Netregistry joins Netfleet Creating Australian Domain Aftermarket

Following changes to the rules regarding the transfer of domain names for .au in 2008 that enabled the sale of .au domains, Netregistry, one of Australia’s leading registrars, has partnered with Netfleet to deliver a cutting edge domain aftermarket website for the .au domain market. Both parties hope the initiative will lead to a vibrant and profitable market for .au domains.With the changes that came into place last year, most Australians would not realise they can easily sell or transfer .au domain names. Which means there is the potential for significant growth.”We see significant growth in this area”, says Larry Bloch, CEO of Netregistry. “Currently our efforts are focussed on education as much as anything – most people do not even realise that domain names are now tradeable assets so it’s a question of creating the industry as well as satisfying the demand.”Netfleet currently boasts an inventory of around 7,500 domain names and has already sold over $40,000 worth of domain names in the few months since it has been operational. Operating a completely free business model (with no listing fees or sales commissions), the company hopes to attract thousands of new listings by capitalising on Netregistry’s customer base of over 250,000 businesses. The company is confident it can emulate and improve upon the successes of overseas trading platforms such as Sedo.com, albeit with smaller numbers (Sedo currently lists nearly 12 million domains for sale).David Lye, GM at Netfleet, explains how this is not just another listing ‘set and forget’ classifieds site, instead providing a much greater hands-on domain trading service. “Our focus is on listing quality domains with realistic expectations. It’s not enough to have hundreds of thousands of listings but we also need a steady stream of transactions which will in turn help the market find a footing. We have some fantastic marketing initiatives aimed at stimulating this sort of activity which will be launched early next year.”Time will tell as to whether this venture between Australia’s leading domain name aftermarket and Australia’s leading domain name registrar will stimulate the type of activity seen overseas where domain names are regularly traded for 7 figures and above and virtual real estate has created a number of millionaires.