Domainers always notice interesting domain names. Here are two examples from my recent trip.
Last week I traveled to San Francisco. On the plane trip home I checked a bag at San Jose airport and was given my boarding pass with a claim check for the bag.
The boarding pass and claim check each had domain names on them, and each made me recall domain stories.
First, the back of the boarding pass had an ad for accessing flight information at AA.com on your mobile phone. I don’t want to open that can of worms again, but it wasn’t a reassuring moment for .mobi when American Airlines launched its mobile campaign.
Second was an ad for the King Tut traveling exhibit, featuring the domain name KingTut.org. I immediately recalled reading about that domain name from a frustrated domainer on a message board. The seller of the domain let it go for $990 not knowing that the buyer was The Smithsonian. Although I couldn’t locate the old message board discussion, I did come across a similar explanation on DNJournal back in 2004″
The VS.org buyer is a friend who is still a little upset about letting KingTut.org go for $900 a couple of weeks ago. After the sale he learned that the buyer was the Smithsonian and that they are rolling out a site on the domain to promote a new worldwide King Tut tour. He believes he may have left some money on the table but if he had charged too much he might have had a band of angry mummies on his trail. I’m sure that will make him feel better.
Ron says
It’s the chance you take when sell your name. You never know who wants it and for what reason. Speaking of .mobi, mycellphone.mobi sold over at donsdomainnames.com for $15,000.
Try to make sense of that one.
DR. DOMAIN says
ALWAYS start high.
DR. DOMAIN says
Insultingly high.
john n. says
Marriott also has a mobile site and it’s awesome. You go to the normal marriott.com on your cell phone browser and it just works. You are better off throwing money across a craps table than gambling with .mobi investments – at least you will have a good time doing it.
DR. DOMAIN says
THANX for that John.I’ve got a ton of .mobi in my portfolio.
Marc says
andrew….you do realize that mtld had nothing to do with American Airlines not getting AA.mobi?? ICANN hasn’t even released L.mobis or LL.mobis to mtld yet. Maybe when that happens they will be able to get AA.mobi, but until then you can’t blame mtld for something they can’t control.
Stephen Douglas says
ALWAYS INVESTIGATE YOUR BUYERS! Especially unsolicited offers. Spend an hour on Google or other SE’s and search up buyer’s name “in quotes”, his email address, the domain name of the email address, and any contact info the person includes in their email offer to you.
This is Domain Selling 101.
Andrew says
Stephen, the offer on KingTut.org was anonymous. I think it was through Afternic.
Stephen Douglas says
Ooops. Yes, I see that roadblock to my suggestion. Good call. One of the pitfalls of selling through a broker?
I wonder if Afternic and Sedo can “sum up” their buyer’s “business status” with a few extra information fields on signup, so that Sedo can give a few tips on the potential of the buyer having deep pockets, and maybe encourage the seller to consider his selling price. That wouldn’t be underhanded, but more fair to the seller. The buyer won’t spend more than they can afford, and the buyer will benefit with the knowledge that the buyer may be capable of meeting a higher price. Is this a possibility? Ethical?
I’d like to hear some opinions about that suggestion. You heard it hear first.
Andrew says
Stephen, don’t you think a lot of end users use Afternic et al *because of the anonymity*? I suspect so. Why else would I have sold a domain to Equifax for only $750? Had they come directly to me I would have asked for a lot more. Yes, I’m ashamed of it, but it really wasn’t that good of a domain anyway. And they haven’t started using it 9 months later.
Denis says
Well it’s like me a few months ago.
I sold the domain name syncora (dot) com for 5K but I am sure I could have had at least 10K for it … The only problem is that it had a TM on it. Even though the name was created before the TM was registered, I’m there would have been some legal complications involved. The reason the company wanted the name is because they recently changed their name (in Aug 2008).
It kinda regret it but at the same time, it was still a great sale considering I only paid $60 for it on afternic.
It was a sure eye opener, and has made me rethink the value of domains for the end-user.
Mickie Kennedy says
I have personally seen large companies, especially nonprofits, least likely to pay high for domains. I have done research after research on buyers (even those using Yahoo/hotmail accounts). I get more money on average for smart entrepreneurs and mid-size companies than traditional deep pockets (large firms).
Stephen Douglas says
Andrew,
Yep, I can see a lot of buyers going through Afternic for that anonymity, but it’s like “google data aggregation” where they say they collect data from your search usage, but “don’t connect it to your personal records”.
A simple field or two asking during account setup whether the Afternic/Sedo buyer is a “company” or “individual” and their “company’s yearly income range” isn’t too intrusive, and is quite normal in opening business accounts where significant funds are going to be in play. It’s almost like a “credit legitimacy” statement by account holder and short of verification procedures, can be helpful in determining where the seller can start with his price. However I see your point.