Purple.com, GoDaddy, fast transfer and GDPR: Domain thoughts

Here are some things I’m thinking regarding…

I’m amused by some of the reactions to the $900,000 sale of Purple.com. A lot of people are saying that the seller ought to have held out for more. I suspect that, for most commenters, $900,000 would have a significant impact on their lives. They probably would have accepted much less.

Keep in mind that there are only so many firms in the world that would have an interest in this domain name and also have the ability to spend close to $1 million for it. The seller has owned the domain since the 1990s and was very familiar with the offers/market landscape for this domain.

…I’ve been using the GoDaddy Domain Listing Service beta for a while now. It’s going to make listing domains for sale much easier than ahead of. It’s a true beta with some kinks to work out, but once it’s all buttoned up it’s going to be really nice. I especially like how you can easily point your domains to a “For Sale” only lander.

One note regarding those For Sale landers–it would be nice if they could be branded with GoDaddy rather than Afternic. The general trusts buying a domain name through GoDaddy, not necessarily Afternic.

…I love the fast transfer programs that Afternic and Sedo offer. It would be nice if the automated transfer out could be enacted even when the domain buyer cannot receive a fast transfer. For example, the prior week I sold a domain through the Afternic network in which the transaction was not fast transfer. The domain was opted in to fast transfer, so it would be more convenient if the domain would at least fast transfer to Afternic’s holding account so I didn’t have to do the work of pushing the domain.

…I’m really distressed regarding the impact GDPR is going to have on Whois. Actually, a more accurate description is that I’m distressed regarding the actions firms are choosing to take in regards to Whois since of GDPR. Firms do not need to obfuscate all of Whois for every domain in order to comply, but that’s the choice they’re making. I rely on Whois for much of my business and this will certainly be negatively impacted. The only way I can see to reverse course here is for the U.S. to pass a law mandating that domains have public Whois. That would balance the conversation and stop firms from taking the nuclear option they are taking.