.com and .net - valuations

[Explorer]

As we all know, .com are a lot more valuable then .nets in the western world. We also know that some of the Chinese IDN.coms are not available to reg. Well, they are available and you almost have a heart attack when you see it available first and then "failed to register" later, but then you get used to it after a while :-)

Anyhow, the question is if that great Chinese .com is unavailable, and you conclude that .net is worth taking, would the valuation of that .net be as high as if it were a .com? Also, since those unavailable to register .coms are premium generics, would that experience make the difference in valuations between .com and .net a lot less obvious in China than in the western world?

[kenne]

Firstly, currently in China, .net is valued less than .com at a ratio of 1/3-1/10; and it's usage is
1/4 (median) - 1/8 (average) of .com based on my very unscientific sampling.


Secondly, there's less uncertainty about the mapping of .net to .IDN version of net.
(as opposed to .com).

All of the possible choices of IDN .net equivalent are pretty good, and neutral.

Some Chinese words feels particularly good with .(IDN-net)

So I expect that some day, .net will be worth 2.0 - 1/10 of .com; depending on the synergy between names and TLD.


Thirdly, as you pointed out, variants blocking currently reduces the supply of Chinese domains and
increases the value of .net with the desired version. This may or may not be in the future. But in the
near term at least, this works to increase the value of both .com and .net with the desired version

[idnowner]

Anyhow, the question is if that great Chinese .com is unavailable, and you conclude that .net is worth taking, would the valuation of that .net be as high as if it were a .com?

I seriously doubt it. I don't even register IDN.nets, no matter how good.



Also, since those unavailable to register .coms are premium generics, would that experience make the difference in valuations between .com and .net a lot less obvious in China than in the western world?

I *think* the .net would still be worth a lot less and would be less desirable - although, that is just my guess, as an American with little knowledge of Chinese perceptions. I also am concerned how the Chinese government may restrict Internet use in general.

[kenne]

I seriously doubt it. I don't even register IDN.nets, no matter how good.




I *think* the .net would still be worth a lot less and would be less desirable - although, that is just my guess, as an American with little knowledge of Chinese perceptions. I also am concerned how the Chinese government may restrict Internet use in general.

They do restrict. It's a case of "Killer" government against Killer apps. My bet is on the latter.

100Million oversea Chinese are my first level insurance (.com and .net will always have a market amongst them). a few nonChinese domains are my second level insurance. "world war III" in a dozen languages is my third level insurance - just kidding :cool:

[touchring]

They do restrict. It's a case of "Killer" government against Killer apps. My bet is on the latter.

100Million oversea Chinese are my first level insurance (.com and .net will always have a market amongst them). a bunch of Japanese domains are my second level insurance. "world war III" in a dozen languages is my third level insurance - just kidding :cool:


The Chinese government only restricts political, religious (to limited extent) and adult/volence websites.

If you keep strictly to "commercial business", there's no problem, in fact, the restrictions are less than in America. With sufficient money, one can buy or operate anything in China, ports, banks, airports, etc. Sometimes, it's even possible to circumvent laws with money.

[kenne]

Touchring does business in China, so he should know.

In addition to the restriction he cited, there is more red-tape and grey-money in China. But nothing that should kill or slow the widespread
adoption of internet. In fact, the government encourages it.

I for one, would not miss this boat.

[Rubber Duck]

Anyhow, the question is if that great Chinese .com is unavailable, and you conclude that .net is worth taking, would the valuation of that .net be as high as if it were a .com? Also, since those unavailable to register .coms are premium generics, would that experience make the difference in valuations between .com and .net a lot less obvious in China than in the western world?

The point is that for the very best Keywords in Chinese and Japanese the Dot Coms are pretty much sold out. If you find a first class dot Net, it may well be worth more than the second class dot Coms that are available. This is particularly so because of the high level of bias towards dot Com by US speculators. It is likely that will spill over in local markets to some degree, but I doubt whether it will be so pronounced, as the predication in the US towards Dot Com is boardering on the irrational.

[Explorer]

The point is that for the very best Keywords in Chinese and Japanese the Dot Coms are pretty much sold out. If you find a first class dot Net, it may well be worth more than the second class dot Coms that are available. This is particularly so because of the high level of bias towards dot Com by US speculators. It is likely that will spill over in local markets to some degree, but I doubt whether it will be so pronounced, as the predication in the US towards Dot Com is boardering on the irrational.

Yes, that's what I am thinking. The huge valuation gap difference between .com and .net is more a US thing. Besides, when local Chinese internet businesses "discover" IDNs, there won't be a lot of .coms around. We won't sell them cheap, so their alternative is to get into .nets.

[kenne]

What's the US price difference for .com vs .net?

[Explorer]

What's the US price difference for .com vs .net?

I think at least 10 times. News.net sold for 150K. I am sure news.com would have gone for more than 1.5M.

[Rubber Duck]

What's the US price difference for .com vs .net?

I would say dot net are 10-20% of the value of a dot Com. I work on 20% with IDN may be a bit more for Arabic.

I think at least 10 times. News.net sold for 150K. I am sure news.com would have gone for more than 1.5M.

Yes, that is probably correct at the top end of the market. Blue Chip companies would insist on a dot Com, even if it were heapofcrap.com. CEO would have to stop playing golf if they used anything else!

[kenne]

7%-15% is the range I got running through some forums.

I figure this difference is probably due to .com get a lot more type in traffic;
and a lot more prestige which in turn derives from being the first to market.
Neither of which is true for Chinese or Arabic. So I don't expect this price
difference to hold.

[Giant]

7%-15% is the range I got running through some forums.

I figure this difference is probably due to .com get a lot more type in traffic;
and a lot more prestige. Neither of which is true for Chinese or Arabic. So I don't expect this price difference to hold.

My judgment is 5% - 8%, it is also my guesstimate for Chinese IDN in the future.

[Explorer]

At the same time, it's all about the development, I think. Slickdeals.net is a developed website that has an Alexa rating of 277 (!). Slickdeals.com is simply parked.

[idnowner]

In some cases (for English domains), a .net is worth less than 2% of a .com. Some companies will pay a substantial price for "the right" .com, and would not even consider a .net.

[kenne]

Maybe they are afraid of traffic bleeding into .net?

.com had a first mover advantage over .net that persisted. But its advantage is less pronounced in China. Even less when IDN.IDN comes out, and especially if [IDN].com is simply not available due to variant blocking.

[gammascalper]

As a very rough comparison, I have a .com receiving about 100 uniques a day in China and a .net receiving very few.

Objectively, the name of the .net is much better than the .com, but the traffic to the .com is at least 20x greater.

I would have to agree that .com is top-of-mind among users in China.

[kenne]

As a very rough comparison, I have a .com receiving about 100 uniques a day in China and a .net receiving very few.

Objectively, the name of the .net is much better than the .com, but the traffic to the .com is at least 20x greater.

I would have to agree that .com is top-of-mind among users in China.

I'm assuming the 100 uniques type-in traffic, right?

I agree with you that .com is top of the mind in China. Just that .net from the amount of usage it gets (about 1/4-1/8 of .com's) also has some mindshare. And given some factors (IDN.com blocked, synergy between IDN and IDN-tld), it might become more valuable than the 2%-10% as suggested by US market.

My main point is simply, that given a US ratio for .net/.com valuation, I expect Chinese ratio to be on average higher, and have greater range (2%-200%)
based on different factors.

I'll make a survey of this, though it's difficult to make the survey tell us anything new.

[idnowner]

Maybe they are afraid of traffic bleeding into .net?

.com had a first mover advantage over .net that persisted. But its advantage is less pronounced in China. Even less when IDN.IDN comes out, and especially if [IDN].com is simply not available due to variant blocking.

It goes back to the original designation for the TLDs...

.com - for General Commercial Use
.net - for Internet companies
.org - for non-profit organizations

So, .nets have the stigma for being a name you had to settle for because you couldn't get the .com.