In this, the second of a 3 part series, I’m looking at data shared by GoDaddy recently that disclosed 20 sales the company had facilitated in January 2021. Here, I’m looking at 5 of those sales to analyze why those domains sold for the prices they did.
Table of Contents
WeShare.org – $280,000
This is a significant .org sale. According to NameBio, there have only ever been 4 publicly-disclosed .org sales larger than WeShare.org for $280,000. The domain was acquired by Unite Health Share Ministries (UHSM), a provider of affordable Christian healthcare. UHSM has developed WeShare.org into an invite-only private healthcare network that was launched in May 2021, so UHSM acquired the name well in advance of this project.
I think that the fact that this is a .org was a powerful motivator for UHSM to decide to pay $280,000 for the domain. As of writing, the .com equivalent (weshare.com) is listed for sale at Afternic, and would likely have been available to purchase for less than the $280,000 fee for the .org. The .org can signal a community, a good cause, or something similar. I believe that UHSM wanted WeShare to be a community-driven project, which is possibly why they opted to buy the .org over the .com.
Goon.com – $120,000
This domain could be written as Goon.com (a derogatory term), or GoOn.com. As the name sold for $120,000, it’s likely that the latter is the driving force behind the price tag. The seller of the domain also appears to own names such as Damn.com, so the seller’s interpretation, at least, could have been Goon rather than GoOn.
There’s little information available at the moment about Goon.com other than the name was acquired by someone from Germany.
Mediant.com – $90,000
The purchase of Mediant.com is a domain upgrade combined with a brand protection move. Mediant.com was acquired by Mediant Communications Inc., a US communications company with offices in North Carolina, New York, and more. Mediant used to operate on MediantOnline.com before switching to MediantInc.com.
As of writing, Mediant.com doesn’t resolve to a website, but the WHOIS data shows Mediant Communications Inc. as the buyer. The company raised $18 million in funding in 2020.
Brensocatib.com – $60,000
Before researching this domain, I had no idea what brensocatib could be. It turns out that brensocatib is an experimental treatment for non-cystic fibrosis. Brensocatib is an inhibitor, according to this article.
The domain was acquired by biopharmaceutical company Insmed, the company that owns the license for the brensocatib treatment, so they are the logical end-user for the domain name. The domain is only a couple of years old and may have originally been registered by a domain investor. If so, that’s a healthy payday for a name with one logical end-user.
TheFightClub.com – $60,000
TheFightClub.com is another name that GoDaddy sold in January 2021 that contains a “the” prefix. TheFightClub.com was acquired by Triller, a video-sharing social network. After the company raised a total of $33 million in funding, Triller has moved into sports promotion, distributing pay-per-view boxing. The company has a partnership with Snoop Dogg to promote future boxing events.
Triller’s Fight Club hosted the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. bout that reportedly drew over 1 million pay-per-view buys. TheFightClub.com is the home of the company’s boxing promotion site. The $60,000 fee paid for TheFightClub.com is a drop in the ocean compared with the $50+ million gained from the Tyson vs. Jones Jr. fight, plus future events accessible through the site.
holy cow