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VPN.com owner launches domain brokerage

by — Domain Sales 1 Comment

He spent $1 million on VPN.com. Now he wants to help other people sell domains.

When it comes to the power of good domain names, Michael Gargiulo puts his money where his mouth is.

Gargiulo bought VPN.com for close to $1 million in 2017 to launch a VPN comparison site. Since then he has been singing the praises of category-killer domain names through a Forbes column and other marketing.

Now he’s teaming up with Sharjil Saleem to launch a domain brokerage. Saleem has brokered a lot of top sales including ETH.com for $2 million.

Gargiulo has ambitious plans for 2019 and vows to broker over $25 million of domains this year.

While the domain brokerage field is crowded, it will be interesting to see if Gargiulo’s experience as a premium domain buyer helps convince other buyers about the value of great domain names.

You can listen to Gargiulo on DNW Podcast #176.

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My favorite domain names in the NamesCon auction

by — Domain Sales 12 Comments

These are some of the most compelling names in the auction (for the price).

People holding bid cards in an auction

This year’s NamesCon live domain name auction is less than two weeks away. Prebidding is already underway with many domains already at 10+ bids.

Most of the names in the auction have a reserve. So far, the most expensive domain to meet its reserve is Multiplexer.com at $2,100.

I reviewed the list to find my favorite domains at the reserve range. There are obviously better names in the auction than many of the ones I selected, but given the reserve ranges, these are the ones I find most compelling.

Give.com (reserve > $1 million) – This domain sold for $500k in 2015. It reminds me a bit of Great.com and Super.com, which sold last year for about a million dollars each. Depending on how high over a million this domain is, it has good potential.

Lucky.com (> $1 million) – Between Lucky.io selling for $67k on park.io a few months ago, online gambling, and brands that use this name, it’s a winner.

Piano.com ($400k-$500k) – I’m thinking more as a brand than as an instrument site.

Document.com ($300k-$400k) – Files.com just sold for $750k. Document.com has more uses.

Athlete.com ($200k-$300k) – I’m including this one because it sold for $122k in the 2008 TRAFFIC auction. I’m curious if it can fetch near that amount ten years later.

Leukemia.com ($100k-$200k) – I realize this is difficult to spell but probably not for people who are fighting this horrible cancer. Health Union bought the .net last year for $9k. They build lots of sites on .net, but it might be worth spending a bit more for the .com in this case. Otherwise, perhaps a charity or drug maker can use this domain.

Adverbs.com ($5k-$10k) – I like this as a brand, but would prefer the singular version. The domain sold for $1,800 in 2011.

Bullied.com ($5k-$10k) – Perfect for a bully prevention organization or help group. This domain sold for $3,400 in 2007.

Wipeout.com ($5k-$10k) – I don’t know what you’d use it for…maybe a game? Even though it has a negative connotation, I think it’s a fun name for the right site.

The auction takes place January 28, 2019 at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas and online. It is presented by Right of the Dot in conjunction with NameJet.

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15 end user domain sales up to $60k

by — Domain Sales 0 Comments

A pet products company, ceramic coatings manufacturer and truck enthusiast website bought domain names this past week.

graphic of briefcase full of money related to end user domain name sales

This week we have end user sales from both Sedo and PerfectName.com. I’ve denoted the PerfectName sales; all others are at Sedo.

The beginning of the year is usually a good time for domain sales so I look forward to seeing a bunch of good end user sales soon.

Let’s get to the list, and you can view previous lists like this here. Click here to see the list…

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Don’t respond to “Good luck with that”

by — Domain Sales 19 Comments

It’s just a waste of your time.

Quote box that reads "Good luck with that!"

Have you ever received this response when you quote a price for one of your domain names?

“Good luck with that.”

It’s a bit of an insult. Like someone is calling you crazy.

It could be tempting to respond to the person and tell them why you aren’t crazy but I don’t think it’s worth it 99% of the time.

For example, this weekend I received an inquiry on CandyCorn.com. I looked up the inquirer and saw that it was a really small business in a really small town. I almost didn’t respond because it didn’t seem qualified. But you never know, so I quoted $35,000.

I got the “good luck with that” response.

I could huff and puff and tell them why I’m not crazy and educate them on the value of domain names…but why? It would be a waste of my time and their time. It’s better to just move on.

The exception would be if someone comes out with a decent starting point offer. For example, if someone who seemed qualified offered $10k for the name but said “good luck with that” to $35k, it might be worth discussing domain value to see if we can close the gap.

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25 end user domain name sales up to $250K

by — Domain Sales 4 Comments

A tax service provider,  a video game company and soccer forum all bought domain names recently.

graphic of briefcase full of money related to end user domain name sales

Sedo published a new sales list that covers a few weeks of sales over the holidays, so we have a bonanza of end user sales to report this week.

Let’s get right to it, and if you like this list, you can view previous lists like this here.

Taxes.com $250,000 – Sedo sold this high value generic key term to the international tax services and consulting firm Ryan, which is headquartered in Dallas. They currently utilize Ryan.com as their main site but with this purchase, they will certainly receive more traffic.

FinalGoal.com $68,000  – This domain is being used for a soccer forum.

Zuj.com €10,099 – This valuable 3L .com was purchased by Redfox Ventures, a branding agency, presumably for one of its clients.

Eat.fr €7,000 – A food takeout and delivery service bought this French ccTLD.

EliteDerm.com $7,000 – Forwards to EliteDermatology.com, a Houston-based dermatology practice.

Keramik.com €6,500 – This is German for ceramics. A “coming soon” message on the domain points to eQuarz, a granite, quartz and ceramic countertop seller.

Küchenheld.de €5,950 – A German construction company specializing in kitchen renovations.

Data4life.de €5,900 – Redirects to GesundheitsCloud.de, a German service provider that lets you manage personal medical information such as healthcare providers, medical institutions, etc.

Click here to see the FULL list

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