Poll: How Much is Shopping.com Worth?

TechCrunch published an article about EBay shutting down its eBay Commerce Network. The Shopping.com domain name was mentioned in the article because it is used by EBay as a part of its Commerce Network:

“Bridget Davies, eBay’s VP of advertising, confirmed to TechCrunch that as part of the closure, listings that had been run on Shopping.com — which was still active, acting as a “publisher” on the Commerce Network — will also no longer appear. “We’re going to retain the domain, and we’re currently deciding what we will do with the asset,” she said.”

I am curious what readers think Shopping.com is worth today.

On one hand, you have an exact match keyword .com domain name for a huge business – shopping. Shopping.com sounds like an awesome domain name with unlimited potential. On the other hand, shopping is very brand-centric and I struggle to see how a generic domain name like this can be used as a standalone business. For instance, when I know exactly what product I want, I visit Amazon.com (a brand). When I am looking for a sweater, I might visit Banana Republic or a department store like Saks or Nordstrom. When we go food shopping, we visit Whole Foods or our local Roche Brothers. Point is, we tend to patronize established brands and Shopping.com, to me, doesn’t have much luster. It’s almost too generic.

If I were responsible for domain names at Ebay, I would not consider selling the domain name though. Even if there were no plans to re-build it, I would keep it to prevent competitors from getting it. Alternatively, I would consider a partnership with a well-vetted and well-funded startup who would use Shopping.com to build a massive brand to compete with Amazon. For instance, if pre-Jet and pre-Walmart Marc Lore wanted to take a run at Amazon with Shopping.com, I would work out a deal where Ebay retains some ownership percentage and the right of refusal to buy out the business (that is a very simplistic view).

All that said, I would like to know what you think the Shopping.com domain name is worth:


Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

44 COMMENTS

        • Another sale with a speculated price rather than actual figures.

          BTW, I asked Escrow.com if they can share the # of $10m+ sales and # of $25m+ sales on their platform in the last 5 years without sharing specifics. I think that would be interesting.

        • I guess I should have said, “Can you cite any $25 million + cash straight up domain name sales in the last 5 years or so?”

        • Elliot quote – “I asked Escrow.com if they can share the # of $10m+ sales and # of $25m+ sales on their platform”

          That raises an interesting question.
          When the transaction is in the millions, would they be using Escrow,com or a law firm (as a settlement vehicle) or a bank M&A dept?

          I would be concerned giving Escrow,com $ 25 mil*. I realize they probably have some kind of fiduciary bond (insurance).

          ( * As if I had that capability. )

        • I don’t believe the total price was publicly reported, nor do I believe we know if it was all cash or cash + stock…etc.

          From the TechCrunch news report (https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/05/crypto-com-mco/)

          “Experts told The Verge that Crypto.com could have attracted as much as $10 million, however Monaco CEO Kris Marszalek declined to go into the specifics.”

          *could* does not mean “did” nor does it mean all-cash.

      • Elliot, this is why you are occasionally part of the problem. You think in terms of residential real estate. You think in terms of what *has* happened governing what should happen, and what people should think. The right way to evaluate this domain is what *should* happen in terms of what it is really worth to an end user with highest and best use. When you think about the value of this domain the right way, it is a no-brainer the size of California that $25 million is still a bargain for it. And the guy who said below that Shop.com is better is right, but his conclusion based on that is asinine.

        • I am realistic and my opinion is formed based on what domain names sell for today.

          More than one person has gone broke holding on to domain names they believe are worth more than what anyone will ever pay.

        • “my opinion is formed based on what domain names sell for today”

          And that is unbelievably foolish and defeatist. And what domain names sell for today is far too conditioned by wrong thinking and those with a contrary agenda to begin with. The industry has been beaten down, both from without and within.

          This particular domain is special.

          Furthermore, value is about SHOULD, not WOULD. If you want to sell for less than what it should sell for to get a quicker sale, then go ahead, but people should NOT say that has anything to do with what it is really worth as its value.

          And how about what I’ve been saying for years. How about instead of self-serving industry insider venues that would rather just make money quickly, a domain name like this finally gets the kind of treatment and exposure it deserves, in venues like the best in the world such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s? Maybe then we will finally see *in public* what the best domain names really *should* go for. And that is what people should have been pushing for all these years. I know Heritage was a start, but as far as I’m concerned it was not a good start at all, as in not a well done start, but I don’t want to go into that one.

        • I get to hear that from buyers almost every day when they inquire about a price for a domain name. “Please be reasonable, please be realistic”.
          What they mean by that is please give us your domain name for peanuts while we keep paying Google and Facebook millions in advertising dollars.

          No, I won’t be “reasonable” and I won’t be “realistic” because I am selling a unique asset that is available only ONCE. If you don’t ask for top dollar you won’t get paid top dollar. If you want millions for your domain, you have to DEMAND it.

        • Where is Rick when we need him in a conversation like this? I know he may not want to talk to little old me since I’m only a humble anonymous troll, but at least he can talk around me, because I’m sure he agrees with both me and Richard here. 😉

        • Do they ever ask Google and FB to be “reasonable and realistic” when they get quoted $2,50 CPC across their advertising network? No, they don’t. They shut up and pay!

        • They don’t have a choice with those advertisers. If they don’t think Facebook rates are fair, they can go to Myspace or Friendster. If they don’t think Google is fair, they can go to Bing, Ask, or Alta Vista.

          Look at how many startups are using Get-, Use-, or some other bastardized version of their brand name. They can also use a .CO, .IO, .AI, .whatever. There are more choices for domain names than there are for advertisers who want exposure on big networks.

          I’ve sold a ton of great domain names. I will always buy a good one word .com domain name at a reasonable/fair price. I could only wish they sell for the value you want them to sell for.

        • And as you know everyone knows we don’t even know about unreported sales, NOT that it matters or has any bearing whatsoever on the value of this domain. But $12 million certainly sounds credible for crypto.com. How many years was it before we learned about $90 million for LasVegas.com? And then there’s Cars.com, but one may almost predictably wish to quibble about that one, and it still has no bearing anyway, except that it may partly illustrate a useful point…

        • “In a public SEC filing made by Remark Media, who recently acquired Vegas.com LLC, the company revealed details of a 2005 purchase agreement by Vegas.com LLC to acquire the LasVegas.com domain name over a period of 35 years extending to 2040. It showed Vegas.com LLC paying $12 million up front for the exclusive right to begin using the LasVegas.com domain, followed by a series of escalating monthly payments.”

          http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20151106.htm

          That sale was in 2005 and it is reportedly a 35 year payment plan.

        • Yes, I’m aware of that and as far as I’m concerned we are all aware of that, and no matter how you slice it $90 over such a time period is still great and still illustrates a valuable point. I’d be perfectly happy to see Shopping.com for an installment arrangement with a present value over $25 million if it came to that. Way over.

    • BTW, as John should know by now, even though he and I don’t always see eye to eye on things, I appreciate reading his comments and insights.

  1. I think they could get between $5-10 million for just the domain itself from the right end-user, maybe even over $10 million, but most likely high-end of the $1-5 millon range ($3-5mm).

    • You are right that Shop.com is better, but your conclusion based on that is way off. Shop.com is simply better than something worth over $25m.

  2. Around $10m for sure, almost all of these 8 figure sales never get reported so the community don’t know about them, but they exist. I have to say though I’d like a name like sale.com even more than shopping.com.

  3. Hi All.

    May I ask you how much Alimenting_com could worth ?
    I believe it ciuld be used for power / batteries or food stuff..

    thank you for response.

    Sincerely,

  4. Maybe $1.5million.

    I think this name is possibly too long to get really serious enduser interest at present. The lack of brandability is going to hurt also, might be possible to get a trademark but it is going to be weak. It is a more a name from 20 years ago.

        • No Snoop, but I will argue with a paltry $1.5m when even crazy loony tune Estibot that can’t make up its mind about crypto.com from $31k to $56k puts shopping.com over $5m. And I would be willing to bet real $ you do not believe “maybe $1.5m” at all. 😉

          https://imgur.com/gallery/0LNonIJ

          Oh and don’t misrepresent me again – Estibot’s >$5m for shopping.com has no bearing on its value or basis in the land of reality as far as I’m concerned. But you could look at it as another example of the Twilight Zonish extent to which they often undervalue in my humble opinion.

  5. IMO Shopping.com > Crypto.com value wise. I am sure our girlfriends and wives would agree too 🙂

    I agree with John. I would ask $25,000,000USD and go from there. The right mindset/buyer could take Shopping.com and take on Amazon.com?
    At least I hope one day somebody will….haha

  6. I think the poll gives you a quite good overview what the DI readers would pay: 40% estimate $1 million to $5 million – so that’s the average price for the majority. The seller (or broker) of shopping.com has to find the one in a million buyer that would pay more than the average. This tool estimates the value of shopping.com at $1.41million…not so bad:
    https://pc.domains/domain/shopping.com

    The truth lies somewhere in the middle.

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