I don’t write much about domains I have sold, but recent 3 domain names I have sold have been in the news recently
BigGovernment.com is a domain we sold over a year ago, as usual for way to cheap.
The domain is the site of Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart.
This site has been the center of attention this week with the release of the Anthony Weiner Photos which are all watermarked with the site.
I have seen the pics and the site just but everywhere.
I’m not going there by making any jokes (although the Paris Hilton/Jimmy Kimmel discussion on the pics is pretty funny).
Getaround.com is another domain we sold way too cheap that now is owned by the winner of the TechCrunch.com Disrupt award two weeks ago.
How cheap was the domain?
Consider that the $50K check they picked up for winning the award was 2x the amount they paid for the domain name.
With Warren Buffet as an investor there is already talk about a billion dollar plus valuation of the company.
So while I’m not going to claim that the domain name made this company, clearly A great domain name is part of the total package.
And a great domain doesn’t have to be a one word .com or a category killer but something brandable and marketable.
Further proof that domain names are not only cheap but the best buy any end user will probably ever make.
Especially if they buy them from me.
wow, that really sucks. 25K isn’t too bad but you took what you could get at that moment. That is an opportunity where you may have been able to get shares in the company instead of just a cash payment. But rarely does that happen I guess.
25K they over paid for the name
they could of done the same thing with a reg fee domain
biggov.biz was open as I type this
biggovernment.biz/tv was open
the name is nothing to that
they’re known politico’s
they don’t need catchy .com’s
IMO
their names or a some bs political term other than a 25K catchy .com would have made them
come on, huffingtonpost.com was branded for inside politico crap
you got hot news, you can break anything with any .com/net/org/biz/tv/co/whatever
news/content doesn’t need major .com’s
you need the press writing about you with hyperlinks
that creates huge traffic and then you bring them back
you know after 911 we had 6 ‘news’ sites in top 1K at alexa, NO ONE ever did that
how was it done
EASY
We had major media linking to us all over the world, since we had the details of 911 on those 6 sites YEARS before it hit
had to do grand jury stuff with the GOV over it
so you get major media links, you get HUGE TRAFFIC
you over sold that .com’
biggovernment.com
zero value without a pundit who can get major media throwing him links
IMO
but damn, you got a great sale on that
but the name had NO COMMERCIAL VALUE
it needed what it got, a pundit with connections
who is behind it
buffet, pushing a new pundit?
yawn
they can bring traffic to a .xxx if they want with a couple of hyperlinks in major media
but, you made 25K off a bs political term that was not worth 25K
but, some guy ponied it up, congrats
I would have laughed if you offered it to me for 25K, I wouldn’t have sunk anything but maybe low to mid XXX into it
but then I don’t get tons of major media throwing me millions of surfers
sure, I was on the crew that had that huge post 911 hit
yawn, it knocked 6 servers off a major hub, the MILLIONS of people every hour we were getting
it stunk trying to keep up with the demand
sure you make some great fast dough, since the group had all sorts of conspiracy books and nostradamus books on the sites to peddle and memberships
LOL
but you sure didnt have ads to sell in 2001
adsense was years away
anyway, your name was oversold IMO
but you did the deal
congrats
but they didn’t need a name for what they did
biggov.tv is probably better to brand
and it’s still OPEN
so whoever reg’s it after they read my wisdom
congrats
I don’t have time to peddle in garbage
my games now is one thing
professional domains
they pay guys like me big bucks
they all make bucks
and you know what, I turn down lawyers everyday saying, you’re nobody bro, you can’t afford me, you need to be one of the top dogs in your profession in your area to deal with me
SORRY I don’t take on charity
they’re shocked
But I’m one of the best if not the best in that genre of hot needs right now
So I take them big every new client
but get realistic, the name was oversold at 25K, and they could have had the same traffic on a domain that is still open today
BIGGOV.tv
the traffic comes from all the hyperlinks not the morons watching cable news with a few second spiel
BIG GOV
you know the average moron on line today can’t even spell GOVERNMENT
so it is too big for a legit typein
How’s that in the equation
BIG GOVERNMENT .com is a lousy name
too big, too many spelling errors if you get free press and a short tight .tld will do way better IF you get millions in FREE PRESS which is what is driving the name
so while I’m writing this, one of the dudes I know who is also a DOMAIN LORD says wow biggov.tv is open, GONE
plus he swooped up a bunch of other g tld’s and cc tlds
a way better name
a politico’s traffic only is relevant as long as that politico is getting free pr
so biggov.tv he says he’s gonna do a stupid thing politicians say on it
basically a bloopers for politicians with some bs blogging
spew your comments on my bs
me, I don’t have time anymore to spew my opinions everyday on a political site
but more power to the LORD that likes what I’m saying
they sprang for the .tv reg and the rest
and yeah, to brand, biggov.tv is way better than biggovernment.com
and I HATE .tv domains
but for political crap
yeah .tv is a fine bs cc tld
wow they got the .co too
nice
looks like they’re gonna brand it in several countries
every country has stupid politicians
biggov.co.uk gone
so an alternative news site, with a free for all blog and every funny stupid thing every major politician has done
I can see george bush one throwing up in japan on it already
now all they need is a sex tape of a famous politician
let’s see who I can call…
wow they’re fast, already LIVE before I could hit post
http://www.biggov.co
http://www.biggov.tv
http://www.biggov.co.uk
so when you see a hot sex tape of a politician on it
yeah now that’s BIG GOV .tv
hehehe
let’s see, t-shirts, hats, buttoms, bumper stickers
I watch BIG GOV .tv
spying on the spies I guess
LOL
Very nice sales – don’t you also own PresidentialAlert.com? That one will be huge someday.
I hope so. I actually own it (PresidentialAlert.com). I’m not normally in the domain business. I bought to point to my speech writing website. If someone offers me a pile of money, I’ll listen.
Great post, timely for me. I just got an offer from a major corporation on one of my domains. It could be potentially my first major sale, yet I am nervous I will blow it, by either offering it at too low a price and then having regrets later or by pricing it too high and pricing myself out of the market. My stomach is in a knot, selling domains is not for sissy’s…
@Dean you could always ask them to offer you a number and then see if that is anywhere near what you want to sell it for.
That’s exciting. I am going to go ahead and say congratulations because I am sure you will sell it.
Congratulations, @ MHB! It must feel rewarding domains you chose and preserved are popular with the startup set!
Good buzz for MostWantedDomains – nice going! 🙂
congrats on the sales
i don’t know about ‘sold too cheap as usual’
you seem to get the max from every sale, including these, and are obviously a great negotiator or are like Rick S and have plenty of cash which helps playing hardball
good examples of 2 nice domains though and 2 domains that have served buyers well
congrats again
Nice sales.
I’ve sold a couple that, once I saw where they went, I figured I shoulda held out for more but that mentality can keep you broke, or operating very iinefficiently and leaving a lot of money on the table.
Fantastic returns are fantastic returns.
… and, of course, just because you wrung someone for $10K or $20K for a name does not mean they were budgeted for much more before they started exploring other options.
Well done.
Excellent pickups by the buyers.
To paraphrase Andrew Rosener quote the other day, “well look back at this era as if we were trading baseball cards.”
Domain prices are going to the moon. I love it. 🙂
@Dean,
It’s just business. Remove your emotions from the process and price the domain based upon the market it will be serving, the size of the corp, and how they may be approaching said market with your domain. Do some research before giving them an asking price.
Money is the easiest thing in the world to make once you understand it.
@MHB
When I saw Bretibart was using BigGovenrment.com the first thing I thought was, “What a great name – wonder where he picked that up?”
@Domain Lords
Next time you may want to order decaf 🙂
LOL Sorry, meant to type – “BigGovernment.com”
MHB–you are doing something good buy lowering the price.
You will go to the Domain Heaven with your doggie.
Don’t cry over the pee that you miss-shoot!!
@MHB Ditto what David said.
@mhb
Congratulations. Its easy to look back and go back and forth. Not easy to overcome either. But the bottom line is figure out your costs and add both names sold
Tell me what business can do an ROI like this?
Just my 2 cents.
Mike, sounds like a nasty case of seller’s remorse. ;+)
Isn’t that always the case? The moment you’ve transferred away the domain, you start to wonder if you could’ve gotten more money for the domain?
If only…
But remember, you still made a profit on the sale (right?), and you still have plenty of other domain names to sell. Bandit is not going to starve!
So chin up, the next deal is just around the corner. Along with another case of seller’s remorse!
(Congrats on the sales my friend!)
Mike you are famous for putting a second word first (THEdomains) Breitbart has been buying all kinds of names that are prefaced by big (BIGhollywood) just goes to show you one-man trash is another’s treasure. Beware of the man behind the curtain when getting an offer. Skydrive that I blogged about earlier is a perfect example of an application the owner would never have considered. Big companies are using decoys to do their bidding. You really have to understand who the buyer is then Google the keyword in your name with their brand. Often you’ll get a wake up call to what they have in mind and appraise accordingly.
I don’t often agree with Rick Schwartz, but one thing I think I have taken away from reading his blog and his approach to selling domains is; a Domain is worth as much money as you are willing to walk away from. I know it’s an oversimplification as there are so many criteria that go into pricing a domain, but when that day comes and someone makes an offer and you know they have the resources behind them, it becomes a delicate balancing act that requires the precision of a surgeon…?
Again, I tend to over complicate things, but it’s not like I get big offers everyday. I think if you do your due diligence and know a little about the subject if your domains, know the market a little, factor in similar recent sales, weigh in it’s potential use as not just a website address, but a brand/marketing campaign behind it, etc,etc, etc,. Than and only then can you make an educated guess as to it’s true value.
In the end on some level it comes down to supply and demand and your ability to navigate sales and what you are comfortable rejecting if not suitable to your needs.
To those who commented in reply to my comment thank you, your support is greatly appreciated. It would be premature and bad luck to say anything further at this point, but I will keep you posted on what happens.
“Money is the easiest thing in the world to make once you understand it.”
Owen
Quite true and may times the big boys use sedo.com or another broker to come at you so you have no info at all who is inquiring.
As I have said before you have judge overall success of a strategy over a period of time.
If you make pretty good money over 5-10 years you have a good strategy but of course you don’t max out every transaction.
I have said no to offers on domains to never get another offer on it.
Dean
I have had the privilege of chatting with Rick on the strategy and theory of domain sales for hours and hours, and the guy has a clear plan in this mind and executes it accordingly.
That’s the important thing to develop a plan based on your financial situation and your nature.
So Rick strategy, is not for everyone nor does everyone have domains like Candy sitting around.
Also you have to do what you are comfortable with.
The easiest way of not missing out on a big payday is to say to no.
That means your going to turn down $25K $50K $100K and more on domains.
Not for everyone.
You may pass on 100 sales at $25K to get that one $250K sale.
Personally my plan was to sell enough domains to cover my costs.
And every year since 1999 we have done that and more.
Which means that people who buy domains from us really do get good deals.
Yes if I could live for 500 years I would never sell a domain for less than $250K but unfortunately all I got is maybe 30 more years.
Also you
“That’s the important thing to develop a plan based on your financial situation and your nature”
Precisely, as much as a domain’s evaluation must be based on it’s use, it’s value is also a very subjective thing.
This is the only industry I know, where you could be sitting on a pot of gold, yet be a broke motherfucker!
@mhb good insight imo. @at Dean. Good luck- go with what your gut tells you I would say. Also if its a 10k or something like that, can you reinvest in other drops and keep the train rolling along?
Past few weeks I been having some challenges and I am falling behind on my sales numbers compared to last year. That hurts me and I keep trying and trying. Good news- my past 2 sales have been end users and I emailed them. One was a name I got for 30 bucks and sold for 900. I was happy. I needed the cash. Then I hand reg a name and 24 hours later sold for 275 via broker.
Point is this. While we always talk that home run sale or have regrets in things at times , there is nothing wrong with a lot of singles or doubles imo.
Berkens can hold out. Rick can hold out. There huge. Everyone has different measures of successes and has weaknesses.
Its a great time to be a domainer now. Takes a lot of dedication and failing to determine on your road to success imo.
Sorry for rambling along.
@MHB:
“Yes if I could live for 500 years I would never sell a domain for less than $250K.”
So true 🙂
** Yes if I could live for 500 years I would never sell a domain for less than $250K but unfortunately all I got is maybe 30 more years. **
LOL
Very optimistic
Truth is, for those who even reach 80 yrs old – WITHOUT at least one “old age onset” complications such as dementia (everyone loses neurons at rate of about 7% per decade), diabetes (pancreas will wear out or body becomes insulin resistant), heart disease, cancer etc – is a rare thing indeed…
Unless your ancestors have a record of longevity or you were really clean living for decades (minimize deterioration), most will barely exceed the national average of 77
For most, it will not be the rosy picture seen in movies
Just a thought: for 52 yo…I’ve seen much better
A Domain is worth exactly what the highest bidder is willing to pay ai the time, at least in the beginning before its built.
WorldGovernmentCenter.com long but a most definite trade mark able identity
Every domainer should develop their own individual strategy that works best for the quality and quantity of the portfolio they’ve built and also take into consideration their personal financial situation. There is no one strategy that works for all.
Right now the market is great for some but increasingly challenging for most.
But you have to stay optimistic and market through all the sales channels you can find. There are lots of buyers out there, but they want good deals and quality domains.
Dont feel bad. I sold Jamster.com for $250.00 The name was useless as an empty vessel, got 100 hits a year, and made less than $1.50 in two years so I sold it cheap as it was a useless name to me, and of course, the buyer (verisign) hid there identity and I didnt pursue their true identity before the sale because I just didnt really care about the name. Was chugging a beer a few months later at a local tap when I saw a JAMSTER.com commercial and about fell off my stool. They spent $8 million dollars branding it during the launch phase. Lesson well learned, I wont even consider a buyer unless I can verify their identity and I tell the brokers that when they contact me. No secret buyers period. I have had big companies from India, Logitech, and otthers interested in some of my names that they have no TM rights too, snd guess what. They dont want to pay a fair price. I dont think low six is too much for a 3 billion dollar company but hey, who am I?
Sad to hear what happened but that’s how it works, they will hide behind a sob story, and offer you a Popsicle, and if you let your growling stomach control you, well you will bite..I cant imagine the pain when you saw that ad. Its been happening to me for years, but i control my hunger pangs.
More than likely a domain broker bought it and resold it.
>>More than likely a domain broker bought it and resold it<<
Would there be much of that going on where a buyer tells a broker the max price they're willing to pay for a certain domain and the broker is able to obtain it for much less, but keeps the difference?
Domainium, feel your pain. your story is even more bitter than the CamRoulette’s one
domainium that is an interesting way to look at it.
another way to look at it is that the name is not worth much until all the effort and expense of branding it has taken place.
i.e. how can it be worth anything if zero effort an expense has been put toward advertising and marketing? is a trademark worth anything if it’s never used, and no one even knows it exists?
it’s like a chip maker saying his chips should be worth what the motherboard manufacturer, the oem or good ole microsoft gets when a pc is sold.
as mhb and others have instructed, the only way to “win” the game of negotiation is to be able to say “no”. if you can’t afford to hold onto these names, then they go back in the pool, for $69, $250 or some other arbitrary price.
to make the domain game work, you have to create artificial scarcity (same goes for ip numbers). the registries have done a wonderful job at this. control the supply to manipulate the demand. domainers can do that too. but you have to buy and hold. you must be able to say no.
do you honestly think the value in a name like jamster is in the name itself? or is it in the large expense and effort that a company makes to market it as a brand, and the quality of the product or service that it comes to represent?
fizz.. Nothing wrong with the concepts, if a broker has a buyer, and the seller agrees to sell for a lower price, welcome to America that’s how profits are made, or even the broker may buy it because he knows a potential buyer, he speculates and buys at a low price and now can sell for a high price. It boils down to who you know, and their available resources. a domain isn’t worth 50 cents to a poor man with no vision or understanding, you couldn’t give to them for free. but that same domain to a wealthy knowledgeable business man with vision, and experience who understands the end results, it would be worth millions…And he would be happy to pay because it will make him millions more..So the moral of the story is if a domainer can find the end buyer, he can make millions off his domains if they are of decent quality.
I have said before that I dont hold anybody but myself responsible. The name was useless to me when I sold it, and, Ididnt put much effort into identifying the potential buyer. I think its a lesson we all learn at least once. Now, that name was not worth a damned thing, from a ppc ore revenue perspective, until somebody developed and or branded it. They created its current value. It is up to me, the seller, to value the name from my perspective. Now, all of us will value a name higher if we know a well funded buyer is the interested party. SO we need to know who our buyers are. SOrry, but I do expect to get more money from a company that has billions in assetts. I think thats fair. I have sold many names since for 5 figures because I always know now who the buyer is. If they dont want to let me confirm, there is nothing to discuss.
Hello – I bought singlesfinder.com in 1998 and it’s currently on flippa
I have a serious offer right now, but I KNOW it’s way less than what it could actually bring.
What’s a girl to do?