to some browser issues, the site looked like crap and he wasn’t exactly impressed.

Fast forward a few years to a couple of months ago when I was invited to have a representative of DogWalker.com stand outside a new pet store in Manhattan to hand out magnets with the website listed on them. Smartly, I brought my iPad, and when people asked how the site works, the person who was standing outside the table was able to use the iPad to walk them through the site to show them how it works and looks.

There was no need to rely on a wifi connection. We simply hooked it up to AT&T’s 3g network, and voila!   It was a helpful sales tool, and after talking with my friend and fellow domain investor Tony Casella whose company owns Tampa.org, I expect it would work for local sales agents in places like Lowell and Burbank.

If you rely on one-on-one sales for your websites, the iPad is a helpful tool you can use to show off your site. The only caveat is that Flash movies and ads won’t show up on the iPad.

Report: Internet Brands Acquired for $640 Million

TechCrunch is reporting that publicly traded Internet Brands has been acquired by a private equity company for well over a half a billion dollars. The reason this is significant is that Internet Brands is a company that operates a number of websites on great generic domain names.

Some of Internet Brands’ websites include:

  • Autos.com
  • Gardens.com
  • KidsCamps.com
  • Loan.com
  • VacationHomes.com

I am not sure if there is a relationship with NameMedia, but as you can see by the page title on the Advertise page of Gardens.com, there appears to be a relationship between Internet Brands and Namemedia: “Advertising with the NameMedia Gardening Network.” I’ve reached out to NameMedia for more information on this relationship. However, according to the Whois database, Gardens.com is registered to Internet Brands, so perhaps NameMedia sold it (along with DavesGarden.com) and the Advertise page is outdated.

Internet Brands was founded in 1998 as CarsDirect.com, and as a result of the success with that brand, the company transitioned “from a single vertical to a diversified, platform company that would scale much larger.” You can learn more about the company on its about us page.

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