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Our
latest weekly
domain sales report
was released last night. As always
there were some impressive sales at
the top of the chart, led by a
couple of six-figure transactions.
While we have been able to share
information on tens of thousands of
domain sales over the past 12 years,
the aftermarket is much bigger
than those figures show. That is
because the majority of sales are
never made public due to
non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
This is especially true at the high
end of the market. I've often said
that if all sales were made
public, the numbers would be mind
boggling.
Take
domains like Jet.com and Realty.com
for instance. We know that both
of those names
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were sold in deals brokered by Igloo.com
(a firm that has booked some $120
million in domain
name and website transactions)
but due to NDAs we don't know the prices paid for the two
domains. It is quite likely both
came close to or hit seven
figures though, something only
one publicly reported sale has done so
far this year.
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Tessa
Holcomb
Co-Founder & CEO,
Igloo.com |
Industry
veteran Tessa Holcomb,
Co-Founder
and CEO of Igloo.com, was
able to tell us Jet.com and
Realty.com were purchased by
end users who wanted
to set themselves apart from
their competition by
establishing strong brand
recognition. The new
owners of Realty.com
have built a real
estate search engine
on their prized asset,
asserting they provide
"the quickest way to
search real estate listing
online." Jet.com is
also live but that name is
being utilized in a
different way - as an unforgettable
name for a new
membership only shopping
club (now in
beta testing).
Jet.com
co-founder and CEO Marc
Lore told us, "As soon as I
heard “Jet” I
knew it had the potential to
become a household name.
I decided to work with Igloo
because I had worked with
them many times before and
knew that I could trust them
to make the transaction as
smooth as possible.”
Ms.
Holcomb said, "In
understanding the
intricacies of domain sales,
branding and acquisitions,
Igloo.com takes care in
focusing on the domain as the
foundation upon which
the client’s business can
be built upon. When Marc
Lore needed the
right brand for his
start-up, he turned to Amanda
Waltz, VP of Sales
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Acquisitions at Igloo.com,
to acquire the perfect
domain. Even with virtually
no details about the
endeavor, a perfect fit was
found and Jet.com was
acquired in January of 2014
for an undisclosed
amount." |
Regarding
the Realty.com purchase that was
just completed this month, Tessa
noted, "The
purchase of Realty.com by former CEO
of Host Gator, Lance
Custen, would be charted as this
year’s second highest domain
sale if the sale price were made
public. Serving as CEO &
President of Realty.com, Custen
intends for his new venture to
“create technology on the site
which will revolutionize and disrupt
the real estate industry.”
Realty.com
was acquired from Dan
and Andy
Denton. Dan said, “I was
surprised and very happy with how
fast and smooth this sale took
place, from contract to funding.
Igloo stayed in constant
communication through every step of
the transaction, giving us
confidence that the sale would be
complete, and it did, in record time
as far as I’m concerned.”
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Igloo
also had a hand in acquiring
premium generic domains for
recently launched sites Quire.com,
Maple.com,
and Primary.com.
All three are currently
using their name recognition
successfully in different
ways. On Quire.com
users have the chance to
invest in promising
companies along side some of
the world’s best venture
capital firms.
Maple.com delivers local,
seasonal menus with an
emphasis on quality
ingredients to homes and
offices in New York City at
prices in the $12-$15 range.
Much like the name
suggests, Primary.com is
poised to be the first place
parents go to
shop for their children’s
basics. The online
only children’s retailer,
run by two former
Diapers.com executives, aims
to keep prices affordable
through working directly
with the manufacturers. |
Best
domain graphic
from Bigstock |
While
we are extremely grateful for all of
the sales data that has been made
public over the years, giving all of
us greater insight into the
domain aftermarket and the value of
specific domains, it is good to
remember that the market is much
bigger than what we see in the
weekly sales reports - and the
significant value of high quality
domains continues to be recognized
and utilized by Internet savvy
businesses around the world.
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