Generic domain name for domain industry goes on the block Tuesday.
DomainConsultant.com’s auction of DomainName.com is taking place on Tuesday, August 31.
This isn’t just an auction for the domain name — it includes an ICANN accredited registrar with an active customer base and about 8,000 domain registrations. That’s not a huge number, but if you take a look at what has been done with DomainName.com to date, it appears there’s a lot of upside.
The package will only sell to someone with deep pockets, as the starting bid and reserve is $1 million. But financing is available with 20% down. According to DomainConsultant.com, the site gets 2,000-3,000 unique visitors a day.
A prospectus including current revenue, maintenance requirements, support, etc. is available for qualified bidders by emailing mike (at) domainconsultant.com.
Jamie says
# 5 natural ranking for Domain Name at Google, which is nice as well! Likely bringing in a large portion of the current traffic.
Where is the auction at?
Rob says
Great relevant generic domain with great potential. This type of domain has the potential to be a top player in its market with the right amount of time, effort and investment. We have the generic ccTLD for Mexico NombreDeDominio.mx and .com.mx (Domain Name in Spanish) which also has great potential because of the continuous huge growth of internet users in Mexico as well as the tremendous growth of high speed internet access throughout the country (both surpass the respective growths of the US by huge margins). Anyone interested in said ccTLD domains can contact us directly at [email protected]
ST says
one look at the page and the services..
reminded me of tierranet 20 years ago.
cept they are still around and not selling and adapted ..
no offense Andrew . but 1 mil+ into this registar = fail
Meyer says
I have no idea if it is worth $ 1 mil
or more.
However, you need to breakdown what they
are offering.
Icann accreditation has value.
But, you could buy a used (or new) one
for $ xx,xxx.
8K domains reg’d at $ 29.95.
That part I would need more information.
If one is buying the company, one would
need to do the typical due diligence.
If a buyer purchases a company, he/she
is also inheriting any problems that
might exist if any.
The Icann accreditation is directly tied to
the standing corporation.
Quote –
“one sub-group that has consistently made money (and thrived) : registrars.”
The registrars that are doing extremely
well are the registrars that have
1 million or more domains under their
umbrella.
And, the profit is made by auctioning off
those domains after the owner does not
renew them.
(ie, Enom, Netsol, Tucows, Godaddy, Moniker)
The little registrars are dropping like
flies.
Realistically, the buyer is really buying
the domain.
Is the domain worth $ 1mil?
Probably much more for the right buyer.
If someone has a new business strategy
for the domain and corporation, it might
work.
Think about all of the advertising money Godaddy has spent.
With the domain – DomainName.com – it is
almost immediate brand recognition.
Also, remember that Godaddy already had
everything in place before they started
advertising.
Good luck on the sale.
Hope it goes for $ 5 million !!!
GooStation says
“the site gets 2,000-3,000 unique visitors a day”
but how many $$$ per day?
.
Francois says
Let say the site only get 2,000 uniques daily and that only half register a name and that you earn $3 profit on each registered domain then it’s +1 million profit per year, no?
Snoopy says
“Let say the site only get 2,000 uniques daily and that only half register a name and that you earn $3 profit on each registered domain then it’s +1 million profit per year, no?”
Only half? Conversion rates for ecommerce sites are usually 1%-7%, not 50%. For this site though it must be a tiny fraction of 1% to only have 8,000 registrations.
Troy says
“Let say the site only get 2,000 uniques daily and that only half register a name and that you earn $3 profit on each registered domain then it’s +1 million profit per year, no?”
You have got to be kidding me? Do you really fail to see the utter lack of logic in your statement?
FX says
Francois, is not known for being able to do basic math.
Snoopy is correct the conversion ratio here is less than 1%.
I believe the domain name is way over priced.
DomainersChoice says
Great domain. I also believe that $1 million is overpriced. If they find a buyer and the buyer puts some development effort into the site, it might just be worth the money.
EM @ KING.NET says
It is too pricey to consider. Good luck to the seller.
EM @ KING.NET
Meyer says
Some of the points discussed above are made
from a domainer viewpoint.
(arguing over present traffic conversion)
They are selling a business not traffic.
The discussion should be –
is there a business project that the present
corp. could be built upon to leapfrog
the new business project further along?
Kevin Ohashi says
Meyer,
Conversion is the key to any online business, domainer or otherwise.
Meyer says
This company’s valuation is NOT being sold
based on a multiple of its past traffic,
conversion and gross profit from that operation.
It is being sold for its potential.
If you owned an 1 acre lot on a corner of
2 major roads. The lot presently has an
old building which contains a gift store.
What difference does it make how many people
walked into the old building. And, it is
unimportant to know the gift store’s EBITDA.
The value is in the potential of the lot as
well as the domain – DomainName .com .
EM @ KING.NET says
It is for sale because it’s not making any (net) revenue. The current registered customers of 8000 is not going to make you rich.
IMHO
Kevin Ohashi says
Meyer,
Sure, if you changed the use perhaps it would make a good analogy. However, it’s been used in it’s most obvious form and failing. Therefore, things like conversion make a lot of sense to a savvy investor. Potential is often just a BS word used when no real demonstrable value is there, everything has *potential*
Meyer says
“Potential is often just a BS word used when no real demonstrable value is there, everything has *potential”
Kevin,
You are a very sharp, well-educated guy.
But, it is obvious that the domain –
DomainName .com has a lot of potential.
And, that is without any BS.
Kevin Ohashi says
Meyer,
A lot isn’t really a number. Is it over a million? The math simply doesn’t suggest so. At that reserve price it doesn’t look like an attractive investment.
Meyer says
Kevin,
I said in my original posting that I have
no idea how much the domain is worth.
I have no investment in the project so
I don’t care. I hope they get $ 5 mil. 🙂
I was just pointing out that it was being
sold for its potential. Not for its present
operation.
And, trying to analyze the domain’s business
value based on historical data was a waste
of time.
Kevin Ohashi says
Meyer,
My point is that selling on it’s potential after all these years is pretty much a loser’s game. Looking at previous conversions is a great way of understanding the value. To me it sounds like a lot of that traffic has no commercial intent. Furthermore, strong brands, not generics dominate the space for various reasons. Economies of scale push down margins and increase competition for reseller/domainer money. Those same economies of scale work for advertising at the super bowl. There is no business model I can see changing this equation easily. If there was, don’t you think they would be trying?
What’s left to sell on? Potential.
Francois says
My calculation is good and has no errors otherwise please show me the errors.
Now what can be discussed is the conversion ratio. 50% is maybe optimist I admit but if it’s type-in then potentially visitors are people who have no clue about registrars and directly type-in the “domain name” with probably the idea to register a domain so the conversion rate should be very high.
Even at 12%, it’s still less than 3 years revenue.
…
I am wondering how Andrew let persons like this “fx” who don’t know me and who hide behind privacy say lies like “I don’t know about maths”?
As it has been stated recently by Mike Berkens bloggers don’t win on let people make lies under privacy.
Snoopy says
“50% is maybe optimist”
///////////////////////
50% is complete nonsense, are you friends with the seller or something?
Snoopy says
“This company’s valuation is NOT being sold
based on a multiple of its past traffic,
conversion and gross profit from that operation.
It is being sold for its potential.”
//////////////////////
This is what is starts on domainconsultant.com,
“It’s a category killer with big revenue, huge upside potential and even resale value to boot. All that for about 6x.”
Revenue is the first thing mentioned and then it talks about multiples,
http://www.domainconsultant.com/?p=571
Meyer says
Snoopy,
You are correct.
I had forgtten they said that.
The way they operated in the past is not
sustainable.
The new owner would need to drastically
change the operation.
Attila says
Amazing domain and a bit under-priced in my opinion. Think about it guys, people who need domains, also need web hosting, web design, web marketing and more.
Even if you only get 1% of the customers from the 60,000+ visitors. Avg a $3 profit from 600 customers, thats $1,800 a month with little to no effort. Now that is bare minimum.
With a good site design, little marketing efforts and strategic pricing on services offered, I believe this can make around $50k or more a month within the first year and within 2-3 years be averaging $100k to $150k or more each month on recurring customers.
One million dollars is chump change to those who can afford it and look at the bigger picture in long term investment. Just look at GoDaddy…
Mike says
Attila is right, it is chump change to the right buyer or smart investor.
Many of you miss that these are 8,000 registrations, yes, but at $29.95 – 3700 of which have already renewed in 2010. There are also hosting accounts and aftermarket deals.
It is a low-maintenance profit MACHINE that could be easily improved and updated.
And besides, if THIS name, with the annuities and revenue and accreditation is not worth a million, what name is?
Kevin Ohashi says
I love how many people are talking about it’s value. Go buy it then. Stop talking and buy that undervalued asset. Go convince an investor if you don’t have the cash yourself.
Attila says
@ Kevin, so being a self proclaimed entrepreneur (like your site says) did you forget how investments work? Entrepreneur people are on different levels. Not all entrepreneurs are personal companies with a team of 2-10 staff. Some are mid size to large companies who have built wealth through their time of doing business.
I personally am not into the 7 figure domains yet but who knows, if my upcoming projects go well, we will see. I sure as hell know if I would of won that 64 million dollar lottery last month, my first purchase would of been sex.com right after that Ferrari and mansion in Santa Monica :-p
Kevin Ohashi says
Attila,
Entrepreneurs are individuals. Also, whatever you’re blathering about doesn’t really make sense. Do you not know that money doesn’t have to come out of one’s own pocket? In fact, there is a whole tiny little industry nobody has ever heard about that gives people money to make more in return?
Attila says
So I guess all those companies being lead by lifeless (souless) bodies are not entrepreneurs? They all started from being a one man team (or a small one) and is now leading a larger team. A smart entrepreneur learns to create wealth, not just live to pay the bills. Those people like rick swartz, latona, the seven mile dude, rob epik and ton others are growing beyond the one man team and learning to grow and build wealth. Call them leaders, entrepreneurs or apart of small, mid size or large corporations. But rest assured, entrepreneurs are not just individuals like you claim.
Of course those people who would rather risk vc’s money because either a) they don’t have the money themselves or b) doesn’t want risk their own money because they’re unsure of themselves. So which are you, man without the money or man who isn’t sure of himself and risks others money?
Kevin Ohashi says
By definition, an entrepreneur is an individual:
An entrepreneur is a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome.[1][note 1] The term is originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to the type of personality who is willing to take upon himself a new venture or enterprise and accepts full responsibility for the outcome. Jean-Baptiste Say, a French economist is believed to have coined the word “entrepreneur” first in about 1800. He said an entrepreneur is “one who undertakes an enterprise, especially a contractor, acting as intermediatory between capital and labour.”
A company is not an entrepreneur. You could have an entrepreneurial company that focuses on promoting intrapreneurship. You also don’t seem to understand VCs or investing in general. Sorry, but I cannot explain the world to you, there are plenty of resources which explain all the things you don’t grasp, but this isn’t worth the time for me.
Attila says
I suppose I am not an entrepreneur because I have a multinational corporation based out of 5 countries (USA, UK, China, Hong Kong, Philippines) with a little over 35+ people employed. I guess that makes me a shithead because I need self proclaimed entrepreneurs (like yourself) pulling dictionary terms and trying to sound all high and mighty when the simple fact remains that companies are lead by people and the leaders are entrepreneurs for choosing NOT to work a 9-5.
I know very well how VC’s and investments work and I stick by what I said. Either you don’t have money to invest on your own or you don’t have the balls to risk your own as you don’t believe entirely in what you do.
Sorry for cluttering your comments section Andrew.
Kevin Ohashi says
Again, you clearly don’t know about investments and VCs because you only think of it as dumb money. Money isn’t just money, whose money it is often makes a bigger difference than how much.
Your ad hominem arguments don’t help either.
Attila says
Right on, money isn’t just money, its someone elses money.
Like I said, I stick by my word and say there are two types of people in this world who need, people who doesn’t have the money but has leadership skills and those with money but no balls to risk their own money.
Clearly this statement makes you upset as you might be in one or the other category. Doesn’t matter self proclaimed entrepreneur. Why give you a lions share of a project you believe in? I sure as hell know I wouldn’t.
Kevin Ohashi says
100% of 1 million < 20% of 100 million. That's why.
Attila says
So we don’t see eye to eye on how investments or investors work. Can always agree to disagree. By the way, I am Attila, nice to meet you Kevin :-p