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.com Prices Increasing on Sunday

You are likely aware by now, but the price of .com domain names is increasing again on Sunday, September 1, 2024. Verisign is raising the wholesale cost by 7%, as permitted in its registry agreement. Retail domain registrars will likely pass along the price increase to customers, but it could be more than 7%.

If you want to take advantage of current pricing, you should renew the .com domain names before the price increase. You may also consider transferring domain names for the same savings. Domain registrars sometimes bill customers for transfers upon completion, so it may be too late depending on where the domain names are registered.

This past week, I transferred more than 50 .com domain names to GoDaddy that I held at various registrars following expiry auction wins. My preference is to keep nearly all of my domain names in one account to ensure they don’t get “lost.” The Verisign price increase is an impetus for bringing more of my domain names into a single account at one registrar.

Thanks to Brian Wick for the article suggestion.

Inferences from Inquiry Discussions

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A number of years ago, I tried to buy a one word .com domain name from its original registrant. I did some diligence on the owner, and I learned he founded a well-known brand that was acquired by the second largest company in its field. He became a philanthropist, and money did not seem to be much of a factor for him.

While I increased my offer to buy the domain name over the years, we didn’t reach a deal. In fact, I don’t think he ever even provided a counteroffer to me. After several attempts over 5 years, I stopped inquiring about that domain name.

One thing I had noticed over the course of several email exchanges was his email address. The domain name he used for email was also exceptional, although he did not have a website. I believe it was the name of his new business or holding company that wasn’t consumer facing.

Canceled GoDaddy Auction Win Results in Lawsuit

Namebio reported that Calor.com was sold for $20,440 at GoDaddy Auctions this past March. According to a lawsuit filed in Arizona, the winning bidder did not pay, giving the opportunity to an underbidder who reportedly completed the purchase for $11,427.17. Two months after completing the purchase and receiving the domain name, GoDaddy reportedly removed the domain name from the buyer’s account after proceeding to use the domain name. The buyer filed suit to regain control of the domain name.

As a domain investor who often buys domain names to re-sell, this is always something that has worried me regardless of the auction venue. This situation sounds similar to what GoDaddy referred to in the past as an “edge case” where a domain name was won in auction and was later removed from the account of the buyer due to an error.

Solutions.com Sold for $415k by Sedo’s Mr. Premium

Sedo broker Mark Ghoriafi, who may be more well-known in the industry as “Mr. Premium,” has successfully brokered the sale of Solutions.com. The domain name was sold via Sedo for $415,000 USD.

Mark announced that he brokered more than $1 million worth of domain names in the past 8 weeks:

This is a nice feat considering the Summer months are typically slow.

Giving Efty a Try

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I’ve known about Efty for a few years, since the company has been advertising on my blog. I decided to give the platform a test with around 500 of my domain names. I am using the account option that will allow me to have up to 1,500 domain names in my account at a monthly cost of $36.

The domain names I chose for this test are priced between $1,500 – $90,000. They aren’t my top tier domain names, but it’s a mix of inventory-quality and higher quality assets that have buy it now prices. Most of the names are priced under $10,000.

ccTLD for Email Can be Problematic

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About 9 years ago, I sold a very nice .com domain name to a startup that used a ccTLD domain name. The CEO was not a shrewd negotiator, and in the course of our discussion about why he *needed* to buy my .com domain name, he told me about some of the issues he was having with his current domain name. The primary issue? Email.

Employees were having issues when they filled out forms and signed up for various accounts. Corporate emails from employees were also inadvertently being marked as spam by recipient email providers. This was in addition to confusion for consumers, but at that time, it seemed like the email issues plaguing the company were on the top of the CEO’s mind.