http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2007/domainsales01-23-07.htm Second Highest .Mobi Sale To Date Heads New DN Journal Top 20
by Ron Jackson
A lot of jaws hit the floor when Flowers.mobi sold for $200,000 in an auction at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. East conference in October. It was an unprecedented amount to pay for an unproven new extension and most assumed it was just a case of a wealthy buyer (Rick Schwartz) taking a big risk with money he could afford to lose. However the "isolated incident" theory was blown out of the water this week when another six-figure buyer bellied up to the .mobi bar.
This time it was Sportsbook.mobi commanding the big bucks - a whopping $129,800 in a private sale that we carefully examined during our verification process.
The seller, Sule Garba, originally brought the sale to our attention soon after it was completed in mid-December. He was willing to make details of the deal public but the buyer, who wishes to remain anonymous, wanted to delay an announcement while he pursued other related domains he had his eye on (it is our policy to honor non-disclosure requests that come from either party to a transaction). This week, the buyer (whose identity we know) agreed to release the information and the broker he was working with to acquire domains, SpareDomains.com, sent us the documentation we require before reporting a sale.
The exchange was handled by Escrow.com so I called the company's president, Brandon Abbey, to verify the information I had been given was accurate and that his company had completed the transfer of both the money and the domain. Abbey had to secure permission from both the buyer and seller before he could comment on the transaction, but once he had done so, he confirmed that the money was paid and the name delivered to the new owner.
The most amazing thing about this deal is that Garba says he registered the domain by hand in October for just over $30! The name was apparently registered during the .mobi sunrise period for trademark holders but was then released back into the general registration pool, possibly because the trademark claim was ruled to be invalid by the registry. Garba just happened to be at the right place at the right time.
The runner-up spot on the Big Board went to Sedo.com who collected €59,000 ($76,214) for Ofertas.com ("offers" in Spanish). Sedo made it three in a row by also claiming the #3 slot with Hero.co.uk at £20,000 ($39,232 and #4 with Skycast.com at $30,000. Hero.co.uk was one of three country code domains on the Top 20. A five-figure .info also cracked the elite all-extension list. #12 Names.info sold for €8,100 ($10,465) at Sedo to earn a spot among the .coms that traditionally dominate this chart.
The other ccTLDs on the leader board were #6 CanadaComputers.ca, sold for $16,055 at Pool.com, and Modelkartei.de ("model portfolio" in German), a domain that went for €7,501 ($9,691) at Sedo, a venue that led all others with eight chart entries. SnapNames.com was next with six. Their roster was led by #5 MofunGames.com at $20,250. NameMedia stablemates Afternic.com and BuyDomains.com bagged two entries apiece and Afternic landed on the top half of the chart with #9 OpenTrade.com ($12,750).
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