Who Brokers really High-End Domains?

[steveatvillas]

Hello All:

I'm brand new to this Forum.

I've been talking to a buddy of mine who has been offering advice to me about getting my domain http://www.villas.com off the ground. I was a publisher of a top glossy magazine in Europe before making the transition from paper and ink to "e".

We've got our site up and running and we have rocketed up the charts, we are picked up and indexed by all the SE's and our Alexa ranking stands at 180,000 and we're falling at about 10,000 to 20,000 points per week (we started at 1,500,000 in September).

So, the aforementioned buddy told me I should put the domain up for sale, and that it is going to be worth a bundle. You see, I've already spent a bundle in development, and I'm about to spend lots more taking it to the next step. We are in our roll out phase, so I'm building content by letting selected companies display their products for free. I don't anticipate charging for another many months.

Faced with a huge investment so far and more to come, maybe I'm just as well off selling.

Who are the movers and shakers in the world of domain brokers? I am a serious player who doesn't want to dance around with bozos.

All the best, and thanks for your time to review this.

Steve

 

[MadAboutDomains]

Hello Steve and welcome to namepros! :wave:

Villas.com... that is one magnificent domain! In the long run I would imagine that developing the domain more into a paid service as you have already mentioned and then selling the domain and website would be more beneficial to you. This way you will be able to prove income from the domain when you are selling, which will add to the value as a website instead of just a domain with a "mini site".

I would not let this one go easily... and I wouldn't be in a hurry to sell up. This domain name will really be worth a PACKET.

Do you happen to have recieved any offers on the domain already... and how much did you get it for when you acquired it?

- Luke

 

[steveatvillas]

Hi Luke:

Well, I've had Villas.com since 1997, back when they were, er, sort of free-ish. (Funny enough, the guy who just went through the sex.com tragedy Graduated from Stanford Business School a year or so after me!) I've also piled up quite a portfolio of domains to protect V.C as well as trademarks.

I just started to develop the site a year ago, and I can see me spending at least another 100k to really make the site sing, most of that going to advertising and marketing costs!

So, I'm 55, as is my buddy and we were talking over the weekend complaining about our aches and pains and how fed up we were with the grind. Fortunately, life here in Spain is cool (siesta time is much appreciated).

So, I'm at a crossroads. Perhaps I should sell VILLAS.COM to a large organisation that can plow huge dough into it? Or continue to nickle and dime it along.

See my dilemma?

Steve

I had an offer about a month ago for $100k.

 

[oldratracer]

I concur with Jiblob Steve villas_com is a very very strong name (magnificent good word choice) ... and before you approach the type of ppl you are looking for you should take steps to ensure not only the name but the business is protected...(speaking from experience)...first things first...TM the Name... then get any and all financials together on sales along with your traffic facts (the numbers that you've mentioned are excellent and how you've achieved them ...documentation will be important...when it comes to getting maximum $$$ ..)...

Having said that ...there is an "alternative" to selling OR this company may purchase your domain/business outright...here's the link:
http://www.domaincapital.com/clientsandlinks.html

Hope that helped...regards..

 

[steveatvillas]

Hey RatRacer (not gonna ask where the name came from)

If you visit the site, I publish my stats on-site! And they're audited to boot.

here's the link: http://www.villas.com/enterprise/siteMetrics.html

And I am so covered by TM's, prior art, etc., it ain't funny, not to mention a solid transfer lock with my Registrar (NOT NetWork Solutions, BTW). And I'm represented by the top IP law firm in Europe (Nº 7 in world) Nobody's gonna sex.com me!

But if you see my reply to Luke, you'll see my dilemma. I'm already beau coup in, in development costs, and there's no end to how much I could spend to get to profit.

All the best,

Steve

 

[steveatvillas]

Hey JP:

Will generate revs is the operative word...according to my business model. If you have a look at the site, you'll see it's specifically for high-end homes, starting at €2 million ($2.5 million). I'm of the opinion that banner ads would spoil the experience for high-end folks who really just want to look at an excellent presentation of quality properties. It was a good formula that kept my magazine going for 12 years.

My idea is to charge the agents a one-time fee for placement and see where that goes. Even though people are now accustomed to paying a subscription fee to view content, this is an unknown.

Here's another point pushing me towards a sale. We have an on-site search engine, and the majority of searches are for rentals, and cheapie holiday lets at that. Moreover, when one searches on any of the SE's for "villas" or "villas.com", the latter in quotes, we rank anywhere from Nº 2 up to the 20's. Notwithstanding the Google Dance that's going on right now.

Thing is, even though we're highly placed in the SE's in only a few months, the name "villas" seems to have much more utility for cheap holiday rentals, and our business is multi-million sales (not rentals!)

So, even with this killer name, I'm being perceived in a completely different genre.

It's perplexing!

Steve

 

[Broker]

Sorry for this question, but how in the world and why in the world would it cost you a $100k to further develop your site? Where does that money go? Newbie here, thanks for insight.

 

[oldratracer]

Hey RatRacer (not gonna ask where the name came from)

If you visit the site, I publish my stats on-site! And they're audited to boot.

here's the link: http://www.villas.com/enterprise/siteMetrics.html

And I am so covered by TM's, prior art, etc., it ain't funny, not to mention a solid transfer lock with my Registrar (NOT NetWork Solutions, BTW). And I'm represented by the top IP law firm in Europe (Nº 7 in world) Nobody's gonna sex.com me!

But if you see my reply to Luke, you'll see my dilemma. I'm already beau coup in, in development costs, and there's no end to how much I could spend to get to profit.

All the best,

Steve

No problem ...everything looks Great Steve...with that I can recomend the following company:
http://www.promediary.com/about.html

I wish you the best in your prosective sale!
Don BTW I got my name: OldRatRacer by leaving the "RatRace" early due to health reasons....I had an Aneurysm and left the "Corporate" World sold a Well Known (back then) Internet Business/Domain Name ...JobCenter_com and thus was "Born" OldRatRacer...LOL

 

[gazzip]

Great name - lucky man

You could maybe ask Rick Schwartz if he is interested in buying it ? - He bought Property.com last year for $750,000 - you may even save yourself at least a 10% broker fee !!

He has many great quality names and does still buy - he is also the guy who sold Men.com as far as I remember for $1.32 million in 2004

http://www.dnjournal.com/columns/cover020204.htm

the sale can be seen on the following link - http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2005-expanded-ytd.htm

His website - http://www.erealestate.com/virtual/index.html

Just a thought !! - As I am sure you are aware $100,000 is waaaay to LOW !

Good Luck

 

[Dr.Lee]

I think this name at least can sell for 1 million. You just hangle it there, and wait for the right buyer. Or positively contact with the possible end user. You will surely get a good money for this name.
Good luck!

 

[gazzip]

I think this name at least can sell for 1 million.

My "Guestimate" would be $400,000 to $700,000 range - but hey, who really knows !!

Good luck with it

.

 

[Malaysia]

nice name indeed! most probably to the real estate companies or travel agencies or maybe yahoo..hehe

 

[Earthian]

nice name




if you are really interested in selling , I think you should check these guys out ...


iREIT.com


This company is owned by Marc Ostrofsky , who is the person that sold business.com back in 1999 for $7,500,000 (world record for 6 years) .


Currently he runs a multi-million fund buying and selling domain names .













Regarding the expensive-villas/rental-villas dilemma , I would suggest this ...


Keep the domain's luxury-brand-character in tact . Do not dilute the brand . Internet is global (and is envolving fast) and even if your site does not receive the proper clientele right now , with correct marketing and promotion , it probably will in the future . Some polishing to the site might be needed too , so as to promote the luxury character .


but ...


also include a rather large (while in good quality and in correct size proportion) link to a rental-villas part of your website . Or even better , buy a good domain regarding rental-villas and build a second website for rental-villas so as not to dilute the villas.com brand . It does not have to be an AAA domain because it will receive the traffic from villas.com . Alternatively , build a partnership with a big property-renting site and sell the traffic . It is true that besides expensive properties there is also a mindshare for the word "villa" with rentals and holidays , so I think it would be wise not to leave that current-cash opportunity pass you by . If done properly it will complement the brand and not dilute it .












As I understand from your words , though , you are more interested in selling (for the proper price) , so I would suggest check the iREIT link , keep on searching for endusers , keep on searching for domain acquisition companies , keep on searching for good brokers or even do a featured plus listing with a high reserve on eBay to test the waters . That last one is rather risky , though . eBay is a rather tough market for domains right now and also holds a small risk of reducing the perceived quality of your site if it appears there and does not sell good or if you finally decide to keep and develop the site .


Lastly , submit it to GreatDomains.com . It will (logically) be accepted and the inclusion to tht list would add prestige to the name (even though the name is self-justifiably valuable) . Furthermore , a suitable buyer might possibly see it there .

 

[MCDomains]

Excellent name. With the high-end real estate biz the way it is, you'll definitely find a quality buyer in time.