Domain Sales

I’ve known about Efty for a few years, since the company has been advertising on my blog. I decided to give the platform a test with around 500 of my domain names. I am using the account option that will allow me to have up to 1,500 domain names in my account at a monthly cost of $36.

The domain names I chose for this test are priced between $1,500 – $90,000. They aren’t my top tier domain names, but it’s a mix of inventory-quality and higher quality assets that have buy it now prices. Most of the names are priced under $10,000.

In the last couple of years, I have been using a lawyer for escrow services more than ever before. Although there tend to be more steps when using a lawyer for escrow, I have found the deal closing process to be more streamlined, often quicker, and the cost is flexibly reasonable.

When I use a lawyer for escrow, I can integrate the purchase agreement with the escrow agreement. Instead of using a purchase agreement that doesn’t totally align with the escrow agreement, having a unified purchase agreement is helpful. This is primarily an issue on a payment plan deal or when special terms are necessary in the purchase agreement. It is easier to get a counterparty to agree to language on an integrated agreement.

When someone inquires about purchasing a domain name, they’ve already indicated the desire to own the asset. I’ve always felt that a good domain name sells itself, and I can’t really convince someone to buy a domain name any more than their desired interest.

I’ve crafted a response to inbound inquiries that vary a bit based on the domain name. For instance, when I reply to prospects who want to buy Flashpoint.com, one of the lines is “Flashpoint.com is a one of a kind asset that is ready to be built into a powerful brand and become a flashpoint for a company’s marketing efforts.”

There is still a significant hurdle between someone expressing interest in a domain name or making a purchase offer and the acquisition of the domain name. Usually, the acquisition cost is that hurdle. Someone expecting to pay $100 for a domain name is blown out of the water when they see a six figure price tag. Those gulfs are almost impossible to bridge.

Jeff Gabriel, Founder of Saw.com, recently announced the launch of the Saw.com domain name brokerage platform. Saw.com has specialized in domain name broker services, and the platform has been expanded to allow third party sellers to use it and its internal sales tools to sell their own domain names.

Andrew Allemann gave a good introduction to the platform, in addition to a recent podcast interview with Jeff. When I tried to have a look at the back-end of the platform to see the features and how it works as a seller, it required that I sign up for a new account.

I asked Jeff if he could create a video to allow people to see how to use the platform.

Yesterday, Swetha Yenugula shared that she sold the Gosh.xyz domain name for $24,888 via Afternic in a buy it now sale.

https://t.co/zMwnchABF1 sold for $24888 via @afternic

Using NS1 BIN lander. Not sure whether it was sold via @godaddy reg path or Via BIN lander.#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #domains #domainnames #startup #startups #venturecapital #defi #technology #cryptocurrency #DAO… pic.twitter.com/XPn5w4Xydk

— Swetha.xyz (@DomainNameGear) August 5, 2024

In response to her post, Braden Pollock shared that he recently sold Gosh.com via Atom.com. I exchanged messages with Braden, and he told me the domain name sold for $475,000, and he gave me permission to write about it. The buyer paid for the domain name in full at the time of purchase.

If you watch any of the financial news television channels, you have probably seen commercials for Public. In 2023, I wrote about why Public upgraded its domain name from HelloPublic.com to Public.com. At that time, Co-Founder Jannick Malling shared insights behind the company’s domain acquisition of Public.com.

This afternoon in a thread on X, Public Co-Founder Leif Abraham shared how much his company paid to acquire Public.com – $900,000. Public was able to acquire the domain name with a payment plan, allowing it to leverage the domain name to grow its business while paying for the domain name over time.

According to the thread, the company put down an initial payment of $150,000. The company agreed to pay $4,000/month for 36 months with a lump sum payment of $606,000 at the end of the term. Public ended up paying it off within 18 months.