Pool Set to Auction Namaste.com

Pool.comI just received an email from Pool.com announcing an exclusive auction for the domain name Namaste.com. The domain name has cultural significance, and for those who are unfamiliar with “Namaste,” here is how Wikipedia defines it:

Namaste, from external Sandhi between namaḥ and te) is a common spoken greeting or salutation used in India and Nepal. It has multi-religious or else common usage where it may simply mean “I bow to you.” The word is derived from Sanskrit namas, to bow, obeisance, reverential salutation, and te, “to you.”

When spoken to another person, it is commonly accompanied by a slight bow made with hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointed upwards, in front of the chest. This gesture, called Añjali Mudrā, can also be performed wordlessly and carries the same meaning.

This domain name will be sold by June 3, 2010, which is less than a week away. The auction starts at $16,000, and I think it will probably sell for much more than that number. If interested, you can bid on Namaste.com via Pool.com.

If you don’t already get Pool’s daily Hot List newsletter, you might consider signing up so you can be informed about auctions like this and upcoming popular daily auctions.

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

18 COMMENTS

  1. DomainTweeter – thats the problem with one words like this. Domainers like one word names like this and like to hypothize all the possible ways to use the name but in reality thats the problem with finding real end users – names like this don’t have much of a leg to stand on thier own without branding the domain.

    Take names like shout.com, why.com, match.com etc … they all have obvious meaning – this doesn’t and $16,000 is a fools price for an investor – whats the upside?? Surely there are a lot more bargains around for domain investors then this domain.

    Maybe some fool will buy it – there are lots around.

    I think Elliot drank too much wine here

  2. @Alan

    No wine. If someone has a plan to monetize the name (ie a yoga franchise with this name) then its well worth the price. I guess you’ll see what fool buys it and what they do with it.

  3. a yoga franchise with this name is not an investor – its an end user … they could pay $10m for a name and it doesn’t matter since the only value of a domain name is how it relates to their business plan and how much they feel the name is worth.

    For domain investors there are an abundance of better deals than this in the marketplace – that was my point.

    Enjoy Paris.

  4. Now thats funny

    “plenty of domain investors do become end users”

    My guess is less than 5% unless you mean a minisite is an end user lol

    Peace … chat when you get back.

  5. ?? What does that have to do with anything. I’m happy you get to announce this again 🙂 .. why you like to share this is beyond me … but you put money into a database, advertised and are essentially the end user for this site much like yellowpages.com is for theirs (all they do is provide listings also)

    Minisites are well — bullridinghelmet.com if you want one close to home – and thats what most domaienr investors end up with.

    Building something like dogwalker.com not many people will do since they can’t wrap thier mind past page 1 of a site.

    End users come in several forms and are not just the IBM’s of the world but it takes a lot more to graduate from a domain investor to a developer or enduser than just a one or two page minisite.

    In the case of Namaste.com its a brandable name … tell me a domainer that will brand this, not many if any – its a pure $16,000 gamble on a name somebody will buy to brand later in life.

    Is it worth the gamble – maybe, but I would say that person either (a) has lots of disposable money to burn and wait or (b) has no idea about finding the real oppurtunities in this market.

    Anyway – like I said have a good trip, agree to disagree here which you and I do a lot anyway lol

  6. My example is illustrative of a domain investor buying a domain name and becoming an end user by building a business.

    Anyway agree to disagree and we’ll see where it ends up in a week.

    Safe holiday.

  7. >they all have obvious meaning – this doesn’t

    Errr. It does, to someone who understand what it means!

    That doesn’t include you, obviously?

    Why are you waffling on about branding with a dictionary word?

  8. Drewbert, that is funny. Kudos to Elliot for dealing with questions like this on a daily basis but maybe you should read what I said in context.

    This is not 1999 anymore when domain investors are paying 16,000 for any dictionary word no matter how obscure it is.

    at $16,000 yes – even a dictionary word is over priced

    Its about risk and reward. at $16,000 for a domain investor who does not have plans to brand this what is the upside ?? …. my guess is zero unless they find an end user.

    Buying domains for resale you look at BOTH cost and potential for resale within all market (wholesale, retail etc)

    Dont simplify my discussion to whether a not a dictionary term can be be labeled brandable or not. Its about cost – if someone pays too much for a domain that is too high for other domain investors to pay then YES – your only market are companies who will buy the name because its brandable.

    there are 3 or more live trademarks on this dictionary word.

    So for 16,000 you can buy this osbcure dictionary word and quickly be subject to a UDRP filing once you park the page or spend 16,000 on better deals in this marketplace?

    Gee – I wonder a smart domain investor would do.

  9. Indian is multi lingual country. Namaste is not used in the daily vocabulary much in the South of India as it is in the North. It is basically used more in the North of India in the hindi speaking areas.

    It does have a universal recall in India, but not acceptance.

    For eg: In Tamil Nadu, one of the most populous states in the southern India, instead of “Namaste”, “Vannakkam” is the formal greeting. Each greeting word differs from state to state, language to language in India.

    Though from India, I myself am not able to come to terms on what site can be developed after buying this name for 16k.

    In my opinion, the best thing would be a Tourism Website.
    At the same time, that is a very competitive market in India with many players around.

  10. Namaste.com auction ended 40 days ago (first week of June)
    I think winner did not pay for it.
    Namaste.com is reauctionig now at Pool.com

  11. Having registered domain names since 1998, I need to ask.. Is this the best domain name you can get for 16k these days? Wow.. tough times.

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