Fly.com Appreciates 20% in 10 Years
Friday, January 30th, 2009
Sale of $1.8 million not that great of a return.
The big domain name news today is the sale of Fly.com for $1.8 million to Travelzoo (NASDAQ: TZOO). That’s a big number, especially in today’s economy. But it’s not a great return for the seller.
It was almost 10 years ago that the domain name reportedly changed hands for $1.5 million. So in about 10 years the domain name appreciated less than 2% per year. Of course, 10 years ago the dot.com bubble was at its peak, so the $1.5 million purchase price was probably paid at the top of the bubble. The value then declined before coming back up. The owners of the domain name have been monetizing it, too. So the total return is greater than 20%.
The domain name was listed in September’s Great Domains auction at Sedo with a reserve over $2 million. The domain was transferred to Travelzoo on January 20, 2009.
Regardless, this is a fantastic sale to a public company. News like this will get the mainstream media talking about the value of domain names, which can only help the industry.
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Tags: fly.com, great domains, sedo, travelzoo, tzoo
Andrew, nice work on digging up some more info
We’ll see how long it takes for Travelzoo to roll out this new search engine.. It would be smart for them to launch it ASAP as there is buzz around the domain name purchase… Few more weeks and it will all be forgotten.
Mike
I wonder how much they have been making on all the ppc though? must count that in as 20% is not an accurate figure…Could be 150%
The fact that it held its value speaks volumes.
I wonder too what led to the readiness of Travelzoo to jump on the name. My guess is they had their eye on it for awhile. Travel has always been hot and very competitive. Those that survive this current tightening will come out the other side a definite player.
Fly.com probably looked irresistable because of the seller’s obvious inclination to move the name, and Travelzoo’s recognition that a good generic, premium portal would position them for great business once things take off again (pun intended). To me, Travelzoo is an odd brand and online identity. Fly.com makes so much more sense for several reasons.
agree with David C. not bad taking in consideration that 40 % of the world’s wealth has been lost in the last few months , in addition to show a “real return” you should add the revenue made…
Best.
@ Johnny D – I mention that in the article. The real return is higher (assuming it wasn’t bought with debt), but the appreciation was less than 2%/year. It has a lot to do with “overpaying” in the first place.
We also need to factor in Sedo’s commission on the sale, which further reduces the ROI.
[...] Fly.com made it to the list of most expensive domains ever sold years ago, but the price was recently updated due to a recent re-selling of the domain name. It was sold for about $1.8 million in January 2009… only $300,000 more than the previous owner paid for it (Fly.com Appreciates 20% in 10 Years). [...]
[...] Fly.com Web site. Thank you to Mindy for discussing the deal with me. Domainwire.com does offer some additional information about the [...]