Domain Names in Auction Should be Removed from Marketplaces

Elliot Silver
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It is annoying and perhaps a bit disheartening to add a domain name I won in an auction to one of my marketplace accounts and learn that it can’t be added yet because it is listed for sale in another person’s account. This happens when the former owner let the domain name expire or put it up for auction and did not remove the domain name from the account post-auction.

The annoyance comes from having to email the marketplace and ask them to remove a domain name from someone’s account so I can add it to mine. I need to wait for the marketplace to remove the domain name and then I need to remember to go back and re-add it to my account when they get around to it. The disheartening part is seeing a name listed for sale for $2,500 when I paid $1,500 for it at auction. I understand that timing is everything with domain names, but if a name didn’t sell for $2,500 when it was publicly listed for sale, it could mean that it will be more challenging to see a worthwhile ROI on my investment.

I am not entirely sure what marketplaces like Sedo and Afternic can do to scrub their listings of domain names in auction. Once a domain name is in a private auction, the domain name is no longer visible to non-bidders (including third party marketplaces). Sometimes a

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Diamond.com Changes Hands

Elliot Silver
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It looks like one of the most valuable domain names has changed hands. Diamond.com recently had a registrant change, and it appears as if the domain name was sold. In 2006, Diamond.com reportedly sold for $7.5 million. According to NameBio, the $7.5 million sale is the eight largest public domain name sale of all time.

Prior to the recent Whois change approximately a week ago, the domain name had been owned by a Montreal-based company. It appears to be the same entity that has owned it since the sale in 2006. The domain name is now registered to a different entity located in Toronto called Gonumerical Ltd.

When you visit Diamond.com, you can see a very limited “coming soon” page, so it is not clear how the domain name will be used going forward. I did a Google search to learn more about Gonumerical Ltd., and I found a press release about a

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It’s Silly to Buy Something That is Much Harder to Sell

Elliot Silver
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Making a living as a domain name investor is not as easy as it may seem to be from the outside. Serious domain investors spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) on their domain name investments. Those who are most successful know what to buy and how much they can afford to spend, but even with that knowledge, it can take a considerable amount of time to profitably sell these domain names.

Buying domain names that have value has become more challenging with more competition vying for similar types of domain names. In addition, it has become far more expensive. The cost to buy good to great domain names has gone up considerably. This is a challenge faced by everyone still building their domain name portfolios, including veteran domain name investors.

This has also made it even more difficult for people who are new to the business of domain name investing or for those who have a small bankroll. As a result of the increased competition and pricing for good .com domain names, many people seem

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Dax.com Sold via Sedo for $500,000

Elliot Silver
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According to a tweet from Sedo’s Frank Tillmanns, the Dax.com domain name was sold for $500,000. I believe Frank brokered the domain name with Hao Shen, the Country Manager for China at Sedo.

The Whois record for Dax.com is currently private, and the domain name is registered at Uniregistry. Using DomainTools’ Whois history tool, it does not look like the Whois information has changed yet. It is possible the buyer is keeping Dax.com at Uniregistry for the time being, although I do not see an archived record with Sedo’s escrow service listed. It is unclear who the buyer is at this point since the domain name is not yet resolving.

NameBio does

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Escrow.com Announces 2018 Masters of Domains

Elliot Silver
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Prior to the live auction today at NamesCon, Escrow.com announced its annual Masters of Domains awards to the ten highest grossing individual domain investors of the past year. The award is based on brokered transactions closed via Escrow.com. Each award winner was presented a special trophy and prize honoring their achievement.

This year, the top three Masters of Domains winners were Raymond Liu of 62.com, Andrew Rosener of Media Options, and Mohammed Hashim Al-Asadi of TopNames. I would imagine each of these top three brokers cleared over $10 million in deals last year. That is quite an achievement. Last year’s award winners can be found here.

Here are the ten award winning brokers for 2018 with some information about each provided by Escrow.com:

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.Club Registry Launches Names.club Marketplace

Elliot Silver
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When I checked into NamesCon yesterday, I received a metal coin with a $100 credit for shopping at Names.club. Later on last night, I received an email from .Club Registry CMO Jeff Sass to officially announce the launch of the Names.club domain name marketplace.

Explaining the genesis of Names.club, Jeff shared this with me:

“This is a logical expansion of the Get.club platform we launched at NamesCon last year. Get.club proved to the market that there is demand for premium names that can be paid for over time, a much more palatable model for small business and entrepreneur end-users. At Names.club we’re expanding the inventory to include great, brandable, domains with other extensions, such as .Shop, .Miami, .Fit and more. GMO and MMX are already on board and we expect to announce other Registry partners soon.”

I believe all of the listings will be from registry partners rather than individual domain investors seeking to sell their own new gTLD domain names. Of note, I was told all of the domain names listed for sale on Names.club will have a standard renewal fee. Domain investors can sign up to broker domain names listed for sale on the platform.

The full press release is below:

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