Comments

1. Mike @ WannaDevelop.com says

   November 15, 2008 at 7:01 pm

   VOIPSERVICE.COM looks like a good deal.. May be just a bit overpriced in my opinion but it is a top 5 category killer domain in the VOIP industry which is huge and still has lots of room for growth… My fav domain in that list.. May be a bargain for somebody!

   Best,
   Mike

   http://www.wannadevelop.com

2. Greg B says

   November 15, 2008 at 10:19 pm

   I guess I’ll never understand how they make their selections. Usually I don’t submit any domains but this time I thought I had a couple that fit.

   I submitted AustraliaRobots.com and AustraliaRobotics.com – a robotics company was Australian business of the year (this year) and Australia has a few of the big robotics companies located there.

   Robots and Robotics have got to be huge industries in the future, and even now.

   I submitted them with no reserve.

   Why would they pick “CalgaryPersonals.com” or “ChulaVistaProperty.com” over mine? Same with the other auctioneer there. I’m not really complaining because I don’t care, but am I wrong?

   Do they really try for the best that they can or is it that you need to be a friend or pay them or what? Seriously, I can understand the “.com.au” ones but how can “calgarypersonals.com” possibly be more desirable to have in an Australia based auction than “AustraliaRobotics.com”?

3. Mike @ WannaDevelop.com says

   November 15, 2008 at 10:46 pm

   Greg, your domains are only desirable to maybe a handful of companies in Australia, within the Robotics industry… Thus your potential is very limited. I wouldn’t pick your domains to auction off or invest any resources in either. That doesn’t mean they are worthless, but you can probably count on your fingers the amount of potential companies that may be interested in the domain… Send out an e-mail and give them your pitch. Simple as that. Best of luck!

4. Greg B says

   November 15, 2008 at 11:30 pm

   Mike, I’m not saying that they are great but “CalgaryPersonals”? Like I said, I’m not complaining and nor did I mean to insinuate that they are great domains but really, “CalgaryPersonals”?

   I haven’t tried to sell the robot domains at all and wasn’t really looking for any evaluation of them except as compared to the other geo-generics ie “CalgaryPersonals.com”.

5. MHB says

   November 16, 2008 at 12:12 am

   Greg

   If you look at Google results your domain returns just 293 results with no ads either under the search or on the right.

   The term Calgary Personals returns 8,490 results with 3 ads under the search term and a full page of ads on the right.

   I agree with Mike, this domain has a VERY narrow range of buyers which would best be found by going to companies engaged in this business in that country.

   As for domains in an auction for domainers, the personals domain, has a much better chance of selling than yours and at a higher price.

   That’s my opinion

6. Mike @ WannaDevelop.com says

   November 16, 2008 at 2:59 am

   Calgary has a population of 1 million people and personals is big biz from what it looks like… quiet a few sites setup in that niche already… there are over 100k searches performed monthly that relate to “Calgary Personals” compared to Australia Robots or Robotics which barely pull in 1,000 total. There is the main difference.

   The domain will sell if it is not missed 🙂

   Best,
   Mike

   http://www.wannadevelop.com

7. Greg B says

   November 16, 2008 at 4:39 am

   I’m hoping for “calgarypersonals.com” to sell for lots – I have about a dozen fairly large cities and “personals”, mostly cities around a half million people. I just thought what with the Australian focus there would be a chance, I would have never thought of submitting (for example) PortsmouthPersonals.com (which I own). You’ll notice I didn’t bitch about “brightonbeachhomes.com” because at least there are a few “Brightons” (and a Brighton beach) in Australia.

   Likewise I wouldn’t mind having “ChulaVistaProperty.com” – again I own a few California cities and “homes”, or “property”, etc (most cities I have are larger than ChulaVista) so I’m hoping it gets a good price – however, I fail to see (at first glance) why it was selected.

   Robotics and robots will be perhaps the biggest industry ever. Today sales of robot toys are 500 million annually and exponentially growing. I mention this only because I think that CalgaryPersonals and ChulaVistaProperties will not make good “holding domains” and I’ve seen no signs of any advertising directed at end-users for the down under auction. Whereas a cheap “australiarobots.com” might have a chance of getting 100’s of times its current auction value in 5 years.

   Forbes magazine – “a new technology era will be born and soon enough a host of new companies will explode into the headlines with extravagant business models and unbelievable valuations. A new tech cycle will begin.”

   And .. “Though sales of toy robots garner nearly $500 million in annual revenue today and outsell utilitarian robots by about three to one, ABI Research predicts that by 2015 task-based robots will overtake robotic toys to pull in $8.7 billion annually. ”

   I really didn’t intend on getting into a discussion of the worth of my domains though (or the future robotics industry), it is just that I’ve been suspicious for quite awhile about the actions of the various domain auction companies – if I had had any other domains with an Aussie flavor I would have submitted them but I tend to buy domains based on where I live (Canada) and the robot domains were the only Aussie ones I have outside of a fairly large pure geo which I’m not planning on selling.

   At any rate, thanks for the advice to contact companies directly but that wasn’t/isn’t my intention. I sort of figured that some domainer who likes to market a domain might have liked to pick up those domains and do just that – whereas I have a tougher time imagining a domainer getting 100x the selling price for CalgaryPersonals – if this were an auction aimed at endusers I would understand but surely domainers could see the value in grabbing a domain with a future potential rather than an immediate one.

   Or is this an auction aimed at end-users?

8. Mike @ WannaDevelop.com says

   November 16, 2008 at 5:17 am

   Greg, if your domain has so much potential and everything going for it then you should probably hold onto it… the $20 spent on registering them and renewals next few yrs should be well worth a bigger payout in the future.

   You gave a great pitch above… unfortunately to the wrong crowd.

   A great domain says everything right when you see it… When you have to get into the details and start explaining stuff…there is a disconnect and you get the point. Great domains have instant recognition and of course potential.

   Your domains are OK but have very limited potential going for them for the reasons mentioned above in the previous posts.

   How much were you looking to sell them for anyways, if no secret? 😉

9. Damir says

   November 16, 2008 at 6:44 am

   Greg B. Many of this Company’s do not know what domain names they select for the auctions – they just go by feel.

   Many of the people in the domain industry call them pro or experts but they do not have a clue at all – that is a sad reality but fact.

   Do NOT let them sell YOUR domain names because if you do they will resell your domain name for next to no money.

   Respect Yourself – do not let Idiots decide what goes and what does not.

   Be smart – respect starts from within.

10. Greg B says

    November 16, 2008 at 7:37 am

    I really wasn’t concerned about the price. I suppose I figured that they might go for $100 -$300 for the two of them and that wouldn’t have bothered me. I wouldn’t sell them on my own for that, I don’t have a clue what they are really worth and I’m not sure that robots/robotics have any real relationship with geographic locations anyway. Certainly “personals” or “property” seem better suited for specific geographical locations than robotics or robots, maybe that isn’t so but ….

    If I had really wanted to get a domain into the auction I have way better ones (IMO) I could have submitted. I just thought that those ones were in the proper spirit of “down under” and I still think that regardless of whether “calgarypersonals.com” is worth more or less than “australiarobotics.com” that the auction would be better served by having my domains instead of those from (contextually) meaningless locations.

    If it were “melbournepersonals.com” or “brisbaneproperty.com” I would totally agree with the selections but I don’t think that “calgarypersonals.com” will sell for even $500 while I think that “australiarobotics.com” would be a deal for someone at $10 and add even more of an Australian “flavor” to the auction.

    I was not expecting to have mine included but I was shocked to find a Calgary geogeneric included. I can’t help it if I feel that these auctions are “rigged” in many ways – if it were the maximum potential value of a domain that was the determining factor of inclusion I’d bet (and give odds) that there were hundreds of better ones submitted than “calgarypersonals.com” or “chulavistaproperty.com”.

    Which begs the question ( which I asked to begin with) “is it that you need to be a friend or pay them or what? “.

11. Mike @ WannaDevelop.com says

    November 16, 2008 at 5:01 pm

    Greg, you understand things quiet well and will be successful with your ventures..It seems that you already are on the right path and will do well.. You answered all of your own questions as well. I think this whole matter is done with. I wish you all the best and do not get upset over this things. They happen and will continue to happen… Remember

    “it’s just business… nothing personal”

    selling your domain for $10 or selling another for maybe $1000 is a big difference… in commissions… in press… etc.

    It is always about MONEY.

    Best,
    Mike

    http://www.wannadevelop.com

12. Adam says

    November 17, 2008 at 10:23 am

    Damir who are you referring to as idiots ?