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rhys
14th December 2006, 09:50 PM
I am curious to hear other forum member plans with regards to domain renewals. Do you estimate that you will renew everything? Or drop 10%? 20? How will you make your culling decisions?

Personally, I'm planning to renew 95% and probably drop any domains that ended up being typos or mistakes.

Rubber Duck
14th December 2006, 10:02 PM
I am curious to hear other forum member plans with regards to domain renewals. Do you estimate that you will renew everything? Or drop 10%? 20? How will you make your culling decisions?

Personally, I'm planning to renew 95% and probably drop any domains that ended up being typos or mistakes.

Probably a third of our portfolio is going around for the third time. Half of that which is has been registered since this forum opened is already renewed. I am trying to sift out junk, but generally end up with very little I am prepared to let go.

I see April as make or break time. If there is no significant positive movement on traffic by then in any language, then it will be time for a serious re-evaluation, and perhaps some tough decisions. We are more or less renewed until then.

The strategy for the moment is keep about 3 months ahead. I think I have a few dozen Hindi to shake out in April unless the Google searches pick up significantly before then. I also have a few Latin that I will probably clear out. Other than that more or less everything will be renewed unless we sell it. Selling is a short-term strategy and the hope is that by April we can fund renewals from traffic revenues.

bwhhisc
14th December 2006, 11:10 PM
I am staying the course, hoping to see some improvements and traffic beginning Q2. Like RD has suggested many times, best strategy is to stay 3-4 months ahead. At this point, I probably have about 5% junk that I am dropping. For those, I set up a domainsite account called "dump" and have been pushing the ones I probably won't renew into that account, then take one last evaluation and let them drop.

NOTE: Domainsite does NOT always alert you to expiring domains, even when the setting is "on". Maybe they have corrected the situation, but I lost a few mid-year I had purchased from other sellers that were close to expiring, then put them into some sub accounts I did not watch closely. Take responsiblity to check and recheck all expiration dates for yourself in addition to your registrars notices.

Drewbert
14th December 2006, 11:42 PM
I'm going to drop the mistakes I made early on, but that's it.

seamo
15th December 2006, 12:34 AM
I'm going to renew all of my Japanese city .com & .net's for sure.

Aside from that, probably not a whole lot else. This will equate to around 70% of my portfolio dropping.

Edwin
15th December 2006, 03:24 PM
Renew probably 90%+ - just tidy out any "mistakes" and obvious junk. Spin the dice for another year and see what happens.

markits
15th December 2006, 03:36 PM
Renew probably 90%+ - just tidy out any "mistakes" and obvious junk. Spin the dice for another year and see what happens.

If you guys made mistakes and dropped 10% of your correct domains, I am sure it will cause another IDN surge at snapnames.

Rubber Duck
15th December 2006, 04:08 PM
If you guys made mistakes and dropped 10% of your correct domains, I am sure it will cause another IDN surge at snapnames.

I think last years drops were generally a success. We made a couple of mistakes which Touchring and Giant duely harvested. Together though these would not have sold for enough to finance a good night out.

This year, most of the drops relate to Indic Script domains, which had no search stats when registered. They still have no stats now, and the judgement is that, if they still have no stats there is a high risk that they never will. I cannot see any of them being worth the 60 buck minimum at Snapnames. To be honest it wouldn't be worth your time let alone your cash!

burnsinternet
15th December 2006, 05:25 PM
I'm going to renew all of my Japanese city .com & .net's for sure.

Aside from that, probably not a whole lot else. This will equate to around 70% of my portfolio dropping.

70%? WOW! I hope you will offer some up for sale instead of just dropping!

I have been religiously renewing about a month ahead. My parking income is really not bad and helps with renewals, but I use it for new regs when I can find them.

I have been seriously considering dropping my dot nets. I don't have very many and you've all seen them. Seems that no one here wants them, and they get no non-bot traffic (my .biz blow them away with traffic). They are terrific names, but I am not sure the world is ready for French or Russian dot nets. And don't get me started on Japanese dot nets....

alpha
15th December 2006, 08:06 PM
I'm going to renew all of my Japanese city .com & .net's for sure.

Aside from that, probably not a whole lot else. This will equate to around 70% of my portfolio dropping.

I renewed all mine a couple of weeks ago, after consolidating from all the snapnames assigned random registrars. Once everything was in one place i renewed approx 1800, and dumped about 180 typos.

I too have a dedicated drop account at DS, so when i get the email i know to ignore it.

Seamo! 70% wtf!

Can I ask why?

have you lost the faith?
are you tight for cash and having to drop them?

70% is a lot of mistakes if they were mistakes, but it is even more to drop if they wern't mistakes.

Drewbert
15th December 2006, 08:14 PM
>after consolidating from all the snapnames assigned random registrars

NOT looking forward to THAT task. :^(

alpha
15th December 2006, 08:21 PM
>after consolidating from all the snapnames assigned random registrars

NOT looking forward to THAT task. :^(

Well to be honest I struggled with 10 of them for 3 weeks, then you mentioned in another thread about contacting Snap directly, and that just what i did for all of them. They even unlock them for you. Kudos Drew for that gem.

so my advice to anyone faced with this is dont even bother trying to contact the registrars themselves for the EPP, just go straight to Snap. :)

seamo
16th December 2006, 02:33 AM
Seamo! 70% wtf!

Can I ask why?

have you lost the faith?
are you tight for cash and having to drop them?

70% is a lot of mistakes if they were mistakes, but it is even more to drop if they wern't mistakes.
No - I haven't lost faith mate!

A few factors at play here.

Cash is one problem. I took a risk and regged far more than I'd be able to afford to re-reg - unless parking revenue was going to pay big or I could sell some on and make money that way. Neither of these things have happened yet, so I have had to rationalise fairly brutally. I still have a couple of months left before the first drops, but I am not hopeful the situation is going to change significantly before then.

Also, the actual quality of my portfolio is another major factor. I came into IDN's quite late, and as a noob as far as domaining goes. Rather than having any sense and buying up on the bargains that were available here early '06, I thought I'd be able to secure good domains that were un-regged. I probably blew it by a) focusing way too exclusively on Japanese b) too slow off the mark when interest began stirring in other languages. End of the day I have a predominantly Japanese portfolio of .net's and .jp's - none of them 'stellar' by any count.

The only success I may have had was by scooping up as many mid-sized Japanese city .com and .net's while they were still available. I ended up with around 100, with pop's between 150,000 - 350,000. These are likely to be the most practical domains I have for development and attracting outside investors. I will be doing my best to hold onto these for good...or until the right price comes along :cool:

70%? WOW! I hope you will offer some up for sale instead of just dropping!

I have already ran a lot of them via auctions & sales here mate - and barely got a bite. I think this is probably an indication of the quality of my portfolio...

burnsinternet
16th December 2006, 03:58 AM
I understand completely. I have offered many for sale here that I hate to drop, but no bites. I am not good at picking Japanese, and would certainly shy away from such a sale. You may feel the same about other languages. When the drops are imminent, try one more time with a sale and let us know what you are up against. Heck, if you sell several at $5 each, it is better than a drop!

Drewbert
16th December 2006, 04:24 AM
Best think to do would be to offer them up for auction separately with $0 first bid $5 increment, prior to expiry, on the understanding that whoever buys them has to pay the transfer immediately.

touchring
16th December 2006, 07:47 AM
hehe, snaps has decided that $60 min. bid yields the best returns. :)

seamo
16th December 2006, 08:19 AM
hehe, snaps has decided that $60 min. bid yields the best returns. :)
Yeah - anyone here willing to clear out my portfolio for $60 a pop you are welcome to them ;)

Rubber Duck
16th December 2006, 10:03 AM
Very objective and instructive commentary, Seamo.

You are absolutely correct in your analysis that there is little benefit to be had in renewing dross, simply because you cannot face up to the fact that you have made a mistake. I am sure that you are not the only one that is facing similar dilemnas.

Those with portfolios full of weak keywords and alternative extensions, have two sensible alternative. The first is heavy rationalisation, renew the solid rump and retire for another year. The second, is to do the above, but to throw the dice one more time. If you have made mistakes and learnt from them in this way, and can afford another gamble, then the sensible thing would be use what available cash you have to buy about three really good domains. I would suggest three rather than one, because that really would be putting all your eggs in one basket. If you take this approach you could also hedge against language and extension.

My advice would be to stick with Japanese, Russian or Arabic. There are a few uncertainties with Chinese which probably doesn't make it suitable for such a focused portfolio. It would be sensible to ask for evidence of at least some traffic on the domain. This should be achievable if you budget is in the $x,xxx range.

I agree with you that there is a very strong liklihood that the secondary market will improve signficantly in the next month or two. If you believe that to be the case then now is the time to brace yourself and making one final gambit. If you do not believe it then now is the time to walk away.

seamo
16th December 2006, 10:48 AM
Very objective and instructive commentary, Seamo.

You are absolutely correct in your analysis that there is little benefit to be had in renewing dross, simply because you cannot face up to the fact that you have made a mistake. I am sure that you are not the only one that is facing similar dilemnas.

Those with portfolios full of weak keywords and alternative extensions, have two sensible alternative. The first is heavy rationalisation, renew the solid rump and retire for another year. The second, is to do the above, but to throw the dice one more time. If you have made mistakes and learnt from them in this way, and can afford another gamble, then the sensible thing would be use what available cash you have to buy about three really good domains. I would suggest three rather than one, because that really would be putting all your eggs in one basket. If you take this approach you could also hedge against language and extension.

My advice would be to stick with Japanese, Russian or Arabic. There are a few uncertainties with Chinese which probably doesn't make it suitable for such a focused portfolio. It would be sensible to ask for evidence of at least some traffic on the domain. This should be achievable if you budget is in the $x,xxx range.

I agree with you that there is a very strong liklihood that the secondary market will improve signficantly in the next month or two. If you believe that to be the case then now is the time to brace yourself and making one final gambit. If you do not believe it then now is the time to walk away.
Wow - thanks for the exhaustive, honest and solid advice RD - I really appreciate it.

Your post underscores the opportunity many here have had to rub shoulders with some generous and inspirational folks. :) I really appreciate it guys.

I will factor in your recommendations when it comes to 'playing my hand' in the next couple of months RD.

I understand completely. I have offered many for sale here that I hate to drop, but no bites. I am not good at picking Japanese, and would certainly shy away from such a sale. You may feel the same about other languages. When the drops are imminent, try one more time with a sale and let us know what you are up against. Heck, if you sell several at $5 each, it is better than a drop!

Best think to do would be to offer them up for auction separately with $0 first bid $5 increment, prior to expiry, on the understanding that whoever buys them has to pay the transfer immediately.

Again - thanks for the solid and thoughtful advice gents. Most appreciated :) I will be absolutely sure to give you guys a look in rather than send anything to Snapnames! I can guarantee you the WORST of RD's drops will excel the BEST of mine by far though!

Prodigy
16th December 2006, 11:35 AM
I registered as many as I could afford renewals with my monthly salary after expenditure... renewing about 150% since i'm picking up more now ;)

Lmg67
16th December 2006, 01:51 PM
I have an issue about whether to renew symbols/characters. I have quite a few. But if Verisign excludes them, they're worth nothing. On the other hand, if they remain "allowed," then I think they will have a lot of value. Mine are all up for renewal in March.

Any advice?

Rubber Duck
16th December 2006, 02:04 PM
I have an issue about whether to renew symbols/characters. I have quite a few. But if Verisign excludes them, they're worth nothing. On the other hand, if they remain "allowed," then I think they will have a lot of value. Mine are all up for renewal in March.

Any advice?

It maybe we get some news on these before March. I would put the cash to one side and leave your decision until nearer the time.

Giant
16th December 2006, 02:54 PM
I am renewing 99.9% of my IDNs. Don't drop them if you don't have to. We are about to see a brighter future...

Rubber Duck
16th December 2006, 03:29 PM
I am renewing 99.9% of my IDNs. Don't drop them if you don't have to. We are about to see a brighter future...

The rate at which Cracked Vista seems to be spreading in China, I don't think you will have long to wait.

I have a few more to shed than you, largely because I was working in unfamiliar frontier languages with dodgy translations and no search stats. 99.9% is amazing.
We probably blew it in 15 to 20% of cases, but most of the rubbish is long gone.

domainguru
16th December 2006, 04:37 PM
I have an issue about whether to renew symbols/characters. I have quite a few. But if Verisign excludes them, they're worth nothing. On the other hand, if they remain "allowed," then I think they will have a lot of value. Mine are all up for renewal in March.

Any advice?

It has nothing to do with VeriSign. It has to do with policy decisions from ICANN and IETF standards. ICANN released a document last year where they made it very clear symbol domains were not part of the IDN future. IETF are currently implementing a new standard for IDNs. IDN symbol domains do not have a future. Don't waste your money on them.

Giant
16th December 2006, 07:10 PM
The rate at which Cracked Vista seems to be spreading in China, I don't think you will have long to wait.

I have a few more to shed than you, largely because I was working in unfamiliar frontier languages with dodgy translations and no search stats. 99.9% is amazing.
We probably blew it in 15 to 20% of cases, but most of the rubbish is long gone.

That's why I am so humble to stay in Chinese and Japanese IDNs only. BUT It's better to own 80% of premium names by paying 100% at $7 each than playing safe and owning NONE.

touchring
16th December 2006, 07:50 PM
That's why I am so humble to stay in Chinese and Japanese IDNs only. It's better to own 80% of premium names by paying 100% at $7 each than playing safe and owning NONE.


You could do so because you went in 2003. For us that went in only the past year, we got to grab everything we can find because everything's mediocre.

When i started looking at the drop lists mid nov, i went only for chinese names mostly, wasted 2 weeks on just a few miserable names, and then realize i have to widen my scope if i'm going to earn any money.

rhys
20th December 2006, 01:54 AM
I'm going to renew all of my Japanese city .com & .net's for sure.

Aside from that, probably not a whole lot else. This will equate to around 70% of my portfolio dropping.

Seamo - this seems a bit extreme at first glance. If you PM your intended drop list, I will give it a glance to see if your pessimism is justified. Don't have time for anything exhaustive but happy to act as a second pair of eyes for you.

Rhys