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Values.com: The Domain That Got Away

Elliot Silver
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9

I was driving along the Henry Hudson in New York City this afternoon and my mouth dropped when I saw this billboard. Firstly, it’s very cool, especially considering the drive is right next to the Hudson River where Captain Chesley Sullenberger safely landed US Airways flight 1549 in January of 2008.

The real reason my mouth dropped was seeing the domain name Values.com. You see I almost was the owner of Values.com back in June of 2007. I thought I had a deal to buy the domain name, and even had an attorney writing up the agreement when the owner emailed me to let me know a buyer in Germany had offered more money between the time I thought we struck a deal to the time when my attorney was writing up a domain sales agreement. I thought the owner may have been bluffing to raise the price, but surely enough, it was sold to that buyer.

It looks like another organization, The Foundation for a Better Life, is now the owner of the domain name (deal appears to have been done towards the end of January 2009).   The billboard and imagery is cool, but it would have been even cooler if I had sold them the domain name!

Moniker Locks Up Great Names for DomainFest Ft. Lauderdale Auction

Elliot Silver
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6

I received a list of domain names that will be auctioned at at DOMAINfest Fort Lauderdale on May 13, 2010. There are some killer names in the list – kudos to Moniker.   I bolded my favorite names based on reserve pricing.

Domain Name      Opening Bid/Range
3dTVs.com      $100,001 – $250,000
47.org      $5,001 – $10,000
Aac.co.uk      $501-$1000
Air.travel      $2501 – $5000
Analyze.net      $2501 – $5000
Arbitration.com      $100,001 – $250,000
ArtAppraisal.com      $2501 – $5000
Birth.net      $2501 – $5000
Bjh.com      $5,001 – $10,000
BoardGames.com      $250,001 – $500,000
BoatRaces.com      $1001-$2500
BrassBeds.com      $10,001 – $25,000
BudgetOnline.com      $501-$1000
By.net      $100,001 – $250,000
Bylaws.com      $5,001 – $10,000
CakeStand.com      $2501 – $5000
CaribbeanCruises.net      No Reserve
CarSecurity.com      $2501 – $5000
CdCollection.com      No Reserve
Cheap.org      $10,001 – $25,000
CherryTrees.com      $501-$1000
Code.com      $750,001 – $1MM
Collapsed.com      $1001-$2500
CommunityCollege.com      $1MM – $5MM
CompactSpeakers.com      $1001-$2500
Consoles.com      $25,001 – $50,000
Counselors.com      $50,001 – $100,000
Dating.com      $1MM – $5MM
DatingOnline.com      $50,001 – $100,000
Day.me      No Reserve
DesignerKeyRings.com      $501-$1000
Detox.com      $100,001 – $250,000
EAgent.com      $10,001 – $25,000
EFP.com      $5,001 – $10,000
ElectricRazors.com      $5,001 – $10,000
EliminateDebts.com      $5,001 – $10,000
ERelationship.com      $10,001 – $25,000
Evenings.com      $5,001 – $10,000
FitnessStore.com      $10,001 – $25,000
FreeDSL.com      $10,001 – $25,000
FrontSeats.com      $5,001 – $10,000
Gj.net      No Reserve
GolfResorts.com      $10,001 – $25,000
Guns.eu      $2501 – $5000
HardDrives.com      $500,001 – $750,000
Hobbies.com      $250,001 – $500,000
Hologram.com      $250,001 – $500,000
HomeStereo.com      $10,001 – $25,000
IKC.com      $5,001 – $10,000
Jeans.com      $1MM – $5MM
JeffersonMemorial.com      $1001-$2500
Karate.com      $500,001 – $750,000
LasVegasDiscounts.com      $2501 – $5000
LateShows.com      $1-$500
LedMonitor.com      $5,001 – $10,000
LowerUtilityBills.com      No Reserve
Marriages.com      $25,001 – $50,000
Masquerades.com      $5,001 – $10,000
Mediation.com      $100,001 – $250,000
MedicalGrants.com      $1001-$2500
MetricSocketSets.com      $501-$1000
Microcomputers.com      $5,001 – $10,000
MicroManaged.com      No Reserve
Nix.net      $2501 – $5000
NYC.asia      $1-$500
Obedience.com      $10,001 – $25,000
OnlineBilling.com      $25,001 – $50,000
PatioTables.com      $5,001 – $10,000
PersonalBanker.net      No Reserve
Petroleum.net      $5,001 – $10,000
Qwz.com      No Reserve
Raises.com      $5,001 – $10,000
Receivable.com      $5,001 – $10,000
Reducing.com      $5,001 – $10,000
Relationship.com      $1MM – $5MM
Require.com      $10,001 – $25,000
Safety.com      $1MM – $5MM
Saws.com      $50,001 – $100,000
SchoolTutors.com      $1001-$2500
SecondLanguage.com      $25,001 – $50,000
SecondMortgage.com      $100,001 – $250,000
Sentimental.com      $5,001 – $10,000
SingleWomen.com      $250,001 – $500,000
Snuggly.com      $5,001 – $10,000
SportsSites.com      $501-$1000
SpywareBlockers.com      $100,001 – $250,000
StoneFurniture.com      $1001-$2500
TanningProducts.com      $5,001 – $10,000
Taunt.com      No Reserve
TaxTube.com      No Reserve
TemporaryJobs.com      $50,001 – $100,000
TemporaryStorage.com      $10,001 – $25,000
Therapists.com      $25,001 – $50,000
Thrilled.com      $25,001 – $50,000
TicketOffices.com      $5,001 – $10,000
Tiebreaker.com      $10,001 – $25,000
TireStores.com      $5,001 – $10,000
ToasterOvens.com      $10,001 – $25,000
Townhouses.com      $100,001 – $250,000
TreasuryBonds.com      $100,001 – $250,000
Troops.com      $50,001 – $100,000
Tumbling.com      $10,001 – $25,000
Usage.net      $1001-$2500
UsaMarketing.com      $5,001 – $10,000
UsedHybridCars.com      $2501 – $5000
VDU.com      $5,001 – $10,000
Versailles.com      $25,001 – $50,000
VHS.com      $10,001 – $25,000
Vinyl.net      $2501 – $5000
VS.net      $10,001 – $25,000
Watchmaker.com      $10,001 – $25,000
WebcamRoulette.com      $100,001 – $250,000
WeedKiller.com      $10,001 – $25,000
WesternFurniture.com      $5,001 – $10,000

TMZ Using Meebo for Social Networking

Elliot Silver
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0

Meebo BarI noticed a new menu bar sitting above the load bar when I visited TMZ, and I learned they are using a company called Meebo to help with their social networking. The Meebo Bar allows you to share the page, Like it on Facebook, share it on Twitter, and/or chat with your friends on Facebook and AIM.

One clever feature that isn’t as obvious can be seen when you mouse over one of the images or videos. A message appears telling you to “drag to share,” and when you drag this image/video, another full menu appears allowing you to “drop” the image in the place you’d like to share the story – Facebook, Twitter, Buzz, Yahoo, or email. It seems to be a very cool way to easily share articles.

The one downside I noticed off the bat is that the site seems to load much more slowly than before the Meebo tools were added, and it’s a bit annoying to have the page loading for a few seconds after arriving.

For those of you who are developing your domain names, it’s a good idea to look at the features offered on popular websites like TMZ.com to see what types of plugins, widgets, and add-ons you can put on your sites. I don’t think the Meebo social networking tools would be worth adding on my blog, but I could potentially find a use for it on one or more of my sites.

Register.com Selects IDN Newsletter as the Exclusive Broker for its IDN Portfolio

Elliot Silver
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5

I just received an email from my friend Aaron Krawitz announcing a newly established relationship between domain registrar Register.com and the IDN domain experts at IDNNewsletter.com. Register.com selected IDN Newsletter to broker its in-house portfolio of IDN domain names. I think this represents a new revenue opportunity for Register.com and it says a lot about the knowledge of the IDN Newsletter team of Aaron and Gary Males.

It’s nice to hear about mutually beneficial partnerships like this, and I wish both companies all the best.   Today’s news release follows:

—————

As you might expect, Register.com has a vault full of premium names in its in-house portfolio.   The company is one of the oldest and most storied registrars with over 13 years in the domain and web services industry.   Register.com’s vault includes troves of premium IDNs that the registrar maintained until the IDN market began to mature.

Now, Register.com has decided to open the vault and sell a select portion of its IDNs to the general public.   As such, it chose IDNNewsletter.com as the exclusive domain brokerage platform for this sale.   IDNNewsletter is run by Gary Males and Aaron Krawitz, the duo who also founded IDNTools, IDNBlog and IDNDemystified.

Krawitz said “it is an honor to have been given access to Register.com’s IDN vault, and we doubled our efforts, hiring multiple sets of native speakers and consulting with our colleagues as we vetted and priced these names.”   Males added that “IDNNewsletter is serious about catering to our many newsletter subscribers and there are some tremendous bargains that you will be seeing in the coming weeks.”

Among the blockbuster names that will be up for sale are ラブ.com (“Love” in Japanese) and ×›×™×£.com (“Fun” in Hebrew”)

The highly anticipated IDNNewsletter / Register.com launch is planned for the first week of May and will be exclusively going out to IDNNewsletter subscribers.

Offer a Payment Plan to Close Domain Deal

Elliot Silver
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5

I don’t necessarily like it when a buyer stretches out payments for a domain name, but offering it can be a smart move. I recently sold a domain name, and during negotiations, the buyer indicated that funds were a bit tight at the moment, but he wanted to buy the domain name. To keep the negotiation opened and to ensure that I was able to get my asking price, I offered him a payment plan, and we were able to come to an agreement.

Here’s what I recommend if you offer a payment plan or are asked to offer one:

  • Consider using an escrow service that Moniker offers or Escrow.com offers (need to contact them directly) to ensure both parties live up to their end of agreement with an impartial company acting as an intermediary.
  • Domain owner should keep possession of the domain name (or see above) until final payment is made. Owner can change DNS if necessary and asked.
  • Make sure everything is in writing so buyer and seller have the same expectations. I recommend having a domain attorney write the agreement, especially if it involves a considerable sum of money.
  • Be clear on what happens if buyer stops paying. In my opinion, the domain owner should keep all previous payments and the domain name.

Difference Between .CO and .CM

Elliot Silver
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12

I’ve seen people compare the soon to be released Colombian .CO domain names to the Cameroonian .CM domain extension, with the main comparison being the assumption that the purpose is for typosquatting. I can understand why people would say that for .CM, but I believe there is a big reason .CO is very different, and it primarily revolves around the marketing of the extension.

Just like .TV isn’t billed as the Tuvalu extension nor is .ME is billed as the Montenegro extension, .CO won’t really be billed by registrars as the Colombia extension to most companies and domain buyers. You can see in many of the marketing materials that .CO is being billed as the extension for Companies, where Company is most frequently abbreviated as Co. A company known as “The Sports Car Company” would likely be interested in owning SportsCar.co, not to capitalize on .com traffic, but because that’s an extension of their brand.

I am sure there will be plenty of people who acquire .CO domain names primarily for the typo traffic that may occur as a result of the visitor forgetting the “m” in .com. However, there is a real business reason to use .CO in addition to this usage.

When I was at TRAFFIC in Amsterdam last June, I was strongly considering a bid on Vegas.cm. I had no idea what the traffic would be like, but I assumed it would be considerable. I thought that it would be a great generic domain to monetize, and I could even build it out. In reality, I don’t think building Vegas.cm would have been a smart move for my company because it doesn’t make much sense. Really, what could .cm actually mean?

On the flip side, I could easily see building out on Vegas.co, especially if I had significant interest in Las Vegas tourism. I would probably start a tourism LLC called “Vegas Tourism Company” or something of that sort, and Vegas.co would make sense. It would be more memorable and logical than the .cm could be.

I know that many domain investors will pooh pooh what I am saying, but it will all boil down to marketing.   I don’t particularly like .ME or .TV domain names, but they can and do sell for decent money because companies are buying and using them. From an investment standpoint, if I can buy a domain name at a reasonable price and can then sell it for much more, I would obviously do it – whatever the extension. I happen to think businesses will adopt .CO.

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