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WE.com Sales Price was $8 Million. Buyer Revealed.

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By James Iles, Aug 5, 2015
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  1. James Iles

    James Iles NamePros Writer PRO Business Account VIP Trusted Blogger

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    I've been told by a reliable source who wishes to stay anonymous that the domain name WE.com sold for $8 million. The sale was confirmed earlier in the year but price and details of the transaction were never disclosed.

    In an earlier article, I was able to confirm that the brokerage fee was around the $1 million mark, which allowed us to speculate that the final sales price may have been around $8-10 million.

    However, I can now reveal that the final sales price was $8 million, and the domain name was sold to Tencent - China's largest Internet service portal and creators of WeChat, a free messaging and calling app used by over half a billion people.

    The brokerage fee was reportedly 12.5%, which would mean that my article earlier in the year about WE.com's brokerage fee was right.

    The 12.5% commission is Sedo's standard commission agreement and was broken down into two agreements: firstly, a 10% brokerage fee. Secondly, a 2.5% fee for the brokerage firm not to reveal the price paid.

    As Sedo was the main broker in the deal, I reached out to Sedo to ask whether they could confirm any of the details above, but naturally they couldn't.

    This $8 million sales price would put We.com at the 7th largest domain sale on record, only $500,000 behind FB.com.

    Update on Aug 24, 2015: The WHOIS information has been updated to show the registrant as lisayyq@qq.com as the owner. This email address was used in the $300,000 acquisition of Heika.com by Tencent Holdings (owners of WeChat).
     
    James Iles, Aug 5, 2015
    | #1
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  6. James Iles

    About The Author — James Iles

    Writer for NamePros.com, domain name investor and broker. For all inquiries relating to stories and interviews, please email: james@namepros.com

    This is James Iles's 50th blog post on NamePros. View all blog posts

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  7. Comments (20)

  8. sam roy

    sam roy Active Member VIP

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    pretty good sale. Broker(s) too got their deal:)
     
    sam roy, Aug 5, 2015
    | #2
  9. Skyvisum

    Skyvisum Active Member VIP

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    Good info James.I'm glad I subscribed and I enjoy seeing alerts and knowing it's another wonderful article.
     
    Skyvisum, Aug 5, 2015
    | #3
    Likes: Eric Lyon, gbs domain
  10. Doron Vermaat

    Doron Vermaat --- DNgeek.com --- ✔ Efty Staff PRO Business Account VIP

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    So the buyer (or seller?) paid a whopping $200,000 to Sedo to keep the aquisition price confidential and know all the details are public anyways. I personally would be pissed off.
     
    Doron Vermaat, Aug 6, 2015
    | #4
    Likes: Dorkside, jideofor, The New Guy, London555, Paully, rafass, Haris
  11. S-B

    S-B Account Closed

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    +1
     
    S-B, Aug 6, 2015
    | #5
    Likes: jideofor
  12. Omar Negron

    Omar Negron Supportive Member NamePros Supporter VIP

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    Nice $ale!
     
    Omar Negron, Aug 6, 2015
    | #6
  13. Sheogorath

    Sheogorath Active Member VIP

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    Great sale price :)

    I'm happy for the seller and broker.
    It's nice to see that they waited for the best offer and didn't hurry to sell it,
    many people would have accepted low or mid 7 figures.
     
    Sheogorath, Aug 6, 2015
    | #7
  14. elevator

    elevator Active Member VIP

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    Thanks for the information
     
    elevator, Aug 8, 2015
    | #8
  15. Paully

    Paully Established Member

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    Sedo should pay back that fee. They get the success fee and the publicity, not fair that they also get paid for not keeping the deal private when it benefits them that it wasn't.
     
    Paully, Aug 8, 2015
    | #9
  16. Kate

    Kate Thinking inside the Box™ VIP ★★★★★★★★★★

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    I don't think seller paid the regular Sedo fee.
    The fee for the sale of vodka.com (a 3-million sale back in 2006) was negotiated too.
     
    Kate, Aug 8, 2015
    | #10
  17. doubleU

    doubleU Top Member VIP ★★★★★★★★★★

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    Reg'd since 1992 it's a heavyweight contender !
     
    doubleU, Aug 8, 2015
    | #11
  18. Joseph Green

    Joseph Green Established Member

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    They should know better than to pay Sedo that absurd fee. Actually, they should know better than to use Sedo at all. Now they know.

    This information should be public. I'm glad that it is now.
     
    Joseph Green, Aug 12, 2015
    | #12
  19. Kate

    Kate Thinking inside the Box™ VIP ★★★★★★★★★★

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    Perhaps the domain sold for that much, precisely because Sedo brokered the sale.
     
    Kate, Aug 13, 2015
    | #13
  20. Praysis

    Praysis Account Closed

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    great sale! i like it :)
     
    Praysis, Aug 15, 2015
    | #14
  21. anhnguyenict

    anhnguyenict Established Member

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    Very cheap for a super star domain name!

    Personally, I think WE.com = 2x to 3x of FB.com
     
    anhnguyenict, Aug 15, 2015
    | #15
  22. mad409

    mad409 Always thinking outside the box! Business Account VIP

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    They paid 8 million to use as a redirect for the site its going to? O.o

    I must be missing something here..
     
    mad409, Aug 16, 2015
    | #16
  23. BhuvaneshKV

    BhuvaneshKV Established Member

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    good domain, worth it.
     
    BhuvaneshKV, Aug 16, 2015
    | #17
  24. James Iles

    James Iles NamePros Writer PRO Business Account VIP Trusted Blogger

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    James Iles, Aug 24, 2015
    | #18
  25. Jordan22111

    Jordan22111 Established Member

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    Wow this is a nice story to learn about. I am interested in seeing what they plan on developing this into. It seems like they are looking for a short name, two letters and turning it into a holdings company or something more?
     
    Jordan22111, Oct 9, 2015
    | #19
  26. dotplus

    dotplus Established Member

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    we.company is ok ?
     
    dotplus, Oct 9, 2015
    | #20
  27. B&J

    B&J Active Member ✔ DNPric.es Staff

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    B&J, Jan 22, 2016
    | #21
  
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