Matt Barrie Shares Domain Industry Trend Data

Elliot Silver
-
0

I left NamesCon a bit earlier than usual due to a less than ideal flight schedule to Boston. Unfortunately, that means I missed several panels, including Matt Barrie’s keynote. Because of Matt’s role as President of Escrow.com, he was able to share some valuable domain industry trend data in his keynote presentation.

Because of Escrow.com’s position in the domain industry, I think the company is privy to quite a bit of data that others may not have the luxury of seeing. Jackson Ellsgood, the new General Manager at Escrow.com, shared some of the data from Matt’s keynote, and I am happy to share it with you as well.

Because of the confidential nature of the business, the data is more of a general overview of the domain resale market than a detailed look at individual sales data. Here are some of the more interesting data points from Matt Barrie’s keynote presentation:

Read More

SnapNames Launches New Website

Elliot Silver
-
0

If you’re a SnapNames customer, you likely just received an email from the company announcing a new website. I have published the full email below. At this point, most of the changes are cosmetic, but there have been some functionality upgrades as well.

The changes and updates to the website that were highlighted in the email include the following:

  • Streamlined drop-down navigation menu
  • Easy 1-click access to your account information, financial center, and auction history
  • Advanced Search / Basic Search toggling
  • Automatic refresh of bids in auctions
  • Expanded content and information about aftermarket domains and services we offer

The company intends to

Read More

QLQ Brokerage Introduces “Domain Guaranteed Buy-Back”

Elliot Silver
-
17

QLQ is a relatively new domain name brokerage that appears to primarily target Chinese domain name buyers. I have never done business with QLQ, but I am on the company’s email distribution list. Some of the domain names the company is promoting on its website are IO.com, FJ.com, and IB.com. Past sales mentioned on the website include QT.com, 732.com, and 793.com among others.

This morning, QLQ announced a unique “Domain Guaranteed Buy-Back” option. I am not familiar with any other companies making this type of offer before, and it certainly seems interesting.

As the operator of a US-based company, one major concern I have is that funds seem to be  held outside of the US.  If there are any issues, it could be more difficult to enforce the agreement.  I have not looked at the contract or spent much time thinking about this since I just received the email, so I would be interested in hearing what readers have to say about the offer.

Here’s the text of the email that was sent:

Read More

Mike Berkens Sells “Vast Majority” of Domain Portfolio to GoDaddy

Elliot Silver
-
38

I just saw a tweet from Mike Berkens announcing that his company sold the “vast majority of domain names in the Worldwide Media, Inc. domain name portfolio” to GoDaddy. The tweet linked to a press release with the entire announcement.

I am somewhat surprised about this news, although the acquisition

Read More

(Photos) Nearly 30 Attend Domain Sponsor Meetup in Brooklyn

Elliot Silver
-
4

Regretfully, I could not attend the Domain Sponsor / Rook Media domain investor meetup held in Brooklyn earlier this week. I heard the meetup had nearly 30 attendees from the greater New York City area and beyond.

The meetup started at a bar called Wolf and Deer, and Rook Media / Domain Sponsor rented a suite at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn where attendees watched the Brooklyn Nets take on the Phoenix Suns. Kevin Diaz, the Director of Sales and Marketing at the company, shared some photos with me, which I have posted below. I see some friendly faces from various conferences and my time in New York City.

I think meetups like these are a great way to get to know other local domain investors. I think it can also be a great way for companies to show their support of domain investors and introduce products and services as well as customer support staff.

If your company is

Read More

Brandon Abbey Departs Escrow.com Amid Company Shake Up

Elliot Silver
-
26

In April of 2015, it was announced that Freelancer.com would acquire Escrow.com in a $7.5 million deal, pending regulatory approval. The deal was approved, and it closed a few weeks ago. Late last week, I learned that Brandon Abbey is no longer with Escrow.com after an 11 year tenure as its President.

In an email sent to me on Sunday, Freelancer.com CEO Matt Barrie confirmed Brandon’s departure: “We parted ways on good terms. As you know Brandon has been running the business for a long period of time and is well known for doing a good job. However we think the potential for Escrow.com is much bigger. We’re moving to up the tempo of the business and run it as a high growth technology company.”

I reached out to Brandon, and while he confirmed that he is no longer with the company, he declined to comment.

I attribute much of Escrow.com’s superior reputation and industry best practices to

Read More
1...444546...124Page 45 of 124