Realistically speaking, it’s highly unlikely that *all* new gTLDs will end up being liquid on the reseller market. Therefore, the following question arises: for which new gTLDs will there be reseller market demand?
I wish I could simply provide a list but unfortunately, things are a lot more complicated than that and the truth is, I don’t know. Neither do you. Neither does anyone else at this point.
At the end of the day, the market will decide.
Would you have thought that dot guru would end up having a good launch?
Most domainers wouldn’t have, yet dot guru is currently the most popular new gTLD.
Now of course, it’s still too early to draw conclusions but this much is certain: the market can sometimes surprise us and as an investor, it’s important to understand that the other market participants might not adhere to your way of thinking.
For example, maybe you think dot 1234 (random example) will be the most popular new gTLD for various reasons that you consider logical. Fair enough, maybe you’ll be right. But as a good investor, it’s your responsibility to acknowledge the fact that the market might prove you wrong.
At this point again, nobody knows.
We can make more or less educated guesses but the truth is that nobody has a crystal ball, at least not one that works in a reasonably accurate manner 🙂
Those who get it right will be rewarded (perhaps quite handsomely), those who don’t will learn a few valuable lessons.
Therefore, the only advice I can give you is this: if your business model revolves around the reseller market in one way or another, adaptability will play an extremely important role. Be vigilant and at the same time humble enough to accept that you made a mistake if the market proves you wrong and you will most likely be on the right track.
March 4th, 2014 at 3:37 pm
@Andrei,
I hate to point out the obvious to you, as if I’m picking on your posts, but these points are very important.
This time around, you neglected a third possibility. And that is, perhaps the answer is NONE.
I don’t want it to be so, but it’s a possibility.
March 4th, 2014 at 4:17 pm
None of the new gTLDs has trended on Twitter, NONE! All of them have not. The Kardashians have.
March 4th, 2014 at 4:27 pm
What market we see today with .info, .mobi, .travel, .biz, .museum, etc.? That is pretty much what it will be with the most of gTLDs. Some, such as .web will be comparable to today’s .org and .net market. And .com will grow up as the only safe investment.
March 4th, 2014 at 4:50 pm
@Domenclature.com: sure, that’s a possibility as well, nothing can be ruled out at this point
March 4th, 2014 at 4:54 pm
@Mike: not sure about .travel and .museum but as far as .info, .biz and even .mobi are concerned, there’s definitely reseller market demand for the top domains. For example, if someone offered let’s say Dating.info for 100 bucks, wouldn’t you buy it? I for one would and I’m reasonably confident you would as well, there’s definitely quite a bit of demand when it comes to the best terms.
March 4th, 2014 at 5:12 pm
EnCirca see a reseller market for .pro and .travel, as there are a lot of good generic terms that become available. Admittedly, it is small.
The reality is that end-users do have the visibility to many of these aftermarket domains.
March 4th, 2014 at 6:12 pm
@Andrei – Correct, there is some market. That is exactly what I was trying to refer to. I am not saying there will be no chance to earn some bucks, but it is not going to be big.
March 4th, 2014 at 6:44 pm
The answer:
NONE
unless you are talking TM’s.
The registration numbers are pathetic, the sales/flipping is not existent and there is more coming out for the weeks/months/years to come…
Look at .mobi 7 figure registration mark…
.name .info .biz .tel….
and…?
March 4th, 2014 at 6:46 pm
Ok, Andrei, since we agree so far, what is a “reseller market” in this context?
Is it one or two sales? Is it a few?
Some define Market as A medium that allows buyers and sellers of a specific good or service to interact in order to facilitate an exchange; and reseller market as buyers who purchase with the intent of selling those products to others. The reseller market includes wholesalers, retailers, and distributors.
Notice that in the latter, there’s no mention of consumers, as those would come under business market, or Consumer market.
So far, it is safe to assume that the new gtlds could manage to scrape off a reseller market, from mainly domainers, but may not be as successful with the consumer one.
They will need a change of tactics.
1. Firstly, their names should wholesale below $5 each.
2. They must not hold back more than 100 names for the Registry. They should let all names open to domainers, and consumers.
I have 14 key points that might help them (not limite to promotions include special pricing and sales incentives, discounts… ). But I’ll let the above two go pro bono.
March 4th, 2014 at 7:08 pm
Reseller demand will exist where there is meaningful end user demand. It will take a while before a trend emerges of end users buying aftermarket .whatever domains. Domainers who have experienced an $XXXX+ .COM sale to an end user have a degree of confidence placing a backorder for or bidding up to mid- $XXX for a comparable .COM. Likewise, those who have sold one-word .Nets or one-word domains in other extensions might be willing to pay some amount for one-word domains in those extensions. But there is no vibrant end user market for these new TLDs. Until there is, those renewals will add up and without sales to cover renewals, many names will get dropped.
March 4th, 2014 at 7:36 pm
Think it is fair to say there has never actually been a new tld with liquid reseller market. Even the typical valuable .com isn’t very liquid. Try to sell it in 24 hours and it will be a very hard job probably involving a big discount to what it could get if sold over a couple of weeks.
March 4th, 2014 at 7:39 pm
someone offered let’s say Dating.info for 100 bucks, wouldn’t you buy it?
///////////////
One person in the market doesn’t make for liquidity. Liquidity means a whole bunch of people lining up to pay what item it worth. e.g. look at a popular stock selling for say $100. There will be buyers at $99.99, $99.98, $99.97 etc.
March 4th, 2014 at 10:23 pm
@Andrei,
Huh? No, I would most certainly NOT want to buy Dating.info for $100. Total liability. Very small, unlikely upside. If the $100 is burning a hole in your pocket, use it to renew 10+ .com domains. That will get you much farther than a worthless .info or any of the stupid gtld’s.
March 5th, 2014 at 6:11 am
@Domenclature.com: I’d say the reseller market represents a pool of domainers willing to buy from other domainers (not a definition by any means but a reasonable enough starting point in my opinion) but of course, reseller markets come in all shapes and sizes, as I will try to explain when replying to snoopy’s comments. There are vibrant and highly liquid reseller markets, just like there are let’s call them “barely liquid” reseller markets.
However, I’m sure you’ll agree that even a “barely liquid” reseller market is still better than no reseller market at all 🙂
Figuring out how liquid such a reseller market would be is a good topic for a future article but beyond the scope of this one. As far as this post is concerned, my goal has simply been trying to figure out *whether* there will be reseller market demand for new gTLDs (not *how much* demand there will be).
March 5th, 2014 at 6:14 am
@Leonard Britt: I agree that end user sales are a very important component but at the beginning, am reasonably confident that a reseller market (maybe not a highly liquid one but a reseller market nonetheless) will exist even in the absence of end user data.
March 5th, 2014 at 6:19 am
@snoopy: at $100, I’m sure you’ll agree there would be a *lot* of demand for Dating.info. Such domains tend to sell for healthy 4 fig amounts (possibly 5 figures) at decent auction venues, so buying Dating.info for $100 would kind of be like buying a LLL dot com for $100 🙂
As mentioned in a previous comment, figuring out *how liquid* the future reseller markets will be is beyond the scope of this post. My goal as far as this specific post is concerned was simply figuring out *whether or not* there will be reseller market demand.
March 5th, 2014 at 6:20 am
@Jaymes: actually, it would be the exact opposite of a liability. If you were to buy it for $100, you’d be able to easily flip it to another domainer for 4 figures, so there would be a lot of upside on the table.
March 5th, 2014 at 6:32 am
@Equalizatore: it should be noted that a reseller market doesn’t have to exist for *all* terms associated with an extension. In fact, even for a new gTLD with relatively few registrations, a reseller market may very well emerge for the top terms. We have the dot com extension as a reference point and as everyone knows, there’s only reseller market demand for certain domains, definitely not all of them.
March 5th, 2014 at 5:27 pm
“However, I’m sure you’ll agree that even a “barely liquid” reseller market is still better than no reseller market at all”
Yes, I agree.
Andrei, I have an advice for you: Remove the moderation on your website, to allow for real time discourse; you don’t have a menace of trolls for such strict, and prolonged interactivity. Your blog will prosper.
You can always moderate it later, if any abuse occurs.
Thanks
March 6th, 2014 at 12:58 am
@Andrei: Sorry, I too would not give you $100 for a .info.
Just not worth it.
Nor would I pay even 1/2 of that for a gtld. Those are a tasteless joke designed for fools and to be traded by knaves.