Aftermarket
The Aftermarket, which is also referred to as the Secondary Market, is the market for already registered domain names which are made available for acquisition.
Overview
The secondary market supposes the purchase and selling of domain names after registration, at amounts larger than the typical fee that a registrar would charge to an individual registrant. [1]
In order to sell and purchase domain names on the aftermarket the registrant usually uses a third party website.[2] According to ICANN's meetings, it seems that the secondary market is transforming into a type of primary market as it has become the main method through which domain names are sold and purchased. On the aftermarket domain names are being traded at increased prices due to the competition.[3]
Recent Aftermarket Developments
Lately, when it comes to the secondary market of domain names, the main drive is represented by the Internet advertisement on search engines. The increased number of registrations on the secondary market for domain name and for targeted Internet search advertising have led to the development of a wide variety of new practices and business models on the Internet. The domain name speculation is being replaced by more sophisticated and complex methods for establishing the value of selling, purchasing or even leasing the already existent domain names in the secondary market. The main purpose of domain names is enable traffic attraction from search engines and generate cost-per-click advertising revenue. Nevertheless, the aftermarket is definitely becoming a very competitive market and maybe even industry.[4]
The aftermarket is far more complex than it seems. Registrants should not let the domain names to expire without either using them to earn profit or selling the domain names to reach break-even point. The competition on the aftermarket also influences the registries and may lead to various technical demands for registries.