A two-letter .com domain name has become the most expensive purchase of the year, selling for US$4.7 million (AUD$4.9 million) in September 2013.
London-based financial trading company IG GROUP bought IG.com, through a deal handled by legendary domain name brokers Tessa Holcomb and Marcus Kocak.
The IG.com domain name sale is more than double the price paid for the previous 2013 leader, 114.com, which was sold for US$2.1 million (AUD$2.2 million) in July.
Holcomb and Kocak, who have a long history of brokering and advising on domain name deals, have said they worked together on this deal, while the multi-million dollar funds were exchanged through Escrow.com.
Holcomb has said in a statement for DN Journal that there is a “range of unique elements required to achieve the results our clients are looking for when looking to secure a third-party-owned property.”
“We are happy to help set a higher standard of what is possible when connecting a premium domain with the right end user,” she said.
From .com to Country Code TLD
The previous owner of IG.com was iG, the third-largest search portal in Brazil.
But iG has recently made its primary domain name the country code top level domain name (ccTLD) iG.com.br – a web address much more specific to people in Brazil.
While iG CEO André Chaves has told the media that the company originally had other plans for IG.com, the deal was too good to pass up.
“Although we initially had alternate plans for the IG.com domain name, we were extremely satisfied with the final sales price that Mr. Kocak and Ms. Holcomb were able to broker while ensuring we felt comfortable with the process throughout the negotiation,” he said.
This statement highlights the importance of approaching domain name owners in the right way when you want to purchase a premium domain.
In the case of top level domain names – particularly short .com options that are often among the most popular and expensive options – many people choose to use domain name brokers as part of the process.
While that is not a prerequisite, it can help you get a better deal and also make it easier to manage the acquisition of the domain name (or names) that you really want.
Whether you are looking at buying your first domain or your fifth, keeping up-to-date with domain name sale news is a great way to learn more about the paths you can take. And at the very least, this type of information can make you feel grateful for the price you pay for your domains.