It’s 3:46 right now
I’m in an auction with you on Snapnames for the domain HamptonsWedding.com - and I want it, bad
really bad
Why? Cause there are a lot of very expensive weddings held in the Hamptons outside NYC.
I’m at the point in my domaining career where I’m attempting expand my portfolio from SEO domains into type-in traffic domains (which I’ll develop)
There are two minutes to go, and you want to know what? I’ve conceded defeat. And I’m livid.
Pissed.
Actually, a congratulatory livid and pissed.
I’m livid and pissed at myself, and congratulatory towards you cause - when it came down to it - you ponied up the cash. I didn’t.
It sold for $3,100.
I bid it to $3,000.
and I’m still shaking my head.
there were 3 people in the auction room. I thought I might catch you sleeping, since a lot of auction activity has moved over to NameJet.
I was wrong
You paused several times in the auction, once around $800 or so, then again around $1,700. Both times I thought I might have a chance. After you eventually outbid me, I tried raising the bid several hundred dollars to try and scare you off (which is a joke cause, I’m quite aware you’re the guy that owns the internet). When I did that, though, you’d simply follow my lead, and raise it several hundred more.
When it got to $2,500, I swung my best uppercut, and laid out the $3K offer. About a minute later, you leapfrogged me to $3,100.
My head sunk.
I smiled.
I shook my head.
And I quietly cursed to myself (sorry Mom) .
It hit me though. A quick realization. I’m officially at the point where I can’t self-fund my acquisitions anymore. There are simply too many domains I can acquire, and profitably operate, becoming available. Fantastic domains just like HamptonsWedding.com.
I need access to cash.
I need to seriously consider assembling some financial backers.
And explore fractional domain ownership.
I can’t all complain though. I was able to snatch up another wedding domain earlier today, HighlandsWedding.com (Highlands NC is kinda like the Mountain version of the Hamptons for folks in Atlanta - and they have *a lot* of weddings up there). And I didn’t even have to buy it from anyone, it was unregistered : )
Enjoy HamptonsWedding.com, though, Kevin.. you beat me fair and square.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 at 6:24 pm and is filed under Domaining. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Hi Peter -
Re -fractional domain ownership etc.. I’m somewhere along the same lines as you - touch base with me via my email and maybe we can work something out.
Ari
HA! I hate that feeling after an auction like that where you beat yourself up over whether or not you should have gone just a little higher.
Ok, I’m intrigued by this article.
If you need a (modest) backer, I’m game. I’d be in the domaining business if I had the time (and talent), but I don’t.
Email me if you’re interested in some cash to go try some things out.
I usually only invest in software startups, but I’m fascinated by the domain industry.
Peter, I can empathize with you because I have often felt this way, especially for domain names I really wanted. It started in 2000 and still occurs. Just recently at the Miami traffic auctions, we were going for newlyweds.com. I thought 50k is a lot and should seal it. At $120k, I balked and bailed and regretted it afterwards. I am sure the other newcomer, who I met later, backed by private equity, would have went to $200k. The others were europeanvacations.com. I thought 20k max, but when it went up to 85k, had to bail. I had resolve to get the other, caribbeanvacations.com (I wasn’t even absolutely sure if that was the correct spelling but it looked right). It went up to $120k and I just shook my head and my heart felt heavy. I later found out these were the guys behind Geosign. So pick your niche, find your model and build your portfolio. One day, someone will be writing to you that you outbid or bought a name they were wanting. The stories we could write …
hi greeting ,
its[it’s] the real very pleasure2read your essay ,
even though i’m very busy ,
ye wrote it really very goodly;–^),
ye can b[be] the professionnal writer ,
cheers ThANKye , 2w
Rather than “fractional domain ownership”, I prefer the term “group domain ownership.” Fractional sounds like you are insignificant, just a little piece of something. But Group Domain Ownership sounds like you are part of something larger. So I went ahead and registered GroupDomainOwnership.com.
My condolences.
The people attending weddings in the Hamptons need some way to get there.
If it’s of any consolation to you I’ll offer up HamptonsLimousine.com and
you won’t have to compete against Vaxis.
Patrick
What’s the elevator pitch on how you make money from these domains you purchase?
I appreciate the offers guys.. Fractional ownership might be the route I initially take for now..
and a special thanks to Kevin Ham for sharing some kind words.. thanks man!
Another great reflection Peter!