GoDaddy Auctions, NameJet, and DropCatch.com are domain name expiry auction platforms that primarily cater to domain investors. These platforms are all open to the public, but I would imagine the vast majority of participants are investors seeking to buy domain names at wholesale prices.

When a domain name expires, most domain registrars place an expiry notice on the top of the landing page to inform visitors of the expired status. The notices typically contain a link to the auction for the domain name should it not be renewed by the registrant in time. These notices can be helpful to companies who may wish to purchase a domain name at auction once it goes through the expiry cycle.

Josh Schoen recently noticed an end user company bought a domain name via GoDaddy Auctions. Via Twitter, Josh mentioned that a company called McHale Performance bought McHale.com at auction for $10,000 (confirmed via NameBio) in early April:

An end-user was the winner of the https://t.co/Cu32jcAcwq expired auction at GoDaddy earlier this month. McHale Performance won the auction for $10k. It’s an upgrade from McHale(.)org and McHalePerformance(.)com. IMO, they got a huge steal! #domains #domainnames

— Joshua Schoen (@jstenn13) April 20, 2018

Prior to winning the auction, the company had been using McHale.org and McHalePerformance.com. Both of these are fine domain names and probably served the company well, but → Read More

Yesterday, I reported that GoDaddy sold the F.org domain name. In January of 2017, Jamie Zoch reported that GoDaddy sold the G.org domain name. Both of these sales were for undisclosed prices.

In yesterday‘s article, I speculated that F.org sold for six figures. That was a guess since I didn’t see what the company was asking. Six figures is a big range obviously, and it might be more or less. As a couple of commenters pointed out, GoDaddy’s GoValue appraisal tool values F.org at $13,792.

I am curious what you think a single letter .org domain name is worth. Obviously, the value would be contingent upon the letter and owner of the domain name, so should be a general approximation.

I got my start by flipping domain names. It started by registering names and quickly reselling them for a small profit. This helped me grow my business and I moved into higher value domain names. I continued to flip domain names for quite some time, but that model was modified a bit a few years ago.

These days, I am less into flipping domain names and more into buying domain names and awaiting for an end user buyer. This is a combination of strategy and necessity.

I still spend time emailing prospective buyers on recent acquisitions, but the majority of the shorter term re-sales are auction wins rather than higher profile (aka one word .com) domain names. I try to keep my one word names because they are much harder to buy for a good price these days, so selling for a smaller percentage ROI doesn’t make much sense to me.

I think it is more challenging to flip domain names now than it was when I started, but I still do it from time to time. I would no longer consider myself a domain flipper.

In today’s poll, I want to know if you consider yourself a domain name flipper:

It looks like the F.org domain name has been sold by NameFind, the domain portfolio company owned by GoDaddy. I noticed the domain name changed registrants in my daily email from DomainTools. The new registrant of F.org is a company called Fincubator VC, a venture capital firm that invests in FinTech companies.

The website for F.org has already been launched and it is home to an entity called FinTech Labs. There seem to be multiple companies with a similar name to that, so having the F.org domain name should help them stand out.

In January of 2017, Jamie Zoch reported that GoDaddy sold → Read More

GoDaddy is looking to hire a Product Marketing Manager on its Domains team. I believe this particular line of business covers everything related to domain names, including registrations and the aftermarket.

Here’s a brief job description from the LinkedIn listing, which was created a little over a week ago: → Read More

I have quite a few Google News Alerts set, so I see dozens of news articles related to domain names each day. Oftentimes, I notice news articles that are actually press releases, and occasionally they are used to announce domain names are for sale.

A press release can be an effective way to get in front of decision makers. Sending individual emails is also effective, but a press release can have much greater reach than email. It is also less intrusive than sending an unsolicited email.

The downside to a press release is the cost. I haven’t looked into the cost of a press release, but it looks like they can cost hundreds of dollars. Obviously, there is no guarantee of a sale, but the cost is sunk.

I don’t believe I have ever used a press release to sell a domain name. At least I can’t recall doing so. Would you use a press release – or have you used one – to sell a domain name?