Due to the recent demand for the .WS extension coming from the emerging China Domain market, Global Domains International, the operator of the .WS registry, announced today that they are changing their pricing for all 2 and 3 character .WS domain names.
In December 2015, thousands of .WS domain names were registered in China.
The entire 4 number Chinese Premium .WS space sold out over a three-day period in December.
Global Domains International which runs the .WS registry, announced it has partnered with “experienced industry leaders to help accommodate the .WS growth in China, and we are excited to announce new policy changes that will help meet this demand”.
“New Premium Domains Will Renew at Standard Prices
“Our premium domain pricing for all 2 and 3 character .WS domains is changing.
“Beginning Monday, 2-22-16 (February 22, 2016), all new registrations of 2 and 3 character domains will be sold for a onetime premium rate which includes one year of registration. ”
“All renewals and transfers will be charged at the same rate as all other standard .WS domain registrations. This pricing change will be extended to all our registrars as well. So whether someone buys directly from us or one of our registrars, everyone will be able to take advantage of our new pricing.
5-20 All-Number Domains Will Be Made Available for the First Time Ever
“All 5-20 all-number .WS domains (5N-20N) have been held back by the Registry since the .WS top level domain was launched.
We will officially make these domains available for registration on Thursday, 1-28-16 (January 28, 2016) at 8:00pm EST.
These newly released 5N-20N domains will be charged at standard domain pricing.
You can check out all the registrars that are selling .WS domains here: registrar information page.
Global Domains International, headquartered in California, is the official Registry for all .WS domains.
Originally assigned to the country of Western Samoa, we contracted with Samoa to make .WS domains available worldwide on March 9, 2000.””
Can’t wait for all those 20-digit domains to sell out!
Since the big bang, the universe has existed for somewhere between 10^17 and 10^18 seconds.
If someone registers all 10^20 of the 20-digit domains in .WS, going at a rate of 1 per second, then it will take 200 times as long as the universe itself has lived so far.
And that’s not counting 19 or 18-digit numerical domains … or domains in TLDs apart from .WS.
I hear they’re scarce. Better grab them while a few remain to be had!
“The entire 4 number Chinese Premium .WS space sold out over a three-day period in December.”
Random checks for e.g. 8766.ws, 5616.ws and 8213.ws show the same registrant who most likely had hundreds or maybe thousands of domains registered at that time.
Gotta love domain speculation!
Yes. 1 investor, in particular, owns nearly 4000 4Ns.
Thanks, Nick. That’s 40% of the namespace.
That’s the case even in 5N.coms. Marchex used to own over 25% of them at one point. And almost half of the 5N.net was in the hands of one person. It’s al about ROI. And the return on 10,000 $8 NNNN.ws is probably as good at one $70K LLL.com.
Why would I have to sell 10,000 domains in a lesser ccTLD to make as much money as one quality LLL.com ?
Or are you saying any junk TLD/ccTLD/gTLD will do the same trick .com’s do, as long as you give the natives shiny beads?
I personally have about 100 and have already received 10-15x offers through 4.CN for a bunch.
Yeah, them darn domainers owning hundreds and thousands of domains.
When those “hundreds and thousands of domains” are being used to create an artificial bubble, that’s worth noting, don’t you think?
Good luck to .WS, they will milk this Chinese cow until there’s no more chow mein left.
Just because a few people are smart enough to buy out a certain space before everybody else doesn’t mean it’s artificial.
Exactly. And I’m sure Cornelius Vanderbilt would agree.
@WQ,
That depends. The key phrase is “before everybody else does”.
If you assume that other people were on the verge of showing up to buy 100% of X at a price equal to or greater than what an earlier guy paid, then it isn’t artificial scarcity.
But if there was no crowd of people lining up to buy 100% of X at that price and this guy gobbled them up in order to force a shortage and raise the price, then that’s the very definition of artificial scarcity.
The person being spoke about here was actually late to the game and grabbed the bottom of the barrel stuff. Earlier adopters have the better stuff.
And with that said, yes, this person grabbed them before other players were on the verge of grabbing them. One of those players was me.
What exactly is the “better stuff” you’re referring to? E.g. .com vs. .WS ?
If you were on the verge of grabbing the “bottom of the barrel stuff” but didn’t, what epiphany stopped you from doing so?
.WS aka “Web site” was once along with .CC alternatives to .com. Never had any real world adoption, and I don’t see how they’ll be getting any with one Chinese dude grabbing 4000 NNNN’s in that namespace. Nice “premium price” increase though.
The better stuff is obviously the better number combinations. Vs. .com? This has nothing to do with .com.
Why didn’t I grab them all? Easy, same reason why many haven’t in other spaces. Hindsight is 20/20. And once somebody else decides to grab them, they are gone. You never know when that time is. Could be the same time you have them in your shopping cart. Have you ever experienced that?
You say no real world adoption at the same time the Chinese are pumping serious money into these extensions. .CC is smoking hot now. The Chinese love them. Real money is being made. They have real value.
I dealt with your type when I was registering thousands of 4L.com’s. I was told there was no real use. We have a new players now. Either make money or blog about other people making money. I choose to make money.
Would you like to do an article about me when I cash out of my .WS?
@WQ,
There’s no need to be so touchy. If you bristle angrily whenever the rest of us express skepticism about buyouts in the Chinese sector, then you’ll grind your teeth down to nubs.
As you know, all these buyouts are a very speculative play. After all, people are buying inventory today and expecting profit tomorrow, in spite of the fact that these domains were thought by the world as a whole to be not even worth registering yesterday.
You can’t expect everybody to agree with such a betting strategy the day after you adopted it! Even if you think you’re right, even if you make money (as you might), you’re certainly wrong to sneer at people who don’t share your views.
We’re all happy when we see fellow domainers making money, just as we’re frustrated when we see them lose money. Those of us who express skepticism – whether we’re right or wrong – are looking out for our peers.
I see no real use for .WS, so if you have some – hopefully – hundreds of developed web sites that aren’t parked with “for sale” signs, let me know.
The same goes for the ad nauseam flipping of the QXJK domains you’re saying that the Chinese are pumping “serious money” in. I see a large forest of parked domains that are sitting there with fore sale signs.
Flipping penny stock domains is not where the real money is. Smart investors rode the wave up and cashed their chips. Hearing how WS is the next hot sh*t extension is a real eye-roller.
I sense no anger in my post but I can understand thats something you might reach for if you have nothing else constructive to say.
Acro, you say you see no real use but this isn’t about you. The world is much bigger than you bro. Any extension has a real use.
A domainers Job is to make money with domains. Those who are smart will always keep that in mind regardless of the Extension. Follow the trends. Play the game. Some people say the same thing about the stock market. Might be true. It’s all a gamble. Life’s a gamble.
Again, if you want to blog about me when I cash out and make some money let me know. You already blog about some of my 3L.com sales to the Chinese, maybe unknowingly.
@WQ, When you say, “I dealt with your type … ” and “Either make money or blog about other people making money,” it comes across as haughty, foul-tempered, dismissive, and insecure – a thin-skinned reaction.
Have enough confidence in your investment choices to admit that they’re a bit of a gamble. Why not be open-minded enough to allow the rest of us to be skeptical? Just sit back with a relaxed “wait and see” attitude. Maybe you’ll make some money out of all this lunacy. If so, congratulations.
WS has a lot of possible pinyin meanings:
网上 wǎng shàng – online
卫士 wèi shì – guardian
卫视 wèi shì – TV
威势 wēi shì – power and influence
Btw, letter combinations like you mentioned above have real meaning to the Chinese. You are living in a small world bubble. You can’t be serious man come on.
I know very well what they mean and what they don’t, as much as what they are being used for. The difference between you and I is that you believe it’s ok to promote something that worked for some at a certain time, as a perpetual money-maker.
Are you following me so far bro?
Now then, if I were to follow this logic, LLLL .com’s with “chinese premiums” should have reached $10k territory by now. The truth is, they are retreating in sub-$2,000 prices.
Because I’m a smart investor and not a sheep, I sold my chip holdings at a really nice number; having acquired them at reg fee that’s a great ROI.
Seeing how this constant pumping and no real use will leave many unfortunate sheeple holding the proverbial bag, I’m balancing the white noise about this Chinese ‘miracle’ with some valid questions over its legitimacy.
Bro, it’s great if you made money, just don’t act as if you developed anything revolutionary. Domains aren’t stock to be traded endlessly, eventually they either get developed or they get deleted and the circle of life restarts.
You say you know they have meaning but you post it as it as if it is useless.
Maybe to you but not to others. You can acknowledge that now but why would you even mention that?
As far as me developing something revolutionary, I do not develop. I am simply a domainer making money with the domains.
I look forward to your blog when I cash out on some more domains. Glad I can provide you with content 🙂
Real world use versus endless trading – there is a certain difference right there and it’s far from being subtle.
Outside of the LL/LLL .com territory, there is minimal adoption of the “chip” fleet by the hard-working Chinese entrepreneurs. Yes, they are being traded up and down *in hopes* that a large sale will occur.
And that’s still .com we’re talking, don’t even start on the lesser TLDs. Maybe Rick Schwartz’s words don’t resonate loud enough: Pigeon shit.
I’ll be the last man to loathe someone who made money; I’ll be the first one to question pyramid scheme pitches that endanger the money of others.
Acro,
Wait until you see the team behind the rebranding. It is some of the best and brightest domain investors, business people, and marketing from around the world. I am am part of that group (and do not include myself in the best and brightest) and it makes me feel confident to know that the two people that seem to be always on the wrong side of the domain market think this will fail as well.
Shane, this sounds like an unrelated reference to your ventures. I wish you best of luck. You are completely wrong on the number of people that strongly disagree with the way you portray opportunity in domain investing. People have the right to question not just the claims of results but also the motives behind the constant hype. Or are we supposed to take your evangelizing as gospel? Playing soccer with you at NamesCon was fun though. Now extrapolate this team play onto domaining for a change.
Am I “always on the wrong side of the domain market”?
Funny. While I was writing up tomorrow’s DNW article, documenting a month of falling prices in LLLL.net “CHIPs” (which I predicted and which you deny is happening!), I sold another meaningful .ORG for $5k. No outreach. No negotiation. No hype to exploit gullible domainers. Just foresight and patience. Just cash deposited in my bank account.
But that’s the wrong side of the market because … ? Because Shane Cultra doesn’t talk about it! … Because Shane Cultra feels insecure whenever somebody disagrees with him! Because Shane Cultra is anxious about losing his grip on the audience of newbie domainers whom he milks for affiliate income like a herd of credulous cattle!
Where were you, Shane, years ago when I purchased the category-killer LLLL.com, when I wrote algorithms to appraise acronym domains, and when I sold LLLL.com to China for a large profit … and a price that still looks good even after the Chinese surge? You had the same opportunity to buy that domain that I had. Back then 4-letter .coms were selling at $25 apiece. Since you were on the right side of the market, it’s clear that you bought them up by the thousands and have now retired a multi-millionaire.
No? Oh, that’s right! Back then you didn’t see the potential. Back then you weren’t putting your money where your mouth is now! It’s much easier to tell other people how to spend their money than to risk your own. It’s much easier to ride along with auctions day-to-day, pointing at domains that are already popular, and pose as an expert … even a prophet!
Just sort the day’s most active auctions by number of bids in descending order, slap up some affiliate links, tell people to bid on what their more industrious peers are already bidding on, get paid whether your readers make money or not, ride the wave day to day, and pretend that you saw it all coming.
And let’s not forget what you do best: Sabotage your colleagues. “Colleagues” is being generous. While some of us spend our days analyzing the domain market, building tools to improve the industry, you sell potted plants.
P.S. When did I ever say that .WS would fail? You have a captive audience – captive because you delete comments from people you’re afraid of. So I’m sure you’ll exploit those poor newbies to the Nth degree and sell them plenty of .WS. The TLD may succeed in China for reasons of its own. I never said it wouldn’t.
Uncle Rico: Back in ’82, I used to be able to throw a pigskin a quarter mile.
How much you wanna make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?
@ikehook,
You lost me, brother.
Dudeyou straight up eviscerated him the line about potted plants was off the chart.
Thank you for the kind words. Sounds like you know what you’re doing. Enjoy the weekend
Cool, thanks for the insight.
I’ll have you on my soccer team any day. Looked good out there for being the Grandpa 🙂 The .ws thing will be a process. Learning either way
That was for Acro but WQ there’s always room for more next year 🙂
I own nearly 100 NNNN.ws names.
As per their faq, they will charge $100 to transfer the name to new owner!!!!
“Does it cost anything to transfer my domain to a new owner?
Yes, the transfer fee is $100. It can be paid by either party, but must be paid online during the transfer.”
Is this true?
I can assure you that there is no $100 transfer fee. I am working with .WS on this. Back in the day there was an old transfer policy based on certain domain packages. That no longer exists. This will be clarified. Thanks for pointing it out.
Is this statement true??……“All 5-20 all-number .WS domains (5N-20N) have been held back by the Registry since the .WS top level domain was launched.”
88888.ws………..Creation Date: 2013-12-15
888888.ws………Creation Date: 2012-03-11
88888888.ws…..Creation Date: 2011-02-25
12345.ws………..Creation Date: 2013-12-05
Looks like the usual .ws hype.
Thanks for the clarification. A select handful of 5N domains did get out in the past but 99.9% of the 5n were never avail. Even less ever got out above 5 numbers.
Acro,
Consider this in your quest for relevancy.
Hundreds of options now available. Do you really think they will all fail?
What is now relevant on a global scale?
What is the category that is most rare regardless of use?
Is it possible for domain property to evolve into a commonly traded commodity?
My observation is this. “Meet the New King” 1-4 characters in any relevant use extension.
Short is the new “King” and will reign for a very long time.
Cheers
I’m more open-minded than you think. The availability of hundreds of options doesn’t necessitate, however, that they are all worthy.
It seems that the holy grail of any TLD/gTLD/ccTLD has become some assumed hunger for numbers and short domains, regardless of (non) use. That’s a fallacy to perpetuate.
Are you buying .ws to resell as if it were a .com that you cannot have due to price? Because there is no reason to believe your $8 investment (times XXX) will be turned into profit.
Think for a second: .WS = Western Samoa. If that’s the new gold rush then move on to .KY or .IR even.
These funky TLDs that are registered en masse don’t ever get developed, period. If you disagree, please show me relevant web sites as a percentage of registered domains.
Of course they are not all worthy. Just the ones users (developed or not) find useful and the market will dictate the end result.
Again, for me the market is suggesting the holy grail is SHORT due to the finite number compared to well everything else regardless of what the short is made up of. We will all know if this holds up or not within a couple of years. My bet is on short in any relevant use extensions. The reason for shorts should be obvious.
No I am not an investor of .ws at this time as I have a very decent portfolio to work with.
Yes I would purchase and sell .ws if it gains traction used or not. Why? Profit period.
The reason all extensions sell vs .com is due to price. I am just as happy with my other extensions as I am with my .coms There are more end users every day adopting something other than .com.
.com will always be the “legacy” no question. The original of anything retains value.
The market today is the most “global” it’s ever been and global view of relevancy must be taken into account. Extensions relevant to culture or language or use regardless of origin will survive and the market will dictate the value.
You make a blanket statement: These funky TLDs that are registered en masse don’t ever get developed, period.
I agree for now. It’s too early to have an opinion of development in your context. Again, other uses beyond website development are emerging. I’m excited for the industry that end users are coming up with other uses. This is an important factor going forward that didn’t exist until now.
Cheers
So you’re saying that any TLD is great to invest in, as long as the same “keywords” are used to maintain their shortness, and for reasons only related to the Chinese domain market.
That logic has been plaguing so-called “investments” ever since the .com volume ran out. There is no real world use of these domains, not by the Chinese not by others. What if all NNNN .xyz sold out, the question is what are they being used for?
If you don’t realize that you’re being played on, by all means spend time and money to invest in these domains. Holding one’s hand stops after a a while.
This is what I said,
Just the ones users (developed or not) find useful and the market will dictate the end result. Not u or anyone else.
I did not say “any”
I did not say anything about the china market or only the china market.
I did say,
The market today is the most “global” it’s ever been and global view of relevancy must be taken into account. Extensions relevant to culture or language or use regardless of origin will survive and the market will dictate the value.
WE ARE IN A GLOBAL MARKET. China, like America is just a % of the GLOBAL MARKET
Your Quote:
“There is no real world use of these domains “-
Myopic at best.
This isn’t my firs rodeo. I have been in this business and others for a long time.
There are all kinds of strategies that work from different perspectives. Yours, mine and others globally.
Global view of relevancy must be taken into account. Do you get this?
WE ARE IN A GLOBAL MARKET. do you get this? Even if all relevant, useful .com’s were developed there would still be a need for more!
It is irresponsible and reprehensible for you or anyone else to suggest that any extension other than .com will never have any value or use. It’s for the market to decide and naturally, the weak will not survive.
You call it “myopic”, I call it pragmatic. Sorry if you decide to fall for the hype that asserts to encompass *any* TLD regardless of what it’s meant for.
Global market use means that anyone can find use for anything anywhere. It doesn’t mean that the entire world will fall on its back wiggling their arms and legs for it.
Calling me irresponsible? For a guy with an “168” as a sig that’s rather brazen.
Lack of responsibility is to proclaim that there is gold in them there hills, making promises of a great fortune.
If you succeed at something, do share it. Until then, stop selling a story of success without the testimonials.
I did not say “any”
for the third time
Yes, twisting my words
bolsters your stance.
Some day you’ll get what
global perspective means.
hint: everybody’s perspective
not just yours.
My numerical online friend – I have no agenda nor do I know who you are.
On the other hand, my position on gTLDs is known and has been shared on my blog, time and again. Stop playing the victim card as if I talked down your investments. First you say “not my first rodeo,” then you claim no interest in .WS which is the subject of this discussion.
When you leave comments about “irresponsible and reprehensible” it seems that you’re making some unwarranted threats over someone’s opinion. Then speak of “everyone’s perspective.”
I think you need to decide where you stand on in this discussion.
Joy Antony, whats up, this is Chad from gtld link…there won’t be that $100 fee anymore. Glad to see you in on .ws. I know you and I are making some bucks with XYZ when everyone else thought we were fools!
Shane, when ready for me next year I’m in. I can kick a ball around a bit.
Chad Sir,
How are you…thanks for the message.
regarding .xyz names, I sold more names and received good $ and receive lot of new inquiries for my remaining .xyz names.
Let me Thank You again for your advise on .xyz names thru your forum. Initially I thought, .xyz not a good tld and after reading your post, jumped into .xyz and registered domains. Now I own thousands of .xyz names.
I own 150+ .ws names and believe .ws will bring some $ to us.
regards,
I always preferred the eastern side of the island to the west.
When will they launch .es.? Oh, that’s right, it’s Spain, not East Samoa 🙂