At the end of May, I noticed that the Voice.com domain name had transferred to GoDaddy under privacy proxy. I wondered if MicroStrategy had sold the domain name, and it was later learned that it had been acquired by a startup called Block.One. The company announced that Voice would become “a blockchain-based social media application.” Voice.com is clearly a valuable domain name, and today we learned just how much it cost to acquire it.

Last week, I noticed that the Velo.com domain name had been acquired via Marksmen, a brand protection company that offers domain name acquisition services:

Looks like @MarksmenTweets acquired https://t.co/9HtN6caHNw on behalf of a client. Great cycling domain name.

— Elliot Silver (@DInvesting) June 12, 2019

I think a dream scenario for a domain investor is selling a domain name to a startup, getting some equity in that startup as part of the deal, having that company turn into a billion dollar unicorn, and selling the stock for many millions of dollars. This doesn’t happen very often. For the vast majority of startups that buy domain names, giving up equity at an early stage is too big of an ask. I want to share an idea I have when a startup will not give up any equity in a deal to buy a domain name.

A couple of months ago, I needed something from Target. I can’t remember what it was, but I needed it more quickly than when I would get it if I bought it online. I went to the Target store and noticed the price in-store was higher than the online price. Although ordering online may be more convenient than going to a store, actually getting the product right away is more convenient and there are additional costs associated with keeping the inventory in the store.

This got me thinking about domain name pricing, and  I think some people might have a similar philosophy when it comes to domain names.