Fish.Com Sells For $1 Million
ORLANDO, Fla. & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 2005--Leading domain name exchange Afternic.com announced today that it managed the $1 million sale of Fish.com between an undisclosed private party and www.dog.com, a discount dog supplies company and the new owner of the high-value domain name. The all-cash sale sets a new high-water mark for e-commerce transactions this year.
Only one other domain name sale, a transaction related to off-shore gaming, had a higher nominal price tag. That deal, however, included a cash payment of well under $1 million plus stock of still-indeterminate value.
"The Fish.com transaction underscores the value of owning a mission-critical domain name," said Afternic President Roger Collins. "There is no question that premium names help businesses establish the impression of brand leadership and allow them to become more effective Internet marketers."
He said that not only does a domain name like Fish.com reel in excellent search engine results, but it is an ideal domain to drive "type-in" traffic to the new owner's business. Type-in traffic is generated by consumers who simply type a generic URL into a browser and land on a site.
Facilitating the record-breaking deal, Afternic guided the acquisition by delivering the offer, serving as agent during escrow and acting as a conduit in negotiations that preserved both parties' anonymity and ensured all expectations were met.
"Due to the explosive growth of business and consumer usage of the Web, good domains are becoming more and more valuable, and the best and most memorable names have already been registered. This is where an aftermarket partner such as Afternic can be instrumental in acquiring that key domain name," Collins said.
Afternic Exchange Benefits
Dog.com CEO Dr. Alex Tabibi agreed that working with Afternic ensured security and confidentiality for a transaction that otherwise could have been much more complicated and might have required extensive legal fees. "Afternic's involvement created an atmosphere of trust and as much of a turnkey experience as one could expect with a transaction of this size," Tabibi said. "Even parties conducting much smaller deals than ours would benefit from their services, which included a secure escrow account."
Collins noted that Afternic.com has posted triple-digit annual growth since he acquired it from Register.com in 2002. He attributed the site's success to its creation of an extensive exchange network in which members gain greater exposure for their listings and partner domain name registrars earn commissions from Afternic. Afternic provides a "one-stop shop" where consumers can purchase secondary domains in a secure, anonymous environment. Some of the industry's leading registrars, including Register.com, eNom.com and Eurodns.com, are Afternic partners.
Fish.com Super-Site
Tabibi, the owner of other premium pet-related domains such as Horse.com, Bird.com and Ferret.com, plans to create a user-friendly super-site that caters to an array of fish fanciers' needs. The site will be designed as a source for supplies, information, forums and news. Fish.com plans to offer customer discounts of up to 70 percent on supplies such as aquariums, food and fish tank accessories by eliminating retail middlemen. The site, which is scheduled to go live in the second quarter of 2006, will also offer multi-tiered pricing for both industry professionals and hobbyists.
With the acquisition of Fish.com, Tabibi believes he has created a unique commodity on the Internet, where several key domain names in one category are leveraged to foster cross-traffic. "The combined synergy of the other names means we will be very strong across the pet-supply category," he observed. "No one else has done this online to this extent."
Since the demise of Pets.com, Tabibi noted, the pet-supply space has been largely abandoned with no significant "e-tailer" focusing on the channel. He plans to lead the space. Evidencing this, he points to sales at Dog.com, which grew 80 percent this year, with similar projections for 2006.
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I dont know, i just dont see the fiscal value of $1m for this domain.
There is no doubt it has a higher value than your usual domain name would have but i personally think thats a little over-priced.
Regards,
Lee
