It’s great when things work exactly as expected without any change whatsoever – like a Swiss watch.
But everything changes, nothing remains the same, according to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, and when there is a paradigm shift, one needs to adjust their bearings accordingly.
DropCatch.com, a domain catching service from Huge Domains, is currently doing the ‘unthinkable’ by offering caught domains to a public auction among its members – not just those that backordered them.
Some were eager to cry ‘murder!’ and I understand the need to keep one’s activity secret; the goal is to conserve money when bidding on domain names in the aftermarket.
Not surprisingly, I witnessed the same reaction at domain forums 10 years ago, when people began to publicly share domain droplists; some folks didn’t like seeing those domains that they had set their eyes on being shared with the public.
The “outrage” soon became the norm, and just because domain lists are nowadays shared, it does not mean everyone will take a stab at them.
While it’s great getting a domain for registration fee, or for the minimum $59 that DropCatch.com apparently charges, the truth is that those who complain about this paradigm shift aren’t the big spenders, even at cumulative level.
Like any other business for profit, Huge Domains aims at maximizing the revenue generated at its domain marketplace, and this method will allow them to attract more bidders willing to pay a higher price for domains. Overall, this is better for the domain industry that has attracted a large number of high-maintenance customers unwilling to open their wallets.
The bottom line is, that in order to sustain domain mining you have to treat it like alchemy; you need gold to produce gold.
It does suck but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is more of a move to public auctions in the future.
You said:
“While it’s great getting a domain for registration fee, or for the minimum $59 that DropCatch.com apparently charges, the truth is that those who complain about this paradigm shift aren’t the big spenders, even at cumulative level.”
Of course, those that complain might be people actually wating to USE the domains rather than speculation.
This whole “indusry” is as toxic as the speculations that occur in Forex or on the stock exchange.
Mil – Investment properties are toxic then? If I buy several homes and live off the rent or from reselling is toxic? Your paradigm does not acknowledge the breadth and span of an industry that started 20+ years ago. Here’s a great link http://www.dnjournal.com/domainsales.htm
Arco: that is an invalid comparison. Dropcatch and Microtrading SPECULATION on Forex and stocks are toxic because they divorce the price of the comodity from the market value of the comodity, and are not open to the acutual end uses of the comodity. This is because the end users of a domain registration, or of an exchange from Dollars to Euros or genuine long term Investors in shares do not have access to the algoritms and infrastructure that the Speculators do. This distorts the market,
If you buy real estate to let out, then all landlords are competing on fairer terms. Usually you are not somene artificially creating a shortage or a comodity where there was plenty, or no comodity before a microsecond transaction took place.
Your link points to a company that is doing well out of this “industry”
Pirates and Gangsters also make lots of money, but that does not, of itself make them moraly correct, It just makes them rich. It might be a broad and 20+ Year old Industry, but it is still causing end users existential problems.
Do you actually have servers serving the domains you buy? I, or my customers do.
Do you wish to explain to my customers why it is a Good Thing for them, to spend more than they have to to feed someone who speculates?
Speculation leads to bubbles and no real value. Dropcatchers and speculators speculate that someone has existential reasons for a particular domain, for their business, for their livelyhood, and are willing to pay. The specuilators have a big purse, the end users sometimes do not. Waiting is not an option for them. Sueing for an abuse of the system also is not an option, otherwise this might have been established long ago.
I am sure that if you feel the business activities discribed behind your link are great, that you will also appreciate someone, one day requiring you to pay to use the rainwater that falls on your own land. or the air that you breath, because that is the way you would like that market to work. (and someone IS working on that right now!)
Suddenly your speculative dollars are devalued.
Good luck!
Mil – Your attempt to equalize the domain market with the Forex market shows you do not understand either one.
There is one ‘copy’ of a domain, just like a house at an address can only be owned by one owner at a time. Speeculation on financial commodities and futures is an entirely different market, driven by supply and demand. Completely different mechanics.
Now then, I understand you are pissed because someone wants more than $10 for a domain you really like, but that alone does not make their ownership any less valid, and the fact that they invested in a domain for profit, is no less deplorable than betting on your favorite team to win.
Domain investing is based on the fact that a domain name can be registered only by one person at a time, so whoever gets it first has rights to it. Unless there’s a trademark involved, there is no reason to be upset about it. You can also get your specific keyword in a multitude of new TLDs (gTLDs) which were created to fix exactly the type of shortage you’re experiencing.
Good luck as well.