Domaining is becoming harder and domainers are feeling squeezed (3.Viewing)

Gone are the days when you could just forward your domain to a page and go about your business of selling domains. Things are getting harder and more complex and every scenario I look at has it's negatives leaving me at a loss of what to do.

So here I will list some of my peeves and possible solutions...

I have thousands of domains spread out over multiple registrars with hundreds of domains coming due in January alone and selling them has become troublesome creating hundreds of hours of work.

The main thing causing me issues is that I like to sell and negotiate my own deals. I prefer to deal with the end client myself but how to direct that client to me is becoming more and more difficult with Google enforcing https redirects. It's impossible to add thousands of domains to a hosting package to get https and if one skips it the client gets a https error notice or worse yet if the domain is punched in with an https prefix it will show as not active.

So what are the solutions?

Well I guess a market place like GoDaddy will work if you want to give them 30% of your profits. I hear domainers say they don't mind that but I bet they never factor in holding times and renewals which would probably bring them closer to 40 of 50% costs. You have not even factored in if you spent 10k acquiring a domain GoDaddy can take 30% of that before you ever make a dime.

Then there are the discount marketplaces like saw at 9% but that is basic self directed and they still struggle with https certificates. That said they give you all the customer information which is definitely a bonus.

Then there are the newcomers like DomainEasy who promise 0% but we know from experience this is only a hook and the 10-15% is probably on the horizon sooner than later. Also the fact they give none of the client information makes me uneasy. Why do I want to use a service that keeps MY customer information away from me? Well the short answer is they do https certificates the best, they are instant, the second the domain DNS propagates it has an https certificate.

So currently I have to choose my own marketplace with a certificate error or a Marketplace that keeps my customer information with a certificate.

How do I get around that? Well whenever someone makes an offer over 5k I respond back saying....

Thank you for your offer & inquiry.
To help us determine that this is a valid offer please fill out the form at: mapledots.ca/inquiry/?domain=red.ca and we will contact you.

This allows me to get my client information and has worked for me so far but again it is only a stop gap measure because DomainEasy does not allow hyperlinks, the client has to copy and paste.

The best solution for me is an https certificates for forwards and so far only Porkbun and WebNames has them. Porkbun is in USD and Webnames is too expensive.

As a domainers I am at a crossroads and am seriously thinking of dropping a few thousand domains and focusing only on my top picks. It has become too time consuming managing a super large portfolio and it is taking time away from my other businesses.

What is on my wish list AS FAST AS I CAN GET IT?

https forwards or a registrar supplied https landing page with a form where I can collect customer data.

@CanSpace @DynaDot @FM @PorkBun @FullHost @ms23 @bmetal

The first one that implements this in CAD will get my renewals for January and every month thereafter.

I'm feeling the squeeze, who will be the first registrar/host to offer https forwarding in CAD?

We're definitely working on this! Let's Encrypt limits make this extremely challenging but we're actively looking for ways around this.

CanSpace said:

We're definitely working on this! Let's Encrypt limits make this extremely challenging but we're actively looking for ways around this.

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Yes SAW struggles with this as well but DomainEasy seems to do it in seconds.

Maybe registrars should register a domain at Webnames and Porkbun to see how they do it so efficiently.

It's in the works here to. We already offer free AutoSSL on some of our hosting plans, but the expected volume does make things challenging.

The problem is renewals are coming up and https forwards loom large, I visit other domainers sites and see https errors everywhere.

Https forwards are now the single most important thing (plus price of course) in my decision of where to renew. I dislike being forced to marketplace for certificates, I prefer to handle my own deals.

Adding hundreds of domains on to a hosting package does not work either and it takes hours to add domains, verify certificate, set up redirects etc, you can do nothing in bulk.

SSL for the forwarding system has pretty much been the top of my todo list for the last couple weeks. I've been cleaning up the code base and making the old test suites work before I start making significant changes. But yes, certificate management is the main challenge, and there are slew of reasons why it is hard. Will it be ready for January? I certainly hope so.

"Domaining is becoming harder and domainers are feeling squeezed"​

Completely true at least imo. Over the last few years especially I've noticed for me that:
Domain registration and renewal costs are significantly UP
Sales inquiries DOWN
Sales DOWN
Domain marketplaces are unstable in terms of closing or selling out to Godaddy, changing commission rates, etc. Costing you time to switch your names to somewhere else.
Now with the Google http:// issue you even have to wonder if people typing in your domain get to your sales page. It might work for you, but not somebody else.
I have hardly registered or acquired new domains for a while, compared to what I used to years ago. Clearing out the portfolio of marginal or long shot sales potential domains is paramount these days, as holding inventory with declining sales revenue is a disaster.

I still think the odd sale or two that comes along can make up for a lot, but those are really getting far and few between. It's amazing because you'd think the domain market would get better over the years as more and more domains get taken and used. And there are still good domain sales posted on an almost daily basis now, so the market is still there. So for me these days, it's about having belief in my good names and holding those, while shedding the mediocre to long shot stuff. Even a lot of the sales you see happening now, the hold time can be several years til the right buyer comes along.

part of it also might have to do with the smaller and restrictive .ca market, which is why even though .ca is the bulk of my domain names, I still have .com and other extensions. But you look at a country like Germany with twice the population of Canada, yet I'm sure the .de aftermarket sales are much more than double what you see in .ca every week.

By squeezed, I am not inferring sales, I am saying the logistics of handling a big catalog are getting more complicated. Self management is becoming a massive chore and turning it over to a marketplace comes at a price, either a large commission or the marketplace witholds your customers information. Anyway you look at it the owner of the domains is being squeezed in some way.

Really, I am not asking for much, I want to be able to use the nameservers as I want and to be able to forward the domains to where I want. Somehow our monopoly called google is far more responsible than I would like but we knew this SSL issue was coming yet nobody was ready for it.

Everywhere I look, even some of the biggest domainers on the block, all I see are security errors. I used to put my domains to work pointing them at some of my online stores but even that can no longer be done without security errors leaving me with no choice but to point to a marketplace. Right now I'm at DomainEasy because their security certificates just work but it boils my blood every time I get an inquiry and I have virtually no customer information.

So a hint to everyone, just give your email address or a link to your collection form and ask the client to fill it out so you can have a measure of control.

I did one just a few minutes ago and again all I did was respond...

If this is a legitimate inquiry please fill out our contact form so we can proceed with the negotiation process.
mapledots.ca/inquiry/?domain=testdomain.ca

Now you have the data needed to properly negotiate with your client and then you can still choose to push to your marketplace for payment.

You'd think in 2024 with all the technology out there, that what you're talking about would be slick and streamlined, not getting harder.

It might get to the point where I just point everything to my own form, instead of just a portion of my names. And keep building one page landers for my better names. I like the marketplaces like DomainEasy and even Afternic either because their landers are better or having the recognition and distribution of Godaddy attached. But in the end I always say if someone really wants a domain, it doesn't matter how or where they buy it.

Direct link to post on X.com

So the registrars/hosts that offer it to date are...

WebNames.ca
PorkBun.com
SpaceShip.com

If anyone knows of another registrar please let me know.

Going to check dynadot as well, I have hundreds of renewals in January and have to decide where to place them.

PS. Spaceship is 9.32 USD to register or transfer which comes to $13.11 CAD before any bulk discounts.

@CanuckDomains how does that compare to porkbun?

8.77 USD to register, about 12.34 CAD at Porkbun.

MapleDots said:

@CanuckDomains how does that compare to porkbun?

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Direct link to post on X.com

Looks like a possible solution for self hosted landers

MapleDots said:

As a domainers I am at a crossroads and am seriously thinking of dropping a few thousand domains and focusing only on my top picks. It has become too time consuming managing a super large portfolio and it is taking time away from my other businesses.

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I recently did just that.

I pruned my portfolio from 3000+ domains to about 500, the cream of the crop, so to speak.

Cost is about 10K per year in renewals, so if I don't get any sales for a year I can pay out of pocket if need be. It's steep, as i'm working class, but I know that good domains are valuable and I will eventually get my ROI.

I've been changing my approach as I learn. I have been turning down 4 figure offers on domains, in favour of 5 figures. However, instead of fetching a higher price i've been losing sales as a result. Perhaps i'm pricing .ca's as if they were .com's. Also, I would tend list domains for about 10x what I actually expect to get, but i'm beginning to think that was a mistake as well. Potential customers might be getting sticker shock.

Managing a large portfolio is time consuming too. To save time, i've started listing my financial and crypto domains on Afternic/Godaddy for the simplicity and market exposure, although I agree that the commissions are outrageous.

My current approach takes advantage of Godaddy's prices being listed in USD, with the current exchange rate around 40%. So I decide what I want to make in CAD, and list the domains in USD. The exchange on the Canadian dollar mostly takes care of the commission/taxes. (At least it gives the illusion of commissions being less painful).

The bulk of my valuable domains are Canadian casino & sportsbook domains, and I already know who the end customers are; generally speaking. I also know that gaming domain names with quality traffic are far more valuable to businesses in that industry than just the domain name itself. I don't tend to list my best gaming domains as I don't want to sell them until they have quality traffic.

As for https, landing pages, etc. I would really like to see WHC enter the market and provide landers and payment options like (but not like) Afternic/Godaddy.

I think that would be a very valuable service to Canadian Domainers.

MapleDots said:

PS. Spaceship is 9.32 USD to register or transfer which comes to $13.11 CAD before any bulk discounts.

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Am going to try them, have a boatload coming due this month. Gonna try a few first to see if ssl forwarding works and I'll report back.

Wayne said:

I've been changing my approach as I learn. I have been turning down 4 figure offers on domains, in favour of 5 figures. However, instead of fetching a higher price i've been losing sales as a result. Perhaps i'm pricing .ca's as if they were .com's. Also, I would tend list domains for about 10x what I actually expect to get, but i'm beginning to think that was a mistake as well. Potential customers might be getting sticker shock.

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Try this....



The problem with BIN is you occasionally get a big company that steals a domain at BIN where you could have gotten more had you known your end user.


So I set MAKE OFFER to the minimum I would ever consider selling for and then I look at the offer. This way you show the potential clients they need to offer more than 5k (in my example) yet you still have the option of asking for 10k if you feel the client can easily afford it.

So in the example above, my threshold is 5k and with DomainEasy witholding customer information I would respond to the client like this.

Client: 5k minimum offer (of course they wont offer more)

Seller (me): Thank you for you inquiry, in order to determine if this is a legitimate offer we need to gather more information.
Please fill out our form at inquiry.mapledots.ca and we will be glad to engage you in negotiations for this domain.

PS. I made a subdomain for my inquiry form so its easy to get to but if the client is intimidated they also get my sales@mapledots.ca email address when they click on the mapledots logo to return to the main page. I have removed all fluff from the main page other than what I do and contact. I'm finding all the wording on the DomainEasy landers and domainers trying to sell themselves takes away from the sales process. All I want the client to see is the domain for sale and how to contact me. I will do the rest, that is why I use the minimal landers at EasyDomains as well, I don't need all the gibberish getting in the way.

Again, incredible advice. Thank you!

@Wayne I like your idea of WHC adding a domain sales feature like Afternic, but done better with a lower commission.

domains said:

You'd think in 2024 with all the technology out there, that what you're talking about would be slick and streamlined, not getting harder.

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You would think so, but unfortunately, that's not the case. There are also more and more regulations that make things more complicated for registrars and others.