A traditional domain sale involves an upfront payment to acquire the domain name outright. However, there are plenty of cases where upfront payment isn’t feasible or appropriate for either buyer or seller.
In these cases, alternative payment methods come to the fore. Offering stock options is one such alternative payment method. It was famously used by Uber, which offered Universal Music $107,148 in equity in exchange for Uber.com. Those shares, which Universal Music sold for $863,000, would have been worth as much as $532 million when it came to Uber’s 2019 IPO.
Another company used the stock options strategy recently, albeit on a far lower valuation. According to a recent SEC filing (page 15) by Gaucho Holdings, it acquired Gaucho.com for $34,999 in cash and 15,000 shares of common stock valued at $39,600.
This deal was first reported in February 2022 by George Kirikos when the terms of the deal were $25,000 in cash plus 15,000 shares, with those terms subject to change.
Gaucho(.)com domain name changed hands in early February for $25,000 in cash PLUS an additional 15,000 shares (subject to adjustment) in the buyer's shares, see:https://t.co/y2Nj7FTYmk
In 2007, that domain was bought for $10,750 via SnapNames:https://t.co/j6FgJd94Yl
— George Kirikos (@GeorgeKirikos) February 26, 2022
The terms certainly did change as an extra $9,999 was added to the cash fee, in addition to the 15,000 shares.
Gaucho Holdings is a publicly-traded company that sources and offers luxury products from South America. Since acquiring Gaucho.com, the company has put the domain to use by hosting an e-commerce store offering clothing, accessories, and products for the home. The store was previously hosted on GauchoBuenosAires.com.