Several weeks ago, Hilco Streambank emailed me to notify my that several domain names were coming up for sale in a bankruptcy auction. One of the domain names in the list stood out to me – AllOut.com. When I played sports as a kid – and even when I play tennis today, I tend to go all out. I like the business and marketing connotations of “all out,” and I have been buying similar types of domain names when I can (SparkPlug.com is another one I recently acquired).
Shortly after receiving and seeing the notifications about the auction, I was in touch with representatives from Hilco Streambank to understand the bankruptcy auction process and learn how I could participate. I started by submitting a bid, and that qualified me to participate in the auction. The domain name was sold in a package with AllOut.net, so my bid would be for both AllOut.com and AllOut.net.
As the auction approached, I had the option to submit a proxy bid or participate on a Zoom call. Even though we were on vacation, I decided to participate on the call in person. When I jumped on the call, the auction rules were explained to the participants by the auctioneer from Hilco. As I recall, there were fewer than 10 participants on the call and I believe there may have been other bids submitted prior to the auction.
The format of the auction was that each lot was auctioned individually. Participants could call out bids, and the auctioneer would announce when there were 30 seconds remaining. Additional bids added time to the clock. The auctions lasted until the time ran out. I prevailed in the auction for AllOut.com and AllOut.net, with the total purchase price being $12k. FWIW, since I won two domain names in one lot, I do not expect NameBio to record the price since the individual acquisition costs are indeterminate.
Following the individual auction lots, there was an opportunity for someone to bid on all of the domain names as one lot. I jumped off the call after I won my auction, so I do not know if anyone bid on all of the lots as one auction. Shortly after the conclusion of the call, I was informed that my bid prevailed, and I sent my wire transfer to Hilco the next day.
A day or two after the auctions, the bankruptcy trustee filed a sale motion regarding the auction sales. There was a 21 day objection period after this filing, and nobody seems to have objected. A few days later, the sale order was filed, and I received the transfer authorization codes today. The domain names are now pending transfer to my account at GoDaddy.
All in all, the bankruptcy auction process was pretty easy. I don’t love sending money and having to wait 3+ weeks to get my domain names, but that is the nature of this type of auction. Hilco Streambank communicated with me throughout the entire process, and I thought that aspect was well done. I think the price I paid to acquire the domain names was reasonable. While I don’t plan on going “all out” to sell these domain names, I think they will eventually sell for quite a bit more than I paid.
Elliot is a football player.
It is a fine name. Although the price paid is high from an investor point of view. If you buy 100 names like this, that is $1.2 million invested. And if you sell 1 a year at $50k, that is around 4% return on investment.
Your 4% ROI projection is based on a 1% sale rate. So far this year, I have sold approximately 3% of my portfolio and we are less than 6 months into the year. If I was only going to achieve a 4% ROI, I would not invest $1.2m in capital.
FWIW, I wouldn’t sell AllOut.com for $50k. I would be looking for six figures.
Good price range for 6 figures but it is worth 7 figures.
It is worth 8-10 figures….
Every domain is worth something -there is always a buyer sucker somewhere in the galaxy!!
Nice pick up E, I could easily see that being used in a big way in many areas, sports, gaming, betting, motivational stuff in general, list goes on and on.
That was a major win and anyone who says otherwise is mistaken.
Elliot, check this out:
https://domainnamewire.com/2021/05/26/panel-faults-icann-and-tells-it-to-make-a-decision-on-web/#comment-2265188
READER’S NOTE / WARNING:
Discovered a grossly misleading back-dated edit to Mr. Murphy’s comment here today:
http://domainincite.com/26733-breaking-verisign-hopeful-after-decision-reached-in-web-gtld-case#comment-581679
See my reply today, at least for as long as he even allows it to appear, and in its true unedited form.
Your new domain in all out use.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/brandonbornancin_lfg-noq5-salestips-ugcPost-6803312666350776320-mWve
Would MUCH rather have a domain like AllOut.com than the recently publicized Alcove.com. The two worder here is the MUCH better and more desirable name. I say that from my end user perspective first, domainer second.
Shorter domains are always better
You don’t know what you are talking about John, Alcove.com is a much better domain.
LOL. Aren’t you from the UK or something, Snoop? Where are you from, honestly? I don’t know how it works where you’re from, but here in the US I’m confident few people could even actually tell you what an “alcove” really is without looking up the definition. And about 100 million times fewer than that actually ever use it in any statement or thought in their entire lives.
Oh well, wisdom and truth are not for everyone…
Hi John, if you have never heard of the word “alcove” then that is is on you.
Seriously? You don’t know me better or how weak a statement like yours is by now?
What part of “here in the US I’m confident few people could even actually tell you what an “alcove” really is without looking up the definition. And about 100 million times fewer than that actually ever use it in any statement or thought in their entire lives” did you not understand?
No one ever said they are unfamiliar with the word.
And thanks for answering the question.
You are of course a troll and full of beans. The domain is a super weak and super undesirable one word domain that someone overpaid for terribly. Wouldn’t take it if it was offered to me for $10k.
“Wouldn’t take it if it was offered to me for $10k.”
Once again that says something about your valuation skills given it got over 100k at auction.
LOL. So clueless.
For everyone who is not a misguided troll like “Snoopy” here:
“Alcove” is one of those words in life where you’ve heard it before, you’re familiar with its existence, but if pressed to actually say what an alcove is, i.e. give an accurate definition, something in the neighborhood of 99.9% of people wouldn’t even be able to. At least here in the US. And you hardly ever come across the word alcove. And you more or less never think of the word, or use it yourself, etc.
The auction result here was the result of:
MINDLESS DOMAINER THINK
As in:
“Ooh, aah, it’s only one word, only six letters, ooh, aah, I must have it, must pay more, must be worth a lot…ooh, aah…”
And that includes every big shot luminary in the industry who thinks and thought that way.
I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again for the cause and the greater good:
I’m an end user first and foremost, “domainer” or domain investor second. And speaking as both, Alcove.com is an extremely weak, lackluster and undesirable short one-word .com that is barely worth the time of day if at all.
It’s also a very old fashioned kind of word. Some might say archaic, or outdated, etc.
The two-word one Elliot posted here has much better end user potential for real real-world success and appeal.
PS, (i.e., for everyone who is not a misguided troll like “Snoopy” here):
And speaking of the one Elliot posted, its cousin, i.e., AllIn.com, is worth a fortune and a super great domain. Two words and yet minimum 7 figures. That two word domain is even worth 8.
John, the fact is it sold at auction for over 100k. If you wouldn’t have even paid 10k for it that is a statement about your domain valuation skills, not anyone elses.
Only a fool would have said no at $10k, that is free money.
I bid much more than $10,000 for Alcove.com, so had someone been able to get it for $10k, they would have been able to flip it to me for a multiple of their investment. In addition, Braden, Josh, and other investors whose names I don’t recall off the top of my head were willing to pay more than me.
It’s kind of like saying, I wouldn’t pay $10 for that $100 dollar bill. It would have essentially been free money and it makes no sense that someone would go on the record to say they wouldn’t pay $10,000 for a liquid asset others were (and still are) willing to pay up to $100,000 to buy.
No, you are cheating with your hypothetical $100 bill analogy there, Elliot. Sure, I’ll take the $100 for $10 too, but let’s address the non-cheating hypothetical scenario.
If this domain were merely for sale somewhere somehow and someone was asking $10k for it, I wouldn’t even give it a second look and would pass right by.
Now let’s address this:
“In addition, Braden, Josh, and other investors whose names I don’t recall off the top of my head were willing to pay more than me.”
A long time I ago I saw a clip of President Gerald Ford being interviewed after his presidency, and the interviewer pointed out how President Nixon had dispensed with Secret Service protection. The way the interviewer asked the question was as if he was saying, “See, Nixon did that, so why don’t you, ay?” To which President Ford well replied along the lines of “Well that doesn’t mean that was smart.”
Now look at what you said on April 14:
https://domaininvesting.com/best-buy-puts-swirl-com-up-for-sale/#comment-90756
“I would pay $40,000 USD for Swirl.com today. I bet Braden, Nat, Andy, Drew, Brent, James, Jack, Richard, and others you may have heard of would pay even more for this domain name.”
And look at what I said in reply:
“I’d bet that too, Elliot. In fact I even “accidentally told the truth” in giving my assessment about how much one of those very guys paid for a certain one word .com a while ago when I didn’t know who it was […]”
I trust the wry wit and mild dose of sarcasm was not lost on you in “I’d bet that too, Elliot.” As President Ford said, to paraphrase, that doesn’t make it smart.
And that was also Braden, by the way, the one I alluded to there in April where I had “accidentally told the truth” about a domain when I would have not said anything if I had known it was him. So…when I saw that he, and I’m sad to say nor surprisingly now, was the one who almost won the six figure auction for alcove.com, you can imagine the rest. In fact I’ve even wondered if he bailed out on alcove.com at the last second because he finally even came to his senses. Maybe even was influenced by the compelling and cogent comments of an Internet troll commenting anonymously in domain blogs? 😉
And speaking of such “luminaries,” while nobody bats 1,000 as I’ve said before, and perhaps this is not the case, nonetheless I’d also “bet,” for example, that someone like Rick Schwartz would probably not waste his time or his money, even money he could afford to burn, spending six figures on a domain like alcove.com. Unless perhaps he’s losing his touch. And I’d bet he realizes what I realize about a domain like that.
So here’s the bottom line: “mindless domainer think” is real. And it does not discriminate. It affects newbies, the inexperienced, as well as the “great ones” with their big egos, tons of experience, and even tons of past success. For example, you didn’t and don’t need to be a Trump supporter to know that “Trump Derangement Syndrome” was real. But if you were really honest and in touch, you could also see that the opposite was also real, i.e. “Reverse Trump Derangement Syndrome” too and no less. And just as those types of realities were all too real in the sphere of politics, “mindless domainer think” is also real. And there’s no vaccine, either real or the dangerous, experimental and not even a real vaccine kind to boot. But there is still time.
John, you are all mixed up with conspiracy nonsense.
You don’t seem to understand domain values and probably need to start with doing a DNacademy course.
Sure Jan, er, I mean Snoopy. Go ahead and pay six figures for a domain like that, be my guest. None of what I say in the blogs is for you personally, so just wallow in whatever it is that you do here…troll…but I suppose I can feel flattered you’ve renewed your age old intermittent obsession with me lately… 😉 Carry on…
Hello Elliot,
AllOut.com in our opinion , could be a real sleeper. We would like to own it ourselves. 6 letters, two words, with dozens of applications. You were smart to extend yourself on this one especially, Elliot. Nice
Gratefully and respectfully , Jeff Schneider. (Contact Group) Metal Tiger, Former (Rockefeller I.B.E.C. Strategic Marketing Analyst/Strategist) (Licensed C.B.O.E. Commodity Hedge Strategist) Domain Master, (UseBiz.com)/ (USeBiz.com)
Allout.com fantastic name, impressed that from the 10 buyers nobody offered more, maybe they were
watchers and not buyers. I would buy allout.com with my eyes closed compared to 99% of all NFT’s
people are buying that have 0 value.
Congratulations Elliot time was quite worth it and the wait time will pay out big time, buyer will need
an all out offer.