

Ask HN: How to make the most out of my domain name? - aymeric

Hi, I am a developer and entrepreneur based in Australia. I am lucky enough to have bought buyipad.com before Apple announced the iPad.<p>It has the potential to be a great domain name (I can already see the traffic towards my site) and I don't want to waste it.<p>What would be the best way to make money out of it?<p>1. Sell the domain name?
2. Set up an affiliate-based website?
3. Resell iPads myself?
4. Partner with resellers?
5. Any other advice?<p>Thank you guys!
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melvinram
I suspect you're over-estimating the traffic you'll be able to attract based
on the domain name itself. I'd sell the domain to the highest bidder and
reinvest the money into something that can have a strong ROI over the next
months/years.

~~~
kloncks
STRONGLY second that.

Especially with the trouble Apple might give you later over Trademark
Infringement.

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SamAtt
The way I see it you only have one option and that's use it yourself and try
to make it into something that can make you money while staying off Apple's
radar.

I base this on the following conclusions:

1\. As gte910h points out it's next to worthless to sell because Apple has
shown it will target companies that try to exploit it's trademarks.

2\. You can't just resell iPads you have to be an Apple reseller and the
chances of you getting the nod from Apple are slim (in fact you run the chance
of getting sued just by putting yourself on their radar)

3\. Apple gives resellers virtually no controls over pricing ($20 or less) so
it isn't worth it to pay a site to partner with.

So if it were me I'd set Google Alerts to tell me every mention of the iPad
and create a directory of reviews/media stories/etc... Then try to sell ads.
That way you stay off Apple's radar while hopefully making a little cash with
minimum effort.

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noonespecial
You should know that if the iPad name was trademarked before your registered
it (probably true) and even in many cases if it wasn't and you're not using it
for something significant and very different than Apple, all Apple has to do
is file a complaint with ICANN and the domain will be yanked from you and
handed to them. No lawyer required. You get zippo.

I've lost 2 domains this way. NB: When you are registering a domain name.
Always _and I mean always_ do a trademark search first.

~~~
aymeric
What website do you suggest for trademark search?

~~~
nreece
USPTO: <http://www.uspto.gov>

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eli
Domain squatting is icky business.

I'd get rid of it ASAP. Why waste time monetizing a site when Apple's lawyers
could come knocking at any moment?

If it were me, I'd call Apple and offer to trade it for an actual iPad.

~~~
aresant
Most large companies have a "don't negotiate with squatters period" policy.

All calling Apple will do is get the lawyer's paperwork to you more quickly.

~~~
eli
Really? I'm sure they buy domains all the time especially if the offer is far
less than the cost of litigating. Of course we wouldn't know since it would
come with an NDA

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carbocation
Let us assume that the domain was bought prior to Apple's registration of the
iPad trademark. Even so, the original post makes it clear that the domain
owner is trying to monetize the domain based on Apple's trademark. It's not
like the OP has produced some iPad product and are just worried that Apple
will shut them down - to the contrary, they're actively trying to profit from
the Apple trademark. I fail to see how this will survive.

ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy is relevant:
<http://www.icann.org/en/dndr/udrp/policy.htm> (esp. see Section 4)

~~~
aymeric
What is the best way for me to clean the situation properly?

Do I have any way to release a domain name before its expiry date?

~~~
carbocation
I've never gone through the process. However, were you so inclined, you could
presumably contact Apple, tell them what happened, and ask how you can assign
the domain to them at no cost.

I am not a lawyer, so am not sure that this is the best route to keep you out
of legal trouble - but it does seem reasonable.

------
gte910h
You will likely lose it to apple if they find out about it.

Point it at an affiliate store and wait for that to happen.

~~~
aymeric
There are so many something-iphone.com or something-ipod.com websites out
there, when is a domain name infringing the trademark laws?

Does anyone have any guidelines around that?

~~~
JacobAldridge
> when is a domain name infringing the trademark laws?

1) When the trademark owner decides it is, and 2) They have more money than
you.

Would that it were more related to the actual infringement or the intent
behind it, but that discussion rarely reaches an open court.

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vijayr
There are lots of accessories for iPhone. Its just a matter of time, before
these pop up for iPad. you could try selling those, for affiliate commission.

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rms
If you don't want to start using this _right now_ for a non ipad related web
site, you should email the admin and ask for this post to be deleted. With
this disclosure public, you are going to lose the upcoming domain dispute and
possibly be reimbursed for the cost of the domain registration.

------
rrival
Why is no one talking about Fujitsu? =)

[http://www.fujitsu.com/us/services/retailing/technology/hard...](http://www.fujitsu.com/us/services/retailing/technology/hardware/index.html)

------
aresant
The most effecient way I've found is to sign up as an Amazon affiliate, do a
specific search query affiliate link (in your case "ipad"), and direct the
domain there.

I've done this for years with consistent 3 - 5% buy rate - although the iPad
may not be sold on Amazon there are plenty of accessories that will, and the
cookie set will pay you on all that user's purchases inside of 30 days i
believe.

Others are right, you are in trademark violation, will likely eventually lose
domain, and this is a simple & painless way to monetize in the meantime.

~~~
cschneid
Last time I looked Amazon's affiliate cookie was a 1 day one, not 30.
(otherwise valid idea)

~~~
aresant
My bad - you're right ->

[http://www.davidtan.org/the-biggest-problem-with-amazon-
affi...](http://www.davidtan.org/the-biggest-problem-with-amazon-affiliate-
program/)

