Daily Poll

Translate.com sold via auction on Flippa for $853,000, as reported on NamePros. This was not simply a domain name sale. I believe the deal includes the revenue generating website as well. Since the Flippa auction just ended, I doubt the deal has closed yet.

Assuming the deal closes without issue, I thought it would be interesting to hear what you guys have to say about the purchase price. You can see the reported revenue and profit on the Flippa listing and in the NamePros thread.

Do you think this was a good deal for the buyer, a good deal for the seller, or a fair deal for both parties?

At almost all of the major art and memorabilia auction houses, sellers AND buyers pay a commission to the auction house. The buyers’ part is called the “buyer’s premium.” To date, there has not been a buyer’s premium on domain name auctions, beyond the 2.5% fee NameJet began charging in 2016.

I am curious to know how people would feel if a buyer’s premium was added to live domain name auctions.

While buyers might balk at agreeing to an additional fee, they would understand this going into the auction and adjust their bidding accordingly. Having this fee shift could be advantageous, assuming the commission fee would be reduced for sellers. Reducing the current 25% sale commission for live auctions to 15% and adding a 10% premium to buyers may entice more sellers to list their domain name for sale via auction. Having a better selection of domain names at auction would be nice.

Would you be ok with this change?

Raymond Hackney published a relatable article about “Domains Wanted” posts on NamePros. I think the commentary would apply to other domain forums, Twitter, and on other venues.

I have posted a few threads on forums and even here on my blog, and my experience has been similar to what Raymon wrote for the most part. I would often receive domain name submissions that are totally unrelated to the ask or the prices are not where I requested. I try to be very specific about what I want, but it’s difficult to do that and keep it open enough for good domain names of interest.

I did have a good experience a couple of months ago when a domain name wanted tweet resulted in the purchase of Cappuccino.com.

Have you had success buying a domain name after publishing a “domain wanted” post? If so, where did you post it and what did you buy?

It’s Black Friday, and that has come to mean lots of deals on various products. On Black Friday, some people line up before stores even open in an effort to save money on various items. Online retailers regularly have big sales, although many of their sales are saved until Cyber Monday.

Companies in the domain name space – primarily registrars – offer special deals on domain names and associated services. I bet there are also investors and brokers who send emails offering special prices or incentives on aftermarket domain names they want to sell.

I am sure there are domain investors who are actively monitoring their emails for Black Friday domain name deals. Maybe they will transfer some domain names for a special transfer discount, or perhaps they will add some years on their domain names.

Nothing has really caught my eye so far, so I won’t be taking advantage of any Black Friday deals or discounts on domain names. Will you? Vote in the poll below. If you see any interesting Black Friday domain name deals, feel free to share them in the comment section below:

I wrote about the Zoyo.com UDRP yesterday. I think the panelist made a good decision, especially with the domain registrant not responding to the UDRP.

According to NameBio, the Zoyo.com domain name sold in 2008 for $9,292. The domain registrant reportedly offered to sell the domain name to the complainant for $10,000.

In the comment section of yesterday’s article, there was some discussion about the value of the domain name. I thought I would ask readers what they think the value of Zoyo.com is.

Happy Thanksgiving!

During the course of selling a domain name, I don’t typically do much buyer due diligence beyond ensuring they will be able to close the deal. I figure Escrow.com, brokerage or marketplace, and/or my attorney can let me know if the buyer is on the OFAC list or if there is another reason I cannot do business with the buyer.

My company doesn’t own many sensitive domain names that could be problematic in the wrong hands. On names that could be sensitive though, I would ensure there are contractual obligations for the buyer’s usage of the domain name that would ensure the domain name is not used in a harmful manner. Sure, I would prefer not to sell a domain name to an organization that does things I don’t like, but it could be very difficult to police that.

I am curious if investors care who buys their domain names. Do you?