Televisions.com sold for just $215,000 according to the newest addition of DNJournal.com‘s weekly sales report. This is a great price for the buyer, as I believe this name was worth well over half a million dollars. Recently, Cameras.com sold for well over a million, and I would value this name similarly. My only reasoning for the low price is that people might be searching for TVs rather than Televisions. Although television margins aren’t huge, I think the new owner could open up a tv store without open box inventory. The price paid is much less than what it would cost to open a television business in a typical shopping mall, and the reach is far greater with Televisions.com.
Televisions.com – A Steal at $215k
NBA Team Buys Bobcats.com for $50k
Basketball Bobcats get shorter name from wildlife breeder
Barbara Roe, bobcat breeder and owner of Bitterroot Bobcat and Lynx, of Stevensville, MT., sold the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats her Bobcats.com domain name. The team had been inquiring about it since 2004, but she rejected their offer of just a couple thousand dollars.
Realizing how much traffic they were losing by using BobcatsBasketball.com for the past few years, the team and Roe reached an agreement to sell the name for $50,000 – a bargain price, in my opinion. Although the owner couldn’t have monetized the domain name for basketball or tickets without infringing on the rights of the NBA Bobcats, the name was probably worth much more to the Charlotte Bobcats than to Bitterroot Bobcat and Lynx. This is a good deal for the buyer.
Domain Names for Charity
Below are a few unregistered domain names I believe have good potential. Although I am not charging anything for researching these names, I am requesting that the person who registers each makes a donation to a non-profit organization.
DiscountOliveOils.com
DomainInvestmentTips.com
SailboatingLessons.com
CustomBicycleHelmets.com
PreownedMP3.com
PreownedWheelchairs.com
ItalianInstructors.com
GermanInstructors.com
HebrewInstructors.com
JapaneseInstructors.com
ArabicInstructors.com
ArabicGuides.com
You don’t need to tell me how much was donated, but I would love to know which charity was helped, so please drop me a line after!
A few non-profits I recommend (with the link to make a donation):
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
ALS Association
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure for Breast Cancer
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Meir Panim
Charities Previously Helped:
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
10 Domain Investment Tips for Beginners
Sahar’s post and a thread on Rick Schwartz’ Targeted Traffic Forum got me thinking about what advice I would give to someone looking to enter the domain investment business. Since I have a couple of friends who recently started out in this business as a hobby, I have a few pieces of advice that I shared with them and will publicly share.
1.) NEVER ever register domain names with famous or somewhat famous trademarks (or trademark typos). Either you will get burned or live in fear if you buy them. Not to mention that the money producing ones are registered (mostly by keyword scripts), so it would be a waste. Additionally, stay away from domain names of athletes, celebrities, politicians…etc.
2.) Read as much information about domain names and the industry as possible. It takes a gut feel to be able to do well in this business without spending a fortune on new registrations. You may end up wasting alot of time and money registering domain names that have no meaning or value to anyone but you. I have a list of valuable domain resources in my blogroll, and you can go from there.
3.) Get a feel of what’s selling in DNJournal’s weekly sales list. See previous sales prices on DNSalePrice.com. Check out what’s closing on Sedo and Afternic as it is more likely that a rookie will have access to names that don’t make DNJournal’s sales list. It might be wise to focus on a particular niche at first (like LLL.com names or financial names for example). Try to find unregistered domain names that are similar to ones that have sold.
4.) Sign up for one of the public domain forums and read as much as you can. I believe DNForum.com offers the widest variety of information, but DomainState.com and NamePros.com are also great.
5.) Always be honest in your business dealings. Although most business is done online in the cyber world, almost everything is traceable. No matter how many online personas you may create, you will be known for what you post and how you post it. If you are dishonest, it will probably haunt you, so don’t start off on the wrong foot. There is no such thing as “easy money.”
6.) Ask some of the more seasoned domain investors for advice. I’ve met many people who have been successful in this business, and most are very willing to give out advice. Alot of people spend hours in front of their computers focusing on various projects, and human interaction is greatly appreciated. Personally, I like speaking about domain names, and it’s great to see new people in this business finding success.
7.) Read the news, popular blogs, trade journals…etc to find and become knowledgeable about current events and new trends. Buy non-trademarked names related to those trends you spot. Never try to capitalize on a tragedy or other event no matter how much money you can make in a short period of time, unless you intend to build a “real” memorial site. Think of it this way, would you want a New York Times headline to read: “Cybersquatter John Doe Takes Advantage of Families of XXXXXXXXX Tragedy?”
8.) Don’t spend thousands of dollars on a single name until you have a plan that does not solely rely on ppc monetization. It is likely that the seller isn’t selling a high earning ppc name for less than market value, so it will be difficult to find a deal. Also, don’t buy an expensive name until you have the resources already aligned to implement your plan. As Darren Cleveland mentioned in this post, development is difficult, can be expensive, and can be time consuming. Unless you need to act immediately, hold off on buying high value names.
9.) Do your due diligence when buying a name in the aftermarket. As I said in this post, you should do a Whois history check, call previous owners and search the forums/boards for any issues. If you buy a stolen domain you may lose your money and the domain name. Aftermarket sites like Sedo are not immune from domain thieves. You should also use an escrow service like Moniker or Escrow.com for higher value transactions.
10.). Keep good records of your domain portfolio, sales, expenses and contacts. Use the contacts as leads for other domain names or even for open discussion. Track your domain names as you would track stocks in your investment portfolio. Always be honest on your taxes because the penalties could be much more than what you would gain.
Domain investing is a great hobby or profession for many people. I believe it is still the “wild west,” and as such, special precautions need to be taken when going into this business. If something seems too good to be true, it really probably is. Trust your gut, and if you need help, feel free to ask.
Tool to View Unreleased Information
It may be possible to see what projects a company has planned by using the Reverse IP tool, found at DomainTools. In case you weren’t aware, you can see what domain names reside on different servers by using this tool. By seeing the domain names registered by a particular company, you may be able to learn unreleased information about what projects (or type of projects) the registrant has in the works.
Unfortunately, this tool isn’t free, but is a part of your Domaintools membership, which I highly recommend. Other member tools such as the Whois History check are invaluable and can help determine a domain’s provenance when considering a purchase.
As reported on WebProNews.com this morning via another post on ResourceShelf.com, Google registered CouponGoogle.com on 9/13, and it is pointed to Google nameservers. It would only be speculation to predict what Google intends to do with the domain name, but speculation is half of the fun!