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The
domain aftermarket is soaring. Of course, if you follow our
weekly domain sales reports, you already know that but you may
not know the reasons why it is happening and more importantly
– you may not know how you as a domain owner can best take
advantage of this explosion of interest in domain names.
It’s
little wonder that people are a bit confused right now. The
major companies operating in the aftermarket (sales of domains
that are already owned by another party, rather than new
registrations) have come up with so many new initiatives and
improved marketing systems over the past year that you need a
scorecard to keep up. The purpose of this article is to clarify
what all of the new names (like AfternicDLS and Domain
Distribution Network), sales platforms and developments mean for
you and your business.
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Fueled
by new developments in the
aftermarket domain sales are rocketing
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The
good news is that all of these changes have been positive and
give you an opportunity to have your domain inventory seen by
more people in more places around the world than anyone could
have dreamed of just a year ago. The result has been a steady
rise in market activity. At the New
York T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference in June I reported
that we had seen a major jump in prices and transactions
from the first quarter of this year to the second. The total
dollar value of sales reported to us in the second quarter was
up more than 50% from the dollar value reported in the
first quarter and the average price of sales reported to us
surged from $6,873 in the first quarter to $10,544
in the second. We track only four-figure and up sales, so
averages for the entire market would be a good deal lower than
those numbers as many smaller transactions occur. However, the
numbers from our sample still show powerful upward momentum in
the secondary sales market.
Before
we get into the specifics let’s touch on why the domain
business is booming in the first place (and why it is likely to
keep expanding over the next few years). Certainly the fact that
mainstream media has finally discovered the industry has helped
as one newspaper or electronic media outlet after another seems to
be writing about domains on a daily basis now. Because of that,
domain values and the massive revenue
being generated through direct navigation (typing in a domain
name rather than using a search engine) is no longer a secret.
Also,
the
Internet has become indispensable for doing business in
today’s world and having a domain name is just as important as
having a business card or print catalog (actually far more
important than those things but that is a story for another
day). A memorable domain name doesn’t even have to have traffic to
have a lot of value as a brand name for your enterprise on the
web and business owners have come to understand that.
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The
introduction of domain financing by DomainCapital.com has also
played an important role as buyers can
now pay for their purchases over time. Imagine a housing market
without mortgages (probably a poor example since that could |
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become a reality given the way things are going in the mortgage
business!). DomainCapital has essentially brought mortgages to
the domain industry making it possible for a lot more high
dollar sales to take place.
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company’s president Robert Alfano told us, “With the
continued growth of the domain aftermarket and the increased
prices of many of the aftermarket sales, we are speaking to
clients and potential clients on a daily basis with regards to
how they can utilize our services to buy these assets. Many
domainers have their resources tied up in other ventures, so
when the perfect domain name comes along and they don’t want
to miss the opportunity, DomainCapital is able to partner with
them and make sure they have the ability to get their name or
names.”
Then
there is the mass migration of advertising dollars from
traditional media outlets to the web. Just this week private
equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson released research
forecasting that Internet advertising will overtake all other
media by 2011. That flood of ad dollars should fuel higher
domain values and pay per click ad revenues. In short,
domain owners are at the right place at the right
time.
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Robert
Alfano
DomainCapital President |
These
fortuitous circumstances have prompted several leading domain
companies to roll out programs designed to help you unlock the
value in your portfolio. We are going to take a close look at
important new developments at four of these companies – NameMedia (the parent company of aftermarket powerhouses
Afternic.com and BuyDomains.com and creator of the
Afternic DLS),
Dark Blue Sea’s Fabulous.com and their
Domain Distribution
Network (DDN), global giant Sedo.com who recently expanded their
aftermarket reach with the acquisition of GreatDomains.com and,
to wrap things up, we'll look at Moniker.com, the company that pioneered the thriving live
auction format that produces the majority of publicly reported
high value sales.
To
make it easier to navigate and digest this in-depth look at
innovations in the aftermarket, we are going to discuss each
company on a dedicated page. This will give you the option of
reading the entire article as you normally would, step by step
by following the links below (which also appear at the end of each
page) or reading one section at a time as your schedule permits
– using these links to go directly to the next section you
want to access when you are ready to read it. Without further
adieu, let’s get this show on the road!
| NameMedia’s
Afternic DLS – You’ve seen thousands of their sales posted
in our weekly reports – now find out how they are doing it and
how you can reach their global audience of potential domain
buyers. |
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| Fabulous.com’s
Domain Distribution Network See what the man behind the
plan, Dan Warner, has dreamed up to reach a new group of buyers
who don’t frequent the usual sales channels.
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| Sedo.com
and new family member GreatDomains – Sedo acquired
GreatDomains in June and quickly revitalized the slumbering
sales site. See how that move has added muscle to their
immensely popular planetwide platform.
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| Moniker.com
ushers in the age of Live Auctions – Moniker has been making
aftermarket waves since the late 90’s. Now they have changed
the game again with a platform that produces more high dollar
sales than anyone else. Find out how they did it and what you can
do to be a part of it.
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