For Sale "Thanks for your interest but we are not interested in a .ca domain"

[Raider]

I sold a Dot Com domain name to a Canadian based company about 8 years ago, working with their marketing dept I was able to sell the name for $30K.. They use the name not as their web site, but as a redirect to their company web site. The name they purchased from me was a shorter version and was confusingly similar to their company name.... I did a search of available TLD's and the .CA was available at the time, now it's owned by a domainer.

As for the name of their company web site, they own both the .COM and .CA version, The .CA redirects to the COM.... So for the actual name of their company, they found it necessary to acquire the .CA, but for a confusingly similar name in the .CA (containing keywords) they didn't.

 

[grcorp]

I sold a Dot Com domain name to a Canadian based company about 8 years ago, working with their marketing dept I was able to sell the name for $30K.. They use the name not as their web site, but as a redirect to their company web site. The name they purchased from me was a shorter version and was confusingly similar to their company name.... I did a search of available TLD's and the .CA was available at the time, now it's owned by a domainer.

As for the name of their company web site, they own both the .COM and .CA version, The .CA redirects to the COM.... So for the actual name of their company, they found it necessary to acquire the .CA, but for a confusingly similar name in the .CA (containing keywords) they didn't.

In my case, this was the actual name of the company. Not a shortened version or anything of the like.

And remember, this was 8 years ago. The state of .ca in 2003 compared to what it is now is like night and day.

 

[whitebark]

I've bought TBR domains and given them away too. Sometimes it just feels right to do good things - though I don't do this for companies as Maxwell does - just non-profits, community groups, native bands etc.

FrogLake.ca is one I gave away at cost. This is a far better use of .ca domains than parked pages which inhabit the vast majority registered and in turn better for all of us down the road.

 

[onlinestoreca]

I think what non-Canadians are missing here is not the fact that the prices are poor or that we don't have incredible numbers of .ca registered, this might be because of the "must be Canadian" to own a .ca rules which really limits the speculators and therefore the potential buyers. The big reason you must own a .ca is because it is marketed everywhere, I now see much more .ca in Canadian advertisements and media than .com. When I do see a .com it is because I am viewing American media.

I don't think .us will ever have the same impact as .ca simply because when people in the U.S. visit a .com they probably feel like it is a website from the U.S. Businesses in Canada that want to sell to Canadians are better off showing a .ca address, you immediately know that you don't have to deal with international shipping, broker fees, duties and delays. Since this is the basis of most advertising, .ca has become predominant.

Once again, I don't know how it works in other countries, but that is what is happening here.

 

[katherine]

I think what non-Canadians are missing here is not the fact that the prices are poor or that we don't have incredible numbers of .ca registered, this might be because of the "must be Canadian" to own a .ca rules which really limits the speculators and therefore the potential buyers.

It is obvious that the ownership restrictions are hurting the aftermarket, but I have never believed they could be an efficient way of limiting speculation. Eligible Canadians are free to speculate on .ca as much as they want. Call it protectionism if you will. The downside is that the buyers have to be found in Canada proper. Even among domainers many over here seem to be in favor of the restrictions. The dilution and consumer safety arguments are not valid in my view. Extensions like .nl .ch .cz .pl .be .de .co.uk .com.mx .co.nz .es .se etc are open to non-nationals and they have not lost their identity in spite of being open extensions.

A lot of US businesses that cater to the Canadian market, are not allowed to promote their products and services using a .ca domain, so they stick to their main .com domain, thus reinforcing the almighty .com all across Canada. This could be an unexpected side effect of the restrictive policies.

 

[urlurl]

as a consumer and developer i would prefer the protectionism or canadian owned .ca, this insures when i see a .ca im getting a candian site/company/product. Without it, i feel it would loose its value as a country code or even get people trying to rebrand it as something else, i.e. California, Charter Accounting, etc. Without the protection i think they would be worthless.

my 2 cents

 

[msn]

It is obvious that the ownership restrictions are hurting the aftermarket, but I have never believed they could be an efficient way of limiting speculation. Eligible Canadians are free to speculate on .ca as much as they want. Call it protectionism if you will. The downside is that the buyers have to be found in Canada proper. Even among domainers many over here seem to be in favor of the restrictions. The dilution and consumer safety arguments are not valid in my view. Extensions like .nl .ch .cz .pl .be .de .co.uk .com.mx .co.nz .es .se etc are open to non-nationals and they have not lost their identity in spite of being open extensions.

One aspect you ignore is the language issue - if you take up a .nl web site it will likely be for someone who will read it in the local language, and many countries within the EU as a second example have to allow EU companies and individuals to register domains as part of the open market.

A lot of US businesses that cater to the Canadian market, are not allowed to promote their products and services using a .ca domain, so they stick to their main .com domain, thus reinforcing the almighty .com all across Canada. This could be an unexpected side effect of the restrictive policies.

The U.S. businesses are allowed to use a .ca domain as long as they follow the rules: set up an affiliate in Canada or get a trade mark registered in Canada. If they cannot be bothered to one or the other, or carry the $500 cost to do so, they do not deserve the opportunity to serve the market.

No one seems to mention that anonymous WHOIS and fake registrant information is not allowed in .us domains, and will result in the cancellation of such registrations, so why is it allowed in the .ca root?

as a consumer and developer i would prefer the protectionism or canadian owned .ca, this insures when i see a .ca im getting a candian site/company/product. Without it, i feel it would loose its value as a country code or even get people trying to rebrand it as something else, i.e. California, Charter Accounting, etc. Without the protection i think they would be worthless.

my 2 cents

Well said!

 

[grcorp]

as a consumer and developer i would prefer the protectionism or canadian owned .ca, this insures when i see a .ca im getting a candian site/company/product. Without it, i feel it would loose its value as a country code or even get people trying to rebrand it as something else, i.e. California, Charter Accounting, etc. Without the protection i think they would be worthless.

my 2 cents

+1

It's a national brand identifier that immediately implies "Canada". Dot com, in my opinion, has developed a reputation as somewhat of the catchall of English speaking countries, which immediately brings the US to the center of attention, being the largest English speaking country in the world.

When I see .ca, I know that whoever's on the other side is Canadian. And this is particularly vital in things which vary so much across the border... everything from car insurance, to banking, to even online shopping.

I've frequently been disappointed by a "Free shipping" offer that didn't apply to Canada on a .com site, but rarely has that ever been the case on .ca, since, once again, it represents a local company.

 

[katherine]

.. many countries within the EU as a second example have to allow EU companies and individuals to register domains as part of the open market.

Each extension is different. Some EU extensions like .eu, .hu or .it are available to EU resident persons and entities. Others like .pt, .sk or .fi are much more restrictive - in practice as restrictive as .ca.
Note that .us & .ca are not automatically open to other NAFTA countries - free trade does not seem to apply in domain names

The U.S. businesses are allowed to use a .ca domain as long as they follow the rules: set up an affiliate in Canada or get a trade mark registered in Canada. If they cannot be bothered to one or the other, or carry the $500 cost to do so, they do not deserve the opportunity to serve the market.

Yeah in theory they could, but I don't think you'd just set up a dormant company to qualify for one domain. Foreign incorporation is a serious thing. There has to be some upkeep involved in one way or another.
In the case of the EU many cross-border transactions are taking place without the merchant having presence in all EU countries (talk about red tape). Ditto for US-Canadian trade.

No one seems to mention that anonymous WHOIS and fake registrant information is not allowed in .us domains, and will result in the cancellation of such registrations, so why is it allowed in the .ca root?

Double standards ?
http://www.dnforum.com/f510/cira-warning-all-ca-owners-thread-219515.html

 

[Gerry]

I am still wondering why many of you Canadian domainers take it personally when a Canadian company does not want to buy, use, or reg a .ca.

 

[David G]

I am still wondering why many of you Canadian domainers take it personally when a Canadian company does not want to buy, use, or reg a .ca.

I also noticed that, and in many other threads too. They seem to be far more sensitive to the issue vs other nations.

 

[msn]

Each extension is different. Some EU extensions like .eu, .hu or .it are available to EU resident persons and entities. Others like .pt, .sk or .fi are much more restrictive - in practice as restrictive as .ca.

If not more so - but the people who are not aware of this fact moan and complain about the relatively light 'burden' they have in Canada.

Note that .us & .ca are not automatically open to other NAFTA countries - free trade does not seem to apply in domain names

Nor should it - we do not yet even have free trade within Canada in areas such as government contracting, professional services, construction work, and so on!

Yeah in theory they could, but I don't think you'd just set up a dormant company to qualify for one domain. Foreign incorporation is a serious thing. There has to be some upkeep involved in one way or another.

It is minimal in Canada, and it goes to my point - if it is 'one domain' then it must be an important one and therefore worth having along with making the effort, but when there are many, many domains, they just go to GoDaddy and use the 'privacy' function.

In the case of the EU many cross-border transactions are taking place without the merchant having presence in all EU countries (talk about red tape). Ditto for US-Canadian trade.

Yes and no - the VAT for each country is applied, and in the future there may be consolidation of revenues, but one often sees multiple entities throughout Europe for one company, which is why the EU now has the 'European Company' act, and in this respect Europe is more integrated.

Double standards ?
http://www.dnforum.com/f510/cira-warning-all-ca-owners-thread-219515.html

That was better than four years ago, and may have been a bit of theatre at CIRA because little has happened since. I have flagged obvious situations which remain totally unchanged a year later, which seems to indicate CIRA picks who and when it bothers to question.

 

[A D]

Personally, I love .ca and the potential it has down the road.

It is not a ccTLD that will give resellers a quick flip... but like any other domain, if you build it they will come to you.

Patience is a virtue for .ca but generally resellers are only good to buy from, not to sell to ... in any extension.

That said, I have sold many .ca domains and never emailed anyone.

... and I don't care about what company wants what, it doesn't influence or change my buying habits.

The largest .ca sale I had was to a company that came to me and wanted the .ca and it had the .com already.

-=DCG=-

 

[David G]

Yes, i know it's a valuable extension even if you own the .com, i.e. I recently asked an associate in Canada to reg a .ca domain for my use which was surprising to be unregistered. I have owned the .com for many years, which is also one of our most established and top websites. Ironically, at almost the exact moment I asked him to reg it the .com site received an email regarding a service the website was providing from a Canadian, which was really weird timing.

Personally, I love .ca and the potential it has down the road.

It is not a ccTLD that will give resellers a quick flip... but like any other domain, if you build it they will come to you.

Patience is a virtue for .ca but generally resellers are only good to buy from, not to sell to ... in any extension.

That said, I have sold many .ca domains and never emailed anyone.

... and I don't care about what company wants what, it doesn't influence or change my buying habits.

The largest .ca sale I had was to a company that came to me and wanted the .ca and it had the .com already.

-=DCG=-

 

[Raider]

Take it personally?

I don't see it as any different than the knee jerk reactions we saw with .Mobi.

Anytime a domainer invests heavily in a domain extension and that extension is criticized, your going to ruffle some feathers.. It's that way with almost any investment.

 

[grcorp]

Take it personally?

I don't see it as any different than the knee jerk reactions we saw with .Mobi.

Anytime a domainer invests heavily in a domain extension and that extension is criticized, your going to ruffle some feathers.. It's that way with almost any investment.

I would say that I do take it personally, but not for the same reasons as .mobi. Sure, the vast majority of my investment in domain names is in .ca, but I do not consider that to cause me to be biased. I think it's because by belittling .ca, you're belittling our nationality, as though Canada is "just another country".

Over time, and much hard work, .ca has really caught on in Canada, whereas other countries' ccTLD's are insignificant.

What I take offence to, is not so much other DNF users' comments (especially because I consider it unreasonable for them to have a first-hand understanding of .ca like Canadians do), but the ignorance of a Canadian company such as the one I had attempted to contact, who was founded in Canada, and only has retail locations in Canada, and wants to defend their brand at a level where they had registered a trademark on their name.

It's as though they haven't even noticed .ca's existence. This is what irks me.

 

[katherine]

Over time, and much hard work, .ca has really caught on in Canada, whereas other countries' ccTLD's are insignificant.

Quite a few ccTLDs are doing okay nowadays. I have often mentioned Europe (incl. Russia) which is a good example. I believe the outlook isn't bad in Latin America either, while the situation in Asia is less favorable and the majority of African extensions are little used.
But I am less familiar with these markets.
.ca is performing honorably but if you look at the number of domains per capita even small nations extensions like .lu .be .is .dk .cz etc have higher penetration rates.
The interesting thing is that many local end users don't care even about having the .com (puzzling for Americans).

That company probably is dumb but like many others they have built a brand and a business on a single given URL and they don't want to change [they don't have to but that many not be obvious to them], even when you offer a superior version of their name, like switching from .net to .com or getting the non-hyphenated version of their name. Many still don't get the benefits. They might not be anti-.ca per se, they just want to stick to what they've always owned.
Just a thought.

 

[Gerry]

The interesting thing is that many local end users don't care even about having the .com (puzzling for Americans).

so true.

 

[Anthony Ng]

if you ask me, I would either offer that name for free (yes, $15 for some good networking opportunity) or simply do nothing. Over the years, I came across at least dozens (if not hundreds) of available domains which could be fairly valuable to specific individuals or companies AND DID NOTHING. Once in a while, I would even give away domains from my own own portfolio for free, because I reckon the new owners could make better use of them.

By the way, your email seems a bit long to a stranger, and over-explaining in tone which may backfire. My take as a Canadian is, .CA domains are good for branding, but only if you also own a matching .COM. The only exceptions are really premium names, but they require some million dollar advertising campaigns to work.

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

dot com is not king....content is king

Uh, no.

In the age of free content online, there are many content owners who are broke.

Nobody is broke who owns lots of dotcom type-in traffic.