Follow
Are Premium Dot TV domains a thing of the past? Here is the scoop: In my last post I wrote about “Premium” Dot TV domains, these are domains that the registry has put a premium first year fee on and after that they have regular renewal fees, they also have a no transfer restriction on premiums which means they can’t get transferred out of the registrar where they get registered, I don’t like this restriction.
Until recently premium TV domains have been available to register at Enom, Name.com, and Dynadot.com, if you searched for one of these premiums at GoDaddy it would show unavailable. The prices vary between these registrars but not by much, a $1050 premium at Enom is $1088.91 at Name.com and $1148.85 at Dynadot ($1088.91 at Dyna with my super bulk pricing).
Anyway I follow Dot TV domains and I noticed lots of premiums getting registered starting on Christmas Day, so I thought I would do a little investigating. I saw they were all getting registered at DirectNic.com, I did not know you could register a premium TV at DirectNic so I thought I would see what they were pricing them at, to my surprise they were all $37.99? WTF, premium TV domains that have prices of $8k, $6k, $5k etc at these other 3 registrars are being offered at $37.99 at DirectNic.com? No wonder so many premium domains were getting registered.
Is this something new? Is it a Christmas Gift for TV domain investors? A few friends speculated that maybe Dot TV is changing policy, or running a promotion, or something? I am not sure why they would run a promotional campaign and not tell anybody. Maybe they figured domain bloggers like myself would spread the word, but I know some TV domain investors that have been quietly grabbing these premium TV’s for the last few days and they are not saying a damn thing about it, not a peep, these are people that would normally be posting this information on the forums but they are not, this makes me wonder even more what is going on, do they know something I don’t and they are keeping quiet? Well I have a big mouth sometimes so I will let the cat out of the bag.
Last year this same thing happened at UnitedDomains.com, they had premium .TV domains at regular registration rates for a few days, I grabbed a few but it was a glitch and they took the domains back and refunded my money. We will see what happens at DirectNic, it will be interesting to see how they deal with it if it is indeed just a glitch in the system. Will they honor these registrations? If they do will they have the premium no transfer rule? Or is it a new day for Dot TV and they are scrapping the silly premium registration rules? That would be sweet and a good move on their part imo.
I guess we will see tomorrow, if Dynadot.com and Name.com start offering these premium domains at regular reg fees I will assume this is a new Dot TV policy. Or maybe it is not a new policy and they just have some special deal going with DirectNic? I am not sure what to think today.
What sucks is I had recently decided to slow down on my Dot TV investments, I have too many already and TV domains are not selling so great at the moment, but being the domain addict I am I had to go grab some premium Dot TV domains that I have been eying over the years at this $37.99 pricing, so Dot TV sucks me in once again, I am not sure if I want these registrations to stick or if I would just prefer a refund? I woke up this morning feeling like a crack addict that was going to quit but instead spent all my money on it last night.
If this is actually happening tomorrow I will post a big list of premium TV domains that you can hand reg, in the meantime here is an example of some premium domains that are available for a $37.99 reg fee at DirectNic at the moment, remember this might just be a glitch, which means if you reg these you might just be getting a refund:
Les.tv, Services.tv,, Order.tv, Profile.tv, Die.tv, Jade.tv, Title.tv, Exploration.tv, Foxy.tv, Generic.tv, Guest.tv, Hook.tv, Hurt.tv, Legend.tv, Pac.tv, Pep.tv, Please.tv, Shy.tv, Strategy.tv, Utility.tv, Corp.tv, Corporation.tv, Developer.tv, Amen.tv…
Here are the domain picks dropping on December 30th 2013:
Business-PR.com
Dance-Mix.com
Dazen.com
DesignAndDetail.com
European-Tours.com
EWEF.com
FinanceMe.com
FXLive.com
GHYT.com
Herb-Tea.com
KitchenTap.com
LatinoInAmerica.com
Mother-Child.com
PVPlanet.com
WarmFood.com
ChicagoMarket.net
Chronic.net
DamianaLeaf.net
Defines.net
eMechanic.net
MensCowboyBoots.net
ScotlandProperty.net
Vocalization.net
BuySellHomes.org
GreenEnergySystems.org
InsuranceMiami.org
TurkeyProperty.org
Azimuth.me
Bur.me
Handcraft.me
Hedging.me
Sugarcane.me
Tilde.me
Frat.tv
Tilt.tv
Hydrant.info
Plateau.us
Remington.us
Resales.us
Wrapped.us
Make sure you also check out Domain Shane’s Big List of names and Domaining.com for some other great domain blogs and domain name lists.
Domain of the day: Outdoor.me – Bid today, there will be no premium issues on this premium Dot ME domain lol!
Thanks for reading…
*
Thanks, Mark!
You’re the best.
Just nabbed Jennifer.tv.
*
Sweet, I can’t wait to watch Jennifer.tv 😎
I wish I could get Mark.tv or Mark.me or something cool, Kevin Ham owns Mark.com but he won’t be giving me any deals on that one for sure. How much for Mark.Sucks I wonder, probably $25k?
*
No one but your readers seem to know about this.
Did you nab anything cool?
I have verified three new .tv domains via whois.
At least for now.
Could it be a glitch?
I guess we’ll find out soon enough!
*
Thanks Mark.
I grabbed one that I had my eye on. Hopefully I’ll get to keep it! 😉
Thanks Mark.
Grabbed a couple but doubt i’ll get to keep them.
With the onslaught of gtld’s coming, makes no sense to keep these premium, nobody is going to touch them… I think they are being released… at $40 a pop some nice profit to be made per year…
Are Premium Dot TV domains a thing of the past? oh yea . so are the new GTLDs
yes, YOU , mARK, IS A TV addict.
you need help.
Get away from the TV and go out and play
Mark Directnic has always been a registrar that offered premium tv, this happened before and were taken back.
Just spoke to Verisign, there is nothing they know about a change in pricing, I know some think because quick.tv has been regged for 5 days no pullback that its clear but they have 30 days to pull it back.
The lady at Verisign was very nice, said she would be looking into it and speaking to others to get the right answer.
Registry can delete or make inactive a name whenever but registrars have 5 days after registration to delete and get an automatic refund from registry, after this period can be done with a communication i assume.
Raymond maybe you can convince verisign to a new pricing?
Thanks for info
I spent half hour on phone Manos, I told her people are regging names you are going to have a pr problem on your hands, get ahold of Directnic to find out, she thanked me and said she needs more data but was 99% sure there was no change to their pricing, she said this does not make sense, and I said I am sure its not you guys, Directnic must be having a glitch that their system not picking up premium pricing.
yes obviously Directnic has a problem at receiving the pricing of premiums (it is an additional extension at EPP XML requests) but sending correctly the requests for registration.
Let’s see
She mentioned the EPP XML requests.
We must convince her to make all prems reg fee and avoid such problems in the future hhahaha
Jennifer.tv has inspired me to hand register Sue.tv for under forty bucks….Thank you Mark and Jennifer!!!!!…….I am not sure it will stick, but I sure hope so!…..
OK..I got a receipt for Sue.TV. It is not showing up in “who is”….The party must be over…….If the registrar does not hold up to their bargain I may have to consider “SUE”ing on TV, The Peoples Court. Sue.TV(coming soon)?…..
sue.tv still can be registered
That’s why I am “Sue”ing…..JK…. DirectNic got me to sign up and purchase Sue.TV. However the domain is not showing in my dashboard but my credit card is charged…I registered it late and they may have “cut it off” at that point. It will be interesting to see if others get to keep their domains…..Again, I was Just Kiddin about the “SUE”ing part.
Well they should stop taking money, if they are not registering, basically FRAUD, so you should SUE
You guys should of kept quiet about this and maybe flown under the radar. I been buying .tv since 2000, and I watch Verisign screw us over and over, including taking back my G.tv, and recently GM.tv last week. there was no reason to go public on this, nothing to gain, everything to lose.
It was Raymond who went out making calls, and crying wolf… seriously dude, get a life!
Why should people have kept quiet ? I contacted directnic right after reading Marks article. Yeah people should be quiet so Holleran and his buddy Ammar can secretly register domains ok. The dirty games in the industry are a joke good on you Mark for disclosing it.
No not quite Ron, I had several people contact me and asked me to look into it. Secondly many people are not thrilled with the stuff in the shadows with .tv
Like Mark said:but I know some TV domain investors that have been quietly grabbing these premium TV’s for the last few days and they are not saying a damn thing about it, not a peep, these are people that would normally be posting this information on the forums but they are not, this makes me wonder even more what is going on, do they know something I don’t and they are keeping quiet? Well I have a big mouth sometimes so I will let the cat out of the bag.
There are many who have as big a problem with that as they do with Verisign. This article was widely read because a very big domainer who never posts called me and asked me if Mark’s article was accurate. Verisign also said there was no way it was going to slip by, DirectNic would have a shortfall and would not be eating the difference.
Hey Dirk, let’s see if your a man and disclose who you are, are you afraid to do so like a little boy hiding behind your keyboard? Go ahead and attack me I can handle little punks like you, but don’t attack Ammar or I will tear you apart.
Yes I have a beef with Verisign, I paid hundreds of thousands in premiums since 2000, and dropped most of them, and watched other’s pick them up and reg renewal. I seen Verisign, take back our G.tv, GM.tv, and others from us, among many other things. I am not only speaking for myself, Ammar, but many others in the industry.
If I offended, insulted, or messed with anybody’s plans by posting this I apologize, this was certainly not my intent. I figured it might ruffle some feathers but I just didn’t feel right not posting about it once I became aware of it.
I am not a big fan of the Dot TV registration policies, that is no secret, I think they are why situations like this happen every year or so, if they didn’t have these premium pricing and registrar policies none of this would be happening and I would be writing about something else right now…
Hi there,
I regged like 40 .tv premium names, approximately 30-50k in total fremium fees. 2K my total cost, colour.tv pdf.tv hiv.tv and so on. Now I have the directnic account frozen with a strange message.
“This account is locked. Please contact customer service at +1.504.355.0081″.
I was thinking about the possible scenario. I see a big lawsuit against this company that at the current time is going again permit to reg premium names with 37$. Crazy really, crazy. I hope will be of good omen all this time passed on, maybe someone upstairs In Verisign is deciding about. Anyway at this time they should put their system off, if they don’t want continue to eat the losses.
I think that anyone that is involved in this should bond with a lawsuit against this company. I’m the first.
Yeah will see what you tear apart Holleran. You are a legend in your own mind.
I’d like remember that now could be the right time to send the Ammar’s proposal to Verisign. How a so commercial extension can be afflict from all these problems?
What should have the .tv of so different to have these crazy commissions? I really loved this extension, but like all domainers can note, all this issues have just killed the extension instead relaunch it as someone probably thinks in Verisign.
Dirk, little boys hide behind there keyboard, won’t disclose yourself(lol) That’s OK, 4 people private email me already and told me who you are. I would mentioned your name here, but don’t want Mark to get upset, but your getting exposed on DBR today for the little punk you are, and it’s streaming rolling downhill real fast for you buddy. Make sure you know who your are dealing with before you open your mouth. I have turned into your worst nightmear Dirk, should not of attacked my buddy Ammar, messed with the wrong dude. You attack my friends Dirk, I am going after you strong and hard.
If Mark allows me to mention your name here, I will. If not, your getting exposed as we speak other places.
At least I am not a little boy.
I love to expose myself and
everybody loves me.
I don’t have a dog in this fight. If you want to post Dirk’s name that is up to you. If Dirk asks me to take it down I probably will.
It seems a bit off subject though…
Names that were at 5 days grace delete period, deleted, released to public and DNC refunded from registry.
Some names like quick.tv, nip.tv, pej.tv that are in 6th day can not be deleted and still seem at registrant’s account.
Called directNIC this morning. Coo will be sending out an apology letter along with refunds.
Anyway let’s see a possible positive outcome in all this mess.
Verisign has to stop things to be so complicated and at least allow transfers of new premiums between registrars that is a major barrier at sales.
Probably they will never stop the legacy premiums policy but at least can fix everything for non premiums and premiums that get registered after 18-Mar-2010.
Also all .tv investors should press marketplaces for a better behavior regarding this extension.
As wrote in another thread there are some easy rules that apply to majority of domains and should be checked by marketplaces like sedo and remove this message that push buyers away.
If a .tv is registered after 18-Mar-2010 it has 100% regular fee.
If a .tv is not at ENOM it has 100% regular fee.
Finally can not understand why marketplaces do not get a database with premium fees from Verisign and check if a name applies there.
Registered a few names, they have locked my account, and not responded to support tickets… No refund issued yet also… Big shit storm basically… They kept taking money, even when they knew their platform was messed up. Class action anyone?
I am not upset with DirectNic.com, I have made enough websites to know that sh*t happens sometimes. I am sure they did not have any bad intent and would have preferred this did not happen, it is probably the last thing they wanted to be dealing with today.
As a matter of fact I should probably apologize to them, I am sure this post just made their already difficult situation more difficult.
Sorry DirectNic 😎
Honest mistakes will be excused if this is the case, as I don’t ever capitalize on honest mistakes that could jeopardize a persons job. However, why did it take so long to stop?
How many new accounts did they set up?
There are certainly some disturbing questions that should be addressed by DirectNic. I am awaiting a response from them regarding this and the registration of SUE.TV.
Just received this email from Directnic
—————————————-
Dear Directnic Customer,
Recently you registered one or more .TV Premium domain names at Directnic which were incorrectly priced at regular .TV rates. We realize this was likely very exciting as this represented a significant savings, however we regret to inform you that we will be providing you a refund and deleting the domain names. We will be refunding the registration fees for the following transactions:
hook.tv
As our way of apologizing for this issue, we would like to extend the ability to register these and any other .tv domain names at our wholesale cost provided the domain name is available. This offer will be available to you through the month of January 2014. If you would like to register any of the above premium domain names at cost please contact me directly at [email protected]. We are also offering you the ability to register new .com, .net, and .org domain names at wholesale cost through the month of January 2014. Your Directnic account will reflect this discounted pricing within 24 hours.
Sincerely,
Michael Ward
COO
Directnic.com
They have deleted all domains, but have yet to issue refund?
I always felt an internet business was 24/7 365, especially registar… These guys have been asleep at the wheel for almost a week here… they have to take some accountability for something…
Yea but it’s Christmas, we should ask ourselves what would Jesus do, lol? I say forgive…
I have a lot of friends in IT, who worked Christmas day, so I don’t buy that, if you want to be in a 24/7 business, you have to have mechanisms in place to support this kind of error…There were a lot of names registered, oh well, so far no refund, but all my domains are gone, so right now egg is on our face.
Michael at DirectNic.com sent me a nice thoughtful email, I like him, and I just got refunded.
If anybody has a problem getting a refund let me know and I will be happy to ask him about it.
Just got refunded here too.
I just got the reply for discounted price for Sue.TV. The “wholesale” price “at cost” per the letter they are offering is near the end user pricing. Does anyone know if the profit margins are really that small? Besides apologizing they offered no explanation or real help past the standard apology….Is $2000 really DirectNic’s cost as they offered?
Refund arrived here also
Corrigendum, my credit card’s balance is not again aligned.
I just wrote to technical support of DN. My paypal is aligned. Maybe that creditcard takes more time to align.
blehhhh Im sat here watching fireworks in Sydney and the Burj thingy and London and Auckland and shit and then this shit lands on me! Verisign you have sense of humour I give you that, no fucking marketing or PR skills but you sure know how to joke – cheers guys, Happy new fucking year 😀
Lx.