Inside Interview: Why This Business Owner Paid $650,000 for Furniture.co.uk

The Inside Interview series has focused on talking to end users who have acquired high value names. Up until now, we have interviewed 26 people or companies to find out why they acquired a specific domain.

Today, we bring you an Inside Interview that is slightly different. Graham Haynes (@betthelot) is a British businessman who is also a domain name investor, and an active member at NamePros. In July 2016, TheDomains.com reported that Graham had acquired furniture.co.uk and purple.co.uk for $650,000 and £108,000 respectively.

In this interview, Graham tells us about his existing business called BedroomFurniture.co.uk, why he bought furniture.co.uk, and he also reveals another domain name that he acquired for $100,000.

Graham's existing business, BedroomFurniture.co.uk​

Can you tell us about yourself and the company behind furniture.co.uk?

Why did you decide to buy the domain furniture.co.uk?

How did you find out that Furniture.co.uk was available to buy? Was it offered to you, or did you seek it out?

How did you determine that the domain was worth $650,000 to you?

Would you have considered paying more for the domain than you did?

Do you have specific plans for furniture.co.uk, or will it continue to forward to BedroomFurniture.co.uk?

You also acquired the domain purple.co.uk for £108,000. Why did you acquire this name? Was it an investment, or part of a business venture?

Why did you opt to acquire a .CO.UK domains over a .COM domain?

Have you bought any other domains? If so, can you reveal the names and the prices you paid?

What would your advice be to other startups or companies looking at buying a premium domain name?

Thanks to Graham for taking the time to speak with us. It’s interesting to get a different perspective on an end-user sale, since this specific end-user is also a domain name investor.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Inside Interviews is a blog series profiling the buyers of high-value domain names. Find out their motives, negotiation tactics, and their opinions on popular domaining topics only on the NamePros Blog.