Some domain investors and investment companies prefer to keep their domain name purchases and sales private. Others like to share their deals publicly. Some people don’t care either way. I thought I would discuss what I see as the advantages of publicly reporting domain name sales as well as the advantages of keeping domain sales private:
Publicity Advantages:
A few weeks ago, I read an article about a company called Firefly, which had just raised $21.5 million in seed funding. I knew the matching Firefly.com domain was forwarding to MediaOptions.com and likely being brokered by Media Options, and I visited Firefly.com to see if this company acquired the matching domain name before the funding news hit the press.
I recently detected that the Fund.com domain name had transferred to GoDaddy. It was noteworthy because I knew that it had been listed for sale via Media Options for $2.5 million. Before sharing anything, I reached out to Andrew Rosener, CEO of Media Options, to see if his firm brokered the sale of Fund.com. Andrew confirmed the news to me but could not comment further:
I saw that Fund .com transferred to GoDaddy. The domain name had been listed for sale via @MediaOptions. I reached out to @andrewrosener, and he told me that his firm brokered the sale of the domain name but he could not comment about the price. I believe ask was $2.5m.
— Elliot Silver (@DInvesting) January 2, 2019
A couple of months ago, the owner of Huckleberry.com reached out to me because he decided to sell the domain name. I had previously submitted an offer, and he was asking people who had inquired in the past to make a best offer. As the owner of Lilac.com, Guava.com, and Honeydew.com, I know that plant and fruit domain names get a lot of interest, and I submitted an offer.
Unfortunately for me, my offer was not sufficient, and I was unable to acquire the domain name.
According to a tweet from Techmeme referencing an article in The Verge, German automaker Audi spun out its VR division and partnered with Disney to launch a startup called Holoride:
Audi spins out its VR division into a new startup called Holoride that announces a partnership with Disney to make VR experiences for back seat passengers (@sokane1 / The Verge)https://t.co/WWVHfZHbVhhttps://t.co/Rirpo7YqTt
— Techmeme (@Techmeme) January 7, 2019
Smartly, the startup is using the exact match Holoride.com domain name for its website.
I am not sure about you, but I regularly receive a reply from a prospective buyer who tries to tell me my domain name is worth less than the price I set. “That domain name isn’t worth six figures,” or something along those lines, is a response I receive on a regular basis. It’s like somehow the lawyer, software engineer, or digital marketing manager is also an expert in domain name valuation.
Despite an obvious lack of knowledge about domain name values, some people are quick to opine that a domain name is overpriced. Domain name valuation is subjective (and dynamic), but there is enough information and data available that a buyer should at least be able to get an idea about what a domain name is worth before inquiring about it.
What works best for me is replying by asking them how they came to the conclusion that the domain name is not worth six figures. When I respond to offers, I usually provide a list of domain name sales I believe are somewhat comparable, so asking them for insight as to why my domain name is not worth an amount similar to other comparable sales I shared is usually disarming.
