I haven’t had a lot of free time lately to write out my thoughts about activity in the domain world. But I took the afternoon off to get some things done around the house (not going well). Here are 10 things that have crossed my mind lately.
1. The domain buyer FIRST is single handily effecting domain prices. The buyer is Chinese and is buying up thousands of short and numeric domains and he is out bidding everyone. It’s gotten to the point that if FIRST isn’t bidding on your short domain I question the value. If it’s a good domain he is going to buy it. His/her pockets are very deep and very consistent. He took OIA.com to $39,995 from $13K last bid. His bids primarily against the reserve often continuing to raise his bid until he hits it. I noticed it on my domains that on a few they hit reserve and stopped. But that’s because he was searching for the reserve and willing to pay it, regardless if anyone else showed interest. When FIRST stops buying I truly feel short and numeric domain prices will come down.
2. The Namejet app needs to change the layout of the bid page. There is a legend at the top that has two symbols. One for “Reserve Not Met” and one for “the reserve has not been met for this auction”. First of all it’s redundant. Both symbols mean the reserve hasn’t been met. Second, they are meant to show what the symbols below mean but it comes across as the reserve hasn’t been met because of it’s proximity to the bid box. It needs to be moved to the bottom or removed in my opinion. And yes, I wrote this out before I emailed Namejet but I just thought about it this afternoon
3. Ammar Kubba is doing what we all would love to do. Build something and then exit. He’s such a smart businessman and a good guy. He’s always the first guy to give you a smile and a one armed hug (it’s a tie between him and Andrew Rosener) so it’s nice to see him continue to succeed
4. Congrats to Theo for selling 100.org. Dot orgs are not being purchased by Chinese but it really doesn’t matter when you have a number that good. And the irony. He completed the deal through Escrow.com, not the escrow companies he endlessly touts. If he believes so much in the escrow why wouldn’t he use it in his own transaction? He is the seller and can dictate who the escrow company is. Again, thought the sale was great, just got a giggle out of the escrow choice.
5. I’m a hypocrite here, but it’s getting to the point where almost half of all domain blog articles are for advertisers or friends. I’m not blasting the blog writers for doing it, I completely understand why. I am saying it as a reader. At least I can get through all the daily articles in less than 15 minutes now.
6. I think Bitcoin goes down from here and never hits 500 again. I think it will continue to be used as transaction product but once the Chinese dropped it then it pretty much lost half its users. Companies are taking it because it’s hot and they feel they have to. That will eventually end. Mark Cuban also gave it the kiss of death. Pointing out that not one business is keeping their receipts in bitcoin and turning it into dollars immediately. I would not be holding any bitcoins if I had purchased them in the last two years. I would rather just own stock in a company or own something like this…Reddit coins
7. Shares of Rightside traded at $9.48 yesterday and closed at $9.75 today. I said I would be a buyer at $10 and I am a buyer soon as the the shares show some stability. It’s more the market right now than the company. I think earnings are better than expected with the key being expectations because they are very low
8. I bet there are a ton of domain investors that are taking money that was in domains and putting it into real estate. With real estate coming back and most of domain investors being entrepreneurs, it’s only logical that they are upping their investments in hard real estate and diversifying. In short, there are a lot of great sales at the high end market and I can guarantee much of that money is not being reinvested back into domains. It doesn’t say anything bad about domains, it is being done because they can and because the real estate market is good again.
I myself write about anything I find interesting.
I write posts concerning my sponsors when they have something new just like I do for companies that have never sponsored me and never will. I can name a couple that don’t like me posting about them. lol
Some companies don’t like criticism while others embrace it.
I hate go daddy and yet I find myself writing about it all the time. 🙂
BTW Theo has written numerous articles about escrow.com and has said many times that most of his sales were handled by escrow.com.
Konstantino,
And I’ve said several times that I think you do a tremendous job. I’m merely stating that there used to be more articles with personal stories, interviews, or in depth writing. Now most posts are comprised of press releases or statements about articles written from an outside source that relates to domains. Again, I’m certainly not writing anything of depth (although I know Aaron does some homework and research writing his). Not a criticism, just a note. Things change
Thanks for the kind words. I’ve used Escrow.com since 2002 and will continue doing so. Have also used eCop, almost used Agreed at some point and their payment structure, but the buyer dis-Agreed to proceed.
Regarding your obvious jab at Andee Hill of EscrowHill.com – formerly of Escrow.com – I gave her first dibs on this sale, which was originally going to complete in 90 days. Since the buyer is in California, EscrowHill does not currently operate in that area, but they will in the future. Naturally, I then used Escrow.com. I have great personal relationships with every professional in the domain industry and I turned down a discount at Escrow.com because I don’t think I deserve ‘favors’.
On Acro.net I do not have advertisers, it’s my personal sandbox to ‘rant and rave’ and I keep it rather Spartan.
Lastly, unlike most other blogs, I do not seek out those that advertise on DomainGang; they’ve come to me because they like the way I present news about the domain industry, including their own releases. Premium sponsors such as EscrowHill, Dot .CO, Uniregistry and others receive one dedicated story monthly, so that’s hardly “endless touting.”
I hope this answers your concerns 100%.
Acro,
That is a very honest answer. Thank you.
Shameless plug, but while on topic, Flippa is integrating a Free Escrow service, to be officially rolled-out in 2015. Should any of you be transacting on our platform, ping me to activate it for you. 100% safe, secure, and free.