On Mon, May 17, 2004 at 04:42:08PM +1000, Ron Stark wrote:
> Let's paraphrase the argument that's being put forward.   Anand is
> suggesting that somehow the .au price is a significant factor in companies
> getting onto the Internet.

Eseentially. I was mainly trying to point out that the pricing situation
isn't a result of 'economies of scale'. I don't know why .au is so
expensive but my current theory is this is due to some people believing
a .au domain is price inelastic (i.e. a must-have).

> The price difference between a .com and a .au is all of $0.50 per week.  In
> the context of a $100 000 expenditure on a website for a company turning
> over $10M per year, the domain name price is sure a determining factor!

You seem to be assuming that the only people who buy gTLDs rather than
.au TLDs are large companies. Those were just the obvious examples I
could point out. 

However if you are a small business who doesn't have much to spend on
your website it does become an issue. Let's say, you have $5000/pa to
spend on one. 

As a few other people have pointed out, what seems to happen is that
the design/technical brief goes off to some third party and they assist
the client in deciding which domain to register.

Since the third party registers the domain first, I think perhaps they
are reducing any potential downside by registering a cheaper non-au
domain. If my choices were spending $10 to demo. a site to client and a
day of my time versus $100 to demo. a site and a day of my time; I know
which I'd choose to do.

Cheers,
Anand

-- 
 `` All actions take place in time by the interweaving of the 
 forces of Nature; but the man lost in selfish delusion thinks 
 that he himself is the actor.'' 
        Lord Krishna to Arjuna in _The Bhagavad Gita_