Domain sales threads are probably the most frequently posted threads on forums. Domain forums offer sections for high value domain names, standard domain names, specialty domain names, domain auctions, and perhaps some others I am not thinking about.
I am not much of an active participant on forums, but I visit regularly. There seem to be a fairly high volume of sales, especially on NamePros. Many of these sales go unreported.
Do you buy names on forums?
.App domain names are now available to pre-register. TheDomains.com reported on the early success of .App registrations. Domain registrars like GoDaddy are offering people the opportunity to pre-register .App domain names with prices on a sliding scale based on the pre-registration date.
I looked up some .App domain names but I did not pull the trigger. I am not sure if I am going to buy any, but I wouldn’t rule it out either. Have you pre-registered any .App domain names or are you planning on buying any when they are available to the general public?
In mid-April, Media Options announced via newsletter that it was brokering the sale of Bee.com. The domain name had an asking price of $2.5 million.
Yesterday, Media Options founder Andrew Rosener announced that his company successfully brokered the sale of Bee.com. I asked him if he could share the price or any details, but he told me it was a private sale.
This morning, I saw the domain name transferred to a different domain registrar, and the domain name is now registered under privacy. The domain name is not yet resolving, so it is unclear who bought the domain name.
Because Bee.com is such a great domain name and it sold so quickly, I am inclined to believe the seller got close to its asking price. That said, today’s poll asks if you think Bee.com, which had a $2.5 million asking price, sold for 7 figures.
Congratulations to the Media Options team on what must have been a great sale. I am sure the seller was happy to sell its name so quickly.
As you have probably heard by now, the French government seized control of the France.com domain name following the conclusion of litigation it filed in French courts. Apparently, Network Solutions honored the French court’s decision and gave control of the domain name to the French government.
I don’t understand why France should have trademark rights over France.com. I can’t think of many cities or countries that own their matching .com domain name because they are highly valuable and most are owned and operated by private entities. Could this mean any geographical region could file suit in their local court to try and get possession of their valuable matching .com domain name?
From my non-legal perspective, it also seems peculiar that a US based domain registrar would abide by a foreign court order when it involves a .com domain name registered to a US company. It seems peculiar to me that the French court would have jurisdiction and be able to get the registrar to hand over the domain name when the registrar (NetSol/Web.com), .com registry (Verisign), and registrant are located in the US.
This news has been covered by many mainstream tech publications from around the world, including Ars Technica, BBC, The Verge, Fortune, and the New York Times. Ron Jackson also published an article citing other legal precedents showing that geographical domain names can be owned by entities unrelated to the matching geographical region.
I want to know if this decision concerns you because of the potential impact it could have on other domain names. Please vote in the daily poll below and share your thoughts in the comment section:
On the vast majority of deals I do, I either use Escrow.com, Payoneer Escrow, or the escrow provided by a domain name marketplace. The only exceptions are on deals with someone I know very well and trust explicitly. I think using an escrow service is essential, and it is a small cost.
Not only does escrow help protect funds while adding certainty to a domain transfer, but it also provides an extra tracking mechanism. Should a problem arise, the escrow service can track the funds with a court order / subpoena. In addition, the escrow services will do a verification to ensure the other party is not on the OFAC list.
In short, using escrow is a good way of securing a transaction and ensuring payment or delivery of the domain name.
I probably use an escrow service on 95% of my deals, with very few exceptions. Some people won’t transact without using escrow, and that is also smart. You can’t go wrong being overcautious. Other people are more casual and don’t use escrow. Perhaps their deals are much smaller and using escrow is more of an annoyance or is cost prohibitive. I am curious where you stand:
I was the winning bidder on the Geographic.com expiry auction on NameJet yesterday afternoon. There were 122 bids from 84 bidders, and the purchase price was $17,710. Ordinarily, I do not share the price I paid for a domain name, but since this one was a public auction, the price will be publicly reported anyway.
I like Geographic.com because there are many uses for the domain name. There are likely hundreds of companies and websites (or more) around the world that use the descriptive “Geographic” term in their name. I can also see that there are thousands of registered domain names with “Geographic” in them, and it looks like nearly 100 “Geographic” domain names with different extensions are registered (like Geographic.Farm and Geographic.Media).
Do you think I got a good deal, paid market value, or overpaid to buy the domain name?
