Domain Sales

Early this morning, Andy Booth tweeted about AI.com, asking if the domain name was acquired by ChatGPT. Andy presumably asked because the AI.com domain name is now forwarding to the ChatGPT website, a popular AI chatbot.

Was https://t.co/s0wSPMb5dP bought by ChatGPT?

— Andy Booth (@360) February 15, 2023

AI.com had long been owned by Future Media Architects (FMA). In September of 2021, I reported on the sale of AI.com. The deal was brokered by Saw.com, which has long represented FMA on its domain name sales. In my article about the sale, I shared what I understood to be the asking price of AI.com along with a comment from Saw.com Founder and CEO Jeff Gabriel:

I am a highly competitive person. Whether I am playing a tennis match against a friend or playing a board game with my family, I always want to win. This competitive drive often shows itself when I am negotiating to buy or sell a domain name. Like when I am playing boys against girls soccer with my family, sometimes it’s better to lose the competitive spirit for the betterment of all.

I regularly find myself in domain name negotiations where a gap exists between the price I’ve set and the “max” price a buyer has in mind. If the gulf is far too great, it’s easy to wish the prospect well and move on to other things. When the gap is more narrow, it sometimes comes down to who gives up first.

Throughout the year, I’ve had quite a few deals that did not come to fruition. Several simply didn’t get over the finish line for one reason or another, and quite a few died when the payment was due. With just a few weeks remaining in the year, now may be a good time to follow up if you want to try and close deals before the end of the year.

Of the remaining weeks in December, this is probably going to be the best week to get deals done. People are still focused on business before the end of the year, but there isn’t always as much urgency as the following two weeks. People may be more responsive to emails this week than they will be for the next two.

With the year drawing to a close, Escrow.com released its 2022 Master of Domains list. This list is comprised of the top 10 highest-grossing domain name brokers of the prior year (2021). Typically, the list is revealed at NamesCon Global in January, but that conference was moved to the Spring. The sales volume is based on deals closed via Escrow.com.

For the fourth consecutive year, the top grossing domain broker of the year is Andrew Rosener of Media Options.

The list has become an annual tradition, with some of the best domain name brokers being honored. Typically, the award ceremony is held at NamesCon, but the conference won’t be held until the Spring.