IT.COM

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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or buy monkeycapital.com for 2.5k
 
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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.

Escrow.com fees are on top of the payment, but yes, they are paid up front.

I'm inclined to believe the "acquisition" was a move to boost their ICO and there was never an intention to fully pay off the domain.
 
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The good news is, Escrow.com got paid up front. Not sure how the brokerage worked in this case, however.

Actually Escrow is usually paid along with each instalment and takes a fee for holding and remitting payment. Same with the brokers cut. Its paid in instalments along with sellers cut.

So everyone missed out on this deal including Escrow.com
 
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Not really.

The Escrow.com fees - the "cut" - are paid up front. You're referring to the monthly fee for DNS, $25 /month if the buyer uses its own or $40 if they use that of Escrow.com.
 
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No I am not referring to the holding fees. I am referring to the principal fees of the transaction.

I cant talk for your experiences off course, but I have been quite able to negotiate the principals paid in quarterly instalments along with the sellers cut. Hard sell to have seller agree to a holding deal if all fees are paid upfront.
 
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Odd, that's not what I was told before, but you are correct.
 
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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.
They said he was repeatedly late, not that there was not a second payent.
 
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They said he was repeatedly late, not that there was not a second payent.
Agreed, I don't know the specifics, nor did I check the DNS history, but probably make sense they most likely didn't even bother making payment #1, just fed off the PR.

Their current choice of domain defies all measure of common sense, I felt they got a pretty decent price given how marketable Monkey.com is across so many markets.

I have been thru a failed payment plan a few times, not always a bad experience, especially if they have a big first payment, and a few payments in before it happens, but they will find a good home for this one.
 
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If you're Monkey Capital, this is a terrible PR story to be linked to. I would lose trust in any money management firm that defaults on payments. Not a good public look at all for them.
 
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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.

Agreed, I don't know the specifics, nor did I check the DNS history, but probably make sense they most likely didn't even bother making payment #1, just fed off the PR.
Did you read the article before you made that comment? It says he was repeatedly late. Being late is not the same as never paying. I had a guy rent a home off me for 13 month, and he never paid. From this guys statement, that was not the case here.
 
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Did you read the article before you made that comment? It says he was repeatedly late. Being late is not the same as never paying. I had a guy rent a home off me for 13 month, and he never paid. From this guys statement, that was not the case here.
Yes, I read the comment, unless you have the escrow agreement in front of you, I doubt you know for sure either what the facts are.

He could have made a payment, and missed the deadline for the second payment, I am not sure, at which case escrow starts the default process.

There is a terms sheet which both parties sign, thru docusign, if you have viewed that then sure I will go with your facts, other than that you are nit picking over silly things.
 
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lol. I am jut taking him at his word. You are assuming he never made a payment, something even the seller did not say, and sure it could have been not paid after the 2nd or 3rd payment, but repeatedly late to me means that he was late for several secluded payments, whatever those may have been. How long was the time from the "sale" to the default?
 
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lol. I am jut taking him at his word. You are assuming he never made a payment, something even the seller did not say, and sure it could have been not paid after the 2nd or 3rd payment, but repeatedly late to me means that he was late for several secluded payments, whatever those may have been. How long was the time from the "sale" to the default?
No, please re read my comments, I am thinking he maybe made 1 payment, and defaulted when it came time for the 2nd, the free PR was all they needed maybe to get some credibility behind their deal.

This ICO, cryptocurrency market is a whole another world, with some real characters involved, it is very unregulated.
 
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I am aware of how it works in crypto, I own freebit.co.in, a type in name with about 12000 type ins a month, and am somewhat involved in bitcoin, so I know there are shady people in it...
 
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Escrow.com fees are on top of the payment, but yes, they are paid up front.

I'm inclined to believe the "acquisition" was a move to boost their ICO and there was never an intention to fully pay off the domain.
Bingo....
 
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I am aware of how it works in crypto, I own freebit.co.in, a type in name with about 12000 type ins a month, and am somewhat involved in bitcoin, so I know there are shady people in it...

Why are people typing this in?
 
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Daniel Harrison's project is a scam. Please beware. We lost many ETH to his defunct Coeval. His project keeps shifting ground like a nomad. Please don't invest in his useless monkey project.
 
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5000+ current referrals. I paid 999 for this domain name. The referrals paid it back.
 

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Final update, from Jackson Elsegood of Escrow.com: fees are collected up front, along with broker's fees.

"That way if a buyer fails to pay at a later date the broker is protected."
 
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I don't see why "broker should be protected". A broker gets a % of what seller gets and if a seller doesn't get the whole amount, then neither does a broker and neither should a platform.
 
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Because the platform is providing a service, not a product. The broker can obviously have a separate agreement with the seller. Either way, they invested time and effort in completing a sale, even if it's "lease to own." If the buyer makes one payment, then defaults, should they get cents on the dollar?

I don't see why "broker should be protected". A broker gets a % of what seller gets and if a seller doesn't get the whole amount, then neither does a broker and neither should a platform.
 
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