How Groupon bought the domain Groupon.com

[adinfinite]

This is what the groupon founder had to say:

"I think we bought it in May 2009 or something like that for maybe $250,000, which seemed like a lot at the time and now it seems cheap."

you can watch the entire interview here:How Groupon Bought The Domain Groupon.com [clip]

What struck me is that I know that many in the NP Domain Appraisals section would have labeled groupon.com "reg fee" a couple years ago. It just goes to show that Domain values are highly subjective

 

[Sparhawke]

Nice of them to trademark a name someone else is already using, would this stand up in court?

 

[bmugford]

Well, the bottom line is you can't build a business on fluke sales. Sure they happen here and there, but at the end of the day you need domains that are likely to sell.

You are right though every domain is one of a kind and under the right circumstances you never know.

Brad

 

[adinfinite]

Nice of them to trademark a name someone else is already using, would this stand up in court?

Good question. i doubt it would and the trademark issue probably spooked the guy into selling. But with $250k he didnt do too badly.

 

[DubDubDubDot]

Mere domain ownership guarantees you nothing. Sitting on an idea that you may or may not implement in the next decade is worthless.

This guy got very lucky with the $250,000 sale. Catch lightning in a bottle lucky. Furthermore, he probably demanded a ridiculously huge number out of ignorance and anger, content with pissing them off rather than asking for a more logical price and getting it. There is no way he offered it for $250,000 and actually expected to get that. Who knows, he may have demanded $1 Million at first.

 

[jacal1]

Interesting post and topic OP. Thanks. I think it leads to an important point: If a million "reg fee" names at $8 renewal were listed in the appraisal forum, and one of them hits big like this, the payoff to domainers as a whole is $250,000 for an $8,000,000/year investment. I'm simplifying the math, but that's basically the logic. One person gets lucky, but the chance is still not worth taking.

 

[gafadi]

Bullies , no wonder there are people who hate us ( people involve in domains and stuff )