Thread: Why Do Decent Domains Get Dropped?

Some good domains get dropped (examples: here, here and here). Do you think it's because the owner ends up not being able to afford the renewal fees, they forget to renew, or another reason?

Every domainer has had this experience before-were you reg/buy a domain because of its "potential",but after owning it for a while, the renewal fee pops in your face, and your motivation to renew is not as high not because the name isn't worth it, but because the name didn't deliver on the potential within the past year,so i think some people lack the foresight to realize the potential WILL or might deliver soon if the name is renewed.

Ceres, thank you for citing my new domain among those gems. First of all, I think there are many reasons why someone may let a good domain expire. IMHO two of the most recurring reasons are 1) owner's inability to renew the names because of bad health conditions (or even death) and 2) registrar being unable to contact owner on renewal period (maybe due to outdated contact data) with owner forgetting to renew.

I don't think the high renewal fee might influence owner's decision to drop the name. The reason is that if an owner can't afford to renew the name, they have always the chance to sell it, even for a low price, which would allow them to regain a part of the money that has been spent.

Originally Posted by the_poet

they have always the chance to sell it, even for a low price

That's true the_poet, although many people aren't able sell their expiring domains, even for cheap.

For example, I vaguely recall Jeff writing about how he tried selling some soon-to-expire ccTLDs very cheaply, but there were no takers. The ironic thing is that after the domains dropped, a popular drop-catching company picked up the domains and only then did people start bidding on the domains! Now that sucks.

Wow people are strange sometimes

In addition to all the reasons illustrated above, some other may be - lack of ability to sell,lack of insight,lack of interest,lack of time and of course lack of funds.

I am new here,but not in the business.So the first 3 causes given by me,is quite suitable for domain owners like me. I have some (about 15) .in's and i am not sure how much of them i will keep after one year. I am not doing anything special to sell them.Just listed them at sedo.

Originally Posted by Ceres

That's true the_poet, although many people aren't able sell their expiring domains, even for cheap.

For example, I vaguely recall Jeff writing about how he tried selling some soon-to-expire ccTLDs very cheaply, but there were no takers. The ironic thing is that after the domains dropped, a popular drop-catching company picked up the domains and only then did people start bidding on the domains! Now that sucks.

This is a strange occurrence in our business, names that could not be moved for reg fee on forums appear on places like snapnames and suddenly the feeding frenzy starts and they are at $xxx even $xxxx.

The auction scenario seems to have a lot to do with it and probably considerably more potential buyers with $'s than on the forums frequent the auction houses.

Originally Posted by wot

This is a strange occurrence in our business, names that could not be moved for reg fee on forums appear on places like snapnames and suddenly the feeding frenzy starts and they are at $xxx even $xxxx.

The auction scenario seems to have a lot to do with it and probably considerably more potential buyers with $'s than on the forums frequent the auction houses.

I've always thought auction system has some psychological factors in it that influence people and let them believe they could have the domain for just "1 more dollar" over the current highest bid. Because nearly every bidder makes this kind of reasoning, the price usually goes up fast in auctions.