New Afternic Poll

[Fearless]

Should the company that bought the domain name afternic.com have used the name as their new business or should they have just redirected it to their previous site?

 

[GiantDomains]

DEFINITELY redirected.

The name spells disaster...

 

[GeorgeK]

Redirect

 

[CoolHost.com]

I disagree ... and I'll tell you why. People are very forgiving, by nature. So, I think folks WILL give them a second chance, by and large. Also, the purchase of the domain name, and it's (re)development is "news" within the community ... and, I believe, people will visit the (new) site to see what's what. Newbies comig in, demand for such a service, and a bunch of other positives, in my opinion, lead me to believe that choosing the domain to BE the NAME of their site is the better of the two options, as posted. Thanks.
Good Luck!

 

[fizz]

I agree with CoolHost that keeping the name is the better option. As long as they continue to clearly show they are not the Register.com company.

 

[.biz]

agree with fizz.

 

[edisaacson]

I agree with the "keep the name" group. The caveat to that of course is that ProProjects keeps up the "we're not the old Afternic" speech. I have a wierd feeling that this is going to work (maybe not for another 18 months or so)

 

[.biz]

They get all members because they use the name Afternic. Imagine if Afternic redirect to namebuysell.com, how many members will register at this no-name site?

If they were greatdomains.com, the redirect option may be a better idea.

 

[GiantDomains]

Originally posted by .biz
Imagine if Afternic redirect to namebuysell.com, how many members will register at this no-name site?

Yea, a lot more!

 

[deepstar]

Do not use, Afternic is a has been, bad taste name. Simply redirect and start a new branding campaign. Differentiate yourself from the Afternic that went bust do not try and live up to the name of a bust company, DUH.

Edit post: JH3 is right, the name they are using is simply bad. Maybe a defunct company name is better than namebuysomething....

Eric

 

[adoptabledomains]

Bad rep or not, Afternic is a much better marketing name than NameBuySell (or is it NameBySell, namebysale, buynamesell, etc.?). It has name recognition, shortness, memorability, presumably a filed trademark.

I would also guess most end user/buyers probably don't keep up on the bad press Afternic has gotten recently like us sellers do. many will just go to the top several in the search engine or one with a link recommendation from another site. If it were redirected to another name, they actually may be suspicious of buying there.

 

[deepstar]

Anyone know how much they purchased the name for? Did they get anything besides the name?

Eric

 

[think]

Don't know the price but all they got was the name.
The name Afternic.com, though it leaves a bad taste in the mouth of many sellers, is still better than namesellbuy.com or namebuysell.com or what ever it was...................................

 

[izopod]

Originally posted by gregr
Should the company that bought the domain name afternic.com have used the name as their new business or should they have just redirected it to their previous site?

I think in all honestly I would have stayed clear of "Afternic.com" IMHO. The reason being is that you will have to spend an inordinate amount of time convincing everyone you are not the "old Afternic.com". I wish them the best though. Proproject seems to have a vision for his business, and sometimes that is enough. btw: I think he is right for charging the prices he wants. It's kind of funny the comments I read by some who thought he should charge less---lol---That's like asking the tiger in the den if he'd like meat or cardboard for dinner. Like he said the market will decide.

My personal opinion on this market is that we are currently in a "transition" period. From a model where anyone can sell a name, to a newer model (continue)

The new model of selling names will be based on smaller operations with "in demand" type names. The Sellers will come "recommended". Just having a generic name will still not get you into the club! note to Proproject: My suggestion would be to create an exclusive "Afternic" club. I can see the logo: "Afternic.com" would have a "golden" look to it, and the "dot" above the "i" in "Afternic" would look like a diamond (see last paragraph).

With all the new TLDs, companies will have more to choose from, as well as private buyers. These entities are a lot more savvy than they used to be. A savvy market equals "lower" prices for average domains. Gone are the days of 3 word domains "fetching" thousands of dollars.

My best advice to anyone getting in the "reseller" market is create your own brand of "domains" for sale. Come up with a theme. Don't buy everything that sounds good. Become known as the "go to" person for a particular class of names. Kind of like a jeweler who specializes in certain cuts of diamonds. My "diamond" just happens to be made into the shape of a "circle"

izopod

 

[mole]

Originally posted by jh3
They need to use afternic.com because the name they were using sounds extremly retarted.

 

[TexasFilly]

I think it's not our place to judge their decision. They are trying to enhance the aftermarket (which effects us all) so let's hope they will be successful... They are real nice guy's (brothers) btw.. and I say "bravo" for their courage to rebuild something that was great at one time.

the net is HUGE... there is ROOM for all of us..

 

[izopod]

Originally posted by TexasFilly
I think it's not our place to judge their decision. They are trying to enhance the aftermarket (which effects us all) so let's hope they will be successful... They are real nice guy's (brothers) btw.. and I say "bravo" for their courage to rebuild something that was great at one time.

the net is HUGE... there is ROOM for all of us..

The advice they are getting here is priceless. Not to mention the free plug. I don't think they are bothered in the least bit by our input. This forum has "helped", not "hurt" their cause in my opinion, and it has everything to do with "proproject" being open and honest. I think everyone would agree with me that we'd like them to succeed, however we do offer opinions in how best to get to the finish line.

izopod

 

[beatz]

Keep the name, *but*

they should think about a different system than *auctioning* domain names.

Said it several times, not especially only in regards of Afternic but in general when it comes to the downfall of all the domain auction sites:

The main problem is the auctioning itself.

I know auctioning domain names is pretty common amongst domainers - but not to the end user buyer.

That's the problem - end users, if decided to buy a name want to BUY the name, not BID on it.They're not used to it.

The bottom line is you want to make it as easy as possible for your potential buyers - auctioning names is the exact opposite of that unless you don't wanna include end user buyers anyway.

Read my lips - any domain auction system will never work for END USERS.
Period

 

[options]

Originally posted by beatz
That's the problem - end users, if decided to buy a name want to BUY the name, not BID on it.They're not used to it.

No problem. There is always "Buy Now" option.

I am with those "keep the name"supporters too.
In a market that benefits its users, it is always easier to repair bad
image of a famous name than to build a new one among huge competition.

 

[beatz]

Originally posted by options

No problem. There is always "Buy Now" option.

Sure it IS a problem.

First of all, most domain auction sites don't have a buy now option.

Second, even if there indeed is such an option, just because the site is still an auction site will prolly confuse most end buyers or scare them away so they won't even take a look at the buy now feature.