In a relatively recent previous article, we have discussed strong domain trading (domain sale) in the first quarter of 2019, acknowledging that global economy and trading conditions are not ideal for high-profile domain trades, naming the three million dollar domain trade for California .com as the confirmed number one trade deal in 2019.
Mid-year is a time when most companies plan vacations and it came as a big surprise when we got the report that Voice .COM was sold for $30 million earlier this week.
We do not take kindly to the rumor of the mill, and would quickly discard this sale as misreported, but the fact is MicroStrategy confirmed a domain sale, not a full-blown business sale, just the domain. It is important to understand the differences between a domain name, a website and an online business.
Record-setting domain sale
Yes, it is the record-setting domain deal, which can be compared to sex.com which is now somewhat dwarfed with its $13 million transaction.
Talking about Voice. COM transaction, the $30 million cash is the paid sum without GoDaddy commission which is I am sure a six-digit number if not more. Usually, this kind of high-profile domain trade is not a public sale, as most big domain transactions.
The domain name Voice.com was re-registered originally in 2001, probably after it expired and dropped. It was then purchased by MicroStrategy in May 2005 from an unknown domain trader from China.
The domain in question is now used for the launch of a new blockchain-based social media platform called Voice. The owner, Block.one deemed that owning the perfect domain is strategically important as it will provide brand recognizability and accelerate growth and value.
From the new domain owner perspective
On a side note, MicroStrategy Incorporated owns a number of such ultra-high premium domains (Wisdom, Strategy, Speaker, Alert, Hope, Courage, Glory … etc.) with .COM domain extension and I am sure we can expect more high-profile transaction reports.
Namely, Rick Schwartz penned a blog post a few months back pointing out that single-word domain owners should get ready to ask $10 – $30 million.
It just may be that we undervalue domains, and this transaction is obvious when we see that a billboard on a highway can cost $50k/month, high store rents, thousands of dollars a month for a short phone number, expensive advertising on TV, radio or other means of marketing.
I think we can all agree that no individual domain trader) would have gotten that price. Not even the best of them. And what price would the best brokers in the industry have asked for? Maybe $2 – $5 million?
This sale is magnitudes beyond what anyone in the industry would have fathomed possible before today’s announcement. At the top end of the market and a potential game changer.
On a side note, so much noise was made with the Voice .COM sale which overshadowed another amazing $400,000 domain sale, the Casinos.org. Knowing this is a non-COM domain it certainly is worth popping the cork on a bottle of champagne
Conclusion
We would conclude that the high price may be justified to some extent with the new owner launching a blockchain-based social media platform which has the potential to gain tremendous value in the future.
We would conclude that the high price may be justified to some extent with the new owner launching a blockchain-based social media platform which has the potential to gain tremendous value in the future.
The price paid may seem absorbent but are ever so interested in the way how do they pay $ 30 million in cash? Considering it is a single domain sale, it is the first time we read something so uncommon.
It just may be that Voice .COM is a product of a speculative market of the Nasdaq and an example I have seen this kind of online stock market behavior during the Internet bubble when a similar system was widely used in products that buy consumers worldwide and locally for a specific aim.