Fund.com Changes Hands for $9,999,950 in the Largest Cash Deal Reported to Date

When news reports started appearing today (including one at CNN.com) that Fund.com had been sold for the highest cash price ever reported ($9,999,950) there were elements to the story that had me wondering if it was legitimate. I brought those doubts up in a thread at the DomainState.com forum but a member there, investor George Kirikos, dug through the purchaser's Jan. 15 SEC filing and confirmed the transaction had been reported to the U.S. government at the stated amount. You don't make that kind of stuff up in SEC filings unless you have a fondness for jail cells.

I reached a representative for the buyer (Fund.com Inc. (OTCBB: FNDM), in New York City where the public firm is located and she confirmed the transaction as well. The company spokesperson said the deal closed in January fulfilling a purchase agreement that had been signed in October 2007. She also said all new content would soon be placed on the domain. 

By Ron Jackson

Fund.com, thus becomes the highest all cash domain sale ever reported topping Porn.com (sold for $9.5 million in May of last year). Sex.com is believed to have gone for more but the exact price - estimated to be between $12-$14 million - was never released. 

With the highest sale on record, another three sales in the six-figure range and 44 sales reaching at least five figures this was a pretty darn good week for domains especially when the rest of the economy is believed to be mired in a recession. The other heavyweights this week included #2 Thin.com, sold for $200,000 through RickLatona.com and #3 Shoppers.com, a name that went for $166,000 at Pool.com. #4 Eggs.com ($112,500 at Sedo.com) also cracked the six-figure mark. 

Sedo had a big week racking up 10 of the 20 chart entries on the Big Board. Their list also included the top ccTLD sale of the week lincluding #8 Porn.fr (French country code) at €30,000 ($46,000). That was one of three ccTLDs on the all extension leader board and was the highest non .com sale. 

The always dominant .com extension swept the rest of the chart with the exception of the #18 position that went to Baltimore.net, a name sold by RickLatona.com for $17,500. Here is how all of the top sellers stacked up for the week ending Sunday, March 9:

There were 25 more five-figure sales just off the chart. Moniker accounted for seven of those, including four names that sold at the live auction at the most recent Internext Expo; Lickin.com ($15,000), Amatures.com ($13,770), CasualEncounters.com ($12,500) and Chokers.com ($10,000). Moniker also sold three others from their website platform; HFP.com ($14,900), AllDigital.com ($11,000) and PeopleVideo.com ($10,000). 

At NameJet.com GoodGuy.com generated $15,600, IllinoisLawyers.com billed $15,101, GreenFly.com swatted $10,200 and GreenStyle.com ground out $10,000. At SnapNames.com Drink.net and WU.net went for $14,000 each while Tube.mobi tuned in $10,000. Sedo secured $12,441 for Swot.com, $11,501 for Rebajas.es (Spanish ccTLD meaning "markdowns" in Spanish) and $11,398 for a German IDN country code domain Brüssel.de.

At the AfternicDLS BlackRomance.com brewed up $12,000, MedicalDoctor.net dispensed $11,702 and four others; Soge.com, OBB.net, Kosmic.com and CustomInk.net notched $10,000 apiece. Rounding out the five-figure club was RickLatona.com's $10,500 sale of GroupTherapy.com.

.Com Supporting Cast

There were also boatloads of solid four-figure .com sales this week. Moniker had the highest of those with QWE.com ($9,800) and also sold Cortera.com ($9,000), CapitalInnovation.com ($7,500) and EgoTV.com ($7,292). In other sales at the Moniker website, LawMax.com commanded $7,200, UnitedPaper.com posted $5,015 and SouthernTide.com washed up $4,000. HedgeServe.com secured $2,500, EveryShow.com screened $2,375 and WotNews.com reported $2,000.

In other Moniker auction live sales, FemaleDormitory.com drew $9,500 at the Miami iDate Conference while OnlinePorno.com kicked in $4,500 at the Internext Expo. Also at Internext, WomenOnWomen.com and DrunkBabes.com buttoned up $4,000 each, AustralianSex.com claimed $3,600 and KinkyTeens.com cornered $3,500. Three others; XXXMagazines.com, AlternativeSex.com and LargeModels.com tipped the scales at $2,500 each. 

Back at Sedo, 3-letter .coms were hot as evidenced by XWS.com ($9,201), WFZ.com ($9,201), QDZ.com ($9,100), KLG.com ($8,741) and ZTY .com ($6,100). Sedo also sold DotLocal.com for $6,000 and MobilePayments.com provided $5,500. Coriander.com collected $5,300, Coworker.com went for $5,100 and 3FN.com fetched $4,300. 

Chatup.com choked down $4,140 while HFAN.com and CertifiedMoldInspector.com discovered $4,000 apiece. Mathesis.com made $3,834, TO2.com turned in $3,200 and BrandLife.com brought $2,800. MoneyKit.com cranked out $2,550 while Xooloo.com and FNBH.com distributed $2,200 each. CrazyTube.com transmitted $2,150, VisitHonduras.com docked at $2,100 and Doju.com clicked for $2,000. 

At Pool.com 8B.com booked $9,100, DomainGuard.com collared $4,101 and Fernstudium.com found $2,516. 

At the Afternic DLS CheapCalls.com connected for $8,505, Gem-Stones.com took a shine to $8,000 and Golf4You.com chipped in $7,000. PanasonicStore.com presented $6,000, Inseparables.com closed at $5,800 and OptInAds.com delivered $5,237. PrimeWire.com and LeaseAutos.com dispatched $5,000 each, MobileHomeRental.com reserved $4,888 and RefundCheck.com returned $4,688. Cineman.com and Cagri.com grossed $4,500 apiece, PrimaryTeaching.com penciled in $4,300 and ItalianInstitute.com cleared $4,100. 

The AfternicDLS had 105 more .com sales ranging from $2,000 to $4,000. You can check those out in the table below.

At  SnapNames BirthdayStore.com wrapped up $5,000, TieShop.com knotted $4,100 and LeatherConnection.com covered $3,500. L-Y.com cracked $3,399 and SportsPics.com captured $2,100.

Back at NameJet, GodsLove.com shielded $6,211, eMatters.com cinched $5,999, Selen.com called in $5,656 and NextStar.com lit up $5,655. NameJet had 23 more .com sales ranging from $2,000 to $5,299 that are listed in the table below.

Last but not least, David Sams sold DVDCountdown.com for $2,900 in a private sale.