Thoughts

Andrew Miller

November 27, 2022

The Art of Negotiating Premium Domain Deals

This week in my weekly meeting with my domain team, I made the comment, “Premium, exact match domain name deals are not really sales.” I added that in 24 years of being a Founder/CEO who acquired domains for my own companies (CreditCards.com, InsuranceQuotes.com), invested in premium domains for resale, and have advised companies and management on $390m of buy and sell side domain transactions, I can only recall “selling” a handful of domains.

It is semantics, but the most valuable digital real estate deals are usually negotiations rather than sales. Our track record is what it is because we understand to whom and how to cast a wide net so that the domain opportunity marinates until it strategically resonates and we enter into a negotiation. Exact match .coms are the gold of the Internet and the “Madison Ave” of the digital map. The best evidence of that is the market-leading companies that understand this: past, present, and future. At Hilco Digital Assets, we keep a running tab at HilcoDigital.com/comps. Closing 7-8 figure domain name asset acquisitions and sales requires connections, trust, vision, and negotiating expertise specific to these transactions. We like to call ourselves Switzerland, where we help both the buyer and seller win regardless of whom is paying us.

A Success Story: Salary.com

A huge shout out to yet another exact match category brand exiting big. Salary.com is the latest winner.

The Equation for Success

Math time. Exact Match, Category dotcom = credibility + authority + memorability + exponential ROI.

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