Make "Browse domains" more prominent, not just in the footer. Have domains under that somehow ranked. I'd suggest having price listed on click or on visit, so you can grab on that data. Remove "any amount" - that's psychology 101.
(plug & rant pending) I'm firmly believing synthmeat.com will some day be worth much - http://namebox.io/dsirijus - so I'm squatting. Why is there a negative sentiment about that? It's an investment, like any other.
Does this offer an escrow service for transferring domain ownership?
Being able to list and browse available domains is nice, bootstrapping negotiations is nice too, but the purchase closing is the most tricky part and the ownership transfer via a third party is an absolute must. GoDaddy offers a service like this and it costs few hundred $ per transfer.
It's "escrow.com", not "escrow". They try to do a funky thing with their logo to separate the escrow part of it from .com, but they aren't brash enough to leave off the suffix. If they did, I don't think it would fly.
I searched for "escrow.com" reviews and found some negative ones. So there's one reason why someone might not use it.
Another reason would be that as a general escrow service they may not understand the domain escrow process as well as a company that only does DNS escrow.
Escrow.com has been the gold standard in the domain industry for years. I've personally seen hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales take place with them with no problems,
"I searched for "escrow.com" reviews and found some negative ones. So there's one reason why someone might not use it."
With all due respect (as they say) does this really add anything helpful to a discussion? It's like "I've searched online and people say that wordpress has security issues..."
First of all, as pointed out by others in this thread, that is not the case with escrow.com who I have personally used over the years (and seen used) for numerous transactions. And it is who people use for these transactions, is a specialist licensed in all 50 states (no small feat). Additionally the process is as close to bullet proof in terms of protecting both buyer and seller. And they aren't so large (ala ebay) that if you have a problem you can't get someone on the phone to rectify. Lastly, the President (Brandon Abbey) replies to emails (and in fact adopted a suggestion that I had into escrow.com service).
"Another reason would be that as a general escrow service they may not understand the domain escrow process as well as a company that only does DNS escrow."
Let me assure you that they know that process very well and the industry has responded to that. They are used by buyers, sellers, attorneys, everyone. I get the point you are making which in a general sense can be a valid one. But not applicable here.
> With all due respect (as they say) does this really add anything helpful to a discussion? It's like "I've searched online and people say that wordpress has security issues..."
I wasn't arguing against escrow.com. I was arguing against the comment I replied to, where the author presented escrow.com as an obvious choice, with the incorrect name, and no reasons in support of using them.
That's why I said "might" instead of "should". My point is that one can always find reasons not to use something, in absence of reasons why they should use things.
I don't want my comment to be taken without taking into account the comment I replied to, and if that's the only way people are going to read it, I retract it.
I don't think this makes squatting any easier than the existing tools to sell domains. I'm giving the creator the benefit of the doubt and assume they did this because, like me, they probably have tens of domains they don't plan on ever using.
It's not squatting. Squatting is registering a domain for its own sake. Sometimes you register domains for projects and then those projects never get off the ground. I have a dozen domains (I defensively registered all the top TLDs) expiring in 4 days for just that reason.
Squatting is squatting is squatting. You may have registered with the intent to use it but now that you are not using it you think you deserve money for the ability to rent it?
Do you deserve money for your old car that you are putting up for sale? You obviously don't use it anymore. Or renting out that extra room in your apartment? Why do you deserve money for that?
The person owns the domain, they can do with it as they please. So if they want to rent it out, then they can ask money for it... It's your choice if you agree to their terms and make any exchange.
All in all, drawing comparisons between something like a domain and real world objects are disingenuous at best. I'm not going to detail how apple.com is different from your Ford Pinto.
You do not own a domain. That is false right off the bat. And no, you cannot do with it as you please. For example, buying a trademarked name and then trying to extort money out of the owner of said trademark is not allowed.
If you are renting a domain with the sole intent to deprive someone else the ability to use it unless they pay an extortionist fee, that is wrong. It goes against the free spirit that the internet was built on. The fee charged is at least in part to prevent a massive "land grab" of domains that are to be sold off at absurd prices.
I disagree; I have a handful of domains without active sites on them as well, for projects that I still want to do but haven't gotten to yet.
I've had experiences in the past of letting a domain expire and then being "ready" to use it a few years down the line. Of course, it was invariably squatted, and had been since I'd let it go, and would cost more than I was able to justify paying to get it back.
On the other hand, I actually had a working project running on wishmash.com that wasn't getting enough traffic to make it worthwhile, so I sold the domain when I got a reasonable offer. If I hadn't sold it, though, would that have have been "squatting is squatting is squatting" as well? I could put up forums and/or tiny sites on all domains I have -- then it wouldn't be squatting either?
There's a whole range of possible levels of domain usage. I don't have any domain that I haven't spend at least a few hours researching the space & competitors, documenting implementation (and sometimes starting it), and so on.
I'm sure I won't actually build some of these projects. But I don't know which. Of course from the outside this can look the same as a simple squatter hoping for a big payout; but that doesn't mean it is the same.
I think there is a misunderstanding of my point. I'm trying to say that at the point that you list your domain that you intended to use but do not for a crazy sum, that is when you become a squatter. Simply holding onto a site with the intent to use it for a few years isn't. It's all about the spirit and intention.
"Squatting is registering a domain for its own sake."
Actually no.
The closest true definition I [1] can come up with for "squatting" [2] would be defined as such (from wikipedia):
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"Cybersquatting (also known as domain squatting), according to the United States federal law known as the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, is registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. The cybersquatter then offers to sell the domain to the person or company who owns a trademark contained within the name at an inflated price."
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So to clear up any misconception there is no problem registering a domain that a) you don't intend to use or b) you plan to sell or c) being in the business of buying and selling domains as long as you don't break any existing laws around trademarks (as only one example). Of course there are also issues with UDRP's and law firms reverse hijacking domains but that's an entirely different subject.
Lastly of course people who can't get the domain they want always will throw around the "c" word as if it's simply not fair that they can't have what they want when they want it. In a similar vein people are also opposing legitimate real estate and other property transactions if it personally effects them.
[1] I operate an ICANN registrar and I've been in this business since 1996. I've been quoted in the NY Times on domains and many other places. I'm one of the people asked about this type of thing and consult on the subject.
I think conflating the issue with trademarks narrows my definition. "For its own sake" means registering a domain for no incentive beyond the status or vanity of holding that name, i.e. just because it looks cool or it's short, funny or memorable.
I still think it's squatting if I registered yoursurname.com, even though it's not a trademark and wouldn't meet your definition under the ACPA.
I still think it's squatting if I have no intention of ragging you in to buying yoursurname.com from me. Maybe I just derive satisfaction from having something you want?
What about those of us that have domains in use but would be willing to part with for a certain amount? I have a game-server that resulted from some hacking network traffic of an old Wii game.
I still have that system up today, but if someone came along and offered me $1,000,000 dollars for the domain(dontrush.me) I'd give up that domain with no regrets and just buy some other one. I didn't buy it as part of some ingenious marketing strategy, I just thought it was kinda cute and was surprised it wasn't taken already - though this was like the first day .me TLD was made available when I got it.
I highly dislike this negative attitude towards domain name trading and ownership.
You are absolutely right when it comes down to trademarked names or typos when somebody's rights are getting abused. But other than that banning the ownership of domains which one doesn't use is just ludicrous.
It is almost like arguing that any real estate ownership should be forbidden that goes beyond the personal use. A deeply anti-free market attitude that has in my view no place in reality.
Like you say, there are egregious examples out there which clearly fall under squatting, but I think there's also the sentiment that domains are a tool and identity. The idea that someone thought up a really clever name and then do nothing with it but sit on it for sale tends to stir up the same emotions people have toward patent trolls.
"Yeah, they own the patent, but it's obvious! And they're not even using it to make stuff!" ... or the like.
I have a mixed position on this. I do get annoyed by squatters who have no intention of building. I also have domains that I want to build on eventually, but I can't do it yet; so to other people it looks like I'm squatting.
I'm not waiting for cash, I'm waiting for time. Every now & then I do get to one of them.
Though -- I don't often get requests to purchase (except for the domain that has a working business... I get requests for that all the time). But do people not approach me because they're sure I'll try to squeeze out every possible penny from them?
It's not a great situation, though I'm happy to hear suggestions.
"I also have domains that I want to build on eventually, but I can't do it yet; so to other people it looks like I'm squatting."
This is a the biggest problem I have too. I think to myself, I'm going to build something with this eventually, but "eventually" never comes since spare time has been transformed into Unobtanium. Plus the motivation necessariy to start a project and see through to fruition is very hard to come by and I don't feel like starting if it seems I won't be able to finish.
If the name is interesting enough, I can guarantee that they think they'll get squeezed. The only offers I do get are for things that are live, but look (or genuinely are) underutilized.
I think a lot of people like me buy domains planning to do something with them. Eventually we realize that time is limited, but we still hang onto the hope of eventually finding the time to do something with the domains.
I'm guessing they are overpriced because people don't actually want to sell their domains, but they would happily do so if someone was to offer a good chunk of cash for them.
That's my logic anyway. I never bought any domains with plans to sell them, but this site was so easy to use, I threw them up there and put big prices on them, just in case :-)
I tried adding one of my domains (read.io), but having to create DNS records for every domain I own is a huge pain.
I'm building a similar service now, which automates everything through WHOIS and DNS resolution. The feedback on this post has actually been really helpful.
I think it would be valuable to see other potential bids, in case you wish to "raise your maximum" and discourage unnecessary competitive pricing. Browsing a list of domains that are overpriced would be very inconvenient after the first page.
Really nice and well done. However, there are multiple services like this – it would be cool if there would be a cap on how much you demand for a domain, like $200 or something. That way this really would be the place to load of domains and give them to someone who might have more use of them than me.
Those complaining that this makes squatting easy – not true. I myself have collected 30-40 domains over the years for projects that I want/will/should build – but never have built... I keep renewing the domains "just in case", but if I could list them for $50 to $200 each and know that someone else will use them for a good purpose, I would.
The simplicity of this service and the free listing model could make it a real contender as a Flippa.com alternative. As others have already commented, there is still a lot of room for improvement (payment methods, improved bidding system, etc), but I could definitely see this in future iterations of the service if it were to gain enough traction.
As an immediate suggestion to the developer, it'd be nice if the registration, login, and dashboard areas were secured (HTTPS). Everything appears to be transmitted over HTTP at the moment.
In any case, kudos on the launch - this could definitely shape up to be a pretty solid service.
Being able to sort/search by the price domain sellers have set is not terribly useful. There are too many people out there who think their reg price only domain is worth $1 million.
Isn't the ass going to fall out of this market once ICANN starts issuing an increasing number of TLDs? Seems like "sell" would be the dominant intent amongst squatters
Nothing really changed when .info, .biz, .pro, .xxx, etc. hit the market.
There are trillions of dollars in marketing behind .com, and we will likely see no change in the standard user mentality (type brandname.com) for generations.
$200 for "urrl.us" ? I wonder how much sh2.us would fetch ( currently hosting my ramblings http://www.sh2.us )
While I like the idea of a simpler domain sales option (since GoDaddy is a spammy nightmare) at present, I think what would really help would be a domain valuation service. It's pretty hard to put an amount on something when you're not sure how much it would really fetch on the market.
You could refine the search, if a search for e.g. coin would also show results containing *co.in. I am thinking of something like https://domai.nr/
Does this sound feasible?
There are already very successful domain trading platforms around (http://www.sedo.com). I can't really figure out what namebox's unique value proposition is.
Twitter integration! Seriously the reason I prefer Sedo and BuyDomains is that I don't have to deal directly with or have my personal info given out to buyers.
I used to have my email address listed on some domains I had for sale, and after rejecting a ridiculously low offer ($40 for a 3 letter .com) had some 14 year old kid and all his buddies emailing me and calling me at all hours to try and harass me into accepting it.
This is great and hopefully opens up domain listing from folks here on HN. Demand for domains is only increasing, and as someone that handles private buying/selling for startups I see more and more of this need.
Of everything listed (mine included), task.io is clearly one of the better domains posted. I don't doubt that everyone has a story behind their ideas, but this was one of the few with a clear purpose.
I cannot verify my domain fashioner.com - TXT record was successfully added to DNS 18 hours ago, I've checked it by char by char using some outside DNS records viewer.
I have put up hacki.ng. I noticed that I have started getting dud purchase requests from buyers. I.e. the email address gotten from the purchase mail from namebox.io is false I.e. it doesn't exist. What does the owner of this service intend doing to curb this?
I think the "Any amount" listing is a bit vague. You should make it required to have at least a minimum amount. For example, video.io sells for "Any amount" but I doubt that can be taken literally.
Make "Browse domains" more prominent, not just in the footer. Have domains under that somehow ranked. I'd suggest having price listed on click or on visit, so you can grab on that data. Remove "any amount" - that's psychology 101.
(plug & rant pending) I'm firmly believing synthmeat.com will some day be worth much - http://namebox.io/dsirijus - so I'm squatting. Why is there a negative sentiment about that? It's an investment, like any other.