I noticed a new banner on the NameJet website advertising “JetPacks.” These JetPacks are small groups of domain names that are up for auction in a single lot. There is a separate page for NameJet customers to see the JetPacks that are available for sale at any given time.
Here’s how NameJet describes their JetPacks on the JetPack section of their website:
“JetPacks are select domain names that are auctioned as a group rather than individually. Placing a bid on a JetPack is placing a bid for the entire set of names. The winning bidder will be awarded the names listed in the JetPack subject to NameJet’s terms and conditions. Bidders may not place bids for individual domain names listed in a JetPack. Winning bidders may not refuse registration of any names contained in an awarded domain name group.”
At the moment, there are only two JetPacks up for auction. There is a “cloud” JetPack with cloud-related domain names and an “APP” JetPack with App-related domain names. I believe both sets of domain names are privately owned, although there is Whois privacy enabled, so I don’t know who owns these domain names.
Just like regular NameJet auctions, the bidding starts at $69 for the entire package of domain names. At least for now, it looks like these auctions are Public Auctions, so it does not seem like a pre-auction backorder is necessary to participate in the auction. It does not look like the JetPacks appear within regular search results.
I reached out to NameJet General Manager Jonathan Tenenbaum, and he told me the company “launched JetPacks to provide our customers with some additional options for purchasing domains on our platform. This is a good way to add to a domain portfolio without having to participate in multiple auctions, and as can be seen with these initial JetPacks, this also allows someone who is interested in a particular theme to add a number of related domains to their portfolio with one ‘win’. We are excited about JetPacks and we will be looking to list different variations and combinations as we go forward in order to best meet the needs of our buyers.”
My guess is this is a test to gauge interest in small portfolio auctions. I don’t know if I would seek these out, but if there was one name in the lot that I liked and it could be purchased for the same price as a single name, I would certainly bid. I don’t think I would be enticed to bid on a small group of names just to get additional inventory though.
I will keep my eye on this and see if the company adds more group listings like this.
Several years I suggested the idea of domain ETFs or mini-portfolios of domains as tradable instruments. The general response was you can buy Marchex or another domain industry stock. Domain names continue to be rather illiquid and unappreciated by the general populace.
This feature will be a game changer if they permit aggregation of domains from different domain investors…
The owner of an hyphenated variant, for instance, could join the pack where there is the corresponding domain without the hyphen, the same could be done by the owner of plural variations, etc.
Or the owner of a specific domain could join the forces with the owners of domains that are the translations in different languages of the domain he owns…
Those features will create jetpacks that are what smart end users are looking for…