For Sale Why the .CA will always struggle

[DropWizard.com]

There is one member here who owns a large premium .ca portfolio who from time to time lists them or sale and asks low 5 figs, how is that working out for him..err them.

I'm not quite sure who you're talking about here there are several members I can think of that fit this description including some ladies.

Although I agree with the original post that started this thread the fact is it has been like that ever since domaining started. I can remember people talking like this 10 years ago and longer. I don't think it will ever change.

There will always be a core group whose idea of selling is a race to the bottom price wise. They will try and sell 100 domains for $15 and never realize it's actually easier to sell 1 for $1500. Far easier to find 1 buyer than 100.

The hardest thing in the world is to turn DOWN money because the person is NOT THE RIGHT BUYER! When the right buyer is sitting in front of you, recognizes value, the price becomes secondary. There's usually more hassle in figuring out the mechanics of how they're going to pay. In the past week I've turned down a $300 sale, a $2500 sale and an $8,000 sale. The buyers weren't right for the domains because their vision of value and mine didn't coincide.

 

[msn]

By the way, .NL hit the five million domain name registration mark this week; it would be enlightening to compare the size of The Netherlands with Canada.

 

[TheLegendaryJP]

Not speaking about a lady or should I say Royalty

Those types of investment strats are working fine, one of only a handful that have.

 

[Idnik]

Total liberalization would probably help. CIRA could at least open the market to allow US and Mexican citizens to register a .ca, just like some European extensions are open to registration for any Eureopean Union citizens, but not to non-Europeans. Californians could want to buy .ca's, as it could stand for California. That's just an example. We Canadians can buy or register a .mx or .com.mx, but the Mexicans can't register or buy a .ca. But I don't know if a liberalization would really drive the price of .ca's up. It would certainly not drive it down.

 

[msn]

Total liberalization would probably help. CIRA could at least open the market to allow US and Mexican citizens to register a .ca, just like some European extensions are open to registration for any Eureopean Union citizens, but not to non-Europeans. Californians could want to buy .ca's, as it could stand for California. That's just an example. We Canadians can buy or register a .mx or .com.mx, but the Mexicans can't register or buy a .ca. But I don't know if a liberalization would really drive the price of .ca's up. It would certainly not drive it down.

It is unlikely to help - it is not a buyer issue, it is a user issue. Unless users 'demand' .ca domains from Canadian sites, such as ebay.ca or amazon.ca, then little fish are unlikely to go for the bobsbuckets.ca version when the .com is there to get.

By the way, three .ca domain name sales this week in the high xxxx range.

 

[DropWizard.com]

Cira has provided no education to the small business market other than "register your name" The idea that they can occupy multiple domains and generic search terms has just never been brought forward to them. I wonder in fact if they have even thought of that themselves.

 

[DropWizard.com]

I would also like to see a "economic interest" category for registration. If I have a product that sells in Canada but don't have a physical presence here I should still be able to register domains relevent to my product.

 

[Spex]

Cira has provided no education to the small business market other than "register your name" The idea that they can occupy multiple domains and generic search terms has just never been brought forward to them. I wonder in fact if they have even thought of that themselves.

Great idea. Maybe CIRA or .CA registrars could offer a "domain school" program geared towards businesses. Maybe even partner up with some local Chambers of Commerce

 

[DOTCA]

Great idea. Maybe CIRA or .CA registrars could offer a "domain school" program geared towards businesses. Maybe even partner up with some local Chambers of Commerce

Great idea...and I just noticed..domainschool.ca is available for registration.

 

[DropWizard.com]

Great idea...and I just noticed..domainschool.ca is available for registration.

Shhh Adam will grab it

I do have an idea in this direction. I'll try and fill it out some more and maybe propose it here if anyone would like to help.

 

[msn]

Did Google not do something like this in the UK and a few other countries?

 

[hugegrowth]

Opening this old thread for more .ca discussion, so how does everyone feel the progress is going for .ca, from year to year?

I think it is a slow but steady climb, but always improving. No great leaps have been made from previous years. Each year does get better for my inquiries and sales. In general, most of the offers I get are in the $250 to $1500 range, but five years I got way less inquiries and offers. One of the 'problems' is that if someone is developing a website or business for 'the internet' in general, they want to use a .com. But there is plenty of local and country need for .ca

Also, will the coming gtlds affect the .ca, or are well used country codes as safe as .com? I can't see Canadians rushing to new gtlds en masse over the .ca

 

[urlurl]

I don't see the other extensions affecting .ca (they will affect other generic extensions like; net. org, info, etc) the only threat I could see would be if they came out with new local extensions; .toronto, .Ottawa, .Vancouver, etc.

 

[msn]

Here is where is would help to have domain.toronto.on.ca and so on so that local businesses would see .ca as their link to their communities.

If anyone has read the 2013 CIRA 'Factbook' it clearly shows CIRA is hoping that .ca will strengthen based on being local to Canada, but they seem to miss the point that cost and access are the drivers. If someone has a choice between AlsMeatShop.com or AlsMeatShop.ca, he will take the cheaper option, plain and simple.

When CIRA is serious about market share, they should try a year-long price reduction instead of the annual one-month discount deal to registrars, so that for a sustained time, as end-users become aware of the price advantage, registrars will bother to compete on price versus .com and other TLD variations and promote the Canadian connection to consumers. Cut the cost to $6 for one year, and then if there has been a four or five point gain in share, lock it in, otherwise, go back to $7 or $8, but at least make the effort!

Opening this old thread for more .ca discussion, so how does everyone feel the progress is going for .ca, from year to year?

I think it is a slow but steady climb, but always improving. No great leaps have been made from previous years. Each year does get better for my inquiries and sales. In general, most of the offers I get are in the $250 to $1500 range, but five years I got way less inquiries and offers. One of the 'problems' is that if someone is developing a website or business for 'the internet' in general, they want to use a .com. But there is plenty of local and country need for .ca

Also, will the coming gtlds affect the .ca, or are well used country codes as safe as .com? I can't see Canadians rushing to new gtlds en masse over the .ca

 

[urlurl]

I doubt an end-user would choose a .com or a .ca based on a renewal fee's (unless the company needs 100's of names for their business - not likely) Users want .ca because it identifies them as being Canadian to their audience. If the .com is also available they would buy it and just forward to their .ca site. Lower .ca reg fee's mostly help domain investors like us.

 

[msn]

Let me put on my economist's hat for a minute and remind you also I meant a new registration first, although renewals should also be included.

In my example of Al at Al's Meat Shop, if he logs onto The Internet and looks to buy a domain, he will absolutely, positively buy the cheaper version, and that is always the .com version. Then he goes looking for how to get a web site and so on.

The Als out there are the market, not the people who run web design companies and the graphic designers who sell $10k web site packages. Al does not know about renewals, hosting, or anything else. But if he buys an address on The Internet then let there be signals which direct him to the best choice.

If you log in at GoBadly you will be told .com is king, and that .co is the best choice for business - oh, and there are promotions on both!

Al would already have to be on the search for a .ca domain and dig a bit deeper into his wallet for this Internet address thing he is not even sure he needs, and it just is not happening.

Having a new, persistent low price for a year would make it worthwhile for registrars to promote the .ca brand to drive more hosting business, and market share would go up accordingly, most likely with significant gains, because ordinary people would make be making rational decisions to take the affordable option.

It all starts with the first decision. Al is not going to change later to a .ca just because he sees an ad telling him it is the smart choice, because he already made his choice and he has no reason to change it.

I doubt an end-user would choose a .com or a .ca based on a renewal fee's (unless the company needs 100's of names for their business - not likely) Users want .ca because it identifies them as being Canadian to their audience. If the .com is also available they would buy it and just forward to their .ca site. Lower .ca reg fee's mostly help domain investors like us.

 

[urlurl]

I disagree, Al the butcher should buy both (assuming they are both available) and if he buy's a domain name based on price why not .info @ $2.99. there are reasons why people buy .com's .ca's or any other extension and i'm afraid $5 difference is not the deciding factor - at least to any wise business person. In most cases the .com is not available and the .ca is the next best alternative (assuming you are doing business in Canada).

 

[hugegrowth]

I think many people would go for the cheaper .com, instead of a .ca that's a few more dollars to hand reg. For sure. Usually the .com is already taken though.

Most people also still don't know/care about the benefits of owning their domain in .com/.ca. They figure if they have one domain it's enough.

There is still a lot of education to happen out there.

I am all for cheaper .ca renewals! And while they're at it, they can open the extension up to non-Canadians and get the market moving - lol.

 

[hugegrowth]

Also, chances are Al the butcher is probably cheap and wouldn't pay $20 for butcher.ca

 

[msn]

What Al should do and what Al does are really two entirely different things.

The bias is to .com and that is a fact. To Al, being confronted with options like .info or .biz just reinforces his certainty that he wants a .com, because if he has heard of a web site, it is most likely a .com one.

You think $5 is the issue when it is one of awareness. If your wife sends you off to the store to buy a bottle of Maxwell House coffee and you return with the Walmart house brand, she will be none too pleased. Now if she said, go get me some instant coffee, and you found the stuff looked all the same, but one brand was quite a bit less expensive, you just might buy that lower priced brand.

So Al and all the others like him buy their Internet addresses not knowing anything about them, but they do know there is something called "dot com" so that is what they will likely get. As a result there are endless domains such as 'AlsMeatShopHamilton.com' instead of 'AlsMeat.ca' and it all comes down to that moment of truth when it is time to buy the domain.

You need to give Al a reason to make the additional effort to seek out the .ca domain, or at least for the .ca registrar to present Al with the option, which is not the situation right now. If you do not get elasticity of demand and how it influences purchasing decisions, I can only direct you to make some searches of The Google on The Internets.