Last week, I was looking at some domain names on Sedo. I saw a one word .com domain name listed for sale for less than $500 The domain name was developed, and it was way underpriced from my perspective. I reached out to the owner to confirm the listing was legitimate and concurrently purchased the domain name on Sedo and made a payment via credit card.

During this short window of time, the owner confirmed the domain name was for sale, and then he told me the buy it now price was an error. It was their first time using Sedo and apparently they made a mistake with their listing. They relayed this information to Sedo and the deal was canceled and I was refunded.

Sedo informed me that the seller stated this was an error. The transaction was canceled, and I was told "You might want to take a legal action against the seller, therefore we have made his contact data available in your Sedo contract."

I have no doubt that the seller is being truthful. I anticipated that it was an error, but I bought it anyway just in case they simply → Read More

It is annoying and perhaps a bit disheartening to add a domain name I won in an auction to one of my marketplace accounts and learn that it can't be added yet because it is listed for sale in another person's account. This happens when the former owner let the domain name expire or put it up for auction and did not remove the domain name from the account post-auction.

The annoyance comes from having to email the marketplace and ask them to remove a domain name from someone's account so I can add it to mine. I need to wait for the marketplace to remove the domain name and then I need to remember to go back and re-add it to my account when they get around to it. The disheartening part is seeing a name listed for sale for $2,500 when I paid $1,500 for it at auction. I understand that timing is everything with domain names, but if a name didn't sell for $2,500 when it was publicly listed for sale, it could mean that it will be more challenging to see a worthwhile ROI on my investment.

I am not entirely sure what marketplaces like → Read More

According to a tweet from Sedo's Frank Tillmanns, the Dax.com domain name was sold for $500,000. I believe Frank brokered the domain name with Hao Shen, the Country Manager for China at Sedo.

Just sold https://t.co/EQSjgJIyta for $500,000 together with my colleague Hao! Congrats to both Buyer an Seller! #Sedo #DomainSales

— Frank Tillmanns (@FrankTillmanns) February 5, 2018

The Whois record for Dax.com is currently private, and the domain name is registered at Uniregistry. Using DomainTools' Whois history tool, it does not look like the Whois information has changed yet. It is possible the buyer is keeping Dax.com at Uniregistry for the time being, although I do not see an archived record with Sedo's escrow service listed. It is unclear who the buyer is at this point since the domain name is not yet resolving.

NameBio does (more…) → Read More

According to a tweet from Sedo broker Dave Evanson, Mike Mann sold the CryptoWorld.com domain name for $194,888 via Sedo:

Crytpoworld(.)com... Congrats to Mike Mann for selling Cryptoworld(.)com via sedo for $194,888!!

— dave evanson (@SedoDaveEvanson) January 15, 2018

It looks like Mike Mann's company has owned this domain name since late 2011, according to DomainTools Whois history tool. While I don't know what Mike's company paid to buy the domain name, NameBio recorded that this domain name sold in 2006 for just $485.

The Whois information is currently showing Sedo's escrow account, which means the buyer has paid for the domain name but the domain name has not yet transferred. It also means that we do not yet know who acquired the domain name or how it will be used going forward.

When I was doing a Whois history search, I saw that Screenshots.com has (more…) → Read More

About a week ago, Sedo reported the sale of Publica.com, which sold via its platform for $75,000. Although it is very early in the year, the sale currently ranks as the second largest public sale of the year on the DNJ sales chart. Had it closed in 2017, it would have ranked in the top 100 public domain name sales last year.

I was monitoring the Whois information to see who took possession of the domain name after it left Sedo's escrow account. Although the Whois information is private so the registrant is not known for certain, it looks like the company that operates Publica.io acquired Publica.com. If you visit Publica.com, you will be forwarded to the Publica.io website. Publica is "an ICO and platform for publishing books in the blockchain era."

According to CoinMarketCap.com, a website that covers the cryptocurrency market, I believe Publica's ICO has a market cap of nearly $30 million USD. At the time of publication, each token (PBL) trades (more…) → Read More

My tweet about an offer I turned down for Lilac.com yielded some good discussion on Twitter and at NamePros a couple of weeks ago. I don't generally share sales data or offers, so this was out of the ordinary for me. It was also a bit strange seeing people discuss it publicly, although some good points were made. I thought I would share a bit more about my rationale for passing on the offer and the status of the domain name.

First, some background. I bought Lilac.com privately several years ago. I think it is a meaningful domain name that can be used by a company in virtually any field. For those unaware, lilac is a color in the purple palate, and it is also a shrub with beautiful purple flowers. We have several wild lilac bushes on the side of our driveway, and they bloom in the Spring as the temperatures get warmer. It is my sign that the Spring is coming. It is also my daughter's favorite color. I think it would be a positive and happy brand, perhaps with a touch feminine. It is easy to spell and is memorable.

I want to → Read More