Sell a Domain Name via PR Firm

When you are looking to sell a domain name to a large company, it can be difficult to get in touch with the right decision maker. In fact, it can even be difficult to determine who the decision maker actually is!

An article in the Boston Globe might shed some light on how to sell a domain name to a large company, and I want to share the insight I gleaned from the article in the hopes that it helps you.

If you aren’t aware, Market Basket is a major grocery store chain in the northeast. The company was founded by the Demoulas brothers, and the chain grew into one of the largest grocery stores in the region. Because the store had Demoulas in its name for quite some time, the Demoulas brand is still well known in this area. Unfortunately, there was considerable family discord reported, and the company that is known as Market Basket was in the news quite a bit last year as a result of ownership issues. Long story short, Arthur T. Demoulas now has control of the company.

The Boston Globe published an article about the Demoulas.com domain name and how it was owned by someone that is not related to the Demoulas family or the grocery chain. To me, the most relevant and helpful part of the article is this:

“Weber said on Monday that he received a few offers for Demoulas.com, but none had met his price and none appeared to come from the family.

A reporter then reached out to Arthur T.’s PR firm, Rasky Baerlein, to ask whether there was any interest in Demoulas.com. A day later, spokeswoman Justine Griffin confirmed that she bought the domain name on Arthur T.’s behalf. She declined to discuss the price, or whether an official website is finally in the works.

By Wednesday, Weber confirmed he had sold Demoulas.com for the full asking price of $3,850 to Rasky Baerlein, taking the name off the market.”

Although the domain name owner did not contact the company’s public relations firm on his own, it was serendipitous that the reporter did contact them to ask about the domain name. I would assume this is what helped close the deal.

Public relations firms typically look out for the best interests of their clients. A domain name like Demoulas.com could have easily been used by someone unrelated to the grocery chain, and they may not have published nice things about the ownership or the company. Buying this domain name for under $5k was a smart move because it can now be used by the company or family for their own benefit.

An advertising agency or marketing firm may prefer to create a unique branding rather than spend their allocated budget on a domain name in the aftermarket. The PR firm likely understood the potential for this domain name falling into the hands of someone else, and they secured it for their client.

If you are looking to sell a domain name to a large company, perhaps their PR firm would be a good place to start. The PR associate likely knows the decision makers, and they may be able to advise their client to purchase the domain name more quickly than you could get in touch with that decision maker.