Sale yet to close. Will it?
[Update: Pizza.com has now sold.] People outside the domain world were surprised to see that Pizza.com sold for $2.6 million a few weeks ago. But those of us in the domain industry have been on edge ever since. We have one question: will the deal actually close?
As of today there’s no news on the deal. The whois on Pizza.com has been a private registration for many years, although Chris Clark’s (the seller) name is no longer attached to it.
I’ve left voicemails for Clark on both his home phone and mobile phone but he hasn’t responded. (I guess he only takes calls from The Washington Post).
I checked in with Sedo this morning and the company says the domain is still in transfer.
If the deal doesn’t go through, it wouldn’t be the first time a high profile sale was never completed. Often times a second bidder steps in to buy it for more (Cowboys.com) or slightly less (Computer.com), but many other “sales” fall through the cracks. It must be hard enough selling a $50,000 domain and never getting the money. But $2.6 million? Ouch.
My rule of thumb is that the deal isn’t done until the check is in the bank. I’ve been disappointed enough times to get elated before a deal is done.
What do you think? Will this deal close? Who is the buyer?
graham haynes says
This is the down fall of SEDO – they have so many dead beat bidders and they actively encourage it by not legally pursing them or at least closing their accounts.
I know for a fact, that a deadbeat bidder on a domain of mine kept his account and continues to bid, having now knowingly failed to pay on 2 names. By Sedo doing nothing, encourages more deadbeat bids, to the point it appears the site is riddled with them.
I can not believe that an auction house would not check the validity of any bidder, placing a bid above $20,000 – Sedo must only get a handful of these a week and therefore its not too time consuming to do some background checks and pays 10 fold in increasing the perceived trust, in the brand ‘SEDO’.
My guess is the $2.6million is history and Sedo are contacting the earlier bidders to see if they can find a genuine bid from those: this has also happened to me twice at Sedo being contacted on a name I lost in auction because the winner didn’t pay up!
Heading for a fall sedo because the quality names will not be listed with them as people lose trust in sedo.
Andrew says
@ Graham – that is a shame. I’ve only had one deal not go through at Sedo.
Perhaps they should make bidders post a bond of some sort if they bid over $20,000 on a domain.
David J Castello says
I hope for Sedo’s sake that this deal goes through. They’ve already had the Iran.com fiasco and the false posting of Atlanta.com (to name a few).
I don’t put this in the same league as the Cowboys.com situation. To Monte’s credit, the public was informed immediately that someone in the Cowboy’s organization had the IQ of a gerbil. In these situations, time is crucial in limiting damage control and it did not reflect badly upon Moniker.
Selling domains above six figures via an auction generates publicity that reflects upon the general perception of our industry. If the Pizza.com deal goes through, we all look like winners. Bids above 50K should be treated the same as a real estate auction (bidders must put a deposit, bond, etc).
Andrew says
@ David – I agree. I didn’t mean to call out Moniker on Cowboys.com. Obviously, Monte did an awesome job “taking care of it”, as he did with Computer.com (which wasn’t a deadbeat bidder, just a slow payer). Those were just two examples that came to mind, but both of those worked out well for the seller.
Rob Sequin says
I just posted “My last straw at Sedo” at Rick’s board so soon I will be a FORMER Sedo customer.
I will be watching for news here about the final transfer of Pizza.com. If it doesn’t go through, I will wait to read Sedo’s excuse and see how they handle it.
Steve M says
My prediction: This sale won’t go through … Sedo will sell it to another of the bidders for 1.5-2 million … but at the mutual request of the buyer and seller, the sales price will not be revealed … and it’ll be up for auction again within a year with a 2 million minimum bid/reserve.
Damir says
Pizza.com – the deal isn’t done until the check is in the bank – I do agree with you there 100%
Michael Castello says
My gut tells me it is going through. My gut also tells me I want a pizza.
Daniel Dryzek says
Michael – are you a lucky buyer of this domain or is it only your gut? 😉
Zorro says
The (absurd) price alone should be telling people this deal won’t be going through.
Sylvia says
I recently wrote a post – IMHO – that the new owner of pizza.com is Comcast. I’m certain the check has already been “put in the mail.” The announcement, no doubt, is “under seal.” Keyword search for Comcast and pizza.com and you can read my posts.
james says
Today at namepros.com , there comes a thread about a member receiving from sedo about the domain pizza.com available for purchase at the price of 2.6 millions. Therefore , people are discussing about the possibility of the deal never closed.