DOMAIN DEALERS

Have you heard? You can buy and sell names outside of the proper registry organizations. Would you pay $100,000.00 for grocerynet.com? You shouldn't have to! You should just pay the same $70.00 everyone else pays for domain names. If these Domain Losers weren't so busy registering names out from under you, you wouldn't have to pay $20,000.00 for the name you want.

Additionally, one company we found will sell you sportsillustratedswim.com for $9,000.00. How nice of them considering that that purchase will probably also buy you a major trademark infringement suit brought against you by Time Warner. All you have to do is hope Time Warner is very forgiving and doesn't want more than $9,000.00 in damages. Another company is offering billgates.com for $1 million. Think you could get sued over that?

Yet another demon to beware is the company that wants to lease you a domain name with matching server space. We've seen one company that would like to sell you bywire.com for at least $20,000.00 and then give you server space for that domain at $2,000.00 per month. Yet the same company will give you server space for helvetica.com (which they want to sell for at least $500.00) for only $50.00 per month. You can get server space for any domain for prices closer to $30/month. This makes us suspicious that you never really own the name (as in you're not the Administrative Contact). If you were, you could have your site hosted wherever you wanted and pay much less than $2,000.00 per month.

OK that sounds pretty bad... but why would someone waste their money like that?
Some people are not so bright about marketing, and some people are easily fooled or bullied. In some cases, a domain dealer stole your name, and to get your name back you have to interact with that dealer. No matter what it is, that person probably felt there was no other way out (that person didn't consider our solutions!). We found one site that claims, "In general no domain of any value would sell for less than $2,000.00 US." What's so special about $2000 US, and who came up with that number? Try applying this so-called value concept on any other item or industry, and you can see that is just does not hold up. Would you believe it if someone said no car of any value would sell for less than $35,000.00 US? What about no dentist of any merit charges less than $500 a visit? How about no potato worth your time can be bought for less than $10?

Please do not be fooled by thinking that your domain name will win you better business because it costs more. In the Suffolk County, New York Clerk's office, you can register a company name as a d/b/a ("doing business as") for around $35. Would your company have a better chance at success if you got the same d/b/a by paying somebody $1000 to get it for you? You see the logic working here.
 
So what are the solutions to all of this?
1) If someone has registered a domain name that infringes your trademark, you can sue. That person is obviously hoping that you won't want to spend the time or money suing, but you have that option. We'd love to see more domain dealers get their comeuppance of course.

2) Turn on your thinking cap, brainstorm, and choose another domain name that's right for you or your company. Add in a hyphen (-) between words, or abbreviate words. Use company initials. Throw in some numbers... but don't use 1997 or 97 in there because come 1998, your chief marketing person will be wearing a very sad face.

Can't think of some good domain names for your company?  
Ask everyone you know.
Is there no escape from this madhouse?
Hey, the bottom line is that it's your company and it's your money. You can choose any path you desire. We recommend against doing business with domain dealers, but feel free to research it if it interests you. You might want to spend the same time finding an internet company that you can trust with your domain name and hosting. There are escapes to this madhouse. Being informed about your options is just one of the many keys.