Sex.com For Sale in Foreclosure Auction

Sex.com

In exactly one month from today, we may see a new record set for the price of a domain sale. I just received an email from a friend with a link to a notice stating that SEX.com will be up for auction. The foreclosure auction will be held at the offices of Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP, 156 West 56th Street, New York, New York on March 18, 2010 at 11 am.

In order to bid on the auction, you must come prepared with a certified bank check in the amount of $1,000,000, made payable to “Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP, as escrow agent.” The auction may be open to the public.

The auction description is as follows:

All of Borrower’s interest in and to all right, title and interest in an undivided 100% interest in the internet domain name and related INERNIC registration of the URL www.sex.com, and 100% of all cash proceeds, accounts receivable, licensing rights and intellectual property rights directly associated with or derived from the ownership of such URL.

The tale of Sex.com is actually very interesting, and a book was written about it a few years ago. The Cliff’s Notes version is that Match.com founder Gary Kremen originally registered the domain name, but it was then stolen by Stephen Cohen, and a 10 year legal battle ensued. A company called ESCOM, LLC acquired Sex.com in January of 2006, although terms of the deal were not disclosed. There was an article that pegged the sale at $14 million, but there was no confirmation that this number is accurate.

More information about the auction can be found on the David R. Maltz & Co website, and you can also download the auction notice pdf for more information. One interesting note from the auction notice is that it comes from a Dom Partners, LLC at 2050 Center Avenue (Suite 600) in Fort Lee, NJ – the same address as Domain Capital, who reportedly provided part of the financing.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

80 COMMENTS

  1. I predict that this will not break any records Elliot. Obviously 14 million was too much for the domain in the past. The company could not make a profit with it at that price.

    Domains do have value but their value is not limitless like many domainers try to claim (not saying you do). 14 million was just way too much to pay for this asset. I bet it will not go for over 7 million, a 50% drop in price from its last sale.

    The site is currently getting 120,000 visits per month. This sure has value but the value of the porn crowd is going down more and more every year, just too much free stuff for pay sites to compete with.

    I could be completly wrong and it would not be the first time and certaintly will not be the last, but anything over 7 million will certaintly suprise me.

    • @ Troy

      Even if it does not surpass $14,000,000, the public sales record is $10m for Fund.com and public auction record is $9.5m for Porn.com. This is one of the best domain names money could buy, and now money can actually buy it since it will be up for auction.

      Like Toys.com, this is one of those rare names that don’t come up for sale very often.

  2. The bottom line is Sex.com was a very expensive domain acquisition.

    There were big plans but the execution of the plans didn’t go as planned. The direction of the site kept changing from hard to soft and soft to hard. I know th long term idea was to go mainstream, but there are a lot of challenges trying to take a domain like Sex.com mainstream. And with the state of the adult industry right now besieged by thousands of free tube sites we all know how hard it is to monetize even the best adult domains like in the old days.

    Playboy would be the ideal acquisition candidate next, although they’ve had issues too recently.

    My guess would be it goes for $5 Million at auction. Maybe a few million more or less.

  3. @ Michael Berkens

    I tend to agree about traffic, but it’s more of an “acceptable” name for a mainstream company (sex vs. porn).

  4. I just got off the phone with a partner at Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP (a very large law firm), and he said that his firm is not involved and it must be an error on the part of the auctioneer who posted their information. I am waiting for a call back from the auction company to find out more information.

  5. I have to do some serious soul-searching –

    Do I need Sex?

    Elliot, great scoop.
    Is this the domain Larry was hinting about last month?

  6. @ Richard

    Not really sure if that’s what Larry was talking about. I doubt it because Larry said the sale he referenced was private, and this sale is listed publicly.

  7. Don’t be surprised if Sex.com breaks the record. No one here would have ever thought that Poker.org would sell for a million. Like Poker.org all a name like Sex.com has to do is find the right enduser and you could easily be in $20,000,000 territory.

  8. I saw that it was a different partner involved in the auction (on the auction notice), and I called/emailed him. I am waiting to hear back from him. I am also waiting for a return email from the auctioneer.

  9. Ouch!

    Like any news scoop, there are inconsistencies. Let’s wade through them right now:

    El-Silver’s blog article states: “In order to bid on the auction, you must come prepared with a certified bank check in the amount of $1,000,000, made payable to “Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP, as escrow agent.”

    Then, a retraction/update by El: “I just got off the phone with a partner at Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP (a very large law firm), and he said that his firm is not involved and it must be an error on the part of the auctioneer who posted their information.”

    Ouch! Most people in El’s precarious position at this point would shrink like a Willy Swimming Across Lake Erie In December.

    But wait, there’s a followup by El where he does his best Brenda Starr impression to hunt down the facts: “I saw that it was a different partner involved in the auction (on the auction notice), and I called/emailed him. I am waiting to hear back from him. I am also waiting for a return email from the auctioneer.”

    Could El-Silver’s readers be disappointed in him, worried that he was the victim of a hoax report? Uh uh, no way, no how, seeya! Not if they know The Big El.

    *Pause for dramatic affect leading to the CLIMAX*

    As I’ve said before, El-Silver, domainer champion, pulls out the recovery win with a post from Richard Maltz, the auctioneer of Sex.com: “The auction will take place at 11am on March 18th at the offices of Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP, 156 West 56th Street, New York, New York 10019. A $1,000,000 bank certified check is required to bid (and attend)…Good Luck and visit http://www.MaltzAuctions.com for details!” (And remember, bid rigging is illegal)

    El-Silver’s scoop was right on target. Now, when someone asks “who’s the Most Influential Person In Domaining”, I look at the effort, results, tenacity and benefits from that person I would vote as “most influential”.

    El is a terrier that can’t be stopped. Kudos bro.

    • @ Stephen

      From what I understand, the auction information is accurate, but the person with whom I spoke didn’t have the info. I have a call with the other partner this morning.

  10. I just got off the phone with Scott Matthews of Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP, and he confirmed that his firm is counsel to DOM Partners, LLC and the auction will be conducted at the Windels office on March 18, 2010.

  11. Stephen’s quote –
    “El is a terrier that can’t be stopped”

    Elliot, I don’t think you are a dog.

    Again, great scoop.

    Stephen, I just had to get the jab in.
    🙂

  12. The auction of sex.com will reflect the economic realities of our times. While “sex” is a strong, 3 letter keyword, there are other factors to consider.

    First of all, the domain name does not have much traffic: the Alexia traffic ranking is 65,592.

    Google searches are now more important than just keywords. If you type in “sex” in Google you get 100’s of other sites. In fact, sex.com has a Google page ranking of 5.

    Estibot gives a value to sex.com of $14,350,000, and many domains today are selling for 10% or less of an Estibot valuation.

    Domain values are diluted by the proliferation of all of the new Top Level Domain names. You can now get about 250 variations of a “sex” domain name. Sex.gl sold at Sedo on 2-12-2010 for only $1,357.

    Sex.com reportedly sold in 2005 for $14,000,000. My best estimate is that sex.com will sell for about 25% of the 2005 price, or about $3,500,000.

    • @ Lou

      I think there are at least 4 entities in the domain space alone who would pay $3.5m for Sex.com right now. It’s far more than just a 3 letter keyword. It’s a very powerful brand. Before it sold for $1m, Estibot said Poker.org was worth less than $100k, and I don’t know anyone serious about domain investing that actually uses Estibot for valuation purposes.

      I don’t think search engine placement/rankings, PageRank, Estibot value, or ccTLD sales matters when it comes to valuing Sex.com. This name will sell if a company values the Sex.com brand at the same level the sellers are willing to let it go.

      Based on nothing but intuition alone, I believe the opening bid on Sex.com will be well above $3.5m.

  13. Well said, El-Silver.

    I have appraised over 50,000 domains and never once used any Estibot, Alexa or Google ranking to do it. It takes hard research by a person for a somewhat accurate appraisal. I know several companies who have tried very hard to find an AI program to try and evaluate domains en masse, and there just isn’t any way to do it, because you can’t have a program have “intuitiveness” and an understanding of any language to confidently give a domain a “minimum value”. I would say Sex.com has a $3.5 mil minimum value, and will sell for more than $10 mil.

    There are ways, on the flip side, to “remove the obvious” bad domains, but not accurately “price” the good ones.

  14. There are similar properties on the market. e.g. Estibot rates our domain hot.com at $4,500,000 USD. It will be interesting to see what sex.com sells for. Maybe then we will consider selling hot.com.

  15. @ Rob

    SHOCK: I’m surprised you’re using an automated system (Estibot) to evaluate your PREMIUM domain HOT.COM.

    GOOD NEWS: Come to me… I’ll tell you what HOT.COM’s minimum value is worth for only $25

    BAD NEWS: It’s not worth what Estibot says…

  16. People talk about brand. There is no brand. There is a potential brand. I worked on sex,com for a year with Escom got paid and knew it was going cave in. The traffic is junk it doesnt convert not even to pron sites. Advertisers wont touch it either. Not until it is actually branded, as it stands people who have been involved with this domain think its cursed perception is the value here. If someone build a brand then there will be brand value. right now the brand stands for “failure” after failure. I sold this traffic and it does not convert. Sex.com users are porn searchers, free porn searchers, they wont and dont buy anything. I had a great plan for this domain back when it had 15mm visits a month, then there was a chance to make a shift, but it had to be done strategically over time by a group with vision and experience. knowing the people behind this who let Del Anthony run it, I am shocked that they allowed this to happen to their 14 million and it was 14 million.

  17. The talk of 120,000 visitors per month isn’t likely to be right, that is possibly a daily count.

    In the past it was claimed in the press (2004) to be getting 150,000-200,000 visitors per day

    “Sex.Com and its non-adult companion search engine, (GalaxySearch.Com), are wholly owned and operated by Grant Media, LLC, receiving on average 25 million search queries, 150,000-200,000 unique users and 400,000+ page-views daily”

    In 2006 domain capital claimed at the time of sale it received “millions of monthly unique visitors”. Even in google the “searches” for sex.com full url are about 1 million per month.

  18. http://siteanalytics.compete.com/sex.com/

    Snoopy, that is the source for my claim that is gets 120K hits a month. It is not a guaranteed number, but if compete says 120K a month, I believe it to be within 100K of the truth.To say it is still in the 120K a day range would require that you prove that Compete.com in completely off in their stats.

    Note, right now I see pornhub as the #1 in google for SEX, which should be sex.com’s spot, and what does compete say about pornhub’s traffic? 9,868,901 unique visitors. That is nearly 10M users, and sex.com, the so called greatest domain, gets only 120k? To me that is just sad.

    http://siteanalytics.compete.com/pornhub.com/

  19. @Amit,

    We will professionally appraise any of your domains for $25 each. However, I advise you present your full domain list for an “evaluation” first, (much cheaper at $1 each) to see whether paying more money for an appraisal on each domain is worth it.

    You can reach us at successclick at gmail.com (at=@)

  20. @ Mr. Deleted

    Competes numbers are completely not accurate unless you’ve got their code on a site.

    Sex.com was at 165,000 UV’s per day back when the deal was done.

  21. The traffic is no good. It does not convert. It has to be “vertically qualified” it doesnt matter how much traffic there is, if it is low quality. I produced a radio show on XM for sex.com also and tried to sell ads on the show, sponsors wouldnt touch it because of the name. I was only able to get a few obscure advertisers that would send a deposit we would bill against at an agreed cost per action. I even tried to do a “roll up” and create an ad network behind the domain through comscore and they wouldnt allow it. sex,com is a long way from making any money in the mainstream and if the domain were to back track into the pron industry, there is simply not enough traffic and no webmaster relationships to generate any significant revenue at the low conversion rates the traffic has. Sex.com needs to be totally reinvented with a long term plan. no doubt it could be great.

  22. “@Amit,

    We will professionally appraise any of your domains for $25 each.”

    ////////////////////

    How desperate are you to be trying to peddle this in this thread?

  23. @Snoopy (Paul Shaw)

    “How desperate are you to be trying to peddle this in this thread?”

    Answer: As desperate as you are in continually dogging me anywhere I post. Obsession doesn’t smell good on you…

    I was answering Amit’s request, not soliciting him.

    Are you lonely for me because I stopped posting on Domainstate over a year ago? 🙂

  24. The domain business is dead. That’s okay because domainers contribute nothing to society. Get real jobs and quit scamming people! And quit hiding behind your computers and do something that has some real substance. Charging people to use generic names is a joke. Bring it on!

  25. I am a master welder and fabricator of equipment for NIST. MIG, TIG, Oxygen/Acetylene and Arc welding to name a few along with being a machinist for 20 + years. I think that’s pretty blue collar and I actually produce a physical product that this country was founded on. What do domainers contribute to society?

  26. When I saw on google news that sex.com was sold for $12 million, I couldn’t believe anyone would charge or pay that much for the name “sex”! I”ll never be rich, but I am proud that I have skills and can contribute to society. And NIST provides valuable services to the whole country.

  27. I don’t add any value. But I also have opinions and if you have a section for comments, you should learn to take both positive and negative comments about the domain industry in stride. And if you don’t like the negative, than delete what I have said. But that will just show me that you have no backbone.

  28. The reason I don’t think it’s worth $12 million…oh wait, $14 million Mr. Slabaugh, is because it is just a generic name. It is not intellectual property. And the fact that it made millions means nothing to me. Those millions were made by the person who owned it. If somebody made millions building a real company, I would respect that. But they did not. They took a simple and common name and managed to make money on it by just buying the rights to it. How do you own rights to a word that is used by millions of people everyday. It is not a brand like Nike. What is tangible about sex.com? Nothing! Does it contribute anything to the economy? Does it provide jobs for people? All it does is make greedy people drool over how much money they can make by directing people to adult sites so they can line their pockets. I have nothing against adult sites, but doing it by claiming rights to a word that you could look up in any dictionary is ridiculous! Last time I checked, there wasn’t a copyright on the word sex. You can try and defend the domain business all you like, but to me, it’s just being a squatter until you find someone stupid enough to pay so much for it. So go back behind your computer and scam more money from people for names that are in the public domain and should stay that way.

  29. Mr Blue Collar,

    You seem to really have a chip on your shoulder.

    If you are totally seroius about what you have posted here….then I actually feel srory for you.

    You are proving ignorance is not always Bliss !

    Many domainers and domain investors really do contribute to the … and others to society. This is not an opinion, but a fact.

    I hope that you don’t totally believe that paying a premium sum for a domain is stupid or a “move” that can’t make real money throught a real businees plan or operation… and when it comes to dictionary word – generic domains…take a moment out to consider the following domain purchases
    BankofAmerica (Loans.com)
    Johnson & Johnson (Baby.com)
    Harrah’s (Casinos.com)
    BobbleHeads.com (bought and developed by a domainer and legitimate businessman/woman then “made” into a “real” & legitimate business)

    I (as well as many domain investors) have sold many domains that have been built into real business operations as well names for established companies who wanted/needed a new or better name

    Note: Mr Blue, I am giving you a polite and toned down response here.

    Cheer up Man !

  30. Wow! Some people are really ignorant about generic domain names. It is exactly the generic nature of the name that makes it special! Cause people type in sex.com in their browser, and it CAN be branded too, just like Nike was. Apple is a brand, but long before being a brand, it was a fruit! Before knocking the domain industry for being too generic, learn a little about it.

    And you said, “It is not intellectual property.” NOT true, ask any court if domains are property, and in fact this is the vary domain that was the subject of a major lawsuit that declared domains as property.

    “They took a simple and common name and managed to make money on it by just buying the rights to it.”

    Wrong again, the domain was hijacked and the hijacker made those millions, as I said before. Read a little about the domain’s history before you try to knock it with untruths.

    “Does it contribute anything to the economy?”

    It could if used properly.

    “Does it provide jobs for people?”

    Yes people were working on the website, and getting paid from it.

    “Last time I checked, there wasn’t a copyright on the word sex.”

    When was that?

    http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=toc&state=4010%3Ahc734.1.1&p_search=searchss&p_L=50&BackReference=&p_plural=yes&p_s_PARA1=&p_tagrepl~%3A=PARA1%24LD&expr=PARA1+AND+PARA2&p_s_PARA2=sex&p_tagrepl~%3A=PARA2%24COMB&p_op_ALL=AND&a_default=search&a_search=Submit+Query&a_search=Submit+Query

    Sex.com is a generic name, and anyone could register it, and that is what Gary Kremen, one of the Match.com founders, did. If you wanted it, get your time machine, and go back to the day before he registered it, and take it for yourself. You will be rich!

    (as a side note, Gary, who registered Autos.com, Sex.com, and also bought and developed match.com, is a great businessman. Too bad others benefited from his foresight more then he did)

  31. Well I guess it goes both ways guys. I feel sorry for you that all you seem to be able to do is domaining and getting the last word in. I guess when it’s your business, it hurts to hear the truth. Apple registered their logo which is artwork and intellectual property. And people associate that piece of copyrighted artwork with the name Apple. The Beatles also had Apple Records which also had it’s very distinct logo. I did look up Kremen and his story. I could care less about why he is such a genius for registering those names and I am not going to get into a pissing match with you two! To me, it’s all dust in the wind. Maybe you’ll come back in your next lives and actually contribute something to society instead of leaching off of it. And you can call me ignorant, but I know if you had any talent, you sure as he’ll wouldn’t be peddling “names”. I am out guys, keep up your important work. And don’t forget to get the last word in because I know how much you like to think you are right about the business of domaining.

  32. @ blue collar

    Are you saying that because you do something tangible requiring hard labor, you are doing more for society? That line of thinking is absurd. As a result of my *decent* income, I am able to give more to non-profit organizations that help the less fortunate. I think that’s benefitting society.

    It’s common sense though. If you can make 6+ figures a year working from home, buying and selling Internet real estate vs. doing hard labor to make less money, I think most people would choose the former rather than the later. I might not have the talent to weld something, but you probably wouldn’t have the talent to buy a $200,000 domain name and resell it for $650,000.

    BTW, what did you expect coming onto the blog of a professional domain investor and telling him that what he does for a living is bad and doesn’t contribute to society? Does it make you feel better to criticize others? That’s a bit sad.

  33. I do think I contribute more to society and great if you can get someone to overpay for a name. And I don’t just do blue collar labor. I hold degrees in electrical and mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan. That is how I got my job at NIST 27 years ago. I not only do the physical work, but am heavily involved in research and design of precision mechanical and electrical equipment used in government and industry. I give what I can to charity. And when I come home at night, my wife asks what I did that day and I am happy to tell her of the interesting projects I am working on. I may not be able to pick and sell a domain for a huge profit, but I can go to bed at night knowing I am doing work that is interesting, creative and requires great skill. I don’t think I would feel right making a huge windfall at the expense of another person. Money isn’t everything. And how interesting can your job be sitting behind a computer at home everyday trying to peddle domain names. We are afterall comparing apples to oranges. I just happen to think domaining is nothing special.

  34. @ blue collar

    By saying “at the expense of another person,” what you are implying is that people who aren’t smart are the ones spending lots of money on domain names. I guess the same could be said about people who buy expensive real estate, too. Would you feel badly making a profit when you sell your home, or will you give it to the next guy for the same price you paid?

    I hold a Bachelor’s degree from a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, as well as a Master’s degree from NYU. Does it make me better than anyone else? I don’t think so.

    You are happy with what you do, and I love doing what I do. I wake up every morning excited to make deals and grow my websites. I don’t understand why you feel it’s necessary to pass judgment – especially when you don’t seem to understand the value a domain name holds.

    I am happy that you are so happy with yourself and your career choice. I just don’t think it makes sense to criticize others when you are clearly uninformed.

  35. BCG

    I am a part time domain investor, and also do work in a factory, but my favorite thing is to make videos on youtube. Yes I get paid for that. Not everyone knows that, but yes you can make money online from other ways other then just holding onto a domain name. For me it is a creative outlet to make my videos, and talk to friends. Not all domainers just “sit behind a computer all day” as you say. And yes domaining IS interesting. So is video making. For you, you like your J.O.B.. Good for you! But that should not mean you can come here and tell Elliot that what he does or what I do is somehow wrong, just cause you would not want to do it yourself.

  36. Okay Elliot,

    I apologize for coming on your site a putting down domaining. I didn’t mean for it to get personal. It all started out with a domain that I felt sold for a ridiculous amount and I find that baffling. I didn’t mean to marginalize what you do because I couldn’t do it myself. I just think that there should be fair market value asigned to these names. $14 million just seems like a lot of money for a name. Maybe I don’t understand your business that well and probably never will, but I do believe there is a fair price for everything and in my world, you do something and you are compensated fairly. So again, I apologize for putting down your industry. Everyone has to make a living, but I still can’t wrap my head around that kind of money for something I can’t physically put a face on. No more arguing. This is your site and I should respect it and I didn’t.

  37. @ blue collar

    No harm no foul. You don’t want what you do to be marginalized and I feel the same way.

    I will give you a quick lesson on why domain names hold value. I own DogWalker.com. To some people, this name might not be worth a whole lot. However, I paid a handsome sum in September. I built a website, and as a result of having the keyword domain name and good SEO, it ranks #1 in Google for that term. In the last month, over 5,000 have visited the site. In addition, there are 140 advertisers from across the US paying $49/year for listings – and that’s just since the end of November.

    These people are paying for listings because they know the name is easy to remember and gets a lot of search traffic. If I owned DoggyCaregivers.com, the development costs would far exceed the revenues.

    Anyway, I wish you all the best with what you do and and I hope you stay happy and healthy.

  38. “It all started out with a domain that I felt sold for a ridiculous amount and I find that baffling.”

    “but I still can’t wrap my head around that kind of money for something I can’t physically put a face on.”

    ///////////////////////////

    It sold on a multiple of revenue in 2006, not sure really what the point of all this is.

  39. @ Blue Collar Guy,

    Even tho you’ve apologized, and I see that as meaning you have a moral compass, I also see something deeper that makes you mad about domaining. Did you lose a domain name you wanted to a domain investor?

    Here’s the point that nobody seemed to make, BCG:

    A domain name is basically like undeveloped land. This country was founded on landstakes and land rushes, where people raced to put up their markers on UNDEVELOPED LAND. That is, at the basis of your argument, what you are overlooking.

    Yes, people use land everyday, just like they use the word “sex” everyday (or not). Yes, land can be a parking lot, an empty lot, a residential home, a business center, a strip mall, a highrise, a super mall and more. Before any building ever began, it was focused on a piece of LAND that somebody owned. You can’t call domainer investors “cybersquatters” because they own a piece of undeveloped “land”.

    Many a concert has been held on “undeveloped land” (remember Woodstock and others?), and 1000’s of other events where the land owner “rented out” the space of land for a community event to be held.

    This is the spirit of domaining. I’m sorry you have this bad feeling about domain investing, but like El said, making money from owning this “internet land” can be done a variety of ways, and that profit goes out to hire people, pay bills for the family, put kids in college, buy your own property and help the economy in many ways. It’s not drug money being funneled out of the country to criminals.

    Success that is gained by investing in undeveloped property, such as a “domain name”, is viable. I call a domain an “appreciable marketing asset”, because the domain simultaneously “markets” something, while it “appreciates” in value, as opposed to say, taking out a newspaper ad.

    To tell you the truth, I was going to Don Rickles you, until I saw your last response, so I toned down my response. I think you are sincerely upset about something regarding domain name owners who don’t develop their sites. Can you tell us what it is? Maybe we can help you understand the problem, or even fix it for you.

    Hope this helped.

  40. Yes, there is an underlying issue. My brother who is also an engineer owns a very succesful manufacturing business. He holds several patents on a very unique product and has busted his butt for over 20 years building it up to the level it is at now. And in one sentence, a domainer who will remain anonymous said something to him so offensive that I almost knocked him out. This domainer owned a bunch of houses and told my brother “How does it feel knowing one of my houses is worth more than your whole business?”. Not only was my brother shocked by this statement, so was everyone in the room. He didn’t say it in private or even as a joke, but did it in front of many people. Up to that point, I thought it was great that this guy had done so well in the domain business. But with that one statement, he basically told my brother that all of the hard work and innovative ideas he has in his industry was worth less than a house that he basically paid for selling a few choice names.

    I am sorry if I generalized about all domainers, but the fact that this person said what they did infuriated me. My brother brushed it off because he just considered that person a fool who had no idea what kind of work goes into inventing, designing , patenting and marketing a truly innovative product. I on the otherhand am not so easy to just let it go. It completely changed the way I thought about his industry which was selling domains. I also met several if his domain friends and they had the same mentallity.

    So now you know why I feel the way I do. He basically dressed down my brother in front of his domain buddies. I felt terrible for my brother because he has worked so hard building his business. Not all Dommain people are like this, but I could not separate out these few people from the whole industry of domaining. There are good and bad people in every industry, my brother and I both work hard to be the best we can be in our respective fields and never have belittled anyone in business because we know how hard it is just to get a business going and making it succesful.

    So while my brother was able to blow it off, I couldn’t and assumed all domainers have this sense of entitlement. I was wrong and should not have lashed out at the whole industry on this site, but my brother is my best friend and to see some sellimg some dot com and thinking that it was more important than what my brother does sent me into such rage. I no longer associate with this person because they are poison to be around and the fact that I could easily break him in two.

    So there you have it. It may seem trivial to you, but all of my brother’s friends along with my friends were shocked and disgusted at this statement. There is also a little more, but I don’t want to get into it because it just eats me up inside. I know I am a better person than this person and have learned to consider the source and try and forget about it.

    I didn’t come on here to ruffle feathers, but I did and should have realized you can’t say stuff like that about all people in an industry. But my emotions got the best of me and I compared this person to all of you which is not right. It just left me with a very bad taste in my mouth and I should have known that I can’t compare this person and his foolish cronies to anyone on here.

  41. @Blue Collar Guy,

    You’ve explained very poignantly why you feel animosity towards domainers, and if I was you, I would have felt the same way. Your emotions were reasonable given what you experienced. There are a few arrogant, thoughtless and even criminal domainers that most of domain industry wishes would go into skydiving without parachutes. You mentioned one of them that fits this category.

    It was charitable of you to put your personal feelings out here for domainers to read. It’s a good lesson to learn. Your story just reinforces the duty that all domain investors have to be conscientious of others (most of us are) and to represent the domain industry as civil human beings. I hope you at least were able to get out that anger by telling the story!

    I think I can speak for domainers in saying that hard work and success go hand in hand, and your brother succeeded in doing something worthwhile and admirable. You were being protective of him, and that’s understandable.

    Personally, I wish you the best and hope you have better experiences with the domaining crowd from here on out. We all owe you and your brother a big apology for the bad manners of a few domainers.

    Cheers

  42. Thanks. My emotions did get the best of me and I do apologize. There are good and bad people in all industries. I know that your industry has plenty of good and decent people. Everyone has their own talents and skills and I should not have downplayed your industry the way I did. I am very proud of my brother and would do anything for him. What I will not stand for is someone marginalizing his business to the value of one of this person’s houses. I wish no ill upon anybody and know that in this economy, people are doing what they have to do to survive. I do believe in karma and someday this person will get his comeuppance. May we all do well in whatever endeavor we choose, but never take for granted what you have because it can all be gone very quickly.

    Best reguards to you all and again, I apologize for letting my emotions get the best of me in my previous postings:)

  43. What a fascinating detour this thread just took with Blue Collar Guy. The redemptive power of the Net and of basic human engagement shows itself again. Coming back around to the core of the thread, as Gary Kremen’s former lawyer and former 15% owner of Sex.Com, I must say I think Cort has the scoop from the inside. There has always been something rotten in Sex.Com. Many questions, many mysteries, and many obstacles. Thanks to Mr. Deleted for mentioning my book. I’m surprised you didn’t know about it, Elliot! Check out a free ebook download at http://sex.comchronicles.com. Same to all visitors to Elliot’s blog here. The eBook is free to all takers of the September 2009 LSAT, and you are all here officially declared honorary LSAT takers.

  44. I think this Sex.com will break all barriers – I feel it will surpass the $14 Million that is said to have been paid for it –
    One thing is for sure there is only one Sex.com in the world to choose from – pure gold.

  45. Mr. Downs, it could be but I guess we will have to wait and see…

    I also have an 800 number, that spells 800SEXVILLE, and an just got 2 calls tonight, one from some teen wanting to “know what this service is” and a girl, probably about 20 looking for a dating service. I googled one for her, and hope she finds what she is looking for. I then also tracked down the service provider for that chat service, LifeLinks/Teligence.net to offer them my number. Maybe the new owner of SEX.com will want my 800-SEX-VILLAGE number!

  46. I would not be shocked if the domain sells for 6.9 Million or LESS. I’d be totally shocked if it sells for more, I just dont think the adult industry is jumping up and down for it.

    On a diffrent note: I read Mr. Douglas’ post that talks about the most influential person in domaining. Good POST!

    S. Douglas wrote: “El-Silver’s scoop was right on target. Now, when someone asks “who’s the Most Influential Person In Domaining”, I look at the effort, results, tenacity and benefits from that person I would vote as “most influential”..

    I would like to know if anyone has ever acknowledged Rick Latona as being not only a pioneer but pace setter and one of the “most influential” people in the domain arena. I have watched him over the course of a decade buy, sell, trade, auction and loan on domains of both the highest of stated vales and lowest – he’s always in the mix and carving out niche models within the vertical before others.

    No, I dont work for him and have only done a few deals through his teams but I am fan of anyone that stays in a vertical for so long and just keeps building new concepts.

    Just curious what others think..

    Cheers,
    J

  47. I am interested in this domain since I visit the website daily. I just want to know how much can I earn if I choose to buy it.

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