Domain registration “wholesaler” and service provider Tucows (AMEX: TCX) has revealed data about its domain holdings. With over 150,000 domains, the portfolio makes up a significant part of the company’s value, which likely hasn’t been fully captured in its stock price. Its shares on the AMEX are sitting at $.63, just off a 52 week low of $.53 and well below a high of $1.41. (I’m assuming that Tucows is revealing these details because it doesn’t feel its stock reflects the value.)
Its portfolio includes:
-1,000 domains the company considers “gems” (see a sample below)
-39,000 surnames (last names), most of which were part of the NetIdentity acquisition
-22,000 “brandable” names
-88,000 direct navigation names
Tucows CEO Elliot Noss says the company has sold thousands of domains and will continue to sell individually and in bundles. Tucows has internal tools to evaluate its domains for faster resale, and sells them through a variety of venues including live and silent auctions.
Among the company’s “gems” are:
Actresses.com
Liberals.com
Lutheran.com
Beagles.com
PawnShops.com
Penicillin.com
Cardiologists.com
Divorced.com
DogBreeders.com
Sleuth.com
Tool.com
Lemons.com
The company will reveal more about its portfolio in the future. Although the above domains are good, I question the label of ‘gems’ for a number of the domains identified, which makes me question the domain names that haven’t been revealed. Among the domains the company views as gems are Brontosaur.com, Puppysitters.com, and TheCompany.com. These are good names, but not ‘gems’ in my book.
Nice names there, especially Tool.com!
When I random check whois for some domains I’m interested in I frequently see Tucows as the owner, so I’m sure they have many other valuable domains.
So basically, they’re are keeping all the good ones instead of letting them expire…hmmmm
Is’nt it totally illegal for a register to wharehouse domains for profit or resale ??
Might be illegal in a communist world but we live in a free world!
Ha, free world – who told you that !
http://www.icann.org/nsi/icann-raa-04nov99.htm
ii. prohibitions on warehousing of or speculation in domain names by registrars;
The ICANN Registrar Accreditation Agreement is up for review and comment right now until August 4th.
Every domainer should insist that ICANN add language to that agreement that reinforces section 3.7.9 and SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITS registrars from warehousing and speculating.
Tucows is unfairly skimming 6000 to 8000 domain names a month by their own admission.