discuss Would you rent out your domain(s) for the short-term?

[DomaHub]

Hello NamePros experts!

Looking to get some discussion and feedback going for an idea we have been developing. We appreciate any comments!

Background:
We are an early-stage start-up, creating a platform for domain name leasing and rentals. Currently we have developed the workflow to rent out your domain to anyone else by the day, week, and month.

You pick the price and time you want to rent it out for (e.g. $1 per day, $5 per week, etc.), we present it on our site (i.e. nice, personalized listing page), and we take care of the contract + transaction with your renters. You would have to direct your domain(s)' A Record to our servers and we would then redirect the end-user's desired web content to your domain.

For example, the end-user rents out www.imsopretty.com and has it display her personal Instagram page.
Or a big company wants to launch a marketing campaign for a new product and they rent out www.thenextbigthing.com for a month.

Issue/Discussion:
Although we do plan on providing more traditional leasing contacts (3, 6, 12 months), we also really like the idea of providing short-term rentals because it creates a lot of utility for a domain name.

For example, you could make happybirthday.com rent-able on a daily basis and someone could potentially utilize that domain every day. We are trying to provide an alternative to parking as well as the idea that you have to build a website/traffic to generate value for your domain. You help someone out and they put money in your pocket.

However, we are unsure if domain owners would also be interested in short-term rentals. Do you guys see value in being able to let people use your domains for just a day or a week at a time?

We will be happy to answer any questions regarding our business and company as well.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

tld;dr Would you be interested in renting out your domain(s) for days or weeks at a time?

 

[urlurl]

my concern would be the use of the name and reputation damage - how can you ensure the renters wont use the name for malicious uses or do something that would put the name in google penalty box?

Question: why would someone need to rent a name for a few days, week, month?

 

[AutoDealer]

Under no circumstances does the end-user gain email capabilities. This is because you, the owner, retain ownership of the domain throughout the rental life-cycle.

If you're setting nameservers for the use of the domain, then yes your "tenant" will be able to use it for mail. Your pointing the domain to their hosting and the hosting allows for creating email addresses and mailbox controls.

 

[Bannen]

Like any new startup, you're still fleshing things out, and there are a lot of good ideas and possibilities in there, as well as a lot of bugs and potential problems.

I think the process of pointing nameservers to the rentee's host is not the way to go; it's messy, needs careful, close and constant monitoring to catch any misuse or abuse, and I can foresee some real legal problems. I think most of the people/companies that would rent a domain would be legit and decent... but just one or two really bad eggs out of every hundred or thousand rentals can really ramp up a huge legal mess, especially if it happens with an ultra-premium domain, and especially if it ever gets into the public eye, even just public news among domainers (who will be your main source of domains-to-rent).

I think the only way around that is to set up this whole platform to using your own hosting. This way you are the entire intermediary, between the domain owners who point their nameservers and rent out their domain, and the renting party who will pay for the domain rental and will send your webmaster the files to upload on your own hosting.

If you control the hosting, then the rentees have to give you everything they want uploaded, which means you only need to screen it once, rather than having to keep tabs on whatever content they put up if they use their own hosting. This works on both levels; if they have static content that just needs to be uploaded once, that could be a minor one-time surcharge tacked on to the rental. If they have dynamic content and plan to do additions and changes along the way, then their webmaster will have to send each of these to your webmaster to be checked and uploaded, so you'll have to provide an ongoing webmastering service with fees for that.

Static sites with one-time or limited uploads can be offered for cheap rent, but making a lot of updates/changes will involve a lot more work and money, so for that end of the biz you'd attract only the more lucrative clients, larger firms that are renting domains for longer terms or to the degree of leasing, or for some short term but intense marketing gimmick, or a startup product/service trial run, or whatever.

Others here have inquired about your ability to get customers to rent these domains, but I get it. You're pioneering; others have pioneered too, and failed, but you're all pioneers until someone figures out how to do it right (if it in fact can be done right, and is not a flawed business concept at its core). You're doing in a way what Brandbucket is doing, in trying to match up end users/customers with domain sellers/renters. You don't have the leads yet because you're still fleshing out the bugs of how it works. But you've reached your first tier, that of getting past the concept and now having an actual platform in place, so you're here at NP speaking with with us, which is your second tier... getting the domain owners involved, for our comments, our trial runs and experiments, our domains and our word-of-mouth to other domain holders. And when you've listened to our suggestions and tweaked your business model so you like it, then the next tier will be to venture forth and build up leads, probably by some selective mass marketing and a lot of emailing and phone calls to corporations who may be interested in renting domains... but of course you can't do that third tier without diving into this second tier... because you need a whole roster, and a strong roster, of premium and/or very interesting domains as part of your 'rental pool'. Gotta know what you have for rent, before you can go forth and try find renters.

Personally I feel there is use for this, and possibly even a great use, especially if you build up a strong list of likely domains; nice to have a strong list of premiums in there, as well as a list of domains that are really interesting and whose usage is clear just by looking at them. I like the possibilities of this service you're brainstorming, but it's a real balancing act because there are also so many drawbacks and caution areas, as others have mentioned here.

I think it's still young, you're not yet at the startup phase, you're still really fleshing out the whole business model and the operating platform. I think there's a lot more fleshing out to do, maybe even some entire revamping, before you could release this to the public and start things flowing with the real-world domain rentals. But you're also doing it well at the moment... being careful, asking for input from we who may be offering our domains up for rent, and you're actually listening to our input. I'll contribute more to this thread, but this is enough for now.

I think you need to hear a lot more feedback about both the possibilities that can really open this up into a viable business, and the hazards that can really sink you. The jury's still out, of course, until you're up and running with a public and operating service, but for now I think there's enough possibility for a viable business, and I wouldn't have wasted my time writing all this if I felt otherwise.

Good luck,
You'll hear more comments from me down the line

 

[Lysted]

Greetings! We have read through the entered thread and hopefully not missing out on any obvious details - apologies in advance. Our comments are below. Let us look from

Landlord's perspective

1. Why does a domain owner buy a domain and not use it. $$,$$$ and $,$$,$$$ - if your company's target is high profile names like the examples given, high profile domain owners really do not care about .xx$ or $ or $$. As a high profile domain owner, my objective is to sell the domain with highest %%%%ROI. As Jim Cramer would put it, 'SELL SELL SELL'.

As a domain seller, I would not bother with anything else. Not worth my time tracking a few dollars when I am sitting on a $$,$$$ name. I would rather use that traffic to a landing page with a clear 'For Sale' sign or direct it to my portfolio page. Not to mention, there are some high profile domain owners that do not want to sell - but that ratio is very low. And you would not be able to find them, they do not have even have landing pages - accessing those names go to 404 (Not Found). Good number of $$,$$$ queries come through whois and not through landing pages - and they know that! They would rather sell through brokers rather than through landing pages. And no broker is going to accept your name for reselling if it is 'rented out'.

2. As a high profile domain owner, I will not take any step that in any way 'dilutes' the value of the domain. First by renting out, I am missing out on potential leads (type-ins). That situation can be remedied if you provide a link that says 'Click here to buy this domain'. If a potential buyer sees this seller is renting out a name, they may get the thoughts that seller is probably not interested in selling the name (as is the case with domains under privacy). They are going to ask themselves, why would this seller rent out the name? may be that domain is not that great and/or is not selling/ or domain owner does not want to sell. Move on. It may even give the impression of 'domain is in use'. Even if you show 'For Sale' sign there, then the visitor may think that they are selling the business - which they do not intend to buy. Data from parking companies show that affiliate/referral revenue goes down drastically if the visitor finds 'For Sale' sign. What we are trying to say here, the purpose of the landing page should be clearly defined, referral/affiliate revenue/renting out (partially recovering some money) or an outright sale.

3. On the lines of 'dilution' again, if I rent out a high profile name, and the tenant uses it for a purpose that it is not 'most' suitable for (legit uses only), then it is dilution of my brand. There have been examples of some high profile names where some businesses used the name for their business for totally different vertical (without caring to buy the domain name) - and the users / people would always associate that name with that vertical. This is how people build generate 'impression' / 'meaning' of the names in their mind - 'what they are shown' and 'not what it really means' - Branding 101. The value of the domain is realized to the maximum only in 1/2 instances/uses "at most". Any use of the name for any other purpose does not result in realizing the 'full' potential of the name - a lo$$ to the domain owner. Domains are very valuable commodities and one must preserve the 'integrity' of the name at all costs.

4. There may be other legal issues for the 'landlord' with the use of the domain 'property' which tenant does not own, which you can probably cover with a good legal agreement. But keep in mind, ownership of the name lies deeply in the 'use' and not agreements. If a 'tenant' has a product that has conflict with other businesses, they are going to come after the 'landlord' and not 'tenant'. As a domain owner, you may be comfortable putting the domain to 'no use' rather than 'some use (over which you do not have control)' and inviting legal issues. On similar lines, the renters may be promoting counterfeit/trademarked/illegal products - getting the domain owners into legal trouble (you cannot obviously track every use). Then obviously you cannot say - oh that was just a renter. Domain name and its use cannot be separated out.

Tenant's perspective

1. Let us look at who the renters would be - people promoting their Twitter/Instagram or other promotional pages. As Twitter/Instagram/product page owner - I would use all of their tools in my capacity to promote my page/product - they are 'social media' tools, there is no limit on how much you can promote through their tools. I really do not want my page to be confused with 'any other website (name)'. Building a business is like constructing a building (and it takes much more than that!). You would not build a house on a 'rented/leased' land. You may have a point if you say they are not building it - they are just advertising. People always associate a website name with what the landing page says. Landing pages in most cases are relevant to the name, and vice versa - hence the reasoning of renting out. And that is exactly the meaning of 'type-in traffic' - visitors meant to see the content what they were expecting when they 'typed-in' and if they do not see, then they move on. People who are not 'serious businesses' would not spend money on any promotion in any way, rental or otherwise.

2 As a 'serious business', I would rather invest in something that I will own and something that has long lasting effect. That is my brand, I am not looking to build it under any other 'umbrella'. Especially when I know that umbrella can be yanked off any time. Not sure which statement is correct, most people who come in through type-in are looking to buy/find a product or are looking to buy the domain name. Other experienced domainers/marketing/analytics experts can weigh on this. Though we are inclined to say that majority is 'domain buyers'.

To summarize, as a business owner, always keep in mind 'the main purpose/objective' of all parties involved. There are always potential places where one can fit in, and possible thrive, otherwise it is difficult to survive. Good thoughts on the site, there is potentially a market at both ends but how big is that ratio - you have to look into. Keep building on it, only one idea leads to another - hopefully a successful one!!

Best

 

[biggie]

the fundamental question is:

why point my name to ur site, when i can offer an interested party the same rental or lease options?

cuz, middlemen are a penny a dozen, and most are not worth a dime.


imo....

 

[alcy]

didn't see anything mentioned in post about they're gonna find people to rent your names.


imo.....

it must have been implied

it's like sedo.. they don't promise they'll sell your domains.. but you go list there anyway.. cause that's where people who wanna buy domains go to.. and when it sells, you pay sedo for findng you buyers..

thsi should be roughly same thing.. imo

 

[Jman92]

One important thing you didnt address is how you're going to monitor what the rented sites are being used for. Is there going to be contractual agreement whereby you ban the use of names for scams, spam etc... How do you intend to run a clean traffic thru the rented domain space? Is there a mechanism in place?

 

[slader23]

Not sure if you've been told this...but this would be an excellent option for businesses born in high risk environments i.e start ups. If you could streamline your rental contracts into classes(to make sure crap names don't have exuberant rental costs), have a rent to own/rent to own for less+equity option and make an effort to be either present/associated with the many accelerators and incubators running throughout the US then there is a good chance you'll be able to make yourselves into a very equitable option for start ups. Your offering potentially gives them a more strategic and economical approach to acquiring a domain name...one that accounts for the risk of failure as well. Anyways...your onto something pretty cool...I'll sign up and give things a look.

Good luck

 

[LarryDomain]

I rented out a domain once and the F*&*&ker added child porn codes on it a few months later. I only knew about it because someone did a whois and emailed me cursing me out.

The main site was just a plain average joe site. I guess he used a subdomain that was the culprit.

So if you lease it out.. keep a close eye on it.

 

[DomaHub]

Im not against the idea, just think the domain owner should be respected and not looked at as anything other than a smart investor.

Hope we didn't disrespect you or anyone else in any way. If we did, our apologies.

As we stated before, the point of creating this thread was to gauge interest from domainers and also to gather feedback so that we can try to create something that they would not only be interested in, but also have something to gain from.

Again, anyone is free to do whatever they please with their domains. We're not saying leasing/renting is the imminent future. It's just an idea we are working on and I would hope and expect everyone, not just domainers, to act in their best interest. We respect that - we just hope to create something that could be in your's and anyone else's best interest.

 

[Kate]

Thanks for your post Kate. As you have mentioned several times previously, we don't think renting domains is a viable option for all domains. It's probably limited to the ultra premium high traffic domains out there.
...

Here's what we're HOPING to target:

1. generic easy to remember domains
   1. happybirthday.com, congratulations.com, marryme.com
2. phrases / every day sayings
   1. whathappensthen.com, hireme.com, ineedajob.com, insulttoinjury.com
3. slogans / hashtags / marketing campaign phrases
   1. greatestofalltime.com, itsfinallyhere.com, thenextbigthing.com

At least we agree on the obvious. But how are you going to attract that inventory ? The domainers who own such names, entities like Reflex, Xedoc, Anything, Name Admin etc, know what they are doing, they have been around for a long time and they don't need a service like yours. They already have made arrangements, if leasing is something they are even willing to do.

Without above average inventory, you'll have no business. Even if you can entice owners of valuable domains to list their domains on your site, what kind of revenue can they expect from leasing ? $$$/month ? They might be doing that much if not more on parking, and parking is total freedom because you can delist a name at any time to sell it to an interested party, no long-time commitment, no hassle.

Of course, I understand that your service makes sense for people who want to make a little cash without lifting a finger.


Why leasing didn't work:

• People just prefer to buy and be done with it.
  
• Few people understand the value of domain names, and few people will ever buy one on the aftermarket. If the market for domain sales is so tiny, the leasing market is even tinier.
  
• Lack of quality inventory: 'nuf said.
  
• Lack of awareness among the public, unless they stumble on your domains and see lease options are available, people have no idea their dream domains could be theirs, at least for a short while...
  
• Lack of distribution channels: leasing is not an option on the registrar sites where people go, only buying for regfee or aftermarket sales. If you want to strike deals with registrars, that makes sense but it's a lot of work and you gotta make it worthwhile for them. You need to bring volume or nice commissions. If you're going to be the Bido of domain leasing, they just won't be interested.

I see so many hurdles. I am not saying the concept is stupid, it isn't. It just that the market is so small.

 

[Name Trader]

As the owner of a rented domain my biggest fear would be the tenant would destroy the domain with their usage. I don't see any way to get compensation for any damage caused to the domain. Banned. Blacklisted. It's value is pretty much depreciated forever more. It's why I will never rent my domains. I also agree with @Lysted's comment #1 above.

 

[Ted.T]

OK, sounds interesting. If you can find the clients, then why not. Subscribed!

 

[DomaHub]

didn't see anything mentioned in post about they're gonna find people to rent your names.


imo.....

The whole point of the marketplace is to connect renters with domains. Customer acqusition is our top priority since no customers = no revenue for owners or for us as a business. We would put all of our resources into building that customer base.

Currently, we are operating a closed beta for domain owners only in order to develop features that owners are interested in. That's our main focus for now.

 

[biggie]

The whole point of the marketplace is to connect renters with domains. Customer acqusition is our top priority since no customers = no revenue for owners or for us as a business. We would put all of our resources into building that customer base.

Currently, we are operating a closed beta for domain owners only in order to develop features that owners are interested in. That's our main focus for now.

Yes, this would be the entire selling point of a marketplace/platform application. We are going to dedicate our resources ($$$) to building a customer base.

every marketplace hopes to make a connection.....

but what "resources" specifically, do you have that will bring a customer base that is looking to rent domain names?

and, as is, what volume of traffic do you currently have, independent of domain owners redirection, for any listings to be seen by general public?


imo...

 

[Ted.T]

We could compare this service with Uber. There are taxis, old, good and well-known taxis, but the novelty that Uber brought and the possibility to use alternatives made it a successful story. Also, think about Amazon hosting, where you can rent server resources for any period, a couple of hours or days.

There is smth new in this idea, the short-term rental, and it has the right of existence. Let's see how it will be developed... Who knows, maybe the end-users will like it...

 

[MapleDots]

my concern would be the use of the name and reputation damage - how can you ensure the renters wont use the name for malicious uses or do something that would put the name in google penalty box?

Question: why would someone need to rent a name for a few days, week, month?

Very good point.
Other thing is email.... what if the renter uses the domain for mass email campaigns?

I personally would be interested as long as the end user could not use the domain for email.

 

[Joshh71390]

This is a great idea

 

[DomaHub]

One important thing you didnt address is how you're going to monitor what the rented sites are being used for. Is there going to be contractual agreement whereby you ban the use of names for scams, spam etc... How do you intend to run a clean traffic thru the rented domain space? Is there a mechanism in place?

Hi, these are all legitimate concerns for domain owners, we understand that. We make it clear in our terms that misuse or otherwise inappropriate usage of domain rentals is unacceptable and we reserve the right to terminate any rental that operates as such. Owners will also have the ability to flag/report rentals they don't like.

 

[Kate]

There is virtually no market for renting domains.
It's been tried several times before, and failed.
One example: Launch of LeaseThis.com Gives Domain Owners a New Option for Domain Monetization
And the founders of LeaseThis.com are not noobs, but even they couldn't make it work.
Flawed model imo, viable only for very few domains like ultra-premium domains or for time-sensitive campaigns.

 

[anderow]

IMO this is solving a problem that doesn't exist.
If I am going to go to the massive time and expense of developing a site out I want to know I get to keep it long term.
I wouldn't spend years building a brand on a domain name only for the domain owner to pull the plug ' Im not renting this anymore but thanks so much for the amazing link building and traffic you have given me'.

Kind of removes the incentive to work hard at a site.
Maybe ok for throwaway sites or black hat stuff, which is the type of user IMO it is useful for. I cant see how you can regulate what they are doing with a domain until it's too late. COuld easily get blacklisted with google leaving the actual owner a PITA to sort!!

Sorry, just my thoughts.

Plus domains are very affordable to buy outright unless your going in to the costly realms and then that still wouldnt appeal to me, I would rather own a cheaper domain, than rent a perfect one that could be taken away at any time effectively....

 

[carob]

There is virtually no market for renting domains.
It's been tried several times before, and failed.
One example: Launch of LeaseThis.com Gives Domain Owners a New Option for Domain Monetization
And the founders of LeaseThis.com are not noobs, but even they couldn't make it work.
Flawed model imo, viable only for very few domains like ultra-premium domains or for time-sensitive campaigns.

Yes where are the customers?

And how much would they be willing to pay?

What benefit do they think they get?


For a temporary url there a lot of extensions that will do it for under $2.

 

[Silentptnr]

I dont invest in domains to help anyone but me. Bottom line.

 

[Silentptnr]

Im not against the idea, just think the domain owner should be respected and not looked at as anything other than a smart investor.