Great.com was the big sale at NamesCon’s live auction last night. Some expressed doubts if the domain sale would close.
We did a poll on Twitter with not many votes but the majority voted no it would not go through.
Will the sale of https://t.co/mc2ppcTiof go through? #Namescon2018
— The Domains (@thedomains) January 31, 2018
Monte Cahn left a comment that it’s a done deal
LOL Richard – Great.com is a done deal. confirmed with the buyer this AM. Someone I marketed to heavily. Why would you think or feel differently having nothing to do with our auction or business?
Congrats to Monte and the seller.
What was the final price?
$900,000
Great sale!
Cream of the crop rises to the top. Congrats to buyer and seller.
I will tip my hat if it goes trough and be the first to admit that I was wrong… But still not convinced!
“confirmed with the buyer this AM.”
Why do you have to confirm with the buyer? Didn’t he make the 900k bid, and if he did make the (binding) bid, why confirm again?
Very good point Richard, but I think things like this have happened in the past (ie. Cowboys.com)?
Well he actually wrote me to tell me he was excited about the name and wanted to get it closed as soon as possible. thats how it was confirmed. The seller called me on the floor when the bidding was going on and agreed to lower their reserve to get the sale done. That is how we Role Richard. I have conducted thousands of auctions both online and live and rarely not have a sale go through. Thats not bad for handling more than $380mm in sales since i helped start this industry in 1995.
Mr. Cahn — are you saying the seller pulled a Oliver Hoger?
Last I heard, NameJet had suspended the next bid wins practice. I don’t know of any further notice stating they re-instated it. In NameJet’s own words, “We recognize this has created an unintended perception of suspicious activity, and therefore, we will suspend this process until further notice.” Yet, there have been reports of the next win practice being used since the announcement of suspension.
https://www.namepros.com/threads/bidding-on-your-own-names-at-namejet.1030874/page-64#post-6479339
With respect, if you’re going to brag about how you helped start this industry, then for goodness sake, please set a good example for the future of this industry. At times, it seems those legacy domainers at the top of the industry have little to no ethics, and are controlled by the almighty dollar. I mean, if industry vets don’t crack down on shilling and other shady practices, then I fear these folks could ruin the integrity of domainings future. I mean, if domainers can’t trust auction integrity, how do we expect the general public to trust it’s integrity?
Do you ever wonder how much of the reported $380mm+ in sales was a result of somebody being shilled up? Or do you turn a blind eye to thoughts like that?
Nevins who ever you are…. I have no idea what you’re talking about but I run the live auction. this is not on NameJet or has anything to do with NameJet. The name wasn’t sold on the NameJet platform it was in the live auction. A seller is definitely allowed to reduce their reserve sale price before during or after an auction to get a sale done. Reserves are released all the time on every live auction around the world every day. And regarding your other comments about helping starting the industry and paving the way so that others can be successful and make a great living from it, you’re welcome!! Enough said. !
http://archive.li/SxSdI
Maybe it’s just me but I’m always getting really thoughtful when people mention how much in sales they “handled” and how they “helped to start” an entire industry… Looks like some form on inferiority complex to me. Just curious, did somebody asked you for your help to start this industry or didn’t you just have anything better to do in ’95?
All I’m saying was, that I saw a lot of deals fell apart over the last 15 years. Buyers default all the time. Again, not just deals at Namescon / Namejet but at many other venues as well. You said it yourself that rarely deals don’t go through. Well, I’m glad if this sale goes through because it would mark a great start to 2018.
Monte, I spoke with a friend about the auction yesterday and he was wondering about the outcome of stop.com in that auction. Can you shed some light on that? I think at one point it said that the reserve was met and that it sold for $75,000. What happened?
Also, in general, would you not consider it as a conflict of interest to run an domain, that you or your company owns, in an auction that you are handling?
Thanks.
There is no question or confusion, stop.com did not meet it’s reserve so it will move to the extended auction. And in terms of selecting names that would be able to sell at auction, I can put whatever names I feel will sell in the auction if they are high-quality and create oppportunity for others. Stop.com was in the top 10 in bidding an interest and was totally justified to bring to live auction.
congrats!
top dollar
Great.com is truly a “great” domain name. Positive, short, memorable, eminently brandable. That’s why it’s hard to believe that with all the big companies and big budgets there are out there, this domain sold for under $1 million. It’s really one of the best dot coms you can find, exclusive of LL and LLL’s, even including most of them. A billion dollar business could easily be built off of this domain name. So it’s kind of hard to see this as a super deal for the seller or domains as a whole in that it sets a very low ceiling in terms of valuation. Boo.
IKR. Glad someone said something.
Anyone saying it’s a good sale is serving Kool-Aid. Might be drinking it too.
Perhaps there is more news to come on the sale of Great.com.
Super strong name but thought is was high myself. If a domainer has bought it what do they expect an enduser might pay, $9 million? I’d say is very risky at that price.
Awesome domain and a win-win for seller and buyer. Congrats Monte
Not a bad sale at all. Congrats to both, the buyer and seller.
Though it is logical to question things, Monte Cahn was indeed one who helped start this industry! I remember back in the good old days, he ran Moniker when it was THE registrar for domainers. (my how times have changed). He ran auctions at various shows where there were great sales not only for the elite portfolio holders, but for the average domainers as well. If you had an issue, you could email him and get a fast response …even if you were not a “big timer”. Yes, there are a lot more non paying buyers than there used to be. But, the guy has credibility. Too bad there are not more of his type working at places that hustle for the average domainer any more.
Make you right Swizzlestick He’s lovely lad.
Super domain and also great (terrible pun – sorry). Well worth its price.
And, yes, Monte is one of the pioneers of the domain industry. No doubt about that.
Well if Monte Cahn is going to claim some credit for the industry, and my impression is rightly so under the control of Divine Providence, then I will also claim some credit for Poker.com not being served up for slaughter at this auction event as originally announced. Only some mind you, also only under the control of Divine Providence.
Mark my words – as long as I live I will never, ever allow a domain like that to be bastardized or lowballed by anyone as I have seen other great domains go down that way before as long as it’s in my power to do even any little thing about it. And good luck calling my bluff on that. 😉
🙂
P.S. And I have it on good authority the owner is savvy enough to not need my efforts at all either, anyway, a nice added plus.
I made the decision not to put up Poker.com into this auction because we have several interested parties that would like to remain private. The owner was perfectly fine with it going up but I am choosing another route with it and the owner is in full support of my decision.
I’m glad to see nothing bad has happened yet. If it did it would not only be bad for the entire domain industry but also the entire poker industry too. I happen to be concerned with both. I’m even a former man from Uncle Sam, and as a nonpartisan independent I also know how stupid, unwarranted, un-American and anti-American what has occurred with poker and gambling since 2006 has really been. Fortunately we can see correction is underway, however, as those interested parties surely do as well.
Can I talk about both poker and Divine Providence at the same time, by the way? You *bet* I can. For brevity the collective “we” can pretend I just included the essay about misconceptions about that too.
I have argued before that in the hands of someone like Rick Schwartz we could easily wind up talking about a 9 figure sale for a domain like golf.com.
I have asserted before that the sale of a domain like loans.com was one of the biggest outright steals of the century, and BOA executives must still be writhing on the floor in laughter every day.
We learned only recently the great secret of LasVegas.com for $90 million over time. Quite appropriate, and more.
I have even alluded in the blogs to a nice long three word .com I contend is easily worth 9 figures itself as well, though not willing to point it out right now for reasons we all understand.
As I have mentioned many times I view domain names primarily as an end user first and only second as a seller and investor. I have that empathy with consumers of domain names and not just those who buy and sell, the empathy of what a domain is truly worth, not for the longing and scheming to lowball, bamboozle or worse.
Without question, and as someone with intimate knowledge and affinity for both domains and poker too, even the last asking price of $20 million I’m aware of is a *bargain* for Poker.com, and not the opposite. I’ll bet those “interested parties” know that too.
I’ve mentioned numerous times my years long dream of domain names gone mainstream, of entities like Sotheby’s stepping in to catch the public’s mind. Obviously we don’t have that now, but something like that is what I’d like to see for one like this.
When Paul McCartney tried to recover rights to Beatles songs Michael Jackson swooped in to win instead. It was the surprise result of a surprise sealed bid auction format that enabled that. I might like to see something like that for a domain like this, for instance, and perhaps something like that could result in a more reasonable outcome too.
The great gaming brands certainly know the value of this domain, and that includes all factors to include. Just look at who quietly obtained Poker.us some time before, by the way.
Perhaps, for example, there could even be a large payment up front, followed by years or even a lifetume of payment revenue stream.
Whatever the case may be and whatever terms are reached if any, this domain and the two main subject industries involved should not be cheated and should not be harmed. NDA or not, I want to see a good deal get done that’s good for all and not the opposite as we have seen so much before, or nothing less than the credible evidence of that or more.
Replying here because I couldn’t reply under the other comment, I was not there Monte but followed online and Stop.com was recorded as sold at $75,000. So someone screwed that up and that’s why people mentioned it, many talked about it on Twitter when it sold.
Sometimes names are miss-recroded as sold by the clerk who is actually in a remote location. We polycom the clerk in from our auction back end provider Xcira. After the auction is over, we go over each sale with our auctioneer and my recorded sales list as well as another person independently recording each sale, high bid, etc. Stop.com is in the extended auction and available for sale there along with all the other unsold names from the auction and the other names chosen for the extended auction. Hope that clears things up.
Ha, I see Mr. Cahn already has plenty of experience with sealed bid auctions no less, good to see: https://youtu.be/qompzILvBM8.
I’ll take the kind where the highest bidder pays their highest bid for a one of a kind domain like Poker.com and not any second highest, with a side order of publicity, thank you, just like the Beatles IP auction of 1985. 🙂 Hopefully the seller feels the same.