Dynadot

interviews Ultra-Premium Monkey.com Returns to Original Owner

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In August, we published the news that the domain name Monkey.com had been sold in a deal worth $500,000. The sale, verified independently through an Escrow.com sales agreement, listed Daniel Mark Harrison of Monkey Capital as the buyer.

Daniel was scheduled to submit payments at regular intervals, but it seems that the buyer defaulted with the domain name being returned to the ownership of Eric Gould Bear, Founder and CEO of MONKEYmedia, Inc.

Monkey.com is an incredible domain name that, since 1994, has attracted significant attention with many high value offers being presented to the owner. So why did Eric opt to work with Daniel Mark Harrison? The answer is that to make a deal more compelling, it needs more than a dollar value.

monkey.jpg

MONKEYmedia's Logo
This week, we had the opportunity to speak with Eric Gould Bear to hear his story of Monkey.com and see exactly why he decided to work with Monkey Capital. Here, we get a rare insight into the mindset of an ultra-premium .COM domain name to see what makes a deal attractive.


NP: When did you initially acquire the Monkey.com domain name?

Eric: I personally registered the domain monkey.com in 1994 when MONKEYmedia was establishing its initial web presence as a user interface design firm. Then, in 2001, the company pivoted to independent R&D, to focus on inventing and licensing its own user-friendly technologies. As we were using the domain, we never intended to sell it.


NP: Have you received any significant offers in the past?

Eric: We’ve been declining generous offers for many years because dollars alone aren’t motivating without an underlying vision for use.


NP: Why did you opt to work with Daniel Mark Harrison of Monkey Capital?

Eric: We were intrigued by the prospect of supporting a fellow monkey in his crypto-currency venture, and negotiated a lease-to-own type deal to be managed by Escrow.com. The team at Escrow.com is professional and friendly, maintaining a high-quality operation of unbiasedly supporting parties on both sides of a transaction. Unfortunately, the buyer in this deal was repeatedly late on his payments. After extending deadlines several times, he ultimately defaulted and the domain was returned to us.


NP: Do you regret agreeing to this deal?

Eric: I have no regrets about the process, as I got to meet interesting people along the way and make quick study of learning about crypto-currency. That education led my partner and me to invest in the Austin-based Multicoin.Capital venture fund and we’re very excited about its potential. That wouldn’t have happened, had we not traveled this path.


NP: What are your current plans for the domain?

Eric: MONKEYmedia has been preparing to launch a new body of patented technologies for navigating virtual reality and piloting drones without motion sickness. We had been planning this launch with a different domain, but the unexpected availability of monkey.com is opportune


NP: Would you consider entering into a similar deal in the future?

Eric: In the future, anything is possible. We’re always open to working with fellow entrepreneurs, but prospective buyers will need to have a great pitch for how the domain would be used to make the world a better place.


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It’s obvious from Eric’s responses that by owning a high-value domain name, significant offers are a regular occurrence. In many cases, it takes more than a dollar value to close a deal.

We’ve seen many domain investors take advantage of their premium domain names by forging successful relationships with companies. Rick Schwartz, for example, has famously negotiated many cash plus equity deals when he sees a company with an interesting idea.

We look forward to seeing what is in store for monkey.com in the future.

Update on Nov 17, 2017: Monkey Capital have opted to use M0NK3Y.com after defaulting on their deal to purchase Monkey.com.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
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i wonder how much was already paid. not surprised really.
 
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nice sale and buy on both ends, happy it worked out for both parties involved, seems everyone walked away with a win.
 
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nice sale and buy on both ends, happy it worked out for both parties involved, seems everyone walked away with a win.

Did you even read the article?
 
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woops didnt read the part about defaulting on payments...lol
 
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The good news is, Escrow.com got paid up front. Not sure how the brokerage worked in this case, however.
 
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Just a bunch of kids in fancy suits, selling air.

The deal would not have even been announced had the first payment been made, probably a token amount.
 
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But by returning the domain to the seller, what now happened with the total money paid?
 
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But by returning the domain to the seller, what now happened with the total money paid?
seller will pocket it. At least thats I would have made the deal.
 
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seller will pocket it. At least thats I would have made the deal.
What? That is not good at all. That is cheating at least part of the payment should go back to the intending buyer. Why should everything be taking by the seller?
 
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He defaulted on his agreement. Do you get money back to you paid if you default on a mortgage? No. He is entitled to nothing but whatever their particular agreement stated and I highly doubt it offered refunds.
 
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What? That is not good at all. That is cheating at least part of the payment should go back to the intending buyer. Why should everything be taking by the seller?

Thats the stamdard on those payment plan things.
 
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What? That is not good at all. That is cheating at least part of the payment should go back to the intending buyer. Why should everything be taking by the seller?
Its called rent to own, you can not rent something and stop paying it and get your rent money back but if you keep paying its yours. Its the same as a land contract. I bought a piece of land that way, I paid 5K and 400 a month for 3-4 month, then paid the other 5K at the end.
 
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He defaulted on his agreement. Do you get money back to you paid if you default on a mortgage? No. He is entitled to nothing but whatever their particular agreement stated and I highly doubt it offered refunds.
Actually this was not a mortgage, it was rent to own, meaning it was never the buyers till that final payment is made. A mortgage holder can sell his stake in the asset at any time. A rent to own deal is not like that. He really has no stake.
 
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Actually this was not a mortgage, it was rent to own, meaning it was never the buyers till that final payment is made. A mortgage holder can sell his stake in the asset at any time. A rent to own deal is not like that. He really has no stake.

My point was what purchase agreement can you default on and receive money back? None. It was merely an example.
 
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Lease to own...great way to go on a high value domain if 'buyer' does not have deep pockets.

Just have to make sure as the 'owner' there are protections against illegal/undesirable activity being done on the part of the 'buyer' while leasing to own. If the name gets returned to the owner/seller it should come back without any negative connotations or fail-list issues.
 
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Nice situation to be in when you have an asset like that and can also consider aspects other than the monetary value of the sale when deciding what to do with the domain.
 
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It is really interesting names for sellers of pet.
 
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But by returning the domain to the seller, what now happened with the total money paid?
Seller keeps it, but the fees usually come off the first payment, so for a deal this size most of that money would have been deducted for fees if they used escrow, guess is they never made payment #2, and this whole thing came crashing down.
 
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