I read a story on USAToday.com about a new business that Amazon is reportedly developing. “Amazon.com is working on a new business called Pantry that will help it expand further into the giant consumer package goods market,” according to the USA Today article. There wasn’t really information about whether a business unit called Pantry would go under the Amazon umbrella, or if it would be a freestanding entity.
When you hear of a major company launching a new major business under a different brand name, you probably assume that the company has the exact match .com domain name to go along with it. As of right now, it appears that DigiMedia is the owner of the Pantry.com domain name, and it has owned this domain name for many years.
With or without the reported Amazon brand, Pantry.com is worth a lot of money due to its generic nature. DigiMedia owns a number of exceptional domain names. The company invests in domain names, develops its domain name assets, and it also funds ventures. The company has also sold a number of very high value domain names, including Endurance.com and Box.com (reportedly for nearly $1 million).
Now that the news about Pantry has been reported by many news outlets, it could put Amazon in a weaker negotiating position if it hasn’t already reached an agreement to buy or lease the domain name. Assuming the reports are even accurate, the company could be planning to launch Pantry under the Amazon branding. A Whois report shows that AmazonPantry.com has been registered under privacy at GoDaddy since October of this year, so it’s unclear who owns that domain name.
I’ll be keeping my eye on Pantry.com to see what happens.
Ok so here is a question for you and for anyone else out there.
If you were the owner of pantry.com and you knew what you now know about amazon at what point would you fold your hand if Amazon said “here is our offer, our top offer, take it or leave it”?
I know what I would do but would rather not color the discussion.
So how lucky are you feeling? How much are you willing to pass up?
Keep in mind that if you say “I would hold out for $x” that you calculate the probability of getting that number from someone else with the resources to want the domain (for a high amount) after amazon has already branded their business (and most certainly trademarked the name) [1]
So this is most certainly your best chance to get lucky with a nice number what are you going to do?
[1] I’m not saying as an owner you would stand to lose the domain just that the fact that amazon is using it for that niche purpose blocks any other big player from being wanting to use the same name.
Everyone has a different risk tolerance, and there are other factors, such as business plan to build it out, tax implications of a large sale, current cash position….etc.
By and large the people who hold out for large amounts
of money are gamblers and this is separate from whether
they may or may not need the cash from a sale. Certainly
if they need the cash they will be more reasonable.
They get those amounts by holding out and yes there
is also some skill but by and large they play hard to get.
I’ve tried to buy from digimedia and they totally play
“not for sale sorry not interested” at least when I have inquired. At least
Schilling shoots you a high number and engages.
As far as “business plan to build it out” well for this
particular name (or even most names in general) that requires
work and additional capital and I can’t think of many cases
(at least relative to the amount of names that sit for years)
where that has been done. Just my personal observation about this business.
Finally, as everyone knows, there is the price that someone
will hold out for for something that they already own
and what they will buy someone else’s domain for.
If you write to any of the big domain gamblers you
will find that they are rarely interested in paying
any large dollar amount for a domain that they don’t
own. Go ahead and try to sell Rick Schwartz a good domain
and see what he will pay for it.
So let’s take as an example mutualfunds.com. In theory
a domain person might hold out for $1,000,000 for that
domain if they owned it. But they will not pay $500,000 for that domain
if offered to them for sale. (Assume they are swimming
in money for this example).
Good post Larry – I have a great domain I’m holding onto for a large sum…I guess I’m a gambler according to you…not sure that’s the right term but excellent post…good thoughts. Amazon should have bought pantry.com a few months ago…big mistake.
Regardless of what amazon does this address will recieve lots of traffic. Amazon like others is growing vertically, as Rick Schwartz has said, and they may just run a sub-domain. Sub-domains are a great vertical growth strategy for the proven .COM Franchise holders. The large proven .COM Franchise companies will use the gTLDs for .COM traffic aggrigating purposes, funneling traffic back to their .COM Franchise Profit Centers.
Meanwhile many small business owners will be lost in the shuffle by adopting the gTLDs thereby cutting themselves off from the .COM Channels superior traffic velocity. This is Googles and Amazons grand design and it looks like there will be many unsuspecting takers of the gTLD industries offerings. The hook is being set and there will be many suckers taking the bait.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Absolutely, using a sub domain seems fine to me…but not owning the .com is not smart considering their size…the domain cost would have been minimal…I know…Jeff Bezos is the king of smart…but he is capable of making wrong moves…this is one of them…