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AllStarPoker.com just sold for $6,243. Something that makes me a bit nervous about this domain is the clear TM issue. It is confusingly similar to the very popular poker site: PokerStars.com. Regardless it is a nice sale for a 3 keyword domain name.

I use Escrow.com for most of my larger transactions. I like to deal with a company I can get a hold of during business hours on the phone. Ive never really had an issue with any transactions until today. I had pushed a domain name to a customer last week, and she had yet to acknowledge recieving the domain name to Escrow. This despite several emails over the past few days encouraing her. I contacted Escrow.com to let them know the buyer had received the domain, but hasn’t responded to me or escrow.

Within about an hour, I recieve an email addressed to both parties stating the following:

“The Seller has submitted the transfer for the domain in this transaction. The registrar now shows your information as registrant, therefore your inspection period has been started.  The current registrant information is below.”

I was surprised, although they acted in my favor, I started to consider some of the possibilities. What if the domain name was never transfered and I just temporarily updated the whois information? After receiving my funds I then go back and return the whois to myself. I would have prefered escrow simply called the buyer to verify, and was actually a bit stunned they took this path.

Justin

No longer do you need to fill in the new registrants information when trying to push a domain name at Godaddy. Now you simply need the account number and email of the individual you are pushing to. It was about time Godaddy completed this upgrade, as most registrars have simplified the process. Considering I have most of my holdings at Godaddy, this will be a nice change.

Justin

One of the oldest registrars also happens to have the most incompetent customer service reps. Not that they are not friendly or polite, but their lack of understanding in regards to their own products is frightening. I cringe whenever I need to speak to someone there as I always have to explain how things work. Last time it was related to whois information and this time related to a certified offer. I actually like Network Solution’s control panel (most of it) but there service is absolutely below par and I hope they consider doing a complete revamp of their training programs. Clearly their reps only understand the very basics.

You may ask why I do business with this registrar at all. Well, quite frankly there are several reasons. First, NameJet has most of their names with NSI or Enom - so Im stuck between the two. Second, most of the best domains in the world are registered through Network Solutions (because they are the oldest).

Justin

As we reported a few weeks ago, iREIT sold quite a few domains below market value. One of those names was Robbin.com, a popular first name. That name was immediately submitted to the DomainTools auction and today fetched a sales price of $4,300. After commission and cost, the seller will net $3,370 in profit in less than a month. Well done and just proof their are great deals lurking in every corner.

We are approximately 1/3 of the way through the DomainTools live auction in San Francisco, and so far we already have a great .net sale to report. Retire.net fetched $23,500 in bidding.

Also - 330.com managed to top out at $23,000 which is also a great price.

We are seeing better bidding then we had in the past with DomainTools auctions, but we have the same problems. Lower quality names and high reserves. It appears they are improving. I will report after the auction has closed with my thoughts.

Often times for the middle of the road domainer (As I consider myself) you have ups and downs in the industry. One month you’ll do several large sales and the next the ocean will be dead as a door nob. Ive found that changing strategies and exploring different directions often helps, and teaches you new ideas and concepts. There has been a popular method of buying or registering advertised keywords (as .com) and selling those domains directly to the advertisers.

In all fairness, I have yet to attempt this method. However, I purchased a domain name today with the express purpose of selling it to an advertiser. I wanted to chronicle my methods with my readers and share the results to see how they do. To Start, Ive selected an aftermarket domain name, which I paid $115 dollars for. Its 2 keywords, relating to a higher end product. (Think, home furnishings). I will start by putting together a very detailed email, discussing the bennefits of owning the advertised keyword as a domain and ways in which it can be used. I will follow with information about that particular niche and the complimentary keywords, and lastly, start with a sales price.

I will detail my experiences with this new technique for my readers to use and learn from. So Stay tuned!

Justin

SoldierOfFortune.com completed its auction today at NameJet, with a final bid of $,9,700. The popular phrase was brought to the public eye in the 1955 movie (with the same title) starring Clark Gable. There is also a magazine publication; Soldier of Fortune which is purportedly aimed at the target demographic for Mercenaries. Although its a popular phrase, there are no advertisers for the term, and development potential for this one might be a big tough without TM issues. This one went much higher than I anticipated. Congrats to the new owner.

Justin

If you ever wondered if registrars keep some of the expiring domain names, there is no question anymore. Tucow’s General Manager Bill Sweetman admitted on DotWeekly.com that Tucows does in fact hold back some of their expiring domain names, for Tucow’s portfolio.

“Not all of the expired names end up in the Tucows auction. Some names are renewed by the original registrant before they reach the auction, and some of the names are retained by Tucows for our own portfolio (although we still allow the orginal registrant to reinstate the domain name if they want to). In other words, we go out of our way to protect the rights of the orginal registrant.” - General Manager of Tucow’s Auction; Bill Sweetman

This brings up another interesting question. How long will Tucow’s allow the original registrant to renew the domain name for? and at what cost? Clearly this registrar has a conflict of interest. At one point it registers domain names on behalf of its clients and then instead of releasing them to the general pool, or selling them at their own auction, they hold them for their own portfolio. Does being a registrar give you the right to keep domains that its customers fail to renew?

Quite honestly, I don’t feel comfortable using a registrar that openly practices this kind of policy. I think Tucows should decide if its a registrar or a portfolio holder, and act properly in that regards.

Justin

Since the new year, four lettered .com domains have been really gaining. Domains which not long ago could have been hand registered were now being sold at after market for upwards of $65-75 dollars. Markets often correct and within the past few weeks it has been evident that these domain names are dropping back down to real prices.

What gives? Lots of things actually. This year lots of new domain investors came into the market. They smelled what look liked a boom and tried to cash in. Resellers all over the industry took notice and started buying up everything in sight. Prices sky rocketed and gained nearly every day. With the U.S. economy hitting a slow down, and less new money coming into the industry, it was only a matter of time before the shining beacon took a hit.

What does this mean for resellers? Holding time.  Many of you overpaid for some of these domain names and quite frankly, your going to have to sit on them until they’ve made their gains or are sellable at the acquisition price. Does that mean they were bad investments? Hardly. There are still gains and growth in the most premium and there will continue to be. The issue here is timing. Where you could make huge gains in days or weeks, now you must be patient and wait for the market to grow at a more moderate pace.

Those of us who invested across the board, in different kinds of domains, or even cashed out at or near the height did well. You managed to cash in on a market boom and are diversified enough not to take any major hit from its correction. This is the lesson to be learned. Diversify your portfolio of holdings, and trim down the fat.

Justin