Results 1 to 8 of 8
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2001
    Posts
    134

    Would you buy from a non-dotcom eshop?

    Hello,
    I run an ecommerce site for designing and ordering online business cards. It's very professional and reliable. My domain extension is not com, net, org, etc. , I use the extension of my (european) country. I would like to start supporting international orders but I'm afraid that most people (specially from US) would hesitate to buy from my eshop, they would prefer a domcom eshop. They wouldn't even visit it. Is that true? Would you buy from a non-dotcom eshop? Should I go with my current domain or it should be better to buy a dotcom domain to host my eshop? Thank you!

  2. #2
    Personal opinion only

    A .com is much easier to remember if I want to reorder.

    If you rank high in search engines then it really does not matter.
    I will click and it will take me to your shop.

    If you selling face to face or print media a dot com will
    help create a better brand name, easier to remember.

    What will bother me is the shipping charges on international
    orders for these business cards. If I see a .de or .es I may
    decide to purchase locally, if it's .com I will get the shock
    when I get to the shipping charges on checkout. So, if your
    business can only compete locally keep the country name
    and save your money. If you feel you can compete globally
    I recommend the .com

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2001
    Posts
    134
    Originally posted by sadcox66
    Personal opinion only

    A .com is much easier to remember if I want to reorder.

    If you rank high in search engines then it really does not matter.
    I will click and it will take me to your shop.

    If you selling face to face or print media a dot com will
    help create a better brand name, easier to remember.
    I have an excellent domain address! That's why I want to keep it! I have looked for a .COM address but I can't find anything good, only "tongue twister".

    What will bother me is the shipping charges on international
    orders for these business cards. If I see a .de or .es I may
    decide to purchase locally, if it's .com I will get the shock
    when I get to the shipping charges on checkout. So, if your
    business can only compete locally keep the country name
    and save your money. If you feel you can compete globally
    I recommend the .com
    Yes, that's true. Another problem for selling from Europe to US is the parity of exchange between euro-dollar (1,25:1)...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    North Carolina USA
    Posts
    414
    If you want international anonymity, a standard .com without any specific country extensions is best in my opinion.

    Good luck with your expansion

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    43
    Go with a .com domain name!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Washington, USA
    Posts
    5,990
    To me it doesn't matter if it's .com, or whatever. So long as the order form is secure, and the site appears professional.

    However, for marketing purposes, if you could find a suitable .com, I would go for it.

  7. #7
    Personal opinion -- much of the spam I receive for male enhancement, banned CDs, viagra, barnyard romance, cable descramblers etc. comes from country-specific domains, as do the messages wanting me to validate my PapPal account info on some server in Armenia. It's easy to get paranoid and assume that any country-specific domain is Lower Scamovia. (UK is an exception because it's easy to remember what country ... but the others are more of a guess.)

    I bet I am not alone in this impression, even if it's not exactly rational. You would probably sell better on .com.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    1,598
    For me it also wouldn't matter whether I was ordering from a non .com (or .net/.org for that matter) website. The only thing that would draw me away is if I was ordering a tangible product and shipping charges came as a concern, or if contacting the company would be a problem because of it's distance away from me. Also, having an unappealing site design, product/prices, and customer service on its own (regardless of where the company is located or it's domain extension) can be turn offs to the customer.

    But generally speaking, it would be best for you to have a non-country domain extension when attempting to sell to international customers, especially if your're going to be marketing your domain on banner ads as well as other promotional methods. Some people might immediately assume that you only deal with customers in your country.

    All in all a .com domain isn't all that expensive, and you can always choose to use both.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •