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Domain names, the new real estate?

post #1 of 12
4/9/05 at 4:53pm
Thread Starter 
I guess you can color me baffled. Recently I found a domain name up for sale. The name has potential to be something pretty good if it is cultivated correctly, so I emailed the owner and asked him politely what he was asking for it-------------------------------


Only $20,000! There really outta be a law!
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post #2 of 12
4/9/05 at 6:30pm
Yyyyyyyup! I gather there are people who register lots of domain names they never expect to use themselves -- if they see potential, they figure they are sitting pretty to do exactly as this one. Anything for a buck!
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post #3 of 12
4/9/05 at 6:35pm
I thought they've been doing this for ages? I guess it makes sense... sneaky tho.
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post #4 of 12
4/9/05 at 7:02pm
Yes and no, Ari. At the beginning, people would register names that they thought big companies would pay big bucks for, i.e. cosmopolitan (for the mag...who refused to buy it! They went instead with cosmomag.com ), target, unitedairlines, stuff like that. Lots of them did cash in.

Although there are unlimited possibilities online, many of the good ones are starting to be taken. Smart developers buy a name that has good potential and develop the site/forum, get the page rank and search engine optimization up, get it listed in the search engines, and then sell it to someone who wants a ready-made site. You can make good money doing that.

BUT, $20,000 for a good domain that isn't already a licensed name for an established business is highway robbery!
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post #5 of 12
4/9/05 at 7:02pm
I have seen domain names on ebay for much much cheaper!
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post #6 of 12
4/9/05 at 7:31pm
i wanted to get marina.com, but it was parked. I wrote the owner an email, and actually had a pretty heated negotiation back and forth, where they came down to $750 but not any lower. So i said to hell with it, and got something else
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post #7 of 12
4/9/05 at 7:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by valanhb
Yes and no, Ari. At the beginning, people would register names that they thought big companies would pay big bucks for, i.e. cosmopolitan (for the mag...who refused to buy it! They went instead with cosmomag.com ), target, unitedairlines, stuff like that. Lots of them did cash in.

Although there are unlimited possibilities online, many of the good ones are starting to be taken. Smart developers buy a name that has good potential and develop the site/forum, get the page rank and search engine optimization up, get it listed in the search engines, and then sell it to someone who wants a ready-made site. You can make good money doing that.

BUT, $20,000 for a good domain that isn't already a licensed name for an established business is highway robbery!
Ohhh, I had no idea that people were working the sites. I thought they would just buy it and sit on it. And yeah, $20k seems excessive, to say the least.
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post #8 of 12
4/9/05 at 8:10pm
Where is a good place to get a cheap domain name?
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post #9 of 12
4/9/05 at 11:49pm
There are laws on domain names. The most commonly adopted ones would be those cybersquatting laws that allows one to invalidate the registration if it was registered in bad faith. Usually this works for large corporations, and having variant of their corporate name being registered.

The cybersquatting law can be very powerful such as the recent high court case in UK where Apple sued the a person who had the UK itunes domain and was able to get the domain transferred. If you are interested in the case: http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup...nes&method=all

Then of course there are more traditional forms of attack based on trademarks.

The trick to get a domain, (shhh) let me type this in small print: If someone is squatting on a domain that you think is infringing on your rights, perhaps you have a trademark on it, the trick is to offer to pay the person a very small amount perhaps the cost of registering the domain or a bit more. If the person squatting were to make a counter offer, that counter offer can be use as proof that the person has registered the name in "bad faith." It provides some evidence that the person had not real legitimate interest. It does not always work but it is very persuasive.
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post #10 of 12
4/10/05 at 12:14am
Doesnt Godaddy or another place like that have reasonable priced domains?
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post #11 of 12
4/10/05 at 11:34am
You can register unowned domains at GoDaddy.com or NetworkSolutions.com. The cost for these is like $20/year to own it. You can run searches on these for domains you want...but be careful! There are people/companies that track what domains are searched for, and if there is a search they may buy it with the prospect of getting you to buy it later for a slightly higher price, i.e. $65 instead of $20.

There are also people who make this their business. Not in tracking searches, but anticipating what names will be wanted in the future. For instance, one person I know who is a legitimate business person, has a site specifically for selling good domains. In one category, Angels, she has these domains purchased and for sale (can you tell she's a cat person too? ):

angelkittens.com
angelkitties.com
angelkitty.com
angelinleather.com
kittyangel.com
littleangelpet.com
littleangelpets.com
plussizeangel.com
plussizedangel.com
shoppingangel.com

Haven't you noticed when you mis-type a domain name, most of them go to some company or another asking if you want to buy it? That's what they do, and as far as I know as long as they aren't trying to extort money, it is legal.
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post #12 of 12
4/10/05 at 1:05pm
I think the law on registration of domain name should be changed such that unless it is used, the person or corporation should not be able to put a "reserve" on it. The law should be amended to be more akin to Trademark laws where if the trademark/domain is not used it may be considered abandoned and one would lose rights to it. And by used I refer to using in as an actual site, redirection, etc but not as a big advertisement telling you the name has been bought but you can purchase it from them. Such reservation does not seem to add much to the economy except as a form of additional cost or tax on a service.
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