Start/Buy an ICANN accredited registrar.

[Together]

There has been much discussion as to which registrar to use for price/services mix as well as the most reputable and reliable registrars. Many people have expressed interest in buying an established (or languishing) accredited registrar or starting their own and going through the application process. I have personally had discussions with some board members of ICANN and those who would like to start an ICANN accredited registrar that would like to see something different happen. If you are ready to hear something that may surprise you, read on.

ICANN is not Verisigns lapdog. On the contrary there are elements of ICANN that would like to see a change in the domain industry. Although this is not a very well known fact, it is in ICANNs best interest to have as many players in the industry as possible.

Everyone knows there is a consolidation in the domain industry coming. No one knows who or how soon but it is inevitable. The problem is that you have 5 Very large registrars and over 140 smaller ones. Some of which can not afford to keep up with all of the technical (EPP, hardware, backend development) aspects of maintaining a registrar as well as the business pressures of being a smaller player. Small or offshore registrars do not have the economy of scale and credibility that larger US based ones do. This puts them at a severe competitive disadvantage as well as prevents registrants from having the confidence of registering their domain names with them. There is something that can be done.

By banding together the smaller registrars, bigger resellers and newcomers to the industry, a coalition of little guys could become a force to reckon with. This would eliminate the redundant duplication of tech development and modifications needed to keep up with an increasingly competitive marketplace. It would also offer the smaller players the security of knowing that they are a part of something that they own and have control over.

If you are interested in saving money on domain registrations, having the clout that comes along with being part of an association of ICANN accredited registrars or are serious about either becoming an ICANN accredited registrar or making sure your registrations are secure, I encourage you to contact me at your earliest convenience.

Great things will only be achieved if we work together.

 

[Steen]

You need very trusted partners.

And if you start/buy you are looking at $500,000 at least.

Thats alot of money to spread around.

And some here would be able to do it on thier own. Some already have.

 

[Anthony Ng]

Originally posted by devildude8989
And if you start/buy you are looking at $500,000 at least.

You probably don't need THAT much. Try talk to those registrars at the bottom of the list on page 34 at:

http://www.sotd.info/sotd/content/documents/SOTDQ103.pdf

 

[Together]

Nameslave is very correct. The costs associated with this will not come even close to your projection. The point behind this concept is to cross utilize resources, expertise and experience to benefit the weaker players.

 

[Steen]

I very much believe it will easily meet $500K.

ICANN and VS is the cheap end of it.,

 

[sacX]

Originally posted by devildude8989
I very much believe it will easily meet $500K.

ICANN and VS is the cheap end of it.,

What do you see as incurring the bulk of the costs associated with becoming a new registrar?

 

[Steen]

The owner of DropWizard.com made a nice post about htis.

http://www.dnforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28743

 

[affordablehosting]

Does this "$70K in available capital mean" you need $70,000 in a bank account, or does it mean a bank is ready to lend you $70K?

For example, one can get a line of credit from the equity in their house. They don't have to pay interest on the money they don't borrow, but they are guaranteed to have $XXX K available to them at a certain interest rate for as long as they own the house.

If this is the case, all you need is a house (with part of the mortgage paid off) to become a registrar.

 

[actnow]

Just a side note.

Everyone is complaining about the high bids at Pool.

But, people are willing to spend $ 70,000 to $ 500,000 for a new registrar company.

When running a business. The initial cost is only a small part of running the business. You will be nickel and dimed to death by other charges. And, if you think that owning a registrar company will allow you to catch a lot of good names. You are mistaken. Yes, you will catch some names for yourself. But, you are in the business to catch for other people. For example, how long do you think Yacov will use your service if you only let him get some of the 3 letter names. If you keep some for yourself.

Also, I am sure their is a contractual deal that Pool and Snap requires of their registrars about catching for yourself. (Conflict of interest). P & S probably requires of their registrar to use their service. (Or, maybe, they can catch so many names a year for themselves)

To enter the registrar business TODAY. You have to treat it like entering the supermarket, software, drug or banking business. The day of entering it as a "mom and pop" business is over.

You can enter the business. But, don't think you can enter it "on the cheap".

But, what do I know? I don't own a registrar business.

GMartin Homie and Cartoonz are closer to the front line then me. Seek their advice and listen to them when it comes to the registrar business. I would.

 

[affordablehosting]

Originally posted by actnow
Just a side note.

When running a business. The initial cost is only a small part of running the business. You will be nickel and dimed to death by other charges...

To enter the registrar business TODAY. You have to treat it like entering the supermarket, software, drug or banking business. The day of entering it as a "mom and pop" business is over.

You can enter the business. But, don't think you can enter it "on the cheap"...

GMartin Homie and Cartoonz are closer to the front line then me. Seek their advice and listen to them when it comes to the registrar business. I would.

You're absolutely right. We shouldn't assume that we can enter the business for X amount of money. My post, as well as the other interested people here, was intended to try and gather information from people who are more familiar with this. We were wondering

-How much would something like this cost?
-How many people, and how much capital, would be interested?

If it would be feasible to get accredited as a registrar, a reseller cooperative would be the perfect opportunity for everyone on the forum. We could get connections to the registry to set up a drop service, (which, with a fast server and good programming, could pay for our investment in weeks over Pool.com), as well as get reasonably priced reseller accounts.

Thanks for the info on other people who have experience with this.

And, if you think that owning a registrar company will allow you to catch a lot of good names. You are mistaken. Yes, you will catch some names for yourself. But, you are in the business to catch for other people. For example, how long do you think Yacov will use your service if you only let him get some of the 3 letter names. If you keep some for yourself.

Right again, there could be some conflicts. However, if we work them out, the domains we get from under pool would pay for our initial investment. Yakov might be in conflict with some of the other users, but since he doesn't have to pay Pool's ridiculous bids on the domains he does get, his investment will be worth it.

Also, I am sure their is a contractual deal that Pool and Snap requires of their registrars about catching for yourself. (Conflict of interest). P & S probably requires of their registrar to use their service. (Or, maybe, they can catch so many names a year for themselves)

These contractual agreements would not affect any of our "snaps". As an accreditted registrar, we would be dealing directly with Verisign, and unless I am mistaken, we would be entitled to a direct connection to the registry.

The only trick would be creating a fast enough program and having a fast enough server/connection to beat them. If we can just plug a server into U of I's network (It's connected to the NCSA, which houses the midwest internet hub and one of the registries), all we need is some efficient software.

 

[Together]

Some of the points you brought up are very valid. I should note that we already have one of the top dropping services who has agreed to let us use his software for this project and an electrical engineer who has offered to come on board to either build it from scratch or tweak the existing software on a continual basis.

Much of the other software required to interface with the registries is already in place also. What would be ideal is the commitment from a few more medium size resellers who do not quite have the resources to go it alone but could contribute a guaranteed number of registrations/year.

 

[actnow]

Together, have you put together a rough business plan or a rough spreadsheet of the requirements necessary to make this syndicate work?

I got your initial proposal. But, do you have any rough numbers you could send me?

[email protected]

Additionally, whatever information you supply by email, I will treat as confidential. (SOP)

 

[Domainaholic]

Most of the top ten registrars are in the red now. With a price war going on - it is not a good time to enter the market.

>>ICANN is not Verisigns lapdog.
Verisign / NetSol want WLS, most others do not - ICANN has everyone to consider - or just those two.

 

[actnow]

I have alway been a contrarian.

You buy assets when no one else wants them. As long as YOU know they will increase in value in the future.

 

[Steen]

Originally posted by Together
I should note that we already have one of the top dropping services who has agreed to let us use his software for this project and an electrical engineer who has offered to come on board to either build it from scratch or tweak the existing software on a continual basis.

This raises suspicions,


Why the hell would snapnames, the first name etc. led you thier software??

Unless you are planning on sharing XX ammount of threads with them (give them % of the names cuaght) then I dont see why this would happen.


I think I know who offered you this, but I do not think you are shareing all the details about this.

If you were to have this software built from scratch, it would be very expesive.

If you were to buy this software, its not going to happen, no one will sell it to you even for $100,000.


AS for catching dropping names, there are plenty of people who have RRP access and cannot catch a thing.


If you are serious about this and thought it through with all concerns addressed here, I am also interested.


COuld I have what act requested?

Thanks.

 

[DeluxeNames.com]

Was there ever any updates on this? Did this go anywhere?

 

[teguh123]

Guys am I too late to join?

I will buy 10k domains. I just need to trust you more than my curent registrars.

 

[goodyork]

Guys am I too late to join?

I will buy 10k domains. I just need to trust you more than my curent registrars.

Just looking for a new registrar who can give you bulk price and vip support.

 

[teguh123]

I think we'll stick with resell.biz $6.75 for domain name is just too cheap. They're losing money at that price I think I'll buy .net instead from them