We are talking today with Mike Robertson of Fabulous.com fame and Co – Founder along with Jen Sale of Domain Guardians. Domain Guardians successfully brokered the name BTC.com for seven figures, He was kind enough to give us a few minutes on just how the sale went down.

1) What was the total sales price of the domain, was there a buyer’s premium or any other added costs ? If you can add, was this a straight cash buy, no lease, no equity or any other special financing arrangements ?

Mike Robertson: The correct final sale price was $1m, not the previously reported amounts. Outside of the Escrow.com fees, there were no buyer premiums or other costs which complicate deals or increase the cost to the buyer. The seller is not being compensated with anything other than cash. No bitcoin or equity was part of the deal.

2) How did Domain Guardians go about reaching out to potential buyers ?

Mike Robertson: Specializing in domain brokering for a number of years now, we know how important it is to proactively market domains, especially if you want to sell to end users and get top dollar prices. As such, we spend a great amount of time researching the market, identifying prospective buyers. From there it is a matter of getting your pitch in front of the right people at each organization. Last count, we had responses from over 150 Bitcoin related companies, entrepreneurs and investment companies.

3) How many serious buyers were in the running for the domain ?

Mike Robertson: As mentioned, we got responses from over 150 different parties.  Our industry contacts allowed us to discuss the opportunity with everyone from the Winklevoss twins, to executives at BlockChain, BitPay, CoinBase, KNCMiner.com, OKCoin and, of course, many more. Of these 150, we were in serious negotiations with 2 other parties.

4) Bitcoin and the whole CryptoCurrency niche is very hot right now, both from the currency speculation and domain standpoints. Do you think this trend will continue and that we will see more high profile sales in this niche ?

Mike Robertson: I believe there is always going to be a demand for high quality, premium domains, regardless of the industry or niche. The Bitcoin and CryptoCurrency space is still in the very early infancy stage, so I have no doubt that we will see more sales in this area. That said, the majority of the category defining domains in Bitcoin are currently in use by end-users. However, as Bitcoin becomes more popular, I’m sure new phrases/terms will begin to be more commonly used, resulting in those .com variants increasing in value/marketability. As other CryptoCurrencies gain in popularity, I’m sure we’ll see other high-end domain sales also.

I think the most important thing to note is, the CryptoCurrency itself has to gain an adequate size user base and market acceptance before you will see notable domain sales.

5) Do you see Domain Guardians getting more active in the Bitcoin/Crypto niche ?

Mike Robertson: At DomainGuardians.com we are looking to broker premium, category defining domains, the top shelf domain names, regardless of the industry or niche they relate to. Names that we see value in and believe have potential to be successfully marketed and sold to end users. These are domains that are valued at $100K or more. We believe we’re very effective in our methods of identifying prospects and have a high success right in reaching the key decision makers at companies to pitch these domains to.

6) What would you say to readers who may feel they own a good name in this niche ? Do they have to go outside the traditional Sedo/Afternic marketplaces and seek out those who specialize in crypto type names ?

Mike Robertson: It depends how motivated they are to sell and what their price expectations are. Domain sale listings on various marketplaces will generate sales, but it may take some time before the buyer finds you. Each sale method, Buy It Now listing, Make An Offer listing, Auction listing, utilising the services of a broker, etc all have their pros and cons. It really comes back to the individual owner and what their motivation level is.