Archive for January, 2011
Two-letter .com domain AY.com receives $100,000 bid on Flippa in no-reserve auction
A couple weeks ago, domain blogger Mike Berkens over at The Domains wrote about the auction of the two-letter .com domain AY.com at Flippa, after the owner issued a press release announcing the sale.
The auction followed the buzz created by news of Facebook purchasing the domain FB.com for $8.5 million.
Today, the seller of AY.com has issued another slightly different press release, in which he notes that the domain has received 1 bid, for $100,000 in the no-reserve auction which ends 17 days from now, that is, unless the domain sells for the buy-it-now price of $2 million.
Here’s a look at the new press release.
(US NEWS SOURCE) January 31, 2011 – This month, an extremely rare LL.com domain name is up for auction on Flippa.com. The domain name, “AY.com” has a current bid of $100,000, and many domain appraisers feels it’s worth a lot more.
“It could be worth over $1 million if the right entities became interested,” said one domain name appraiser in an email reply. “The value on a domain name as rare as AY.com is based solely on what someone is willing to pay for it.”
So far, one bid has been placed on the LL.com (Letter – Letter .com) internet property for $100,000. The current owner, who purchased AY.com over 2 years ago has set no reserve on the auction.
The auction which can be seen at: https://flippa.com/auctions/120091/AY-com—Rare-Premium-2-Letter-Pronounceable-LL-com-Domain-Name is set to end on the night of February 17th, and will sell to the highest bidder, no matter what the price may be.
There are only 676 possible LL.com possible combinations on the internet for domain names, so this makes 2-letter domains like AY.com extremely rare. So far, according to the current owner, the auction has received over 2,400 views and has been added to 13 different users’ watch lists.
How much will the final sale price be?
“I have no idea,” said Eddie Krassenstein, the current owner. “I feel it is extremely valuable, so we will let the market decide.”
The owner of AY.com is heavily marketing the domain name, taking out a number of press releases and even changing the homepage of AY.com to plug the auction over at Flippa.
When AY.com sells at Flippa, it could be the company’s biggest sale in 2011. And it could be the site’s all-time top sale to date. While 2010 had a number of six-figure sales for the marketplace, S9.com at $400,000 was the biggest reported sale, confirmed by Flippa.
Threats by Zynga backfire as thousands line up online to play Blingville on Facebook
Recently, it came to light over at TechDirt, a technology news blog, that Zynga sent a cease & desist letter to Blingville LLC, the West Virginia company that runs Blingville, an up and coming Facebook game that is currently in Beta testing.
Zynga’s threats against the company, which resulted in Blingville responding with a lawsuit (which can be read here), appear to have backfired at this point.
While no decision has been made as of yet in the lawsuit filed by Blingville, thousands are lining up to test the game online, partly thanks to the press Blingville has received by dozens of technology blogs and news sites, including domainer blogs The Domains and Domain Gang.
I signed up earlier today to become a Beta tester, and was welcomed by a message stating, “Beta Testing in Progress: Your #20,992 in line to test Blingville.” According to the message, testing will last a couple more weeks as the game is prepared for a full launch on Facebook.
Zynga/Ville Trademark developments
People have their own opinions on what the outcome should be when it comes to Zynga vs Blingville.
Whatever the case, there are more “ville” trademarks not owned by Zynga, than there are trademarks actually owned by the social gaming development company.
In fact, earlier this month, Build-a-Bear applied for trademarks on Bearville.com and Bearville. The company owns and operates Build-a-Bearville online, an extension of the in-store experience it offers to customers.
While Blingville LLC, hasn’t put out too much information, the company does have a subscription-based newsletter that aims to keep fans and supporters connected. The company also registered additional domain names related to its soon-to-be released game, including BlingvilleCash.com, which re-directs to Blingville.com.
The last public statement by the company was posted on the company’s Facebook page and read: “ Blingville would like to sincerely thank all of our loyal fans for their support in our defense against Zynga! Your comments are greatly appreciated!”
Top domain sale of 2011 blown out of the water by sale of Action.com for $270,000
It wasn’t like the sale of Soulmate.com was expected to stay at the top of DNJournal’s year-to-date domain sales charts at $100,000. Soulmate.com, which sold at AfternicDLS for $100,000 in early January has now been blown out of the water by the sale of Action.com over at GreatDomains for $270,000.
In 2008, the domain Action.com sold at Moniker for $230,000. By the time the New Year rang in for 2009, it finished at #36 among the top sales of 2008, the same year Fund.com sold for $9,999,950.
But you can’t expect Action.com to enjoy its reign at the top too long in 2011 either, with domain names like gambling.com and tournament.com up for sale. Gambling.com is expected to fetch a price tag in the millions.
Though billionaire Calvin Ayre has no comment on whether he’ll bid on gambling.com, some think he’ll be the new owner by the beginning of February.
At the time of this story, action.com is parked at Sedo. The registrant’s information is hidden by Moniker’s Privacy Services.
Former OASIS star Noel Gallagher wines and dines owner of noelgallagher.com (who demanded small fortune for domain)
The Sun has an interesting story published today about musician Noel Gallagher who split from the English band OASIS. The artist who has become a solo artist, decided it was time to get with the times, and get online.
According to the Sun, the domain name noelgallagher.com, was registered over 10 years ago by a Spanish OASIS fan who demanded a small fortune for the domain name from the English Star.
Instead of paying the money outright, Noel decided to wine and dine the fan, who eventually agreed to turn over the domain name for signed memorabilia and guest list passes to Noel’s upcoming solo shows.
Noel took matters into his own hands last week. He paid for the Spaniard to fly to London, put him up in a plush hotel and met him in person to thunder out a deal.
And after some serious haggling, and a few Oasis anecdotes, the chancer changed his demands from tens of thousands of pounds – to some signed memorabilia and guest list action at Noel’s next solo gigs.
Instead of filing for a domain dispute (which Noel may not even be familiar with), it looks like he found it easier to go this route.
According to Whois records, the domain name is registered to a Steve Ithell, and was last updated in March 2010.
Steve Ithell
54 Linhope Street
London, London NW1 6HL
United Kingdom
Read about the Noel Gallagher domain saga.
Unbelievable: Six-figure domain name Childhood.com expires at Network Solutions, going up for auction
It appears the owner of childhood.com, a domain name which appraises for $136,000 at Valuate.com, has neglected to renew it. The domain expired at Network Solutions on January 18, 2011, and is now pending renewal or deletion.
Childhood.com is being made available at NameJet, the aftermarket auction company, which has an exclusive partnership with Network Solutions, the registrar where the domain is currently registered.
At the time of this story being published, the domain is in the pre-bidding phase and already has a high pre-bid of $5,000 with over 100 interested buyers. The name is set to go to private auction on February 22, 2011.
A little history of childhood.com
Childhood.com was first registered back in 1996, at a time when premium .com domain names were readily available.
In the late nineties, the URL served as the home page for the Carlon family web site, according to Archive.org. The multi-page web site featured family photos, art, and more about the family.
By 2000, the homepage got a new look.
Instead of showing off things about the family, the owner listed several domains that they had registered and were willing to take offers on. The names included anonymoustips.com and anonymoustip.com – two domains which appear to be registered to new owners. Anonymoustips.com sold at Afternic in 2005 for $1,260.
Who knows why the owner of childhood.com let their domain name expire, because it has definitely expired according to the latest Whois information.
Maybe it’s because they never got the right offer or maybe perhaps they began neglecting their domains starting back in 2000.
Whatever the case, if childhood.com isn’t renewed in time, it’s certain to fetch top dollar at NameJet.
Updated: In a discussion thread over at NamePros that was started from this story, members had some interesting comments about the expired domain. Keith writes, “A quick search shows that the name was expired this time last year as well. It was obviously renewed and it was under the same ownership. Maybe he will do the same thing again.”
This is a technique used constantly, as Shane_mac points out. “ Without a doubt he will renew it, same as last year. Its just very clever marketing from a very shrewd businessman”.
Though it might be nothing more than a marketing stunt, members have tried to call the phone number listed for the doman. Though it’s an incorrect number, Keith from Namepros mentioned on the discussion thread that the person has received a number of calls from people inquiring about the domain name, “Funny thing is that the guy who answered said, man there have been a ton of calls lately from people who are asking for this person, lol. The domain vultures in action!”
Aron Meystedt’s Tablets.com gets another new look and feel
Aron Meystedt’s Tablets.com web site has received another small makeover in recent days.
The internet site still has a blog section, but now when you type the URL tablets.com into your address bar, you’ll be presented with a redesigned home page with affiliate advertising from the affiliate marketing company Commission Junction, who has partnerships with top-tier advertisers, including Apple itself.
The domain name Tablets.com was purchased by Aron Meystedt’s company XF.com in late 2010 for an undisclosed amount, which owns a number of premium domain names like Copier.com, March.com, and the first .com ever registered - Symbolics.com.
Tablets are one of this year’s hottest products, after Apple announced the launch of its tablet device the iPad nearly one year ago today – and as expected, they’re taking a bite out of PC sales.
As Geoff Duncan, a writer for Digital Trends pointed out this week, “Microsoft posted better-than-expected financial results for its holiday quarter, but admits Windows sales are being impacted by the popularity of tablets.”
Nearly a month after acquiring domain name, Microsoft starts redirecting Kinect.com to Xbox web page
Earlier this month, I was the first to report that Microsoft acquired the domain name Kinect.com for its controller-free add-on for the Xbox.
However, if you typed the URL, kinect.com, into your browser’s address bar in the past 30 or so days, you were taken to Bing’s search engine results page for the keyword “Kinect.”. The exact URL: http://www.bing.com/search?q=kinect&form=MSSRPD
Today, Microsoft released its second-quarter results which were helped by the success of its Kinect game device.
“Sales at the company’s entertainment-and-devices division jumped 55% on the success of the company’s Kinect motion-based controller, which were a hit during the holiday season and boosted sales of Xbox 360 consoles. Operating profit for the division has surpassed $1 billion so far this fiscal year.”, writes The Wall Street Journal.
Though the change looks to have taken place in the past week, redirecting the domain name Kinect.com from Bing’s search engine results to the Xbox Kinect page appears to coincide with the release of the company’s second quarter results.
Writers, Cartoonist, Graphic Designer: The “TechCrunch Of Sci-Fi” ScienceFiction.com is hiring
Patrick Ruddell, aka Chef Patrick in domain circles, who soft launched the fledgling ScienceFiction.com blog just over a month ago, is hiring for a number of work-from-home positions.
Creative writers, with vast knowledge of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
A graphic designer to do design work on the web site.
And a staff cartoonist, who would add an original Sunday comic strip.
Patrick Ruddell’s soft launch of ScienceFiction.com received exposure by TechCrunch in a story entitled: ScienceFiction.com Aims To Become The “TechCrunch Of Sci-Fi”.
The story written by Robin Wauters, discussed the goals of the web site, and also mentioned the purchase price of the domain name – $175,000.
According to the Sci-Fi Help Wanted article, the site aims to officially launch in mid to late February.
Flippa releases its 2010 Year in Review
Some are skeptical about the sales numbers and auctions over at Flippa, but even the most doubtful have to be impressed with the site’s success in 2010. Despite a number of failed auctions reported as ”Won” like Fiverr clone Zeerk.com, Flippa has some pretty good stats to show for the past 12 months.
Flippa, which launched in June 2009, released its year in review Tuesday and the site is growing fast.
How did things look in 2010?
Over 150,000 bids placed. $21MM worth of websites and domain names sold. 2 million unique visitors. 1.6 million logins.
Philip Ferreira the President of WebCorp, was one of the site’s biggest users selling off a number of online properties including Debate.org which sold to Juggle.com.
And the company is trying to battle shill bidding and other problems that regularly plague online auction sites.
“…the team suspended or banned over 2,300 user accounts in 2010, primarily for registering duplicate accounts, shill bidding or not following through on a won auction transaction – the types of users the rest of the Flippa community won’t miss.”, writes Andrew Knibbe on the Flippa blog.
Six-figure sales, a bright spot for Flippa
But not all was bad for one of the top marketplaces for buying and selling websites and domains. The company was involved in a number of high profile six-figure sales, including the sales of: s9.com, retweet.com, list-of-companies.org, debate.org, and blogtopsites.com. The company issued a press release after selling Retweet.com for $250,000 - but it was the sale of s9.com that set a new sales record at Flippa, selling for $400K.
Other high points in 2010 include the sales of Audioo.com, Qwitter.com, Song.ly, and Facemash.com for $30,201.
As Andrew points out, “The precedent set by these terrific websites in 2010 is already looking to continue through 2011 with exciting listings of the likes of Links.com, ay.com, songbright, dirt.com and twaud.io.”
The listing of Dirt.com, could turn out to be a news maker if a deal is struck with NewsCorp, but according to a number of tips I’ve received by readers, the listing of Dirt.com for $3 million is nothing more than a publicity stunt for the website’s eventual launch which is rumored to have people at Sundance 2011.
Read Flippa’s recap of 2010.
Best sales year possible for domains in 2011? Another big gambling domain goes up for sale
2011 could be the year gambling domain names hit the mega millions jackpot with properties like gambling.com already up for sale, which some expect could fetch as much as $20 million (its previous sale price back in 2005).
What looked like a good year in 2010 with the sale of Slots.com for $5.5 Million, could only be getting better in 2011, as online gambling developments take place in the United States with New Jersey being the first state to license and regulate online gambling.
Billionaire Calvin Ayre, the buyer of Slots.com, still hasn’t commented on whether he’ll bid on gambling.com.
But with more options on the market, Bodog Brand could have its sights set on a number of properties.
Tournament.com up for sale by Mandalay Media Group
Today, Eric Bianchi of Calvin Ayre’s Tablog is reporting that Costa Bingo and Casino Choice (Mandalay Media Group), have put the domain name Tournament.com up for sale.
Tournament.com is the latest name to come on the market, after creators of Costa Bingo and Casino Choice, Mandalay Media Group, put the domain up for sale.
Owners of Mandalay, Richard Skelhorn (pictured) and Alex Holt, said: “The word ‘tournament’ is very descriptive and generates over five million Google searches per month. It could be developed into a very powerful brand in the right hands.”
As far as what it was used for before, the site hosted pay-to-enter video game tournaments for games such as CounterStrike, but Skelhorn and Holt explained that is no longer a viable option.
“We believe that unless a content owner like EA approach it themselves and therefore remove the license fee element we will not see a third party operator again on the scale Tournament.com achieved.”
If you pay a visit to Tournament.com, you’ll be asked to fill out a short form asking for your name, company, email and a message.
Read more about the sale of Tournament.com.
