Thoughts

Andrew Miller

October 20, 2024

How Premium Domains Get Sold

Patience, perseverance, timing; These have all been themes in RST. The most valuable domain names and the transactions that we oversee require all of these “tests.” I have been doing this for 26 years as an investor, founder and advisor, approximately $625m of transactions. My philosophy over that time is that there is likely 1, if really lucky 2, buyers for an ultra-premium domain in a given window of time, which I define as day 1 to 4 years. When I say 1 buyer, I am referring to a buyer who A) gets why they want the domain & knows what they want to do with it B) has the capital to acquire it C) is willing to pay a price within the “ZOPA” (zone of possible agreement). Our job is to cast as wide a net as possible and find that 1-2 that meet the above criteria, and then, recognize the window where the timing is right to make the deal happen. Oftentimes the net is cast, and it takes time to marinate or a buyer is not ready at the time and often circles back later. I can tell you case study after case study of this exact occurrence. It is essential to have the most valuable exact match and category domain asset (the horse), the right jockey, and the fortitude to trust the process.

All in Due Time

A story: Good friends of mine, whom I both acquire and sell exact match domains for, asked me to help them acquire a 4 letter domain (the plural of a first name) for one of their business brands. This process began with an innocent email inquiry to the domain owner, a very nice guy whose name reflected the domain. He flat out said he was not interested in selling the domain. It became clear he was skeptical, old school, not overly motivated by money, and even had a “guilty before innocent” position on whom he trusted. Over the course of 18 months, I got creative, built a relationship and trust, upped our offer, and even introduced my client to him directly, which proved to be the key strategic move. Over another 18 months, they took the smallest of steps towards a potential acquisition of the domain. In my sweet spot of mostly 7-8 figure domain transactions, this was a smaller one (low 6 figures) yet at times, it was the most head shaking deal I have ever worked on. My friends emailed me this week that alas, it was under agreement. In the coming weeks, we at Hilco Digital Assets will be closing a few much larger deals that have also taken time to develop. My friend in the above story summed it up best with an Alph Lukau quote: “Good things come to those who believe, better things come to those who are patient and the best things come to those who don’t give up.”

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