Escrow.com Q2 2020 Domain Investment Index

Elliot Silver
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4

Escrow.com published and shared its Domain Investment Index for the second quarter of 2020, and the report was fairly bleak. In fact, as you can clearly see on the quarterly comparison chart on page 2, Q2 2020 had the lowest quarterly sales volume in two years, since Escrow.com began compiling the report. The full report pdf can be downloaded here, and I want to share a few thoughts about Q2.

In Q2, Escrow.com processed $55.2 million in domain name sales, down from $85.8 million in Q1. It looks like the previous low sales figures were in the high $60 to low $70 million range. Here’s a screengrab of the chart showing quarterly sales volume since 2018:

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When a Broker Can Help

Elliot Silver
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2

I read Ray Hackney’s interview with DAN.com CEO Reza Sardeha, and he mentioned that the company is “setting up a brokerage division to provide integrated buyer/seller brokerage support.” I don’t typically need broker support when negotiating a deal, but I found myself in a situation where I think having third party assistance could prove beneficial in closing a deal.

I won a pending delete auction a week ago, and the domain name was provisioned to a registrar I have used maybe once or twice. I set the DAN nameservers but did not list a BIN price, so it showed a make offer field. I was unsure if I could even sell this domain name on DAN because of the 60 day lock on new registrations (it was deleted and re-registered before the auction), so I did not want someone to execute the BIN and end up not being able to do the deal.

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WashingtonFootball.com Acquired by Washington Football Team

Elliot Silver
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The NFL football team formerly known as the Washington Redskins has acquired the WashingtonFootball.com domain name. Redskins.com is now forwarding to WashingtonFootball.com, and the NFL team’s Twitter profile now includes a link to WashingtonFootball.com. Details about the domain name sale was reported by the former registrant, Cal Spears, CEO at Better Collective Tennessee.

According to a tweet from Spears, the NFL team privately acquired the domain name from him using a broker from GoDaddy. He had owned WashingtonFootball.com for 8 years:

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Domain Name Sales Can Help and Can Hurt

Elliot Silver
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There’s an active Twitter discussion going on regarding the reporting of domain name sales. I have made my feelings clear regarding the reporting of my own domain name sales. Beyond a couple sales I shared years ago, I do not share my sales, and I don’t really see that changing unless a buyer specifically requests this as a part of a deal.

Rick Schwartz mentioned that he is publishing an article about non-disclosure agreements, and I am looking forward to reading his thoughts:

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Questions I Ask Myself When Considering an Offer

Elliot Silver
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Knowing when to accept an offer and knowing when to pass is a critical component to investing in domain names. I want to do my best to maximize the revenue from a domain investment, but I do not want to regret passing on an offer.

Nikul Sanghvi shared two question he asks himself when considering whether or not to accept an offer. I always ask myself a version of question two, although I don’t really think about the first one much:

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Follow the Data

Elliot Silver
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1

One of the best ways to know what domain names to buy is to learn what domain names are selling and why they are selling. It is good to read the weekly DNJournal sales report to see the most valuable domain name sales, but buying domain names that are similar to what is selling at that end of the market is difficult, very expensive, and risky. Knowing what is selling in the middle of the market may be the best education for the majority of people who invest in domain names.

Yesterday, Ed Emery shared some background about one of his recent SquadHelp sales:

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