Internet retailer snaps up one character .co domains for big bucks.
On the eve of the .co general availability launch comes news that Overstock.com purchased the o.co domain name for a whopping $350,000. This must be the sale that Michael Berkens alluded to.
From the press release:
Many visionary companies see the new .CO domains as an opportunity to extend their brand or expand their online offerings in a way that was not previously possible due to limited availability of .com domains. Recently, the e-commerce powerhouse Overstock.com announced it paid $350,000.00 USD to acquire ‘O.CO’ to target new audiences and expand its global brand.
“The O.CO domain presented us with an unprecedented opportunity to add a meaningful online presence that will enhance recognition for the “O” brand, align with current marketing initiatives, and make it easier for shoppers to find our products and services online,†said Overstock.com Chairman and CEO Patrick Byrne. “Dollar for dollar, it’s a homerun and well worth the investment because it reinforces among consumers that ‘O’ is synonymous with ‘Overstock’.â€
Overstock.com has been big on going after any single letter ‘o’ domain it can get, including a deal to get o.biz.
I don’t understand why it is worth this price… Who else would want to buy it for anywhere near this price?
No one, ever…again lol
Nice end user story but not the norm, unless corporate america decided to miss the .com boat and jump on a shit wagon.
Ultimately, Overstock wants to lay claim to o.com, possibly as a trademark. I think that’s part of the reason they’re going after all these. But it would be nice for them to have every ‘o’ domain I suppose.
I think the sale says as much for .CO in general as O.biz did for .BIZ. Not much.
Troy,
Its an end user sale.
“Who else would want to buy it for anywhere near this price”
You never ask an end user this question as they do not buy it for resale – they buy it to brand.
Its all about how much the domain was worth to their business plan. $350k is peanuts to many marketing budgets.
Alan
Really dis-enchanted with domaining. Always catering to the big players. Instead of letting everyone know what’s available.
Development is where it’s at. Forget domaining unless you have a one word.com or you get REAL lucky with an end user.
The only people who make real money with new extensions are the registry, and a handful of insiders and people who are able to game the system.
Everyone else is left fighting for the scraps at auction.
“You never ask an end user this question as they do not buy it for resale – they buy it to brand.”
I was referring to the fact that Overstock should have been able to get away with paying a whole lot less because there was no way that any other company would have been in the bidding to drive the price up the level that it sold at.
Troy – sorry, missed your point – you are right on the money
Brad,
There a lot of people making money in this business – a lot of people who just started even a couple years ago.
I think Juan is doing a great job marketing the .co extension – although I’m not sold on its long term potential I am sold that Juan wants to make it more than just an extension but a platform for real development from real companies.
No one is gaming the system – if one has knowledge what makes a good domain odds they will make money with .co or .com
The problem lies in that 95% of domainers who are online don’t understand what a good domain is. Most people that do don’t blog about (as for what reason they should). You cant look at DNJoural’s report to find logic because there is none. Neither is shifting through the portfolios many of the big domainers have becuase they too have 80% junk but when you have 20% gold who cares.
People (new people and old) make money in this business – I think the first step is to understand domains and not think everybody is in this little family circle out to get the smaller players.
.CO is the perfect example of someone very successful in this business who could probably sit back and do nothing and live a good life but has invested money trying to make a credible extension. This is the best single extension we have seen in years that has legs in my opinion since the founders have experience in development and real business.
I hope they hit a home run – if domainers don’t like it I’m pretty sure its the one extension that cares less about satisfying people who are going to park domains and more about developers – that in itself earns Juan points in my book.
350,000 is a drop in the bucket for Overstock
Think of it as a commercial for Overstock.com due to the press, links etc. Keeping the name is just a sideshow
No doubt there will be occasional “spikes” in .CO.Probably for the next 6 mos.from the occasional voracious whale.(exhibit A) Speculators: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.
Who was the seller?
Very shrewd move and well done. Oprah, eat your heart out.
@Alan = “You never ask an end user this question as they do not buy it for resale – they buy it to brand.
Its all about how much the domain was worth to their business plan. $350k is peanuts to many marketing budgets.
Alan”
Very insightful comment, Alan. End user buyers have a business plan and marketing objectives that are built on criteria having nothing to do with most domainers’ quick flip mentality.
I say good for Overstock and any major corp. who see value in domain names. They obviously do with .biz and .co.
Not sure why the .co registry had to stick it to Overstock with a $350k price tag but if that’s there business model and people are buying, great for them.
Was this a genuine sale? Or Overstock got O.co for free in return for publicity? Remember the story of Beauty.CC? It is still not clear if it was actually purchased for $1m or it was a marketing gimmick. Why announce it just before opening registration to the general public? Why is Overstock the only one doing it? Trust me they will do the same for O.net, O.info and O.org to attract registration.
*cough* publicity stunt *cough*
april fools joke ?
FLOWERS.MOBI – $200,000
*cough*
Shockingly high figure. (to me, at least) Congrats to the registry.
Smoke and mirrors… I love all the rationalization in this thread 🙂
“I was referring to the fact that Overstock should have been able to get away with paying a whole lot less because there was no way that any other company would have been in the bidding to drive the price up the level that it sold at.”
I, for one, do not believe Overstock was the only entity pursuing O.CO
Though I personally would not be able to justify paying the final price that Overstock paid, I know other businesses that would have been driving up the price if they had known that o.co was an attainable option.
I can’t wait to see how Overstock uses o.co: full-scale or simply as a url shortener initially.
imo, great price for a great enduser domain.
So sad to see so many losers in this thread.
You missed the .CO boat, bad for you. But be sure that .CO will soon compete with .COM, if not overtake it.
Many domainers today are .COM-fetishists who spit on every new TLD. You forget that the only reason .COM is good is because of its popularity.
.CO is better than .COM.
Been in this domain business since 1997 and even though I made many bad decisions, I realized everything needs to be time-tested.
Let’s see how many $XXX,XXX sales are in .co in 2 years?
O.com is way overpriced. E.co is much a better investment. Even acquiring the domain b.biz seems to be another questionable move. Overstocked must know what they’re doing, especially when money is no object to them.
In order to further advance their buduness, they should invest into product-related domains to drive people to their website. The o.co domain was probably purchased as a marketing ploy. It’s a lot to pay for new domains.
Excuse some of my grammar errors on the last post. It seems to be common when using the I-Phone to leave a comment.
.co is nothing like.biz and all the others. You guys have been burned before so now you assume that all new extensions are crap. Foolish kids…
Hayneedle.co is available, as is NetShops.co — I see some guy in Florida registered TommyBahama.co today.
I love fighting trademark holders!
There is nothing like .Com guys. .Com is like the first born of the internet and no one can take away that birthright. It’s like Youtube, Google knew it couldn’t beat it so it joined it. I watched for .co names yesterday as I tried to register. Most of them were pre-registered under the grandfathering policy. Only generic names are valuable in the .co extension, the rest you can put in the bin. This just hype, a paper flame which will fizzle in no time. If you want a real landrush, open the extension to everyone with no pre-registration or sunrise. Otherwise, it’s the same companies owning same names in different TLD’s and using them just to redirect. What a waste.
There are several good .co generics available; I registered 150 yesterday (that was my limit), and I plan on developing all of them, while offering them for sale at the same time. Seriously, I believe .co could be worth more than .com, SOMEDAY…
Go ahead and develop them. I am sure the .COM owners will appreciate the extra traffic you drive to them.
I think it is a waste of money but.. I guess they know their business better then us.
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