Atom.com recently introduced domain name rentals. The idea is that a company might rent a domain name to start using a domain name with a lower upfront financial commitment. I have that option disabled because of the low risk/reward profile.

I have been in a fairly long negotiation for a one word .com domain name I own. I have been going back and forth with various purchase options with the prospective buyer, who uses a non .com domain. A few months ago, we both agreed that a lease to own deal would make the most sense for his startup. Finding terms that work for both of us has been the challenge.

I proposed an escalating lease to own deal. It would be something along the lines of this:

A DomainIQ alert yesterday notified me that the Slop.com domain name had changed registrars. The one word .com domain name was transferred from Above.com to Cloudflare. The nameservers were also changed. I suspected the domain name changed hands, but it wasn’t possible to know with certainty based on the info I had.

Nathan Parker, General Manager of the Marketplace and Brokerage at Above.com, confirmed that Slop.com was sold in a deal he brokered. “I am really excited to see what comes of Slop.com. Love a name that makes you do a double take,” he told me. Unfortunately, the sale price of the domain name was unable to be shared.

Atom.com is getting ready to host a site-wide sale billed as “Black Friday in July.” The sale event runs July 21-30, and Atom sellers can opt into the program to participate. Sellers who participate will allow Atom to automatically discount their domain names up to 25% off the purchase price.

In its announcement message, Atom mention the platform has “seen domain sales increase by 30–50% during the sale period” in prior years. I believe buyers who are tracking prices on Atom will be notified when a domain name has a price reduction / discount.