New gTLDs Likely to Have Limited Impact on Existing Domain Aftermarket: Sedo

The impact of new generic Top Level Domains on the price of existing gTLDs and ccTLDs is likely to be limited, said Tim Schumacher, CEO of leading domain name marketplace Sedo, following the Domain Pulse conference in Vienna last week.”I don’t think the new gTLDs will have a major impact on pricing of existing TLDs. If you start a company or a product, you will always need to have your “dotcom” or respective ccTLD in the market you operate in,” said Schumacher in an interview with the GoldsteinReport.”A valuable one-word in a good TLD will carry value for many years to come. Some low-end TLDs and domain names might suffer a bit though, for example, if suddenly a free alternative TLD pops up so that there is no need to pay a few dollars for an inferior domain.”But the prices for individual domain names in the Sedo market are relatively flat with domain name prices not increasing markedly, however the sales numbers and revenues are continuing to increase, Schumacher said during a panel session at Domain Pulse titled “The Domain is Dead – Long Live the Domain?”.Generally though Schumacher sees .COM and the major European ccTLDs such as .CO.UK and .DE are doing better than others in terms of prices when looking at market trends. However like with .COM and the sex.com sale in the last quarter of 2010, these prices are subject to significant variation from one or two key sales.