We're Fusible

Each domain sale by Rick Schwartz is always exciting and always big.  Last week Rick announced the upcoming sale of the domain PunchBowl.com – which re-directs to MyPunchbowl – a website that helps you plan a party that your guests will always remember by bringing your party to life with ideas, invitations, favors, gift registries, photo/video sharing, and more. What a great transaction.  For Rick and for MyPunchBowl.

According to Rick’s blog post that discusses the sale:

“In the not too distant future I will be announcing my 12th domain sale is PunchBowl.com. Another multiple 6 figure deal plus other considerations. There should be a press release forthcoming and the buyer will decide how much of this to go public with as there will be a confidentially clause .”

No official press release has been published yet, but with the name already re-directing looks like just a matter of time. They also have a blog, but haven’t announced news of the Domain Name.

Rick has made a number of landmark sales over the years, and it’s been an interesting domain ride to follow his story. His trackrecord and success with Domaining and more importantly, his insights on his blog are a wonderful source of information. Hopefully, the media and end-users take more notice on these landmark deals. The sale of Candy.com which was huge in terms of a domain name, didn’t seem to get that much press in the media, but with more and more notable sales by Rick and other domainers, more people will take notice.

Some of Rick’s notable domain sales include:

236.com to IAC

Property.com (Undisclosed)

Candy.com $3M+++

Men.com $1.3M

iReport.com to CNN for $750K

Indeed many domain names that are purchased with the word ‘domain’ in them, end up in the hands of domainers, aftermarket websites or registrars.  During the last year there have been several notable purchases like YummyDomains.com, GamingDomains.com, ByuDomains.com, Domain.pl and many more.  We take a quick look at some of these names, and what they’re up to now.

Domain.pl which was purchased in September 2008 for the cool sum of $45,000 went to European Domain Name Registration website, EuroDNS.  In a smart business move, EuroDNS also acquired Domain.my via Sedo for $16,000 a month later in October.  Both names resolve to EuroDNS. 

Byudomains.com (an obvious typo of BuyDomains.com) was sold at Sedo for $3,260 in Septebmer 2008.  The name doesn’t appear to have been purchased by BuyDomains.com as it sits on a parked page, and according to Domain Tools, the site doesn’t get any significant traffic whatsoever. 

GamingDomains.com has done a great job with their name that was purchased in October 2008.  Gaming Domains offers aged Premium Gambling Domains for Sale and it’s a fully developed website.  They even show up on the first page of Google Search results for the phrase “gaming domains”.

YummyDomains.com was also purchased in October 2008, by Tucow’s YummyNames.  Tucows saw their Second Quarter profit rise in the recent Earnings report.  YummyNames owns premium domain names that generate revenue through advertising or resale, and owning YummyDomains.com makes sense.  They purchased the name from Afternic for $2,800.

Other domains with the keyword ‘domain’ over the past year to note:

MyDomains.net purchased for $1,200 (parked at Sedo)

iDomainName.com purchased for $1,088 (parked at GoDaddy)

An interesting name that was acutally purchased in 2007 for over $17,000 – DomainNameAuctions.com – sits on a parked page.