Don't waste time & money buying .CN

[Anthony Ng]

Okay, this is intended to flame! But I have seen FAR TOO MANY .CN-related threads here. Why are so many people WASTING their time and money?? A year from now, you'll let them drop anyway, why even bother? I'd say except perhaps less than 5% of all .cn I saw here, they are all worthless for resellers and minimal for end-users. By the way, don't even think about selling them to the Chinese when you cannot read or write Chinese.

Disclaimer: I have yet to register my first .CN. Reason? Those I want have already been grandfathered; those not are not worth even a fraction of $24.95!

 

[Whois-Search]

People are addicted to registering domain names - and with a new extention they find words available ........

China also has a massive population so they think it will do well.

 

[mole]

Originally posted by nameslave
I have yet to register my first .CN. Reason? Those I want have already been grandfathered; those not are not worth even a fraction of $24.95!

Makes sense

 

[NamePopper.com]

I bought a few just for an experiment - and I've already sold a couple of them for a nice little profit.

I agree that people shouldn't be rushing out to buy A LOT of them though - but if you can find a couple nice words or numbers (#'s are popular overseas) - then it's worth it. I think there is hope for this extension - but I wouldn't invest too heavily - that's for sure!

 

[Anthony Ng]

Agree, Whois-Search. But MOST people are registering the WRONG names, and they forget that the majority of their potential buyers are actually Chinese who do NOT speak much English.

And congratulations, NamePopper.com! I guess it is way much easier to sell .cn to English-speaking resellers who might well support the .CN after-market for quite a while in coming months.

 

[CoolHost.com]

Agree!
Good Luck.

 

[mole]

You need to put things in perspective here - are you using the address to develop content for (a) China's market or (b) Foreign market.

I think it can be used both ways, depending on your specific business model.

 

[izopod]

The problem is we really don't know where the Non-com Marketâ„¢ (izopod, 2003) is going. We all have our thoughts, but one must clearly take a look at the big picture: There will be more TLD's coming out in the near future (sooner than you think). Also gTLD's trump ccTLD's at least for right now. Reason: Businesses want to appear bigger than they are even if they aren't.

Obviously there are some particular ccTLD's names we'd all like to procure (politics.us, ChineseWord.cn, Business.eu, etc), but that is not reality for most.

Based on the above, and if you are in this business to "re-sell".... Sell your .CN's sooner rather than later. When is "sooner"?? I would say right now. The speculative fervor is running strong, and if history tells us anything you'll get the best "bang" for your buck right after the roll-out of a gTLD/ccTLD (within 6 months after roll-out). One exception would be If you have a "really" good .cn that even people from Nigeria would want, I would hold on for now. SOME ADVICE: Let others decide if you have a good name or not. It's really for your own good.

 

[mole]

Originally posted by izopod
Also gTLD's trump ccTLD's at least for right now. Reason: Businesses want to appear bigger than they are even if they aren't.

Good point, pod. Get your gTLDs, but having the big three ccTLDs - .us, .cn, .eu* - ain't a bad idea for the Glocal model

* .eu isn't, technically, a cctld

 

[Sharpy]

Originally posted by nameslave
And congratulations, NamePopper.com! I guess it is way much easier to sell .cn to English-speaking resellers who might well support the .CN after-market for quite a while in coming months.

'zactly. The way I see it most of the holders of "virgin" .cn names will have a decent chance to sell these names for a good profit. There are still many "believers" (domain speculators) that are looking for .cn's, and are even paniced that they did not get in on the "gold" rush.

Problem is most of the "original" owners will probably hang on for unrealistic profit. We've already seen one .cn apostle turn down a great offer (1000% profit) from another .cn disciple.

Someone is going to be left holding the bag ...and sooner rather than later.

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

Agreed .CN is a waste of money for all but the most generic commerce intensive words and the most famous global businesses.

China's population means nothing per se. What IS important is the way people use the web.

 

[izopod]

Originally posted by mole


Good point, pod. Get your gTLDs, but having the big three ccTLDs - .us, .cn, .eu* - ain't a bad idea for the Glocal model

* .eu isn't, technically, a cctld

I think it's good to cover your bases, but not every base. .EU is going to have a tough, up hill battle competing with the likes of .de and .co.uk. There are over 5 million .de registrations alone. If germany doesn't buy into the .eu TLD then I don't see it taking off since they have the 3rd largest online population in the world.

It would be like the US, Canada and mexico adopting .NA (north america) for as their "geographic TLD". I can say this, I'm sure the US, Canada and Mexico would not really go for it. Granted the EU situation is a lot different then my hypothetical, however some things don't change and that is country pride.

HOWEVER As with all new TLD's coming out...there are about 100-200 names that are worth having no matter what the market for these names are like. So when you place your "orders" for dot .eu---go for the best. Another approach if you don't want to buy the best would be to get some decent ones, then sell right after the roll-out. There will be enough speculative juices flowing to move them easily.

 

[Anthony Ng]

China's HUGH population actually means that, very much like the U.S., they are able to sustain a healthy DOMESTIC market which speaks CHINESE, similar to what's happening in Japan and Germany; I'd therefore say there's no much room for outsiders.

mole's point of using .cn for the English-speaking world targeting the China market COULD be a way out; but then it might be/have already been done more successfully by the dot-com's, e.g. chinatrade.com instead of trade.cn.

 

[izopod]

Originally posted by nameslave
China's HUGH population actually means that, very much like the U.S., they are able to sustain a healthy DOMESTIC market which speaks CHINESE, similar to what's happening in Japan and Germany; I'd therefore say there's no much room for outsiders.

mole's point of using .cn for the English-speaking world targeting the China market COULD be a way out; but then it might be/have already been done more successfully by the dot-com's, e.g. chinatrade.com instead of trade.cn.

The biggest challenge facing the Chinese online market right now is the lack of credit card use. The Chinese (the bulk of them) would rather pay cash when making an online purchase rather then using credit cards. I see the Chinese using the internet as a marketing tool more than a "buy and sell" marketplace. They also do a lot more research then rest of the world. If I were a dot .info holder this would be my target market.

Just something to think about.

 

[insomnia]

Nameslave...SHHHH....People are spending money. They are helping to run the economy....and the U.S. economy is already as bad as it is. Theres no shame in supporting an economy.

I own 2 names now! Big2.CN and Enn.CN. Anyone care to appraise? Big2.cn I am developing for sure. ENN I may develop if I can't sell. I only reg names I know I can develop if I can't sell.

 

[Anthony Ng]

Originally posted by izopod


The biggest challenge facing the Chinese online market right now is the lack of credit card use ...

And many credit cards there are for internal RMB use only and not eligible for US$ purchases.

 

[mole]

Originally posted by izopod
There are over 5 million .de registrations alone. If germany doesn't buy into the .eu TLD then I don't see it taking off since they have the 3rd largest online population in the world.

Germany was one of the biggest buyers into .info and .biz domains, interestingly. And I'd bet they'll cream .eu up too.

 

[izopod]

Originally posted by mole


Germany was one of the biggest buyers into .info and .biz domains, interestingly. And I'd bet they'll cream .eu up too.

Germany by it's internet usage #'s will probably reg the most .EU names--that's a given, however what will remain to be seen is whether or not they use them in great #'s.

Beatz and Freakfur both from Germany have given .EU two thumbs down.

 

[beatz]

Originally posted by mole


Germany was one of the biggest buyers into .info and .biz domains, interestingly.

Yeah but more than 60% were registrations made by speculators.
It's difficult as hell to sell those names to endusers i have to admit - .info still going a bit better than .biz...

And this time the percentage of speculators will be even higher with .eu, no doubt.

As said, and i mean that for real, most endusers here in germany don't even know stuff like .org or .net exists.