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Donuts released the renewal rates for its first 25 New gTLDs and 180,000 domains and the overall renewal rate seems to be closer to 65% (probably lower) so far rather than the projected 80%.
The renewal rate for the first 81,569 names was 68.4%.
Of course .Guru that has the most domain name registrations is dragging the overall renewal rate (that was not revealed this time) down. The .Guru renewal rate is now at 57,5%, down from 63.4% a few days back.
.PHOTOGRAPHY is down to 71.5% from 75.7% and .BIKE down to 71.2% from 74.0%.
Renewal rates range from 54.7% for .directory up to 71.7% for .technology.
The first 25 TLDs Donuts launched in 4 different batches. In all cases the names renewed at full price (average retail of $30) and the registry does not own any of these names.
Donuts also said:
As we look for patterns, usage remains the key driver of renewals. TLDs with more usage renew at higher rates. Also, although we only have a sample size of four batches at this time, we notice that earlier-launch TLDs have generally lower renewal rates than later-launched TLDs.
We believe .GURU experienced a disproportionate number of speculative buyers, especially in its first few months, and that speculation has resulted in a lower renewal rate. (Although .GURU’s rate is higher than the renewal rate on .COM and .NET names that were registered in the same time period as these GURU names — February 2014. Those .COM / .NET names have renewed at 50%.) No other Donuts TLDs have seen the sort of heavy, early speculation that .GURU saw.
I don’t think that speculation is the only reason for the low .guru renewal rates. It was one of the first New gTLDs out and the first “generic” one. It has a lot of early enthusiasm into it and a lot of novelty registrations by people that were not speculators.
This thing is that I see any renewal rate above 60% as great for New gTLDs. More than 50% and you are ok. It all has to do with expectations. If you announce that you expect an 80% renewal rate and you get 60% you will be disappointed.
Here is the list of the renewal rates that Donuts published:
TLD |
Batch |
Renewal % |
|---|---|---|
| .TECHNOLOGY |
3
|
71.7
|
| .LIGHTING |
2
|
71.6
|
| .PHOTOGRAPHY |
2
|
71.5
|
| .BIKE |
1
|
71.2
|
| .VOYAGE |
4
|
70.9
|
| .LAND |
3
|
70.1
|
| .CONSTRUCTION |
3
|
70.1
|
| .CONTRACTORS |
3
|
69.5
|
| .KITCHEN |
3
|
69.2
|
| .ENTERPRISES |
4
|
68.7
|
| .GRAPHICS |
2
|
68.1
|
| .PLUMBING |
1
|
68.0
|
| .GALLERY |
2
|
67.3
|
| .TIPS |
4
|
66.9
|
| .DIAMONDS |
4
|
66.5
|
| .CAMERA |
2
|
65.9
|
| .CLOTHING |
1
|
63.3
|
| .TODAY |
3
|
60.5
|
| .VENTURES |
1
|
59.4
|
| .HOLDINGS |
1
|
58.8
|
| .ESTATE |
2
|
58.7
|
| .SINGLES |
1
|
58.6
|
| .GURU |
1
|
57.5
|
| .EQUIPMENT |
2
|
56.8
|
| .DIRECTORY |
3
|
54.7
|
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I believe .guru as the first new gtld got indeed alot more regs for the mentioned reasons so now it’ll stablize towards a number of names worth to renew.
For the rest, i always have and will view a gtld based on its meaning / niche to interpret registration numbers. I saw some people post their view purely on numbers. Saying if .something has low regs it must be bad without looking at the niche it covers. Some exceptions aside ofcourse.
What are those that renew thinking? Do they see some sort of value there? What am I missing? The gtlds are the dumbest thing in the world. I suspect many of those that renew do so because their account is on auto-renew and their credit card gets charged automatically. In the absence of this, I question the rational of anyone who would knowingly renew any gtld at this time.
I am renewing more than 400 of my 500 domains. I don’t know what this says about me. 🙂
you are a hoarder!!
Of-course i am renewing more then 95% of my domains which are all new gtlds….
^This comment perfectly captures the misguided rationale of many operating the legacy domains you’re defending. As we’ve seen in other industries, the dying monopoly is trying to protect its turf. Users see new gTLDs as valuable and intuitive in ways legacy domains are not. While there are little-to-no meaningful .COM names left, new gTLDs offer a fresh resource of naming options with unprecedented personalization.
“What am I missing?”
Lot of dumb people and a lot of people where English isn’t their first language.
I have decided to renew only 20 of my 150 registrations. The resell market has been near zero.
Many domains are not getting renewed due to higher renewal price. Few domains donuts charging 100 – 400 USD for renewal. Its not feasible even for a normal person to carry domain on such higher renewal rates.
1 .guru domain I had, renewal cost is also 400 USD, I feel better to drop it.