Domain Sales

In 2023, I noticed a company called Macro had announced a big funding round, and it was using Macro.com for its website. Its brand matching domain name caught my attention, and I learned the company had rebranded after being founded under the Coparse brand:

Whoa – Macro isn’t messing around. They secured the valuable https://t.co/WsuRKAXVd1 domain name.

The company started out being called Coparse. Now, https://t.co/JO8wfTXFT2 forwards to https://t.co/WsuRKAXVd1.

Fantastic brand and domain name upgrade.https://t.co/wghppBv9yE https://t.co/qfOKXnTFqQ

— Embrace.com (@embrace_com) February 8, 2023

Last night on LinkedIn, Macro CEO Jacob Beckerman shared some background about the domain name acquisition, including the purchase price.

Atom.com introduced new listing levels for domain names listed for sale on its platform. Each comes with a different marketing opportunities as well as differing commission rates. Bob Hawkes shared a breakdown of the new listing levels:

There are now three listing levels @atomHQ:
▶️ Standard (7.5% commission, as now)
▶️ Plus (15% commission, pricing flexibility, marketing and upcoming marketplace) 🆕
▶️ Premium (curated, as now)
Read more https://t.co/Vh3CZiMFLA

— Bob Hawkes (@AGreatDomain) January 8, 2025

I agree with Dot TV’s reply on X that the listing level tiers are getting too complicated.

Outbound marketing can be an effective way to sell domain names. It can help inform prospective buyers about a domain name being listed for sale or having a price reduction. This personal interaction with a prospective buyer can help facilitate a domain name sale.

It can be very difficult to find the right buyers – and even the right decision maker. It can also be challenging to close a deal with a buyer due to budgetary or pricing reasons. Outbound marketing is not without risk – particularly legal risk due to potential issues of trademark infringement or even a misinterpretation of trademark law.

Put simply, selling domain names via outbound marketing can be rewarding but is challenging.

My 2024 domain name sales were relatively flat year over year. I sold more domain names in 2024 than I sold in 2023, but it was by a slim enough margin that I will call it flat. My sale revenue was also slightly higher in 2024 than in 2023. I would still say the year was *good* but it’s always nice to see growth.

In looking at year over year sales at Namebio, the number of sales was relatively flat (145,025 for 2023 vs. 144,633 for 2024). I am sure there will be more sales added to the database, but it will likely be relatively flat YoY when all is said and done. Domain name sale dollar volume was higher in 2024 ($185.3 million) than in 2023 ($159.2 million). Keep in mind that this data only counts publicly reported sales.

Another leading AI company acquired its brand matching .com domain name. This time, it is Grok.com, which was acquired by xAI for its Grok chatbot. The acquisition was first reported and shared on X late in the day yesterday:

💬 Looks like Grok․com now has been acquired by xAi (Elon Musk).

⏩ Domain forwards to x․ai pic.twitter.com/p49Mu3CLEU

— ARIYAS (@domainretail) December 23, 2024

Whois records are currently “redacted for privacy.” However, an historic Whois record from DomainTools show the domain name was briefly registered to xAI at GoDaddy in early December: