Domain sale on eBay for hurricane relief, a generous effort?

[RJ]

Press release just in,

TOP DOMAIN NAME AUCTIONED on EBAY for HURRICANE VICTIMS
News Released: September 05, 2005

(PRLEAP.COM) During the great domain name “gold rush” when the dotcoms were taking over the business world by storm, there were, and still are very few dotcom domain names that could be found, that had any true monetary value… The good ones, the most sought after ones had all been snatched up by hungry entrepreneurial “go getters”, to be developed, or to later be sold to interested big business who didn’t mind paying a “pretty penny”. Many of these domain names have sold for millions of dollars a shot. Loans.Com, for example, sold for an unbelievable $3 million. Since its purchase, Loans.com is thought to bring in millions of dollars a year, and has paid for itself many times over. People from all walks of life recognize the simple word “loans”.

LoansLoans.com, which is, by some accounts, said to be the second best, most recognizable dotcom for the Lending, Banking and Mortgage industries, is going up for bids on the Ebay auction block. The attractive, “double name” aspect, that “LoansLoans” carries, has worked for many companies in their marketing promotions. Companies like the nationally known Cartoon Network, cable television channel, with their motto; “Cartoon Cartoons”… And there’s the famous “Circus Circus”, Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, as well as the Mazda Corporation, with their ever popular motto; “Zoom Zoom”, and nobody can forget the famous motto; “Pizza Pizza”, from the Little Caesars’ pizza chain, and how about “Johnson & Johnson” products, found is in every household in America. All of these trademarked double names are branded, and successful, and there are many others like them.

LoansLoans.Com, along with the .Net, and .Org versions, has in the past, been appraised at a value of $1 million. The Long time owner of this domain name series, had planned for its development, to be branded, and positioned to be marketed in direct competition to some of the biggest internet lenders, such as “LendingTree”, and “eLoan”. “LoansLoans” definitely has the same ability, and recognition factor, the big lenders want, and are looking for, to represent their companies, and to solidly brand their internet presence.

Today, the owner of this highly sought after domain name series’ agenda has changed… Their task is to sell, and to get help to the hurricane victims, the best way that they can… to do something to help rebuild and reestablish their devastated lives. The mass hardship and suffering is unbearable to watch for all, yet it’s not as if a true American with a heart and soul can just turn away, either. For the sake of thousands of helpless victims, young and old, of the devastating wrath that Hurricane Katrina has brought to the entire gulf region, the decision was made to immediately give up something of value they know could possibly bring some urgently needed financial help to those in need… to raise money to be donated to the American Red Cross through the sale of this highly valued domain name series.

LoansLoans.Com is to be auctioned on Ebay.Com, to the highest bidder. Half of all proceeds gained by the sale of this domain name series will automatically be directly donated to the American Red Cross, to go to helping the hurricane victims, who need immediate assistance. Included in this auction, will be LoansLoans.Net, and LoansLoans.Org. Bidding will start with an opening bid of $10k, and the domain names LoansLoans.Com/.Net/.Org, will go to the highest bid. To view Ebay auction go to:
http://cgi.ebay.com/LoansLoans-Com-...805495148QQcategoryZ11153QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Contact Information
Joel Mayo
LARGE Marketing
Email LARGE Marketing
360-883-5467

1) Do you think it will sell for $10k?

2) What do you think of this method of selling a domain?

eBay has a new system setup where you can pledge a percentage of your sale to the charity effort. Is anyone else considering trying this? (LINK)

 

[FusunMedia]

1) I personally don't like the double name domains and in this case I dont think its worth the $10k starting bid.

2) Selling a domain on eBay is something that I'll never consider, too risky and most of the time not enough exposure to the right market.

 

[dgaussin]

I think it's a great but bad way to market an auction. The title says "TOP DOMAIN NAME AUCTIONED on EBAY for HURRICANE VICTIMS" but if you read until the end you can read "Half of all proceeds gained by the sale of this domain name series will automatically be directly donated to the American Red Cross". It's very nice to share a big amount with them, but is it useful to write a press release, to announce it widely ?

 

[jane118]

domains not even worth half of the amount the starting bid, i think....
it gives a reason for someone to buy it and half goes to charity..
i'll believe it when all goes to charity or 80% goes to charity.
its just a way to sell the domain i think...

 

[Keynes]

domains not even worth half of the amount the starting bid, i think....
it gives a reason for someone to buy it and half goes to charity..
i'll believe it when all goes to charity or 80% goes to charity.
its just a way to sell the domain i think...

I agree, this is a terrible marketing ploy to distort the valuation of the name. IMO, this is WORSE than trying to sell a Katrina related name for profit since this seller tries to give the appearence (a false one) of altruism. Shame, shame...

 

[Ben42]

If you want to donate 10K just do it. This domain isn't worth $300 imho.

LoansLoans.com, which is, by some accounts, said to be the second best, most recognizable dotcom for the Lending, Banking and Mortgage industries, is going up for bids on the Ebay auction block.

By whose accounts? Maybe the domain owner, but that is about it.

 

[stscac]

1) Do you think it will sell for $10k?

Most certainly not. Not sure that it will get any bids at all.

2) What do you think of this method of selling a domain?

eBay has a new system setup where you can pledge a percentage of your sale to the charity effort. Is anyone else considering trying this? (LINK)

I think its a cheap way of trying to get a lot of money for your mediocre domain names. I am not against the relief effort (as I have donated) but I think this is a rather selfish way to go about it (not on eBay's part, but the part of the seller).

-Steve

 

[True_Snake]

I doubt it'l sell for 10K. It's a good thing the owners doing by donating, but if the aim was really "charity", I personally think it would have been advertised in a different manner, plus, I believe more than 50% would have been pledged towards charity. Now, I don't want to doubt the seller's intentions or anything; even a penny towards charity is virtuous, but I think the approach should have been/could have been better.

My two cents :] .


True_Snake

 

[Mark]

If it does sell for that amount - It'll be because someone with more money than sense bought it .... It's not PizzaPizza.com for sale here .... Who looks for "loansloans" ??? I just hope no one will think this is a good way to donate - Send it directly to the Red Cross or open a Phone directory from the affected areas and send it to a random person .... It'll do more good than this IMO ~

 

[DNQuest.com]

This domain name is so widely regarded that the the .com, .net and .org versions (part of this auction) are the only extensions registered for this name... I think it is a shameless ploy.

 

[BurninDragon08]

I think that it will sell for 10k. And the reason being is because the money is for hurricane relief. But I am not a fan of the double word domains.

 

[RJ]

I think that it will sell for 10k. And the reason being is because the money is for hurricane relief. But I am not a fan of the double word domains.

True, but did you see in the article that only half of the proceeds will be going to the Red Cross ? It makes no mention of where the other half will go, but I'm assuming the answer is the domain owner's pocket.

I don't see any problem with the eBay auction itself. It's very clear there what percentage will be going to charity, but the press release seems offputting to me. The headline declares "TOP DOMAIN NAME AUCTIONED on EBAY for HURRICANE VICTIMS". Then the fourth paragraph,

"Today, the owner of this highly sought after domain name series’ agenda has changed… Their task is to sell, and to get help to the hurricane victims"

Has his agenda changed? It's not until the end that it implies that the domainer is keeping half of the $10k sales price for himself. My whole perception of it changed at that point from it being a nice gesture to just looking like someone's trying to cash in on this.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of selling names and donating a percentage to charity. I think we should all do this. It just seems a little unethical to send a news release saying your selling something for charity when you're really selling it more for yourself.

 

[-db-]

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of selling names and donating a percentage to charity. I think we should all do this. It just seems a little unethical to send a news release saying your selling something for charity when you're really selling it more for yourself.

Agree 100%.

This person is attempting to take advantage of people's good intentions and sorrow - to bring attention (profit) and publicity to his mediocre domain name.

No class.

 

[namey]

There is no way I would pay $10,000 or even $1,000.