A cool domaining story – $1.99 to $20,000

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There was a story that I did not see posted about that was a really cool domaining story. While it’s cool to read about the exploits of Mike Mann and Rick Schwartz, most small to mid size domain investors tend to think that the big sale will never happen to them.

Especially when the sale comes from a $1.99 handreg. Well Namepros member Omelet scored big when handregging a domain name for $1.99 in the fall of 2016.

The name was MessengerKids.com and about a year later a little company by the name of Facebook came a calling.

The opening offer $20,000, accepted immediately. Deal done!

The opening post at Namepros:

The name was hand registered at netfirms.com, at price of $1.99 back in 2016 Fall. Sold in 2017 Oct. Buyer came in with offer $20,000 USD. Accepted. Escrow traded.

Now some in the post at Namepros questioned why he did not counter, I know the owner of this publication Mr.Berkens has always told me that you need to counter. Even if the opening offer knocks your socks off. For many they believe the potential buyer will immediately have remorse, that their offer was too large and that they could have done better. To quote Game of Thrones creator, George R.R. Martin, “A fair bargain leaves both sides unhappy.”

Facebook had no remorse and the deal quickly closed.

MessengerKids by Facebook

New Facebook App for Children Ignites Debate Among Families –

Dec 4, 2017 – Facebook’s Messenger Kids app is fairly limited in scope, allowing for text and video chat, as well as sending photos. … In 2011, for example, an operator of virtual worlds that had been acquired by the Walt Disney Company agreed to pay $3 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it …
I thought the seller was very gracious and low keyed, nice to see someone hit a grand slam without even pressing for one.
Here the seller noted the whole deal in it’s entirety:

buyer called in June inquired the name available for sale. while, I have 3000+ names, I couldnt tell her if the name still with me or not.

Asked her to email back with offer.

No emails. Thought the sales would not happen. Didnt really care about it

Email offer came in September. Accepted. Deal done in October.

Read the full thread on Namepros

About Raymond Hackney

Raymond is a writer, domain trader and consultant based in Pennsylvania. Raymond is the founder of 3Character.com and TLDInvestors.com.

Comments

  4. NJ says

    I would not have countered, I would have crapped my pants. Such a great sale, way to go omelet.

    • Rev says

      If you have negotiated with them prior, it really helps, all in all, good story guy got his $20K, and a story for life, facebook starts a new segment, and parents are happy.

  5. Adam says

    “most small to mid size domain investors tend to think that the big sale will never happen to them.” . . . and they would be correct.

  7. Ronald Smith says

    @adam Not even remotely true, small investors make great sales all the time. but keep spreading fud.

    • Ryan says

      They tend to make not as big sales as they have the potential because they can’t afford to lose the deal.

      Where as Frank Schilling quotes $40k on every crap 4L, and then his brokers keep emailing for years asking what the issue is. Yet they won’t accept like $5k for a $500-$800 bought name, maybe come down to $13-15k.

  8. John says

    Nice story.

    “Mr.Berkens has always told me that you need to counter.”

    My thoughts exactly.

  9. John says

    A counter offer could have led to a lawsuit. FB has shown they are willing to litigate generics. Smart move by the seller.

  10. kd says

    How do you register a .com for $1.99? That is the only part I don’t understand. I would buy lots more domains if I could get ahold of that pricing in bulk!

    • Ben Pedri says

      oh no you don’t want to at one time you were able to use 60 different codes to reg godaddy domains for .99 to 2.49, per account . those .99 cent domains are now 129 domains with renewals ,if I can go back Id be more selective, in the fact the domains I did best with were the ones that I had a panic attack to reg them b4 I missed out to someone else buying them.

  12. Ben Pedri says

    Something happened to me ,but not at the same level ,it was a domain I would probably have dropped , When they opened the bid at 3000 and told me that was their max budget ,I let them know that the buy it now and reserve was actually 2999 , but with fees it should be between 3099 and 3199 ,if my partner agrees would they be willing to split the fees. This worked out perfect.

  13. Pritam Obi says

    That is a great story.The small-time investors cannot think of this level of success.Congrats. The same thing is happening to me.I bought one domain from expired domains for $80.Now I have got an offer of more than $40,000 and I am still negotiating.Hopefully, I will sell by the end of this month.Miracles do happen.Somebody said correctly that “Domain has value only when you get a Buyer”.

  16. AnnoyingTeddy.com says

    I don’t think even $250k would have phased Facebook if they were already set on the name. Look at domain king’s sales to companies like CNN for ireport.com many years ago. I just wonder if the buyer knew up front this offer came from FB. I would assume not. Either way, good to hear everyone is happy!