Still,
investing in ccTLDS can be a
tricky business because most
countries have Nexus rules
that limit ownership of
their domains to that
nation's citizens and
businesses. That, of course,
limits overall sales and
aftermarket interest in
those TLDs. While I try to
keep up with developments on
the ccTLD front that could
affect the value of the
various
extensions, |
Finland
flag image from Bigstock
|
I
have to admit that I wasn't
aware that a little over a
year ago Finland's .fi domain
administrator - FICORA
- had removed their
Nexus restrictions and opened
that extension to
anyone, anywhere on earth.
That has created increased
interest in .fi, especially
since less than 450,000
domains were taken
with the old rules in place,
leaving a lot of desirable
words and terms there for
the taking. After the rules
change in late 2016 FICORA
reported the number of .fi
domains registered in the
first half of 2017 was 34%
higher than the number
claimed in the same period a
year earlier.
I
got a first hand report on
what is happening on the
ground in Finland from
domain industry veteran Esa-Pekka
Pälvimäki, who is a
co-founder of Intelium.com
and Estibot.com.
|
Esa
said, "
Previously, there was
no aftermarket, as
registering domains for
resale purposes was
prohibited by law, and
domain registration was
restricted to Finnish
citizens and corporations.
As of September 2016, these
restrictions no longer
apply. Aftermarket sales
have started building up,
and a new domain marketplace
has recently been
established at DomainKauppa.fi."
Esa
is not involved in the new
marketplace but he did put
me in touch with the owners
and we expect to be able to
start reporting verified
sales on their platform in
the near future. Esa noted,
"The .fi ccTLD is the
default TLD for Finnish
businesses and consumers,
and aftermarket prices are
starting to reflect that. I
expect the value will rise
significantly once the
mainstream catches on to
what’s happening," He
added, "There is no
comprehensive database of .fi
aftermarket sales, but to my
knowledge, recent sales of
Moi.fi (translating to
"Hello") at
€15,000, Kasinot.fi
("Casinos") at
€11,500 and Etu.fi
("advantage")
at €5,000 have
recently occurred,
indicating a substantial
potential for this
aftermarket."
Esa
acknowledged, "It’s a
small but interesting
aftermarket, as it is a new
one, and Finnish
consumers always default to
the .fi ccTLD for type-in
traffic. For companies
hoping to do business in
Finland, a .fi domain name
is essential. It also
demonstrates how important
ccTLD domains are locally in
many countries outside the
U.S."
Since
individual registrars set
their own prices for new .fi
registrations they can vary
wildly in cost. After
checking just a handful of
registrars I saw prices
ranging from under $20 (at Gandi.net)
to well over $60 at others,
so it definitely pays to shop
around. |