.mobi I sold sportsbook.mobi for $XXX,XXX

[saltysoda]

Dotmobi is still alive as I sold sportsbook.mobi for six figures the exact figure would not first be disclose at this forum but would be made known in 48hrs to 72hours.

I am happy with this sale as this name was registered on oct. 17 for about $30.48 and was sold within 2 months.While sometimes I am cautiously optimistic about dotmobi ,my overall believe is that dotmobi's success is coming and i would not be left behind because of it's great potential to battle for the supremacy of the mobile web.

I am not here to hype dotmobi, because the potentials of it are increasing by days not months or years so with it's value.
no wait and see approach for me as i am currently developing my mobile site and also i don't have wait and see seven figure's budget to buy dotmobi when it's finally successful .
My final take on dotmobi? This would be a battle for supremacy for the mobile web between dotcom and dotmobi with no clear winner.
what does this mean?dotmobi would be as important as dotcom.

 

[yoyosean]

?

 

[Domainate.com]

i am trying to follow what you guys are saying, are you saying that sportsbook.mobi is not worth xxx,xxx to an end user? if so then IMHO you are sadly mistaken, Sportsbook is a common term in the US that everybody knows what it means. It provides instant branding, instant credibility, and if you cant imagine people making last minute bets on their cel phones to sportsbook.mobi, I think you do not understand the size of this business and the impact that being able to use your celphone to make bets online will have on it.

Gamblers are addicts and if they have access to making bets online via their cel phones you better believe they will absolutely do it.

What I am saying is that while with .com high quality generics and probably .net as well with gambling generics, you can get a lot of type-in traffic without really having to do anything. Those of you that love .mobi are assuming that someday, .mobi will either not have to be typed in on a mobile device or that enough people will know about it such that top keyword generics will get the same benefit of type-in traffic that .com names get, AND/OR are ignoring the fact that web viewability is broadening on mobile devices to the point that by the time enough .mobi sites are developed and achieve popularity, people might already be enjoying their favorite .com sites on their mobile devices/cell phones. As I said, my opinion of Sportsbook.mobi for $xxx,xxx being a gamble largely hinges on that aspect. I mean think if you had Sportsbook.com and parked it. You'd probably get low 5-figures a month at least without having to lift a finger for development. The same can definitely NOT be said about Sportsbook.mobi currently, and it's still really up in the air whether that will ever be true.

Sure, top generic keyword names DO market themselves and SportsBook.mobi will have to spend less time/effort marketting themselves and building their brand. However, look at Poker.com...they developed a poker site there and so you figure they should be a big player amongst poker sites, but they never have been. PartyPoker.com on the other hand probably registered their name for $7, used the money saved to instead lure people in with high-dollar tournaments (being the first site to do so), and the rest is history.

It would be a moot issue if you didn't have to develop the name to get its value, but how much do you honestly think SportsBook.mobi would make in the next 2 years parked? Obviously the buyer knows that too and WILL be developing, but with uncertainty in the air about gambling online in the US, all I'm saying is that the name is a GAMBLE. Nowhere near the gamble of Flowers.mobi for $200k, but a gamble nonetheless. Again, I hope for the buyer's sake that they make it all back handily and prove me wrong.

 

[rocknrollo]

Just my 2 cents

Congrats this was a great sale and will give all of us some hope for the big deal. To make $30 turn into over 100k is every domainers dream. I hope you do many more like this and spend that money well.

As far as what it is realy worth i think you have proven it. period...... Will it be worth more or less in the future only time will tell. I can tell you it doesn't matter.

 

[HBK216]

The cost of this domain is nothing compared to how valuable it would be in the right hands.

The US market for offshore books is in a dangerous state right now. I personally keep my nose in it as gambling is a big part of my actual income (as a gambler not a webmaster).

Recently, arguably the #1 sportsbook out there stopped taking action from US customers. Besides the fact it has been hell personally having to "magically" live elsewhere just to continue playing there, it really shows what the US is trying to do with offshore gambling.

The reality is that even if the US market was shutdown completely, this name would still have tremendous value. Many sportsbooks main profits actually come from outside the US market. Pinnacle was a book who for awhile now made a good majority of their money outside the market.

Many countries are ok with gambling & a name like sportsbook.mobi is quite useful for books major non US markets. I don't think the end user has much to worry about as far as the name making its cost back & then some.

 

[yoyosean]

But it comes down to profitability none of us knows the margins that poker.com makes vs the margins that partypoker makes if poker.com brings x million to the bottom line with only lets say 5000 customers vs partypoker bringing x million to the bottom line with 50000 customers which biz would you rather have? I am taking #1. not saying that that is the case but it sure makes business much easier when you get natural type in traffic vs having to go out and find traffic, type in traffic is much, much less of a gamble due to the fact that your brand is already established, and the amount of money you have to spend to get customers should be pennies on the dollar as compared to a random name.

I think the mobile web is going to rely on generics much more than even .com due to the size of the screen and the time it takes to type something in. So branding and branding with generics IMO will be key to the marketplace for new cos. And if you can get a jump on the comp. now on the comp build the site, get it indexed (in the mobile search engines) that both yahoo and google are developing you will own your particular business.

 

[webmasterinfo]

another pr trick.. flowers...

 

[Domainate.com]

And by the way, I'm sorry if my posts are taken as bashing the sale. Compared to the other two 6-figure sales, I LIKE this sale best of the 6-figure .mobi sales thus far, and I'm sure considering it was regged just a few months ago is causing a lot of people to search the top keywords every second to get any other TM-failure drop...it's cool to see what a sale's effect can be. Bashing the seller would be like bashing a winner of the lottery for being fortunate enough to pick the right numbers at the right time. In fact, the seller did what I would do and what I think .mobi holders should do in general: Ask sky-high for the names. There are plenty of people that think .mobi is the 2nd coming of .com, so asking high is a wise choice, perfectly illustrated by this sale.

 

[MrRhee]

The following quote makes no sense to me... and is a bit ridiculous:


Sorry... Lets get one thing straight, if everyone held out for 6 figure sales on their domains then there would be no industry, period. You buy domains and sell them at a profit. My point above was, I GUARANTEE from experience, that in 99% of the cases, a sale would have occurred at a much much lower value. I can tell you this from living in the real world. Not in a world where as soon as the next champion is crowned I go and stand in his corner as if i was there all the time.

Im pleased for him, I own a few good .mobis and I wish the extension well but if anyone in the room says that if a firm offer of $20k, $30k or even $50k had come in for this domain, or in fact any domain youd just acquired for $30, and for which had no traffic, youd hold out for $100,000+, then good luck in your domaining endeavours.

And as far as your cheap comment about me thankfully not brokering your domains, then get this. I too, am pretty glad that we have not been wasting our cost and commission free time trying to broker one of your domain sales..

Buyer Offers - $30
Seller Counters - $250,000

Buyer has ended discussions

Now let me get back to work and dont let me find you misinterpreting healthy discussion from negativity again. pfft

your posts are ridiculous. your assumptions are foolish.

once again... I repeat... just because you have no skill at negotiating a domain to a lofty selling price doesn't mean others aren't capable. you say over and over again you would have bailed at $5k... then so be it... that just means you're willing to SELL, not NEGOTIATE.

You say you speak from experience and assume that I do not... only a fool would make assumptions like that. I have taken a name I hand registered and sold it for a multi-million dollar price tag... and The original offer was $500. Maybe I should've bailed early like you. LOL. At one point, the buyers even walked away when negotiations stalled at $10,000... I had to bring them back into the deal and show them what potential the domain had for their business... I negotiated hard, so did they... over the course of 30+ days... but in the end, after many phone calls, emails, lost sleep... it was a win/win deal, the buyer got a category killer domain to dominate their industry and I poured my money into more domains, diversified online & offline businesses, a house, made sure my extended family was taken care of, etc... all because I didn't bail at the first sign of a bite. I realized the potential of the domain and was relentless in holding firm to what I believed it was worth... a nearly $X,XXX,XXX price for a hand-registered domain. I've sold other names that received lowball offers and they've sold for 6 figures, high 5, mid 5, low 5, etc... This doesn't include the countless domains I sold over the years to companies for cash+equity stakes in their startups, etc... so I am speaking from experience.

badger... only a fool would come in here making wild accusations and assume that everyone else is only as capable or as experienced as they are.

regarding .mobi - I'm a firm believer in domain names from various extensions, and I believe in .mobi - I have roughly many .mobis in my domain portfolio and am only acquiring/registering those that fit my development model..

and fyi, and I have already turned down a $XX,XXX offer for Invites.mobi because I believe it has more potential if I develop it or I'll negotiate a larger offer later. and yes, I had registered that one last year.

and badger, I repeat for emphasis... I'm glad you aren't brokering any of my names and would never take sales or negotiation advice from you... it would be a waste of your time and mine. No hard feelings... I simply don't like to do business with people that make too many assumptions without knowing the facts, without doing research, full of negativity and spend too much time talking before they think.


.

 

[agent006]

mr. rhee u can be my mentor anytime when it comes domaining. :hehe:

 

[bosstone]

I own booksports.mobi what do you guys think that is worth?

 

[hedgefund]

I have saved your writing, mr. rhee, it is inspiring!

 

[zhijunshen]

Wonderful, congratulations.

 

[wot]

I own booksports.mobi what do you guys think that is worth?

Basically :?

Why would you think it is worth more than- Nothing, zero, nada, I think you have wasted your money. JMO

 

[Badger]

You say you speak from experience and assume that I do not... only a fool would make assumptions like that.

badger... only a fool would come in here making wild accusations and assume that everyone else is only as capable or as experienced as they are.

Ok, show me the part where in ANY of my posts I've made these 'so called' wild accusations ....???

By accusations, I assume you mean - n. A charge of wrongdoing that is made against a person or other party

Or perhaps you were referring to these wild accusations:

your posts are ridiculous.

Your assumptions are foolish.

you have no skill at negotiating

But dont fret, there is something youve said for which I agree with you on.

only a fool would come in here making wild accusations

Such a shame that, with all these multi-million dollar sales youve made, it hasnt managed to teach you any manners or indeed any class..

and badger, I repeat for emphasis... I'm glad you aren't brokering any of my names and would never take sales or negotiation advice from you... it would be a waste of your time and mine. No hard feelings... I simply don't like to do business with people that make too many assumptions without knowing the facts, without doing research, full of negativity and spend too much time talking before they think.

Actually, facts and research are two things im particularly good at. And thank the lord you feel this way as Im not sure our fledgling business could cope with being fined some serious bucks for aiding a renowned cybersquatter..

Though seeing that you are infact such a "good samaritan", i find your somewhat rude and aggressive tone in this thread confusing...

 

[domaindigger]

Here's a hunch.

Anyone who has criticized any part of this sale or automatically and immediately doubted this sale is:

1) upset with themselves for not having registered .mobi's during the landrush, and
2) incredibly envious.

It doesn't matter whether .mobi will be successful or not, how Sportsbook.mobi could sell for so much money, or how much luck was involved. The point is Sule pulled off something we all dream about and for that, I think we should congratulate him. What is their to doubt/criticize? Anything but an honest congratulations and you're making it obvious to the rest of us that you are one jealous monkey.

Having said that, CONGRATS SULE, wish I were in your shoes right now!

 

[vincenzo]

Firstly, congrats to the seller, and the broker on this sale.
FWIW, I think it went for a good 'current' value, and has legs to be worth a lot more.

By the way MrRhee,
Which domain did you sell for $$MM ?
Was it a single-word .COM ?

Best wishes,

- Vince

 

[MisterMagnetic]

Interesting thread. Congratulations to the seller/buyer of this transaction.

Someone posted something earlier that I think was significant when it comes to the future value the .mobi domains. In effect it was that .com was the primary extension for connecting to the net by computer while .mobi was setting up to be the primary extension for connecting by mobile devices.

A couple of questions for you more experienced domainers. When it comes to optmizing a regular .com website for mobile devices, how does that affect the view of the website on a regular computer screen?

I ask this because Sedo is offering a customized parking template for .mobi domains. On a regular computer screen the .mobi template text is squeezed to the upper left corner of the screen (Ex. www.students.mobi ). This leads me to believe that your site has to be "either/or" as in either optimized for a regular size screen or for a mobile device.

If this is true, why would a owner of a significant .com site want to optimize the site for mobile devices. They could purchase the appropriate .mobi name create the site and give their visitors a choice. Better yet they could increase their audience as many younger people spend more time with their mobile devices (iPods, cell phones and the coming iPhone) than they do sitting at a desktop. A cell phone is practically another appendage for a lot of people.

I may be completely off base with the above assesment, as I am fairly new to the domain business but I believe .mobi will be big. I can foresee the .mobi extension getting to the point that it will be second only to .com in importance;EX .mobi.us, .mobi.ca etc.

Please enlighten me with your thoughts.

 

[scandiman]

Interesting thread. Congratulations to the seller/buyer of this transaction.

Someone posted something earlier that I think was significant when it comes to the future value the .mobi domains. In effect it was that .com was the primary extension for connecting to the net by computer while .mobi was setting up to be the primary extension for connecting by mobile devices.

A couple of questions for you more experienced domainers. When it comes to optmizing a regular .com website for mobile devices, how does that affect the view of the website on a regular computer screen?

I ask this because Sedo is offering a customized parking template for .mobi domains. On a regular computer screen the .mobi template text is squeezed to the upper left corner of the screen (Ex. www.students.mobi ). This leads me to believe that your site has to be "either/or" as in either optimized for a regular size screen or for a mobile device.

If this is true, why would a owner of a significant .com site want to optimize the site for mobile devices. They could purchase the appropriate .mobi name create the site and give their visitors a choice. Better yet they could increase their audience as many younger people spend more time with their mobile devices (iPods, cell phones and the coming iPhone) than they do sitting at a desktop. A cell phone is practically another appendage for a lot of people.

I may be completely off base with the above assesment, as I am fairly new to the domain business but I believe .mobi will be big. I can foresee the .mobi extension getting to the point that it will be second only to .com in importance;EX .mobi.us, .mobi.ca etc.

Please enlighten me with your thoughts.

Code is able to ID a device or browser and then deliver a page that is appropriate for that device or browser. The problem is that few have developed their sites this way so the typical .com site doesn't work well on a mobile device. This coding method can be used to deliver a "PC" sized page from a .mobi site as well.

 

[MrRhee]

Badger... part of me feels sorry for you and pities you. Your posts come across as very bitter, perhaps jealous... and jealousy is a drug... don't succumb to it. Perhaps I'm reading you wrong (no pun intended) and that's just you being you. But how many times did you need to come back and edit your posts before you got it right? LOL.

How much time & energy do you waste by not being productive?

I guess the real question is:

Why would you choose to add so much negativity to a "success story" thread?

The sale of SportsBook.mobi is an inspiring story... and it sounds like the seller went to a lot of trouble to share the highlights with us... apparently weeks of trying to help validate the sale and put a lot of effort into making the sale price public. I don't believe the seller was looking for only bragging rights, but trying to educate his peers and tell them to hold out for bigger paydays... that the market was still in its infancy and many were selling premium generics for lower than he believed they could get if they tried. I remember reading one of his first posts on this board many weeks ago... in the Gamble.mobi thread... and he mentioned that Gamble.mobi could've pulled in much more than $30K... for us to wait and see how much SportsBook.mobi sold for... I know I've been waiting to find out and I'm truly thankful that the seller went to so much trouble and took the time to share his success story. Many of the larger sales can not share info due to NDAs and it is refreshing to see a domainer sell a $30 domain for $130K in such a short time. Let's not forget the impact of that... this sale will have far-reaching effects and only helps to strengthen .mobi, perhaps the aftermarket in the short term (keep in mind it was a generic) but it is highly likely that the buyers will be developing SportsBook.mobi and hopefully they'll be promoting it heavily and the more developed .mobis out there... the better for all .mobi owners. I truly believe that development is key... and that .mobi owners can band together and form an Ecosystem that will sustain itself. It'll take time (it's only been 4-5 months since launch) but it can be done.

So, instead of some people spending so much time adding nothing but negativity to this thread, why don't we all try being a positive influence? Find a way to network, share, collaborate and make money together.

If anyone is interested in developing their .mobis and being part of an ecosystem that shares users, traffic and revenue, email me. We have about many .mobis that we'll be developing with our own turnkey software that will form the foundation of the ecosystem to jumpstart it. If you are interested in being part of something larger than yourself, look up the whois record for Ecosystem.mobi and email me with the subject line: "ecosystem"

Let's all do something positive for .mobi and our .mobi domains.

and once again... congrats to the buyer & seller. and good luck with Blogging.mobi - that one is amazing.

 

[hawkeye]

To be honest MrRhee, my take on this spat between you and badger, is really a misunderstanding of his original postings. I don't believe he was being negative on the sale, but alluding to wondering why it went so high so early in the game. As I read it, he was noting that an offer of $xx,xxx so early after the mobi launch would have been a great coup for someone, so he was pondering "why did it go, or what made it go higher?" I've seen his posts over the years, and I don't have the impression he's demeaning on domain sales or domainers. Just my two cents, no sides to take, best of domaining to all! Peace out.

 

[Badger]

You are right MrRhee, Im impressed by Soda's confidence in his stock and his willingness to hold out for an incredibly high sum when, yes, I would have bailed a lot earlier.. Probably like most regular domainers would have done.. And despite all the ultra-pro .mobi fans all screaming down anyone who even poses a question in this thread, in anyones eyes, the sale is still impressive stuff.

However, contrasting opinion and well thought out intellectual dialogue helps us all grow and make us better domainers as a result. Random name calling, blind belief or biased opinion ramming down peoples throats does no-one any favours.

Despite the odds of landing this sale being incredibly slim (imho), he pulled it off ... brilliant.. And Ive posted this indisputable positivity previously in this thread, so im not sure where you get your new line of verbal abuse toward me of my now supposed "bitterness and jealousy" to add to my already well documented "negativity"?

And although I promised myself to leave this thread alone, something you do has pushed my buttons.. Maybe its because Ive never been so misunderstood ever before in a discussion forum. And maybe because ive never been victim to so much ignorance.

Anyway, this will be my last post toward you in this thread. I think, despite Im sure its voyeuristic appeal, its now bordering on taking the main stage away from the real star of the show, that being SaltySoda .. ..

Heaven knows you are an experienced domainer, you purport to selling a domain for $4million and you've also lost a WIPO cybersquatting case, so youve obviously been round the track a few times. Good luck to you and your supporters and good luck to SaltySoda in his future domain endeavours.. badger out.

 

[Domainate.com]

If this is true, why would a owner of a significant .com site want to optimize the site for mobile devices. They could purchase the appropriate .mobi name create the site and give their visitors a choice. Better yet they could increase their audience as many younger people spend more time with their mobile devices (iPods, cell phones and the coming iPhone) than they do sitting at a desktop. A cell phone is practically another appendage for a lot of people.

I may be completely off base with the above assesment, as I am fairly new to the domain business but I believe .mobi will be big. I can foresee the .mobi extension getting to the point that it will be second only to .com in importance;EX .mobi.us, .mobi.ca etc.

Please enlighten me with your thoughts.

Websites have been doing that already for a long time. They would utilize mobile.website.com or website.com/mobile or something of the like. Furthermore, web programming now has the capability to see whether you are connecting from a computer or mobile device, and redirect you accordingly to an area that suits what you're using.

That said, I've never been of the belief that it would affect the success or downfall of .mobi, and clearly it hasn't. What MAY however affect it are mobile devices that will display regular .com sites fine. The screen may be smaller, but if navigation around the site is easy enough such that the user experience can be close to what the desktop provides, then people will flock to that and .mobi will be left in the dust before there's enough sites developed to save it. Google could care less...they already have dominance on the internet, so if it turns out the internet as it is can be used on mobile devices, they won't lose any sleep over .mobi failing. I don't think any of the other huge companies "backing" .mobi would differ much from that either...I think many were covering their bases in case .mobi takes off. So... .mobi really is racing against time IMO.

 

[balrog]

congrats on your sale

I do have one question I believe was asked earlier I too am curious to know the answer too..

why did you feel so adamant to make this sale price public when you clearly new it was against the wishes of your buyer?

 

[Jeff]

... why did you feel so adamant to make this sale price public when you clearly new it was against the wishes of your buyer?

^ To be completely candid, this is exactly what has been irking me ever since the big "announcement", IMHO. I would never ever conduct myself in this very PUBLIC manner ... if it was the wishes of my Buyer to remain anonymous! :blink:

I hope others can agree ...
Just my two sense.
-Jeff

 

[JMJ]

congrats on your sale

I do have one question I believe was asked earlier I too am curious to know the answer too..

why did you feel so adamant to make this sale price public when you clearly new it was against the wishes of your buyer?

From what I read on DNJ the buyer didn't want it public until he/she acquired the names he/she wanted. My assumption is he/she did so.