Working With Domain Brokers

Eric Borgos
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5

Elliot’s blog posting yesterday about conflicts of interest with domain brokers reminded me of what happened when I sold my Bored.com network of sites in 2008 for $4.5 million.

I was not really looking to sell Bored.com, but a broker approached me and asked if he could shop it around (like to Google, Yahoo, etc.). I had never heard of this broker (I don’t think he is still around) but since I was not actively looking to sell the site I figured it couldn’t hurt. After around 6 months he did not generate any offers so I sent out some emails on my own, since I had not given him an exclusive listing.

A few months later one of my potential buyers made me an offer. At the same exact time the broker also found a buyer. Both started in the

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InternetOfThings.com Being Brokered by Sedo

Elliot Silver
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3

I received a press release from Sedo this morning announcing that the company is the exclusive broker for the InternetOfThings.com domain name. The domain name is being represented by Sedo broker Brian Michitti. InternetOfThings.com was registered more than a decade ago, but with the “Internet of things” becoming a popular buzz term of late, the value has increased significantly.

Although the press release distributed by Sedo does not mention the asking price, Michitti had submitted the domain name for inclusion in a weekly brokerage listing sale article back in June of 2014, and the asking price had been

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Communicate With Your Domain Broker

Elliot Silver
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7

I’ve worked with a variety of domain brokers on outbound and inbound domain sales, and I have experienced different levels of communication with these domain brokers and brokerages. I think the domain owner should let the domain broker know how much communication is desired since different brokers tend to have different communication preferences.

When I have engaged a domain broker for an inbound purchase inquiry, especially for a domain name that receives quite a bit of regular interest, I appreciate it when my domain broker follows up with me regularly. I like to know what the buyer is thinking and where the buyer is at in terms of interest or taking action. Even if there is no chance of a deal (ie buyer willing to pay $10k but my price is $100k), I want to be updated with the status. Perhaps I can offer more flexibility in pricing or terms, and knowing what the buyer is thinking is helpful. It’s also helpful to know a status when holding negotiations with more than one party.

When I have engaged a domain broker for outbound sales, I

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NY Times: Nets.com Domain Name Owners Want $5m

Elliot Silver
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8

Mike Berkens posted an article about the Ebay auction for the Nets.com domain name that ended last week. The unknown reserve price was not met, and the high bid was $71,300. An article in the New York Times gives us information about the owners of Nets.com and how much they would like to get for the domain name.

Here are some of the details, which can be found in a photo caption within the NY Times article:

“Jane Hill, who runs the New Mexico company that owns Nets.com, with her son John. She has asked the Nets for $5 million for the domain, a figure the team has rejected.”

It’s not really a surprise to me that

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Vanity Fair Reveals Cost of Uber.com Domain Name

Elliot Silver
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9

Vanity Fair published an interesting article about Uber and Travis Kalanick, the company’s CEO and founder. If you enjoy reading about startups, you are going to enjoy Kara Swisher’s article, especially if you have used  Uber before. The company was first called UberCab, and it later became known as Uber.

As someone who is active in the domain space, one of the most interesting tidbits from the article was regarding the deal the company made to buy the Uber.com domain name, as well as how much it actually cost the company. The acquisition came shortly after the company received a C&D order from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the California Public Utilities Commission, which cited the company’s usage of the term “cab” in its name, among other issues.

Here is the deal the company made to acquire the Uber.com domain name, as written by Swisher:

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PR: Coin.org Sold for $75,000

Elliot Silver
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4

While I was traveling last week, I received a press release announcing the sale of Coin.org for $75,000. Based on DNJournal’s year to date domain name sales report, this is the largest .org domain name sale of the year so far. The deal was brokered by Domain Guardians, the company that issued the press release below. As you may know, Domain Guardians also brokered the million dollar BTC.com deal earlier this year.

In November of 2013, Mike Berkens reported that the Coin.org domain name sold for $4,000 via Godaddy/Afternic. At the time, Berkens opined that the sale “could be the bargain of the week at $4K especially with the popularity of BitCoin.”

The press release from Domain Guardians is below, and it has more information about the sale of Coin.org:

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