Thread: Should I buy my domain name back?

I have a website on jewelbellydance.com.au (Australia) and until recently I also owned jewelbellydance.com, which replicated the site. It was set up that way at the recommendation of my web designer. I recently let the .com name expire, and have since been flooded with emails trying to sell it back to me. My question is, should I bother?

The majority of locals would automatically type in '.au' when looking for a local website, and all links to my site go to that address. As my product is entirely local, I'm not concerned that I've lost any global searchability. My only concern would be, can someone maliciously interfere with my business using the '.com' site? If so, would they bother? It's not like I'm a big corporate target.

A huge portion of my business comes to me via my website, so it is important, but I'm not sure there's any real risk in letting the domain name go. Does anyone know what is likely to happen if I don't buy the name back? I'm really not sure how these dodgy domain name-traders work.

My experience is - I got the domain name I wanted without wasting money on the whole domain trader thing. I just checked when the domain was available myself, and then bought it through godaddy.com (which is just one of the many, many places out there for that purpose). If there is no interest in the domain, the spamming entity has nothing to win by trying snag up an expired domain nobody wants - they lose money. I thought that bombarding me with spam emails was beyond obnoxious and an offense to my intelligence.

YEs, the spamming is annoying. I have checked, however, and someone has bought that domain name...only if you browse it nothing comes up. Still, I think they're just operating on the off chance that I will buy it back out of fear. Perhaps I should check this stuff with my host, as they probably know how the game works.

For me, it would depend on how much they're asking. I know a couple hundred seems like a lot after only spending a few dollars initially, and I *don't* want to try and scare anyone dissproportionately, but one organization whose annual event I participate in has had problems. A friend of a friend bought the .org site when they started because the .com was already taken, but nothing was up. They were small & didn't expect much from their website- then their project exploded, lots of traffic, and all of a sudden, tada! the .com site puts up a porn site. They'd still be willing to sell the domain name to my friend, of course, but now they are this big business and can claim it is worth so much to them in lost revenue if they have to change, so the price tag is in the thousands. We kind of felt like we were being held hostage or blackmailed, but we just emphasize to friends they need to go to the .org site instead of .com- to the point where I write it out for people and give them a strong warning about the consequences of typing the name wrong!
I don't think this is typical, just because I type domain names wrong all the time and, tho I may end up somewhere I didn't intend, it's usually not THIS bad! But it does happen.

Originally Posted by Lara L

They were small & didn't expect much from their website- then their project exploded, lots of traffic, and all of a sudden, tada! the .com site puts up a porn site.

That was the one thing I thought could possibly happen that would be a big problem!

I'm kind of conflicted about this as most of the folks at the previously mentioned site were- do you give in for business reasons or stand firm in protest to people who are just trying to take advantage of you for a quick buck? That community decided not to give in, however, a community site is also different from a site meant to advertise a business. I would probably consider buying back my name if the price were under $300- simply because that's about how much I think the hassle of completely changing my domain name would be worth to me if there really were a problem. Otherwise I would take a wait & see approach. & that's just personally what I would be comfortable with- I'm offering it up as such & not necessarily suggesting you take the same approach. It's just what I've come up with after considering the situation.

Being an indecisive Libran, I'm thinking of taking a 'wait and see cos I can't decide' approach. Hopefully I won't regret it.

Originally Posted by jewelbellydance

I have a website on jewelbellydance.com.au (Australia) and until recently I also owned jewelbellydance.com, which replicated the site. It was set up that way at the recommendation of my web designer. I recently let the .com name expire, and have since been flooded with emails trying to sell it back to me. My question is, should I bother?

The majority of locals would automatically type in '.au' when looking for a local website, and all links to my site go to that address. As my product is entirely local, I'm not concerned that I've lost any global searchability. My only concern would be, can someone maliciously interfere with my business using the '.com' site? If so, would they bother? It's not like I'm a big corporate target.

A huge portion of my business comes to me via my website, so it is important, but I'm not sure there's any real risk in letting the domain name go. Does anyone know what is likely to happen if I don't buy the name back? I'm really not sure how these dodgy domain name-traders work.

Not unless you plan on becoming a household. Although the other danger is that the person who now owns jewelbellydance.com can turn it into a big well known brand with trademarks etc and force you to give up jewelbellydance.com.au . Highly unlikely but it is a very tiny risk.

there should be a law against that, it does sound awful close to extortion.

Originally Posted by Lara L

For me, it would depend on how much they're asking. I know a couple hundred seems like a lot after only spending a few dollars initially, and I *don't* want to try and scare anyone dissproportionately, but one organization whose annual event I participate in has had problems. A friend of a friend bought the .org site when they started because the .com was already taken, but nothing was up. They were small & didn't expect much from their website- then their project exploded, lots of traffic, and all of a sudden, tada! the .com site puts up a porn site. They'd still be willing to sell the domain name to my friend, of course, but now they are this big business and can claim it is worth so much to them in lost revenue if they have to change, so the price tag is in the thousands. We kind of felt like we were being held hostage or blackmailed, but we just emphasize to friends they need to go to the .org site instead of .com- to the point where I write it out for people and give them a strong warning about the consequences of typing the name wrong!

I had iscahpaquin.com and iscahpaquin.net, though all my materials were set up with .net. I let the .com expire and the same thing happened to me I got flooded with messages to buy it back. I let it wait out and 12 months later, no one owned it again so I bought it back. If you don't "need" it let it ride out and you can buy it back at the original rate.

Originally Posted by IscahPaquin

I had iscahpaquin.com and iscahpaquin.net, though all my materials were set up with .net. I let the .com expire and the same thing happened to me I got flooded with messages to buy it back. I let it wait out and 12 months later, no one owned it again so I bought it back. If you don't "need" it let it ride out and you can buy it back at the original rate.

That's good to know. I've since done a bit of wikipedia research on the various combinations and perumutations of domain name scams, and I believe what's happened is my domain has come up on a list of recently expired names, which are then onsold to another company, who then tries to get a bit of money by selling them back to the original owners. So I would presume I'm just one of many entities on a list getting an automated email onslaught. I'm not expecting anything bad to happen, as the domain name in question isn't really worth anything to me, and I own the business name it's based on, so I can't see they have anything to gain by pursuing me further or trying to 'steal' my business name. Let's hope I'm not wrong!

Ahh, it's amazing, the ingenuity of humans in exploiting every new cultural and financial phenomenom for some easy money.

Unfortunately, diverted belly dance domain names sometimes DO become porn centers. I'm suspecting that this is because whoever is making a living buying these 'expired' domains assumes that the original site WAS a porn site... since it was bellydance. Ditto burlesque.

There are lists generated of sites that are about to expire or expired and businesses buy them up as... well, business. One reason I use GoDaddy is because they are very careful to warn warn warn you that your site is about to expire (assuming your email address in their records is current) and then they hold on to it for you for another couple of weeks just in case.

For your future reference.

Unless it is impacting your business - no. Many people outside of the US will do searches limited to .au (or .nz) so won't see a plain .com. Also, many people prefer a local touch. A .com is often seen as "foreign"

In case it helps others, an update:

I just bought my .com domain name back, for the grand total of $14 for two years. It was not available for purchase while I was getting spammed with those emails trying to sell it to me, but strangely enough is now available again.
So I'm glad I didn't respond and fork out $$$ for it - obviously they decided it wasn't worth anything to them and let go of it. But I thought it was worth $14 to me to save the headache of having to deal with the crapola again.

All is well

Jewel,

You might wish to add whois protection in the event that if you attract a stalker, your 'whois' information includes your full address, which makes you personally locatable.

Originally Posted by Veil_Dancer

Jewel,

You might wish to add whois protection in the event that if you attract a stalker, your 'whois' information includes your full address, which makes you personally locatable.

Can you explain that fully please? I don't understand, but would like to.

I know one problem I face is that business names must be registered to a physical address, not a PO box. So as I have a home office, this is the one I use. And that is searchable on a government database. I'm moving next week, so perhaps now is an opportune time to change my info to make it 'safer'.

Originally Posted by jewelbellydance

Can you explain that fully please? I don't understand, but would like to.

I know one problem I face is that business names must be registered to a physical address, not a PO box. So as I have a home office, this is the one I use. And that is searchable on a government database. I'm moving next week, so perhaps now is an opportune time to change my info to make it 'safer'.

JewelBellyDance.com.au - Jewel Bellydance - Belly dance classes melbourne Australia ::: home

@Jewel: as HubicRuzz showed you, the info you put up as 'owner info' (bear with me on the technical terms, i'm just getting started on website building) for your website can be searched for and visible to whoever wants it. there are however hosts that offer the option (at a low price) of not making your info visible, but instead add their company info (i believe?), so that your own address/phone number aren't available to whoever wants them.
someone'll explain this with the correct technical terms, but anyhoo, just saying that it does exist, and depending on the host or whatnot, probably costs about $10 or so, so not really much.