Releasing 2-character domains. Here’s what you need to know. — Rightside is
Short domain names hit the market next week.
Rightside (NASDAQ:NAME) is releasing over 25,000 two-character domain names next week that were previously reserved.
The firm is modeling the release on what Donuts did in September 2015.
Most notably, the domain names will go through a dutch auction “early access” phase from September 14-20. During that time you can pay a premium to register the domain names at Enom, Hexonet, Name.com and United Domains.
On September 21 the names will enter general availability.
Even during general availability, you can expect to pay annual premiums for the domains. Prices will range from $200 per year (suggested retail) to $2,500, not counting regarding 2,500 names that will not have set prices. Over 16,000 names will be priced below $500 per year.
These prices are high compared to what Donuts is charging for 2-character domain names.
All but 4,000 of the 200,000+ two-character domains Donuts released through the registrar channel last year had premiums, but the premiums were low. Regarding 11% were priced below $50*. More than half were below $100 and all but 2,537 were priced below $150.
So 99% of Donuts two-character inventory is priced below Rightside’s minimum price for a two-letter domain in this release.
The reality is that there’s a lot of two-character inventory out there; they are no longer rare. Still, they can make a fantastic, easy-to-remember domain choice for businesses.
* Prices based on 101Domain.
