When you see that a HUGE domain deal is going to take place in the near future, who is the first person you think of that made the deal? If you guessed Rick Schwartz, you would be correct.
Lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice, unless there’s a reason for it. While some people have said that Rick Schwartz is “lucky,” I would strongly disagree. Rick saw the potential in domain names many years ago, scoffed at selling most over the past few years, and has recently cashed in, while retaining some of his best names. Not only did Schwartz recently work out huge deals for iReport.com and Property.com (and RoomDividers.com last week), another deal is in the works that in Rick’s terms, “will blow the doors off the industry at the darkest time…..AGAIN!”
While the domain name in discussion hasn’t been publicly revealed yet, the deal is going to make headlines for Schwartz again – and for his friend Kevin who had a hand in the Property.com deal as well. While I won’t publicly congratulate Rick for this until the deal is done, I will say that from this and my own personal experience, it appears more end users are beginning to understand why they should own category defining generic domain names, and many are paying big bucks to get them.
Candy.com?
You’re right. It’s not a coincidence the mega deals keep coming from trailblazers like Rick Schwartz and Rick Latona. They stir up attention to this industry like no one else. Domain Giants.
I don’t always agree with the things Rick Schwartz says nor am I always enamored with his “in your face” style, but there is no doubt that he is a smart guy. His success has not been a matter of luck. He understands the domain industry landscape (partly because he has helped create it) and has a good handle on its future. You may not always agree with what Rick has to say, but you’d be a fool to ignore him.
my first pick would be an obvious-candy.com
my second pick is widgets.com since widgets are making huge headlines these days and yahoo and intel announced widgets and tv.
disclaimer-i hope its widgets.com and i happen to own widgetstv.com since tv and widgets will be a growing sector for years to come.
however its probably candy.com and sold to a big candy manufacture, end user and be above property.com possible..
good luck rick..
I’m guessing Candy.com as well…to Hershey.
But regardless of which of his domains it is, or who the buyer is, hats off to both Rick AND Kevin; who works his you-know-what off on these super-premium .coms to identify and reach the actual decision maker…and sells them on the value of these fine generics…even if he has to shake the you-also-know-what out of them to do it.
And while such time-consuming efforts are usually not worth the time and effort for lower-valued .coms (say; under 50k or so); the higher-value ones sure are.
How hard should one be willing to work for a 100k-1,000,000+ profit? 50 hours? 100? A year?
Thanks Steve for your kind words. It is indeed an adventure hunting for and working on these super large end user deals. It’s definitely the most challenging type of deal to capture, but they are out there as many of us have proven repeatedly now.
Where many domainers looking for the monster sized deals misstep though is looking for just a “big sale”. What you want to do is look for the end users that can do a “creative deal” instead. This increases the potential prospects numbers significantly. When you’re talking about finding a $5 Mil, $10 Mil, $20 Mil and beyond deal for your major domain you’ve got to understand almost never is any end user going to simply cut you an instant check of that magnitude. Almost always financing is involved whether provided by a 3rd party or the seller and the agreements are always extremely complex at this level.
So more than finding the end user you are really finding the creative deal itself first with the seller and then its much easier to find the end user to mate it to. I’d say more than anything, my real skills are figuring out the creative deal and then negotiating it successfully with the buyer and seller. And to do this you have to understand the fiancial positions and desires of both your buyer and your seller. You could have a buyer for example that could easily cut a $10 Mil check, but might not want to tie up that much capital on the acquisition upfront. It usually makes more sense for the buyer to leverage their money and do a couple mil down for example and have a 3rd party or the seller take payments or equity, etc. This way they have money to plow into the domain’s development and marketing to take it to the next level. It makes fantastic sense for the seller because they get a nice chunk of cash upfront and will make tons more money by providing financing and retaining an equity interest in the domain for the long term bonanza when it goes into the stratosphere of value by being in the hands of a major corporation with all the vast networking, staff, infrastructure, and marketing resources they possess to make it go big.
I’m fortunate in that I actually enjoy working hard. Most domainers I deal with prefer a more laid back approach to life. When you work hard and keep persistent you’ll always succeed in your endeavors. I never ever quit when I have my mind set on something. Sometimes I’ll go 36 with no sleep to get stuff completed to make a deal happen. I deal with buyers and sellers in every time zone on the planet so it’s extremely grinding and demanding from a time management and scheduling standpoint. Just managing and keeping up with the enormous volumes of emails that come in all day long is a task in and of itself. Plus developing, which is my main focus now, is time intensive beyond words. Most domainers have no idea how much research, coding, programming, testing, tweaking, marketing, etc. is required when you become a builder. It makes my brokering biz seem simple in comparison. LOL
The hard part for me is sorting through all the domains, buyers and sellers that come my way each day and having to filter it all. This is another big component you have to master to become a consistent dealmaker. There’s not enough time in the day anymore to take advantage of all the opportunities so you have to take a pass on many genuninely good ones just because of no time availability to pursue them all.
Anyways, the big deals are the best and most exciting. I love them like crazy despite all the hoops and challenges you go through to get them. It’s all worth the effort at the end of the day.
Kevin
PS – It’s not Candy by the way. But it is another big one worder. And it is a creatively structured deal with the leading end user company in this domain’s market niche that currently does 9 figs of traffic per month. 🙂
Nice response, Kevin! I thought I was the only one who wrote novels in my comments! 😉
Good points, of course. Domainers should cut and paste your statements and study them.
And congrats!
Yes hats of to those great domainers.
Incredible..Guys…Congrats and Many Hats off for Mr. Rick and Kevin for bringing yet another incredible deal during these difficult economic times…May I guess is it Porno.com, Ass.com, Widgets.com…Obviously its not candy.com…Again Domainers it goes to show that Confidence, Persistence, and VISION are the keys to domain success….Also, any thoughts on .co.uk, .De and .in domains…