Dynadot

interviews Jackpot.io Sold for 5 BTC ($48,500): Interview with the Seller

Spaceship Spaceship
One of the biggest domain name sales of the week was Jackpot.io that sold for about $48,500. I got in touch with the seller, barman (@ppcbz), to learn more about the sale, his background in domain investing and his plans moving forward. The seller announced the sale on Twitter on June 16. The sale was confirmed with DAN by Elliot Silver.
Sold jackpot . io $48,500 😳 By far my biggest sale to date. Love the name. Hoping the buyer does great things with it. Thanks to Undeveloped for handling the transaction.
The sale was not yet listed on NameBio at the time of writing, but it would become the fourth highest sale ever in the .io extension. It would be in place 14 compared to all country code sales so far in 2020, and the highest value .io sale of the first half of this year.

The namejackpot.io was created in 2012. The .com of the term is developed, and the name jackpot is registered in 240 extensions, with almost 70 currently for sale. While no NameBio record exists of a prior sale in the .io extension, the exact term jackpot has sold in 14 different extensions. The name jackpot.com sold for $500,000 in 2012.

Interview

The sale was completed at DAN. Was it a marketplace sale, or did you bring in a lead that closed at DAN?

Lead and negotiation was through email. I have custom landing pages for my top tier names with a catch-all email address. I imported the lead through Dan.com once we agreed to terms.

You indicated on Twitter that this was by far the largest sale that you have had to date. As such, have you thought about how you will use the proceeds?

I want to step up my game and invest in high-quality .coms. Proceeds are going to sit in the piggy bank until the right opportunity comes along, which will require patience. I think it would be a mistake to start buying a bunch of names I don't feel strongly about just because I have some extra coin sitting around.

Do you hold a large portfolio of .io domain names?

Less than 100. They're not all great, but I've collected some gems which I've talked about on my Twitter. These include climb.io, done.io, everest.io, pocket.io, sapphire.io, veloctiy.io and others.
The seller still holds climb.io, done.io, everest.io, pocket.io, sapphire.io, veloctiy.io.

What fraction of your portfolio is in .io names?

Around 15%. I hope to make it less by culling the mediocre ones while adding more .coms. The renewal fees on .io are a drain.

How did the actual negotiation work?

The crazy part is that I dug the original email out of my spam folder. So check those spam folders, kids!
A deal that could have been lost! ”I dug the original email out of my spam folder.”

The negotiation was really easy because I think the buyer is someone who appreciates the value of a great domain name. He opened with a strong offer - I think it was $10K so I knew he was serious. Based on previous comps like lucky.io, and discussions with fellow domain nerds, I knew this name was worth somewhere in the $50-100K range.

So, I countered with 7 BTC (at the time BTC was touching $10,000) The reason I did that is because the wise Mike Carson once said "It's easier to ask for 7 of something than 70,000." We haggled like hagglers do, over the next few days and agreed on 5 BTC.

This is another reason we chose Dan.com to handle the transaction - they accept BTC as a payment option. Note that although the agreed price was in BTC, the payout from DAN to the seller was in dollars.
There is a psychological effect - asking 5 BTC sounds like less than $48,500.

How long have you been in domain investing, and how did you get started? Do you have any advice?

About two years ago. I always knew people made money with premium domain names. I tried my hand at it over 10, maybe 15, years ago, making the same mistakes everyone makes when they start out. I failed miserably and mostly forgot about domains (as an investment vehicle.)

But then .app came out and I thought I could register some gems when it launched. While I did register some good ones (sadly, with the premium renewal fees) for the most part, they were crap. Deja vu. I let all of those names drop a year later. Even the premium ones.

Thankfully during that .app period, I stumbled on two amazing resources. DomainSherpa and DNAcademy. Thank you Michael Cyger! Thank you to Andrew and Tess for keeping it going!

I binged almost all of the old DomainSherpa episodes and took notes on what the pros and amateurs were doing. I went through DNAcademy where it is literally all spelled out for you. It is an A-Z course in domain investing. We should be grateful as an industry that something like this exists. Because I can't think of any comparable course for any other industry I've been apart of.

Yes, you still have to make mistakes. But to spend hundreds of dollars on garbage domains when you could invest that in an accelerated education is the kind of stubbornness that prevents 98% of "domainers" from ever making money.

Do you have a final message to share?

I am not an expert by any means. This sale could just be luck. I am very, very late to the game. I am still a student and I think I always will be. But there's still gold in them hills. I think if you keep an open mind, and be analytical instead of stubborn about your purchases, you can do well.
I think if you keep an open mind, and be analytical instead of stubborn about your purchases, you can do well.

Related Discussions

Here are links to articles related to the .io domain extension.
Please share your own reactions and experiences in the comments section.
  • Have you ever retrieved an email from the junk email folder that ended up being a major sale?
  • What do you think about the point that asking for an amount in bitcoin is psychologically less daunting than the equivalent dollar ask?
  • What do you think about the price for this domain name?
  • If you had a major sale like this, how would you use the proceeds?
  • It is great to see another high-value sale in the extension. Do you think we will see a 6-figure sale in .io this year?
Special thanks to barman for this interview on short turnaround time, and being willing to share with the domain community. Note that he wishes to maintain partial privacy, so please do not share his name, if you know it, in the comments. He requested that he be known via is Twitter handle @ppcbz, where he first shared the information on this sale. I see that as of this morning he now has more than 4000 followers there!

I used NameBio, Dofo and DomainIQ in researching this article.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
so it was sold for not real money?

Thanks for sharing
 
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Good read..Nice sale. congratulations.
Thanks for sharing
 
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Thanks for the write-up Bob!

I hope someone learns something from this and it hasn't been all for naught
 
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I don't have anything to promote. Check out my Soundcloud or signup for DNAcademy using my link below.
 
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I was paid out in USD if that's what you're asking
Do you mean u got in btc but withdrawal in USD? Wow
if it's so DAN is great for exchange cryptos👍
 
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Thanks so much for in such a short period answering all my questions so completely @barman and it is great that you are here to further elaborate on the sale and domain investing more generally.

I was paid out in USD if that's what you're asking
Thanks for clarifying this. I added a small addition to make this point clear. I think several platforms allow the buyer to buy in BTC but the seller to get paid in a different currency. One of the things that most struck me was whether negotiating in BTC has a significant psychological effect.

Great wisdom in not rushing out to invest what you made in other domain names until you find the right acquisition opportunities.

Thanks again,

Bob

PS to readers... I promise next week's blog post will be on a topic other than .io sales. Well unless there is a million dollar sale, then.... :xf.cool:
 
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Thanks for the interview Bob! Very interesting!
 
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In 2007 my domain video.io sold at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. for just the minimum reserve price that Moniker asked me to set ($400)... a mistake I never forget, and will not repeat.
I wonder what one of the best keywords, in such a popular TLD, would be worth nowadays... but 13 years ago a person here wrote me "No one is interested in .io extention". How wrong that person was.
Months later the new owner even let it expire, I emailed to warn but I didn't try to dropcatch it as I thought it would be bad business… current reg date of 2018 seems to show I wasn't listened.
 
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Thanks for the write-up Bob!

I hope someone learns something from this and it hasn't been all for naught

Congrats Bar! Couldn't have happened to a greater guy. Really happy for your success mate. Here's to many more domain sales for you!
 
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Thanks for the the interview @Bob Hawkes (y) and congrats @barman :xf.love: for sharing in detail about the sale and your journey so far. Always great to see the sales happening all around :joyful:

Best wishes!
 
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Congrats @barman great sale and great name!
 
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I don't have anything to promote. Check out my Soundcloud or signup for DNAcademy using my link below.

DNAcademy doesnt believe in affiliates.

You werent kidding. Glad it was you though :)

Thx sharing always great active here succeed.

Samer
 
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so it was sold for not real money?

Thanks for sharing

its real as of now. u can change yer btc for 9,5k as we speak.
so its real money, if u change it.
it may not be real tomorow or in a week or 20 years... or worth something else.
but believe u me, btc is very real as we speak now :)
 
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In 2007 my domain video.io sold at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. for just the minimum reserve price that Moniker asked me to set ($400)... a mistake I never forget, and will not repeat.
I wonder what one of the best keywords, in such a popular TLD, would be worth nowadays... but 13 years ago a person here wrote me "No one is interested in .io extention". How wrong that person was.
Months later the new owner even let it expire, I emailed to warn but I didn't try to dropcatch it as I thought it would be bad business… current reg date of 2018 seems to show I wasn't listened.

technically from waht u say, the person who wrote u 13 yrs ago that no one wants io, was at the time not really wrong.

it was great domain.. no one knows what right enduser woudl pay for it today.. something 5 figures for sure.. and possibly something like 5-10k if u threw it out there for bidding for the reseller bidding battle.
 
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great sale, I have jackpot // block // chain daw com, hope next great sale about "jackpot" will be mine :xf.smile:
 
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In 2007 my domain video.io sold at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. for just the minimum reserve price that Moniker asked me to set ($400)... a mistake I never forget, and will not repeat.
I wonder what one of the best keywords, in such a popular TLD, would be worth nowadays... but 13 years ago a person here wrote me "No one is interested in .io extention". How wrong that person was.
Months later the new owner even let it expire, I emailed to warn but I didn't try to dropcatch it as I thought it would be bad business… current reg date of 2018 seems to show I wasn't listened.

This person wasn't wrong. That statement was probably true at the time. That statement was true about Bitcoin 5 years ago. That statement was true about .com ~30 years ago.

We're all just taking risks here by investing in things that are undervalued at the present moment and hoping they appreciate over time. Sometimes we hit it big, sometimes we lose, and sometimes we miss the boat entirely. Can't keep kicking yourself over old mistakes. Chin up, buttercup!
 
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This person wasn't wrong. That statement was probably true at the time. That statement was true about Bitcoin 5 years ago. That statement was true about .com ~30 years ago.

We're all just taking risks here by investing in things that are undervalued at the present moment and hoping they appreciate over time. Sometimes we hit it big, sometimes we lose, and sometimes we miss the boat entirely. Can't keep kicking yourself over old mistakes. Chin up, buttercup!
Congrats @barman. I remember that you were saying a few months ago that you were in the red regarding your revenue, because of acquisitions. This sale helped you to be on profit overall? Also, I wonder if you can share the acquisition price for your .io domains.
 
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Congrats @barman. I remember that you were saying a few months ago that you were in the red regarding your revenue, because of acquisitions. This sale helped you to be on profit overall? Also, I wonder if you can share the acquisition price for your .io domains.

Yes, this sale put me in the black on this whole domaining venture.

I don't want to share specific acquisition costs, but as they always say, the money is made on the buy! You can get a good feel for investor level prices from park.io - https://park.io/auctions/index/closed/sort:price/direction:desc
 
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Thanks @Bob Hawkes for sharing.

Congratulations dear friend @barman . Really happy for you.

This is just beginning of new exploration in different zone. Wish many more success in coming time.

Thanks
 
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That was an excellent and informative interview - great questions by Bob and, open and insightful answers and comments by @barman.

A well done sale and, a well done interview about the sale!
 
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