Just watching this discussion and wanted to weigh in... The drop / catch business is simply going through the same type of business cycle that all nascent businesses go through and is finding it's highest and (whether we like it or not...) best use. Highest and Best Use is an old real estate term and applies to domains in some ways as well (see http://www.chetboddy.com/Pages/highestbest.html for a simple definition).
I remember as a 25 year old wanting to buy a small property that used to be a gas station in the Chicago area. I had wanted to fix up / remodel the old building and turn it into a small office space for my business. My offers were refused and eventually, the property was sold to a developer who managed to build a three story condo complex there. I didn't even envision how nice it would become. But the point is that the property was put to a higher / better use (A.K.A. most profitable). I find it fascinating to see the analogies of the domain name business and other industries. Two industries that seem to hold many similarities are real estate and the toll-free phone business. Regardless of our likes and dislikes, the industry will continue to evolve and the best (most profitable) methods of buying, selling, and trading domains will be found. That's all that Pool has done and since it is true, others are following suit. Quite honestly, a study of what Pool offers is quite attractive to anyone in any industry that wants to improve their domain holdings. They have found a sweet spot within that industry niche and imitation is the best form of flattery. Joe Alagna Centralnic, Ltd. http://www.centralnic.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "JB" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2004 6:06 AM Subject: Re: SnapNames switches to auction-based system -- any OpenSRS opportunities? Yea right... I think TUCOWS should stay out of the drop market. It will "empower" to many citizens to join the fishfry and drive up the prices. Welcome to capitalism. Loren Stocker wrote: > This, too, is self-serving. Like Pool, "two or more bidders" enter a private > auction after enom grabs the bait. Like Lemmings, they are, all driving into > the "Pool.com" > > What I like to see is a service that EMPOWERS users, rather than yet another > service designed to extract maximum revenues at the expense of convenience. > > Best, Loren >
