I received an email earlier this week from BrandIT (formerly Igloo.com) announcing that they are brokering two exceptional California geographical domain names: SanFrancisco.com and LosAngeles.com. These two domain names have been owned by Boulevards, a company founded by Dan Pulcrano. Boulevards has owned a large portfolio of exceptional city .com domain names.
Curious about why Dan decided to sell these valuable geographic domain names, I spoke on the phone to get his perspective. Dan told me what many people have learned the hard way: developing a network of websites, especially local websites like the ones Boulevards focuses on, is very difficult and expensive. Dan told me his company is using this as an opportunity to raise funds for his other core websites.
Although Dan did not share the asking price for these domain names, I think it is safe to say that each has a low seven figure price tag. Dan referred to his last publicly announced sale of Denver.com in 2012 as a guideline. As I later reported in 2015, that purchase paid off for Peter Niederman and his real estate firm. In addition, the parent company of the LA Times acquired LA.com last year for $1.2 million. Should SanFrancisco.com sell in this price range, the irony is that the cost would be almost equivalent to the price of a one bedroom apartment in San Francisco!
Commenting to me about the listings, BrandIT’s Tessa Holcomb had this to say:
“Geo domains have always been a strong niche for us originating with the sale of several country domains, then shifting to major European, Asian and US cities. Few US cities, however, are better known than San Francisco and Los Angeles. These metropolis regions are not only synonymous with the tech and entertainment industries, but they also are important hubs for tourism, recruiting, and real estate. Being from California myself, I am very excited to market the SanFrancisco.com and LosAngeles.com domain names and look forward to seeing how these valuable properties evolve.”
There are many ways a buyer could use each of these domain names. Of course, tourism, local news, and real estate would likely be the most obvious uses. Perhaps a buyer will successfully do all three of this.
Prospective buyers who are interested in these two domain names should get in touch with BrandIT.
Geo-domains are tough, but uses suggested are spot on: “tourism, local news, and real estate”.
Interesting you mention the one bedroom apartment equivalence, I have used the same comparison many times as an interesting benchmark and perspective. I’m more inclined to examine single family residential properties for a benchmark than an apartment though.
Keep us posted, thanks for the article.
I read today this article too.
Five exclusive state domain names are now available from eNaming
Your chance to own Alabama.com, Arizona.com, NorthDakota.com, Tennessee.com, or Texas.com.
digitaljournal.com/pr/3530438
Considering how the price for LA.com was a *steal* I hope this version goes for much more.
These domain names will only work if you setup them up as social networks…..then build the directory site around it………local businesses want to see traffic……having a good domain name is all good…..but you need local traffic…..setup a social network for LA or SF and then build the directory and local offers pages around it…….you can offer daily or weekly prizes to get them to sign up to your social network……it will take time but you will see results within 3 years……these domain name are long term investment…..the company selling these domain names……thought all they need to do is setup a directory and the money and traffic will roll in……that why LA times brought la.com, nice and short……easy to market and remember…….i would advice them to buy the LosAngeles.com domain name and point it to la.com, to cover all the bases…..