Details About the DAN.com & Media Options Partnership

This afternoon, DAN.com and Media Options announced a partnership that will allow DAN sellers to have Media Options broker domain names on their behalf. This is a nice option for DAN sellers who want to utilize the platform to sell their domain names but would prefer to have their make offer deals negotiated by a domain broker rather than on their own.

The press release announcing the deal with commentary from both parties is shared below, and I am able to share additional details about the mechanics of how this will work.

DAN sellers will have the option of selecting Media Options to broker all domain names in a portfolio or a shorter list of domain names in a portfolio. Sellers are also able to forward leads above a certain value threshold. Most valuably, in my opinion, sellers will be able to forward leads to Media Options on an ad hoc basis. I might choose this option if a particularly high value prospective buyer submits a purchase offer where I am uncomfortable negotiating on my behalf. I might also choose this option if I am traveling or can not otherwise fully focus on a negotiation.

For leads successfully brokered by Media Options, the commission rate will be 20% per successful sale. The standard commission rate for a deal done via DAN is 9%, while commission for an imported lead is 5%. I do not believe a seller can import a lead and have Media Options negotiate a sale – which could essentially amount to outbound lead generation.

Media Options has built a solid reputation as being a (likely the) top grossing domain name broker. In fact, Andrew Rosener and Media Options have won the Escrow.com Master of Domains award multiple times. There have been many times where I saw a high value domain name transfer to a buyer and later learn that Media Options was the broker of record on the deal. There are also many times where I suspected Media Options successfully brokered a domain name.

What will be interesting to observe is how Media Options adapts to this new DAN stream of business. I would imagine it will be very likely they will be dealing with many leads, and I would also imagine the vast majority are not close to the quality of domain names the company currently handles. That being said, the leads that are sent should all have some level of buyer interest, so that will work to their advantage. I am unsure if Media Options has the right to reject leads that are sent to them.

I was told that when a seller assigns a lead to Media Options, they will take over the entire sale process and are responsible for keeping the seller apprised of the negotiation. I do not believe the seller will have the ability to pull back a lead once it is assigned to Media Options.

Reza Sardeha, CEO of DAN, told me he expects that Media Options will be onboarded by January of 2021, so it’s several weeks away. I would not hesitate to send leads to Media Options and will be happy to give them a shot.

Press Release:

MediaOptions Partners With DAN.COM To Provide Domain Brokerage Services On The DAN.COM Platform

Market-leading domain brokerage firm, MediaOptions to provide its services to customers who list domains on DAN.COM; Partnership expected to drive significant increases in conversions and sales for participating domain portfolio owners

Lisbon and AMSTERDAM, 3 December , 2020 — MediaOptions, the global leader in domain name brokerage services, today announced a partnership with DAN.COM, the blockchain-powered Domain Automation Network, to provide brokerage services to customers listing domains on the DAN.COM platform. The partnership is important for the domain name space as it combines the cutting-edge DAN.COM platform with MediaOptions’ world-leading domain brokerage services in order to drive significant increases in conversions and sales for participating domain portfolio owners.

DAN.COM is a leader in domain name transactions, making change of control and ownership of digital brands easy, safe and instant. The demand for available domains continues to increase, however, the domain market is failing to efficiently organize and keep pace with the increase in demand. DAN.COM aims to close this gap using blockchain technology to better automate and streamline escrow processes, and also introduce new and domain purchase and use models in a scalable and frictionless way. The end goal is to make domain transactions more fluid and secure, providing buyers and sellers with more options and opportunities than ever before.

“Our partnership provides DAN.COM customers with greater returns while democratizing access to MediaOptions, which is the number one domain brokerage firm in the world,” said Reza Sardeha, CEO and founder of DAN.COM. “We continuously strive to provide our customers with the most advanced domain transaction platform in the world, including the integration of services from trusted and valued partners like MediaOptions.”

With 9M domain names listed on its platform, DAN.COM regularly fields a substantial number of brokerage requests. Under this new partnership, MediaOptions will handle these requests and convert them into successful transactions. MediaOptions will manage the brokering of these sales, while the escrow, payment and related domain transfers will be done on the DAN.COM platform — providing buyers and sellers with an unprecedented combination of platform features and brokerage capabilities.

“I have been a big fan of DAN.COM for years. They continuously innovate in the domain space and have built an impressive and highly functional platform,” said Andrew Rosener, CEO and founder of MediaOptions. “At the same time, we continue to make strides in growing our business and finding efficient ways to bring our best-in-breed services to more customers. Our partnership with DAN.COM will allow us to continue that growth, significantly increase our lead flow, and bring our ‘Domains-as-a-Service’ model to more customers — all while working with one of the most technologically forward-thinking companies in the industry.”

About MediaOptions
MediaOptions is an industry-leading domain broker and domain services firm providing boutique domain acquisition services and specializing in connecting buyers and sellers of the World’s most valuable domains. Initially founded in 2007 by domain name pioneer Andrew Rosener and his wife Anna Droeghoff-Rosener, MediaOptions has facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in domain name transactions and is the top independent domain broker in the world. Quantifying that position, Rosener and MediaOptions have been recognized by Escrow.com as the highest grossing domain broker for the past five plus years in a row. MediaOptions is a market maker, bringing liquidity to the illiquid yet highly valuable asset class of premium domain names. In addition to its domain brokerage services, MediaOptions also owns and operates its own portfolio of super-premium domain names. To learn more about MediaOptions and its services please visit https://www.mediaoptions.com.

About DAN.COM
DAN.COM (Domain Automation Network) is the award-winning platform that makes the change of control and ownership of domains, easier, safer and faster than ever before — directly addressing the biggest, most significant problems the domain industry faces today. Powered by blockchain, DAN’s backend infrastructure handles both simple and complex domain transactions and transfers in a fully automated, transparent way. DAN.com is ranked the best domain marketplace in the world, and fifth best online marketplace overall, according to TrustPilot. Our mission is to inspire open and transparent practices in domain trading and to make unused domains accessible to everyone.

Founded in 2014 and based in Amsterdam, DAN.COM has achieved 200% year-over-year growth for the past three years, and is a privately held company backed by Axivate Capital and AirBridge Capital. Read our case study with IBM, follow us on Twitter, or learn more at https://www.dan.com.