Amazon and Flipkart Fight it out During India’s National Holiday
Net worth…. This is usually looked upon as something or someone containing a high dollar value, however being net worthy in today’s age also includes your online presence and the value of your domain name. So how do you decide your real estate plot’s worth before you purchase it? Would you just think up a number and hope for the best? Do you call an appraiser? Do you search analytics, traffic, and allow the seller to state the terms? Each of the parties involved can have a very different opinion of value or potential value of a domain name. If you are new to entering a domain name auction, you may be surprised at how many others are interested in the same domain, and how deep pockets get in obtaining the rights to a domain.
Take recent acquisitions of bigbillionday.com and Diwalidhamaka.co.in by big names Amazon and Flipkart respectively. While Amazon is the leading e-commerce marketplace in the US, the same holds true for Flipkart in India. Amazon recently expanded its international availability to include amazon.in sneaking into the marketplace with no marketing, imagine the Flipkart and Snapdeal surprise reaction.
Then begins the fun and games of domain name purchases and ideas behind them, as each of the e-tail giants battle for Diwali Dhamaka purchasing power. Diwali Dhamaka is the most celebrated Hindu Festival of lights, dance, and music. The five day celebration of a good over evil triumph.
To welcome the event Flipkart kicked off a Pre-Diwali Sale and were coining the phrase “Big Billion Day”, they spoke and Amazon answered by acquiring the bigbillionday.com domain. Flipkart customers who visited the link would be directed to Amazon India’s website. Flipkart in turn dishes out Diwalidhamaka.co.in in anticipation of Amazon’s Diwali Dhamaka Week Sale, redirecting visitors to the site to Flipkart.
It’s all fun and games till someone gets sued though. This is a practice that’s frowned upon in the internet community and not an ethical practice for businesses, individuals, or brokers. They may have intensified the festival celebration, creating a buying frenzy in support of their preferred marketplace or just obtaining a sweet deal, but they each tiptoed on a very fine line in the process.
It’s worth mentioning that Flipkarts Big Billion Day was not as profitable as anticipated, earning “a billion hits” rather than a billion dollars. Snapdeal who steered clear of domain name purchases, reports sales worth a total of Rs 1 crore (10 million Indian Rupees) per minute, that’s approximately $162,813.00. Considering that both marketplaces received complaints about product availability and competitor pricing, the next hurdle they’ll face is delivering goods ordered and deciding what to do with these domains.
Now, each of the domains that the other saw as having value, has no value to either owner, the chances of them being renewed…. Who knows, but would you renew it if its use had been met? And what value do they still hold as potential real estate at this point. What kind of reputation did the e-tailers give the domains, will that affect later owners, how have their actions effect the value, and will there be complications with registry services providing the lack of ethics involved with the initial purchases.
Do you think these things are reason enough to avoid purchasing your desired domain name? How would it affect your valuation or top dollar price point? Would you consider a lower pick on your list of 10 to avoid any conflicts, thus increasing their value to you?