I have been getting emails every couple days about the release of 1.8 million .uk names.
The website TheUKdomain.UK has laid out the plan for acquiring these names.
Starting from 1 July 2019, any previously reserved .uk domains that have not been registered will be available on a first-come, first served basis in a two stage process:
Stage One
A release process, running from the 1st to the 5th July inclusive, will make previously reserved names available in batches (one per day), at or after 14.00 BST (UTC+1).
The release schedule for Stage One is as follows:
1st July – Batch 1: Domains beginning 0-9, a-b
2nd July – Batch 2: Domains beginning c-f
3rd July – Batch 3: Domains beginning g-m
4th July – Batch 4: Domains beginning n-s
5th July – Batch 5: Domains beginning t-zThose interested in securing a particular .uk domain should contact a participating registrar.
Many offer a ‘pre-order’ service, which allows you to express an interest in a particular domain name, which the registrar will attempt to secure on your behalf. They will usually provide this service on a ‘no-win, no-fee’ basis or refund fees, in whole or in part, if the name is not secured.
A list of registrars participating in the release can be found here. If you would like to find out if a particular .uk domain that was previously reserved will be released please search for it here.
Looking at the recent sales pattern for .co.uk domains, the trend is down.
.Co.uk and .de have been two of the most successful cctlds for sales over the years. But in the last few years .co.uk has seen a sales dip.
No .co.uk sale that makes the top 50 .co.uk sales of all time has happened since 2016. Only 4 sales in 2016 made the top 50 but there were two big sales Furniture.co.uk at $650,000 and Purple.co.uk at $158,035.
2017 sales data provided by Namebio shows:
182
Total Sales
$598.3k
Dollar Volume
$3,287
Average Price
2018 sales data:
225
Total Sales
$542.2k
Dollar Volume
$2,410
Average Price
2019 sales data at the half year point:
57
Total Sales
$194.5k
Dollar Volume
$3,411
Average Price
Would love to hear from some UK domain investors and business owners if they will be jumping into the .uk mix?
