Intelend.com is a relatively new company in the domain space and considers itself a digital pawn shop that makes loans just holding domain names as collateral again the loan.
Loan are made to either give cash to domain owner or to help domainers with financing in the acquisition of new domain names.
I had a chance to speak with Matt Collins last week a principal in InteLend.com about its services.
IntelLend.com is “a digital pawn shop, you bring a domain to us and we look at the domain name and the value of the domain. There is no credit check, no income stream required. We lend money based on just the value of the domain name, using the domain as collateral”.
“We analysis the domain name, come up with our own valuation, and we will loan out based on 30-50% of our value of the domain name.
“We want the customer to have skin in the game not to default in the loan”.
We asked Matt how InteLend is this different than say DomainCapital?
DomainCapital.com is a completely different product.
‘With InteLend.com all the customer pays is interest”
“We have no fixed term, no call date that the Principal is due, no early payment or termination penalties”.
“DomainCapital.com requires a monthly payment of both princpail and interest, with a locked in term, and typically has early termination penalties”.
“InteLend is best for short term capital needs.”
If the concept sounds similar to the old Digipawn, its no accident.
Matt who is a an attorney was partners with Digipawn and sold his interest to Rick Latona.
According to Mr. Collins, Intelend.com has good financial backing us 4 months into operation has loaned six figures out.
Interest rates run between 3%-10% per month based on the quality of the domain and the percentage to value they are lending on the domain.
Loans made on the lower end of equity to value say 30% may carry a 3% monthly charge while lower quality domains and those made at 50% equity to loan value can be as high as 10% a mont.
InteLend has a goal of getting “$20 Million in loans the street.”
Matt acknowledges that they will have defaults and plans on placing the lower end domains into industry auctions while high valued domains will be sold through various high end domain name brokers.
InteLend.com has also launched an affiliate program for brokers and bloggers which pay a 3% commission of total amount financed to the affiliate so basically one month of interest on a 3% loan.
InteLend has a goal of turning a deal around and funding it withing 24 hours.
We require documents to be signed, you will have to push the domain into our account and then we will fund the transaction.
To get more information or to apply for a loan you can visit InteLend.com here
Those are some wicked high interest rates.
a shark is a shark is a shark…
Everyone has a right to their opinion. Would be nice to see some viable alternatives and suggestions instead of sniping IMO. But hey I’m just someone trying to build and not stifle an industry in which I have operated for the last 17 years.
The new GTLD program will bring multiple new income opportunities along with armchair quaterbacks and yes sniping opportunities. Good luck MC. BTW you must be doing something right to get sniped at since as we know “dogs don’t chase parked cars”.
Choice is good.
These rates — as described in the article — are between 36% per year (non-compounded) and 120% per year.
If you’re loaning to 100% of the value or you accept high appraisals on the valuations, then those rates might make sense. But here we’re talking about 30%-50% equity to value.
There are less expensive options out there. YetI’m a free market person, so if people go for this then it must make sense. They obviously couldn’t get financing elsewhere at better rates.
Andrew
They are
But if you need cash right away, have no or bad credit and only a domain for collateral it maybe the best you can do.
Not like the banks are lending on domain names and I know from personal experience even with good credit, income and the rest. mortgages are still incredibly hard and take months
Viable points Andrew and Mike, this option is not for everyone. self initiative and involvement in our industry should be promoted IMO and people with ideas like MC given a chance to try and let the market decide their businesses fate IMO.
When domain holders are engaging in a loan on a domain they currently own (not a new acquisition with buy price evident)… what method of valuation and/or which vauation services/platforms will be utilized by InterLend ??
Thanks for the comments and I am happy to answer any questions or comments that come in.
First and foremost, let me talk about the finance charge. Since inteLend.com does month to month deals the finance charge is going to be higher than traditional funding sources. This also makes inteLend.com ideal for short term financing needs while giving the client flexibility to have the term that the client needs.
inteLend.com is certainly not for everyone, but we’ve found a niche in the market place that is not currently being served and we’ve seen tremendously positive feedback from customers and potential customers alike.
The bottom line is that if an opportunity is too good to pass or a client needs funds immediately, then inteLend.com may well make good business sense.
Matt
A better name for the business would have been DomainArbitrage.com – or GarbageDomains.com
Hey JNet,
The question of how we value domains is an excellent question. My answer, alas, is not going to be very satisfying.
Valuations are what I call our “secret sauce” and thus is part of our proprietary system and process. Suffice to say that we look at a variety of information that helps us form our valuation. We also welcome any information that the client may have to help support a higher valuation. The more data we receive the better.
The key to remember is that we are not looking to advance the full value but only a portion thereof so that the client still has a substantial investment in the domain.
Matt
It didn’t take long for a typo squatter to register wwwintelend.com – we count about 10 typos at http://www.typoassassin.com/signup.php?keyword=intelend&tld=com and while some look like legit variations there are some that could switch to be unwanted affiliates at any time, sending you customers you would have gotten anyway.
Hello MHB,
The signifigance of financial collateralization of the secondary domain marketplace is a further sign that we have arrived as a grounbreaking new asset class. This is the stuff that will attract the huge pool of money the ad companies control. Those Ad companies that sense this Sea change shift going on, will benefit the most. Ad companies that promote Virtual Business Foundations BRANDS will be the most successful New Online Benefactors.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Wow, 3-10% interest, per MONTH? (With it most likely gravitating towards 10%.) Someone would have to be nuts to take a loan like this.
> “With InteLend.com all the customer pays is interest”
Yep, and usually, forever. A “pawn shop” is the perfect description for this type of business. Whether “digital” or not, it’s just as seedy.
Hey Grim,
I know and understand that when you look at a finance charge and the rates that are printed on this page, they appear high…but flexibility we offer is unmatched in the market place.
You’re absolutely right that inteLend.com is not for everyone. Who is inteLend.com a good fit for?
* Businesses that need cash now
* Businesses that want to leverage valuable domains for business needs.
* Businesses that have short term capital needs.
* Businesses and owners that have bad credit and can get financing through no other source.
* Businesses and owners that have cash flow positive business opportunities or domain purchase options that cannot be exploited without additional capital.
The interest only solution is a benefit to clients in that THEY decide when to pay back the principal. This is the ultimate in flexibility though this comes at a price.
I recognize that inteLend.com is not a solution for everyone, but our growing list of satisfied customers is a testament to the fact that inteLend.com is a valuable and necessary solution for many businesses.
Matt
Matt,
The service was just launched and you already claim to have a ” growing list of satisfied customers”…
uhhh?
It was launched over 4 months ago.
See the post
Michael:
4 months IMO it’s a veryvery short time to make such an “established” claim of satisfied customers …
With due respect: sounds to me more like a Lawyer’s TV commercial…
Matt wrote:
> You’re absolutely right that inteLend.com is not for everyone.
Matt, unfortunately a loan offer like this is only right for those who can least afford it. (Bad credit, no other alternatives, etc.) I’d recommend that anyone who can’t borrow money from a better source, do what most people do and work another job while they launch their business.
> “Businesses that have short term capital needs.”
Most businesses have short-term needs. But most businesses don’t borrow money from pawn shops. “Short-term,” more often than not, turns into long-term, since what people go into business dreaming of, especially those who have no business experience, rarely is the reality of what eventually happens. And when the money doesn’t come pouring in like they expected, the loans, (or just the interest in this case), still has to be paid.
I started a software company here in Silicon Valley over 20 years ago. I’ve also worked in India as a consultant for a tech startup, and many of the poor there are caught in the trap of high-interest loans that they have no chance of ever being able to pay off. They’ll take out another loan, just to pay off their current one. Then another to pay off that one, etc. When I tried to explain the problem of this to those I knew, they understood, but there were no other choices for them. It had become a way of life, an endless cycle, much like the ‘Payday’ type of loans here in the States are for many.
In any event, sorry, but this is a sore spot for me. I just hate to see those who can’t afford better rates, being taken advantage of with annual interest rates that can be calculated well into 3 figures when all is said and done.
Grim,
I certainly understand your concerns for the plight of some people, but I am also an unabashed capitalist. I believe in the American Dream and greatly admire entrepreneurs and their willingness to risk it all for success.
Unfortunately, business success is usually only possible through access to capital and in most cases, a second or even third job is not going to provide the liquidity to take advantage of an immediate opportunity.
The creation of new businesses takes capital and access to capital is what we do at inteLend.com. Yes, we do take on a higher risk since we never do a credit check and we base our credit decisions solely on the domain as collateral.
I would rather go broke trying to get rich, than to never try at all and I am giving others that same opportunity. What clients do with that opportunity is beyond my control, but I can say this: without capital, there will be no opportunity for many people to succeed.
Matt
Hey Domo Sapiens,
You’re right, four months is not a long time for us to build a track record but so far, the results are great.
You should remember, however, that we specialize in short term financing so four months does give us a good point of reference. I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve helped a lot of businesses and yes, the list is growing every day.
I strongly believe that the domain industry needs a company like inteLend.com and I look forward to helping this industry grow through access to capital.
Matt
I will be at WebFest Global next month and would love to talk to anyone who may want to learn more about inteLend.com and what we do.
Please hit me up at matt AT intelend DOT com and let me know you’ll be there and would like to meet.
Matt
MPCollins wrote:
> Grim,
> I certainly understand your concerns for the plight of some people,
> but I am also an unabashed capitalist.
———–
“Capitalist” isn’t a bad word. It’s how I made my money in the tech industry, after all. But the method of how one makes money has always been important to me. Do I do it by creating something that will give value to another person’s life, and hopefully bring them some measure of happiness in the process? Or might I choose to prey on those who have few choices in life, knowing that I can take advantage of them because of that?
To each his own. But there’s a reason why those ‘Payday’ loan operations are becoming illegal in many states. It’s because they’re doing the latter.
So Domo, Grim & Me & the realists:
Let’s get down to it.
This guy is in the business of extending credit to failed business models whose principals maxed out credit cards, second mortgages and every other credit line because of (likely speculative) overpriced and awful domains (hopefully non.coms) that should never have been bought or re-bought in the first place becaue they had no clue.
Lets say you have a “portfolio” of domains that you feel is worth $200K – and they say it is worth $40K – which is likely “reality” at best – and then they add their calculations at 25% on the dollar so they are willing to lend you $10K – and then you default – because you should have never done it in the first place – and therefore you end up with no domains and nothing – but 4-12 months of denial .
This is their “legal” business model – so what gets you to sleep at night