2011 has already broken records for Netfleet, with an all time record sale when Electricity.com.au sold in our Domain Snapper Auctions for $30,933 AUD. A solid price for a solid domain, but the return on investment for this happy buyer will no doubt be swift.

In the first newsletter of the year, we would like to make you aware of numerous improvements we will be rolling out to the site, to help you buy or sell domain names on Netfleet.com.au. We would also like to make you aware of the current policy review by auDA (Australian Domain Name Administrator), and how you can help shape the future of Australian domain names.

Changes to Netfleet.com.au

A summary of changes implemented right now include:

• Starting Price removed on Standard Catalogue Listings.
  Historically, you could set the Starting Price on Netfleet for your Standard Catalogue Listings, however this was often misconceived as the lowest price you would be contractually obliged to accept an offer for. This is not the case – the Target Price is the only price to which you are obliged to accept an offer that matches it. It is now set at $100 for every domain that has not received an offer, so please recheck those domains where the previous Starting Price may have deterred your interest.
• Offer Expiry Reduced from 30 to 7 days
  After numerous requests from our clients we will be reducing the lifetime of an offer on Standard Catalogue Listings from 30 days to 7 days. 30 days was too long for buyers to wait and see if their offer will be accepted. Setting offers to expire in 7 days increases the sense of urgency, and hopefully results in faster end to end transactions. Please note, this change will take affect at 10:00 AEDT Friday 14th January. Any offers that are over 7 days old, will automatically expire from that time, and you will no longer be able to accept that offer.
• Ability to change Target Prices of domains
  We have allowed the ability to change the Target Price of your domain names even if the domain name has received an offer. Previously, this was blocked to stop sellers increasing Target Price during negotiations. We have now made this possible, however this is only available if the offer has expired.
• Counter Offers are Binding
  To make terms fair and equal for buyers and sellers alike, we have made counter offers binding. This means, if you match a counter offer, the domain will mark as sold, much the same as if you match the Target Price. Similarly, this change will take affect at 10:00 AEDT Friday 14th January.
• Half Price for Domain Snapper Auctions subscription
  We are offering half price for our Domain Snapper Auctions for a limited time only. If you fancy trying your hand at our exciting expired domain auctions, now is the time to subscribe, and have a pop at domain names like Electricity.com.au. Equally, don’t forget, many domain names go for as little as just $10 in these auctions.

We have many more exciting changes being designed as we speak, so please keep an eye out for new News articles and new Blog posts on Netfleet.com.au.

Help shape the future of YOUR domain names

Now is your chance to have your say, and help govern the future of Australian domain names, and submit your thoughts on a series of questions raised by auDA (Australian Domain Name Administrator) who manage/police the .au space. Your contribution could directly affect how valuable or profitable your domain names may be. Some key issues that require your feedback are:

• Domain Monetisation
• Domain Eligibility (who should be allowed to register .au domain names)
• Misspellings
• Domain Licensing / Leasing

Amongst other issues. Full details can be found on their site http://www.auda.org.au/2010npp/2010npp-index/. A submission takes two minutes, and is invaluable to the future of .au.

Lastly, our thoughts and well wishes go out to all affected in the current Queensland floods. You can help out and donate online on the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal website.

Thanks for reading,
The Netfleet Team

The point that so many miss is that, from an investment point of view, it doesn’t matter which extension is the most valuable. It’s the growth that matters.

Sure .com is the most well known and valuable extension for a domain name. For a typical domain name, a .com domain could be worth 20 – 50 times the equivalent value of a .com.au BUT .com isn’t going anywhere.

Controversial statement, but I believe from an investment point of view .com is exhausted. It is impossible to register anything half decent in .com so potential registrants are forced to look at the aftermarket or at other options.

Increasingly, they look to their own cc-TLD. After all, the vast majority of any businesses in any country are ‘local’ – they don’t necessarily want to appeal to people in overseas countries so a g-TLD just isn’t necessary. Let’s consider the following example:

John Smith in Australia is looking to launch a website for his new mortgage broking business. He needs to buy a domain name.

He looks at .com – sees mortgagebroking.com for sale at $200K, mortage-brokers.com for sale at $50K, australianmortgages.com for sale at $45K.

He looks at .com.au – sees mortgagesaustralia.com.au for sale at $4K, mortgagebroking.com.au for sale at $15K, mortgage-brokers.com.au for sale at $800 and ausmortgages.com.au available to register at $25 for 2 years.

What would you do? Repeat this scenario around the world thousands of times a day and people stop registering .com & the demand flows into the cc-TLD.

Please note, that Netfleet does not condone the registration of domains for the sole purpose of resale as this contravenes auDA policy.