Month: August 2010

For months Kevin Ham and his crew at Reinvent, have been busy working on the launch of GoodNews.com, a group buying web site that connects people online with businesses offering discounts for their products or services. 

Suddenly things are picking up, as the incubator startup is hiring for a variety of jobs ranging from Recruiter to Web Developer to Marketing Director.

And now, the web site startup is getting much needed press coverage in a space that is fast becoming more competitive as new group buying startups launch locally in cities and nationwide.

GoodNews.com targets consumers in Vancouver, but the web site has plans to expand its’ reach, soon. 

Business In Vancouver

Business in Vancouver (bivinteractive.com), a web site that publishes local Vancouver business news, analysis and commentary has published a news article about the group buying startup.   The story doesn’t start off by talking about Reinvent, it focuses on Kevin Ham and his success as a domain investor.

This is an excerpt of the full story:

Kevin Ham, the Vancouver businessman who made millions buying and selling website domains, is the latest entrant in the city’s online daily-deal space.

Suddenly, that space is looking crowded.

With the launch of GoodNews.com, which is being incubated by Ham’s company Reinvent Inc., there are now at least six websites offering consumers in Vancouver a deal-a-day on products and services at local businesses.

The websites essentially follow the same model: each site sends its subscriber base a daily-deal, which usually ranges from 30% to 90% off of goods or services at a particular Vancouver store.

On July 12 for example, 59 GoodNews.com subscribers bought, at half-price, $149 tickets for river rafting with Hyak Wilderness Adventures.

If enough subscribers take up a deal, it is activated.

This isn’t Kevin Ham’s only incubator startup. 

Reinvent launched BlackFriday.com and Vancouver.com, and has plans to launch a new web site every six weeks, building independent businesses out of the company’s portfolio of more than 600,000 domain names.

The web site Radar Online which covers celebrity news, is reporting that the domain HeidiandSpencer.com is up for sale on eBay, and like many domain names put up for sale on eBay: the price is ridiculous.

The seller has lost their marbles if they think a buyer is going to swoop in and buy this name, but “listing hype” on eBay can help draw curious onlookers to other items for sale by the seller, so sometimes tacking on a make-believe price tag does work in the seller’s favor, as the seller has listed other domain names in the item description for sale.

At the time of this posting, the listing page for the domain name has over 3,000 visits.

eBay not a great idea for selling domains

Most domain buyers know that buying or selling domain names on eBay isn’t a great idea, but the owner of HeidiandSpencer.com is giving it a whirl anyway, listing the domain for $21,000,000.

The eBay listing headline reads, “HeidiAndSpencer.Com Greatest Domain Name Ever 4 Sale”, but as Radar Online points out, the suggestion hasn’t helped hype interest in this particular domain, since it has received 0 bids.

It’s not the first time domain names up for sale on eBay have been listed with million dollar price tags.  Not long after eBay went online, people have been selling products on the web site with outrageous prices, often times just to get hype.

Item Specifics on the Domain

Here’s what the eBay seller (who happens to have a 100% feedback rating) has to say about the domain:

HeidiAndSpencer.Com The Greatest Domain Name Ever Is Finally For Sale.Two very great generic names Heidi And Spencer.This is a no reserve and regged at Go Daddy.Payment is due within 3 days and we only take pay pal.We are listing a few gems so please check out our other items for sale.We will transfer asap as soon as payment is made. Bid Hard And Often And Win The Best Domain Name  Ever .This is only for the domain name and nothing else.

In fun, often, prospective “joke” buyers will leave teaser comments for sellers such as: “Would you be willing to accept $20,000,000?”

Candy.com has just unveiled an attractive new design for the site’s blog. 

The new blog design based on a custom WordPress theme, was created by Dizzain Inc., (http://www.dizzain.com) a New York web design company focusing on custom website development, logo design and WordPress design. 

The company’s portfolio includes blog redesign projects for sites like Fandha.com and SimplyConfess.com.

The New Candy Blog

The Candy.com blog (http://blog.candy.com) incorporates the Candy.com logo, as well as the same look-and-feel of the main website.  The design is simple, but elegant and also features information about the writer, Sue Gillerlain, the former executive editor of Professional Candy Buyer magazine and a current contributing editor at Candy & Snack TODAY magazine.

About the Candy.com Domain

In March 2009, Domain Investor Rick Schwartz sold Candy.com to the Melville Candy Company for $3,000,000 plus revenue share.  In July 2009, cousins Greg Balestrieri and Joe Melville, launched the Candy.com website, which now ranks first in Google Search for the keyword: candy.