11% of our recently dropped domains got picked up...

[Edwin]

I was looking over the domains we dropped in the last few months. Overall, we dropped 452 domains. 51 of them have been re-registered since, i.e. just over 11%. Some were picked up by people I recognise as fellow domain investors (perhaps 20 names) - the rest went to what at a quick glance seem to be end-users.

It was interesting to see how many (or perhaps how few?) were re-registered... On the one hand, 11% isn't much - and it's more like 7% if I look at the ones scooped up by "real-world" companies. On the other hand, that's still 30-odd domains that caught somebody's attention and seemed "good enough" to get re-registered.

Not much I can comment on beyond that - I'm not going to attempt to draw any wider conclusions.

Does anyone else keep track of that sort of thing? How's your experience been?

 

[Bailey]

I wonder how many picked-up the dot.uk of that 51 co.uk Edwin. that may also be interesting.
I do think there are a lot more domain 'sideline' players out there theses days that don't choose or want to get involved in forum discussions and purely follow their own little niches, be that a hobby or business interest. I personally don't keep track of my drops but tend to have a little looksee session when ever I've got nothing better to do and in someways I'm quite pleased to see virtually all my drops are reregistered , I do also wonder how many are perhaps using automated software to identify their potential target domains - with age possibly paying/giving a disproportionate value to the now available domain.

I do consider myself a little bit of a WordArt freak so if a domain doesn't look good or doesn't have an eye-catching element its probably never been on my domain holdings anyway. (this has played out well in the brand led market) I'm more amused these days by the number of people that try to resell my 'Pending' drops back to me (Gtlds) just prior to the drop dates. I guess that's more down to the subject matters I pursue though

 

[redbird]

@Edwin I gave up looking a long time ago, I'd rather not know as started questioning my decision to drop them....

If I see a domain in a drop list which I consider a potential catch but has a domainer's TAG I recognise then more often than not I'd decide not to try and catch on the basis that a domainer who's owned it for a while decided that it wasn't worth the renewal fee. However there are exceptions if the domain is something I have a use for.

As @Bailey says though, would be interesting to know how many (particularly the end users) registered the .uk

 

[ian]

Overall, we dropped 452 domains.

Can I ask who you refer to as "we"?

 

[boxfish]

On the other hand, that's still 30-odd domains that caught somebody's attention and seemed "good enough" to get re-registered.

Based on some of the entries in the "Your 3 best domains?" thread, I wouldn't worry about that too much.

 

[martin-s]

A domain being registered by an end-user for £5 doesn't mean you were wrong to drop it. If it wasn't available, would they have paid £xxx+ for it?

 

[keys]

Post removed - not controversial but maybe more appropriate in a separate thread

 

[Murray]

I suppose you can look at it that even if you did drop some names that could have sold for an xx or xxx amount, it's offset by not having to pay for the renewal of 400 + the .uks

@Edwin in hindsight, would you have gone down a different road with your style of domaining, or do you just put it down to it was the right model at the time, but unforeseen changes in search engines and .uk made it no longer viable

I suppose I should clarify when I say your style of domaining, I mean bulk registering the milk of keyword domains rather than the cream

 

[martin-s]

Is anyone actively using the names you dropped Edwin?

 

[Edwin]

Can I ask who you refer to as "we"?

Memorable Domains Ltd.

 

[Admin]

On that basis would it not be worth offering them up here before you let them drop... a sort of fire sale....?

 

[Edwin]

On that basis would it not be worth offering them up here before you let them drop... a sort of fire sale....?

I did, for several earlier batches. Pretty much to no response. Perhaps I'm not patient enough to keep trying...

 

[Edwin]

Is anyone actively using the names you dropped Edwin?

Not many people, no. Here's the breakdown...

corporate site: 4
"reserved for future use" page: 1
404 error page: 1
blank page: 1
contact us page: 1
doesn't resolve: 8
domain for sale page: 15
DomainLore auction: 1
drop catcher page: 1
parking page: 13
registrar lander: 3
web design agency page: 2

More were taken by domain investors than I first thought, by the looks of it (I'd not checked what the actual domains were being used for until just now)

 

[Edwin]

As @Bailey says though, would be interesting to know how many (particularly the end users) registered the .uk

13 of the 51 had the corresponding .uk registered. Looks like all 13 .uk matched .co.uk that were grabbed by domain investors (not end users).

Incidentally, while it's a VERY small sample, it looks like:
- Some domain investors only take the .co.uk
- Some domain investors go for both .co.uk and .uk every time
- Some domain investors pick and choose which domains to also register the .uk version

But as I said, the sample size is microscopic so there's no real statistical validity to anything I've posted on this thread.

 

[TopDomainInvesting]

I've dropped a lot in the past few years or so, almost all .com, and I've noticed quite a lot of them seem to get picked up by HugeDomains. My regret rate is very low, but there are a few I regret discarding.

 

[TopDomainInvesting]

I just discovered you can't edit your posts... Anyway, was going to add that one of them I caught right away around when someone was buying a similar one from me. Now I'm negotiating to sell the one I re-caught.

 

[aZooZa]

Ergo: Nominet's 'the new .uk domains will cost you a fortune in lost sales, pointless renewals and defensive registrations' policy. What a bloody shambles. And a good three years to go before the waters become less muddied. I would have swallowed this bitter pill if everyone had flocked to actually make use of these pestilential domains. Again; I know it's been done to death, but the two protagonist extensions should have been paired at no extra cost, so that the market could decide. I personally prefer the shorter .uk but I shouldn't have to double my outgoings on a whim.

Alas no. The Trust would have been crippled. Sod the members and the public. Let THEM pay. Shocking.

 

[Edwin]

Have you actually tested your theories, David? Because I have.

I have not found a single potential buyer - not one - who hasn't needed to be hand-held through the whole concept of .uk. It has never converted a single wavering enquiry into a sale, and it seemed to scare off quite a few enquirers in that they immediately evoked that classic 21st century equivalent of "radio silence" by no longer replying to emails on the matter.

None were willing to pay more for the .uk, nor did it successfully shore up our .co.uk asking price. It also didn't help to tip wavering buyers into turning their initial enquiry into a sale when I mentioned they would also be getting the .uk rights as part of the transaction. And not one of the enquirers expressed anything which could even generously be described as "interest" in the .uk extension itself.

I gave it a good old try for quite a number of months, but now I've given up mentioning the .uk as there's no upside to be gained from it. All our domains are sold with the .uk rights unexercised (we don't actually mention the .uk at all in any interactions).

As for your second bullet, registering the .uk but staying quiet about it, surely that's just building up a stock of trouble for down the road, when/if the .co.uk buyer finally gets educated on the matter? Because if the shoe was on the other foot and I was buying, I'd be miffed as anything that a seller had done that to me...

 

[Edwin]

Plus it's a bad idea to mention the .uk on sales landers because Nominet's ridiculously convoluted "address for service" requirement makes it a massive pain for any non-UK buyers (overseas buyers are about 30-40% of our clients)

 

[Murray]

There are notable domain name investors registering .uk domain names at the moment each day as they become available (either after ordinary deletion, should they have been previously registered and then not renewed, or after the corresponding domain name with the ROFR had been deleted due to non renewal). Those domain name investors more than likely consider that in the future those .uk domain names will have value and will be desirable. These domain name investors aren't necessarily too concerned with having the .co.uk if they beaten to it by competing domain name investors at deletion time..

Well, not exactly a massively risky gamble is it