Buying Domain Names

What Kinds of Domain Names Are You Buying?

A couple of years ago, at the suggestion of Scott Rosenbaum, I published an article asking people what types of domain names they are buying. This enabled some people to connect and discuss deals. Since it has been a while since I posed that question, I thought I would ask again (also at the suggestion of Scott).

I am still on the hunt for meaningful one word .com domain names. The names I buy should be known to pretty much anyone that speaks the English languages and they should immediately know what it means. Having a positive connotation is also important to me, although it is not a deal breaker. I especially like fruit names, color names, animal names, or pretty much any other type of exact match .com domain name that could be used as a brand. As you should know, I only invest in .com domain names. I am not interested in investing in non .coms no matter how good the keyword. That’s not my business model.

I invite you to share the types of domain names you are currently buying in the comment section. No need to be super specific though since I don’t want to turn this into a marketplace where people try to hawk their domain names. If you want people to be able to connect with you to offer their domain names, you are welcome to leave your contact information. Always do your due diligence before buying and use an escrow service!

If you have a meaningful one word .com domain name, get in touch. There’s nothing wrong with not having this type of name, but it is what I am looking to buy.

Domain Name Escrow Process

When I am dealing with someone who is unfamiliar with the way escrow works for domain names, they often ask me about the process. In response, I let them know how the entire escrow process works from the beginning until the end. I believe the steps are pretty similar between Escrow.com and Payoneer Escrow, but there would be some differences for a lease to own, payment plan deal, or a deal that is out of the ordinary.

I thought I would share this with you along with some parenthetical notes. This can be shared as a guide a buyer or seller about the escrow process. I invite you to share some comments to make this more clear if you think it is confusing.

When I am the seller:

Domain Appraisal Section Can be a Good Place to Find Domain Names

There are many people who own domain names that have no idea of what they could be worth. Some of these people may have bought a domain name on a whim while others bought a domain name for a project that didn’t take off or didn’t get started. The domain name appraisal section on forums like NamePros and previously DNForum are some of the most popular sections, and they could be a good place to find a domain name to buy.

When someone with a great domain name asks for an appraisal, it is because they either received an offer to buy their domain name or they are ready to sell it. By publicly posting their domain name in the appraisal section, they can get an idea of what domain investors believe the domain name is worth. I think some of these people also do it as a means of generating a bit of publicity for their domain name.

From my perspective, this can be a great buying opportunity. On occasion, I have seen a great domain name posted for sale in the appraisal forum, and I have reached out to try to strike a deal privately. If it looks like the domain owner would like to sell a domain name I want to buy, it doesn’t make sense not to connect and see if a deal can be struck.

A key thing to keep

Recency and Venue Are Important for Comps

I was discussing the price of a domain name with a seller, and he shared a few public comparable domain name sales to justify his asking price. One of the comps seemed abnormally high to me. Although the sale price was apparently accurate, the domain name sold many years ago and the market has changed since then.

As a buyer, it is important to look beyond the sale price of the domain name. The date and venue are also important considerations that should be made by the buyer to understand more about the sale.

A domain name that sold

A Seller Backed Out of a Sale Because of a Pricing Error and That’s OK

Last week, I was looking at some domain names on Sedo. I saw a one word .com domain name listed for sale for less than $500 The domain name was developed, and it was way underpriced from my perspective. I reached out to the owner to confirm the listing was legitimate and concurrently purchased the domain name on Sedo and made a payment via credit card.

During this short window of time, the owner confirmed the domain name was for sale, and then he told me the buy it now price was an error. It was their first time using Sedo and apparently they made a mistake with their listing. They relayed this information to Sedo and the deal was canceled and I was refunded.

Sedo informed me that the seller stated this was an error. The transaction was canceled, and I was told “You might want to take a legal action against the seller, therefore we have made his contact data available in your Sedo contract.”

I have no doubt that the seller is being truthful. I anticipated that it was an error, but I bought it anyway just in case they simply wanted a quick and painless sale. Mistakes happen. I don’t know how the error happened, but I am confident the owner of the domain name had no intention of selling it for less than $500, so it was no big deal to me.

Several weeks ago, I ran

Oscar Health Should Buy Oscar.com

According to a news report on CNBC, a health insurance company called Oscar Health raised a $165 million round of funding from the likes of Alphabet, Founders Fund, and other firms. The company is now reportedly valued at $3.2 billion with over $725 million in total funding (per Crunchbase).

Unfortunately for Oscar, the company uses the less than ideal HiOscar.com domain name for its website. This isn’t great for a major health insurance company like this because of the potential for confusion. Yes, I think it is better than an alternative extension, but HiOscar.com could certainly be confusing to customers and prospects. Imagine being a customer and getting an email with a link to HiOscar.com. I think it could raise more red flags than the exact brand match Oscar.com domain name would raise.

So who owns the Oscar.com domain name? The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences owns the domain name. The organization uses it for it’s Oscar Awards, more commonly known as the Oscars. Oscar.com forwards to the Oscars landing page, Oscar.go.com. As you can see, this is a subdomain of the ABC / Disney Go.com website. The Academy also owns the better version for its Awards, Oscars.com, which forwards to the same website. Fortunately, there likely wouldn’t be confusion for Oscar Health customers who accidentally type-in Oscar.com, but I think the exact match .com domain name appears more trustworthy.

If I were advising Oscar, I would urge them to enter a negotiation with The Academy to try

Recent Posts

Saw.com Announces $100 Million in Domain Name Deals

1
The Saw.com domain name sales brokerage and sales platform announced a milestone this morning. The company surpassed $100,000,000 in domain name deals. I presume...

That Company May Cease to Exist

1
I received a strong offer on one of my one word .com domain names last week. I declined, but in the process of doing...

Auction Platforms Shouldn’t Benefit from Default Bidders

13
If the winning bidder for a domain name auction does not pay and the auction platform offers the domain name to the next highest...

LTO is Betting on the Buyer and the Platform

2
When you agree to a lease-to-own (LTO) domain name deal, you’re making two bets: one on the buyer’s ability and willingness to complete the...

Andrew Rosener on Miss Understood Podcast

2
Andrew Rosener is one of the top domain brokers. I had to strike "one of" because I know as soon as I hit publish,...