Buyer Dropped a Domain Name I Sold

Elliot Silver
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A couple of years ago, I sold a domain name to an end user buyer for mid 4 figures. Last year, I saw the domain name expire and it was headed to auction. I reached out to the buyer and my contacts at the registrar, and the domain name was renewed a day before it would have gone to auction. Unfortunately, this happened again and because the buyer was out of the country, the domain name could not be renewed in time.

During the auction, I worked with the buyer and won. I re-sold the domain name to the buyer for the exact price of the auction. I confirmed that the domain name is now set to auto-renew, and the buyer has an active credit card on file. I didn’t have to work with the buyer to win the domain name back, but I felt it was the right thing to do and my effort was appreciated.

I am not sharing this story to get platitudes or other praise. I am sharing this because

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Time to Inquire Again

Elliot Silver
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The end of the year may be a good time to make deals happen if you can get them closed before people go on vacation or otherwise close their books for the year. Based on my own schedule and what I am seeing, I think the next 10 days is probably the best time of the year to make some domain name acquisitions.

As the year finishes up, there are people and companies looking to hit their numbers for the quarter or the year. There may not be a whole lot of opportunities to drive revenue as the year is winding down, and a nice offer on a domain name may help the business add easy revenue to get closer to their target. I am going to be going through my emails from the last year to see if there are deals worth pursuing. I am an opportunistic domain name buyer right now, and I am willing and able to move quickly to close on a deal. I think now is a great time for domain name purchases.

In my opinion, the next week to ten days is critical. For a deal to happen, especially one in which multiple sign-offs are needed, the purchase agreement needs to be signed and the domain name needs to be in escrow in the next ten days. Figuring

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One Major Difference Between Domain Names and Real Estate

Elliot Silver
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10

People regularly compare domain names to real estate, and I think it is generally a good comparison. When a domain name owner is negotiating the sale of a domain name to someone unfamiliar with this “virtual real estate,” it can be helpful to use physical real estate as a comparable asset class.

There are several important differences (like tax treatment and asset class among others) between domain names and real estate, but I want to share one major difference people probably don’t think about – the branding aspect.

I am evaluating a couple of major lease and lease to own offers on domain names my company owns. One issue with a deal that involves a future payment where a buyer or lessor is allowed to use the domain name in the interim is the goodwill of the domain name can potentially be harmed. If the company goes out of business, is a scammer or spammer, or if something bad happens to the company using the domain name, the domain name brand could be irreparably harmed.

Allow me to illustrate with an example:

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Follow What Domain Names are Selling

Elliot Silver
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One of the most important aspects of being a domain investor is knowing what a domain name is worth. I think this is actually the most important thing, because without the ability to value a domain name, it would be impossible to make investment decisions without knowing the value of a domain name.

To learn about domain values and understand what domain names are worth, I use a variety of tools and observe many different things to fill my head with intelligence I can use to make purchase and sale decisions. Here are many of the ways I follow the market to see what is selling:

Read the DNJournal weekly domain sales report and keep an eye on the year to date report. This is a great way to see what is publicly selling since many brokers and some brokerages report their higher end deals. I also like share links to these two reports when a prospective buyer asks me to justify an asking price or I feel the need to educate someone about domain name sales.

Use the search functionality at NameBio. The team at NameBio archives domain name sales that are publicly reported, and it also has archives other public sales that it is able to track. Visitors can use NameBio’s search functionality to get more specific and follow along with certain types of domain name sales. For instance, someone who

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Almost Everyone is Dealing with Something

Elliot Silver
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Last Friday, I spent the day playing blackjack at Mohegan Sun. I don’t generally visit a casino during the week, but I made an exception because of who I was going to spend time with during the day.

I met one of my closest friends and his family at Mohegan Sun. We were lucky enough to get a table to ourselves, and we had a great time catching up and playing blackjack for a few hours. The visit was somewhat bittersweet though. My friend’s dad has been battling pancreatic cancer since March. I have known my friend’s dad for many years, and I rode the Pan-Mass Challenge this year in his honor. He is a fighter, and he is battling courageously.

On my ride back home, I thought about something I want to share with you. Although it is my friend’s dad who is battling cancer,

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Keep Enough Cash for Taxes

Elliot Silver
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I generally don’t preface an article with a disclaimer, but I think it is important to note at the outset that I am not an accountant nor should any of this be construed as accounting or tax advice!

Let’s say I buy a domain name at auction for $1,000 and re-sell that domain name a month later for $10,000. I might be inclined to go out and acquire an even better name for $10,000 or purchase two $5,000 domain names. I might even be inclined to buy a domain name for $5,000 and upgrade my office with the remaining $5,000. By doing this, there will be no money remaining to pay taxes.

When I sell a domain name, my first inclination is to reinvest the funds in another domain name or several domain names. I always like to keep great domain names in my portfolio, and reinvesting helps to ensure that my portfolio continues to improve. Even with this inclination, I need to be cognizant of the taxes that will be owed as a result of a sale. With a fluctuating business like domain investing, this can be a big challenge and can become a massive issue for a person or a business.

Many small business owners in the US pay

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