Thanks to Afternic for Helping with an Acquisition

I want to give a big thank you to Afternic for helping me complete a private acquisition this past week. With the help of Neil Kavanaugh, Aaron Visaggio and Becca Clifford, I was able to purchase CallCenters.com (for an undisclosed sum).

When I worked at AIG, I managed direct marketing programs, which included telemarketing campaigns among other things. When we launched a new product or needed to make significant modifications to a campaign, I would occasionally fly to the various call centers we used in West Virginia and Florida. I am not all that familiar with call center operations, but I do know there is big money in call centers and it’s a very competitive market in the US and around the world.

Back in 2006-07, I made a large offer for CallCenters.com, but I didn’t receive a reply from the owner. There was a website on the domain name, so I assumed it wasn’t available to purchase and I moved on to other domain names.

A few days ago, I was reviewing some names on BuyDomains when I saw a listing for CallCenters.com. Although it was after business hours, I called the company and asked if Neil was still in the office. Luckily he was. I told him I wanted to buy the name but needed him to confirm that the listing was completely legit. He did some research and made contact with the owner, confirming it was a legitimate listing. He put me in touch with Aaron who helped complete the transaction. It was handed off to Becca who works in the escrow and transfers department, and she was able to complete the transfer in less than one business day.

Frankly, this was one of the smoothest transactions I’ve had in quite some time. I appreciate the help I was given to ensure an easy transaction, and I also appreciate the fact that Afternic agreed to keep the transaction price private. It’s nice to have Afternic as an advertiser on my blog, but it’s even better to work with them on a deal like this.

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

24 COMMENTS

  1. Yes, Becca is very responsive Escrow Manager. Last week I’ve had a very positive experience too. In my case I was a seller….

  2. Congrats on the sale and good work by you and all involved to ensure that this was legit and to make the process as smooth as possible

    Ignore this if it’s too personal, but was the sales price higher or lower than the offer you made a few years back?

    • @ OnCloud

      Perhaps in Canada, but not in the US. There are a whole bunch of CallCenters. ccTLDs registered, too. The Wikipedia page spells it re, but if you look at the references at the bottom, almost all articles spell it er.

      @ Ron

      I am sure they don’t call them “call centers” in other languages anyhow. I would imagine there’s a different term for each language. Here in the US, they are known as call centers.

  3. What will you do with it? I can only think of 2 uses and that is to run a call center directory or to sell call center services as a middle man/affiliate. But then again you are great at flipping so you might just flip it. I always like to think of the name as a business. if a can’t set up an entire business on the name then i don’t want it.

    • @ bhinkey

      I’ve sold quite a few domain names where I would have no interest in building a business on it. If I can see a great business model for a domain name, it’s very likely I can find someone that would want to pay good money for the ability to build the business.

      I think the second option you mentioned could be very lucrative. I could also see a large industry player buying it to offer call center equipment, software, training…etc. Of course, a call center service provider may want it because many call center companies operate several call centers in various locations.

  4. Was it a priced listing? I’m only asking because Afternic encourages fixed-prices, etc., and if it were a “make offer” situation, I’m guessing it might have taken longer to complete. (Unless the owner set a floor, and you came in well above it, and it was a done deal).

    Congrats, it’s a great name!

  5. I can see why you snapped it up! Makes sense, otherwise it would have been the quickest offer/counter-offer in history. Amazing find!

  6. I’m pleased that you got a domain that you want for a price that you thought was acceptable. In my experience of dealing with BuyDomains, it’s best to bargain hard as they keep coming back to you with a cheaper price “one-off 20% sale” etc. etc

  7. @ Josh

    You can generally negotiate with BuyDomains on names they own. This was not owned by the company, so negotiations can be difficult and time consuming. The price was more than I would have wanted to pay ordinarily, but I didn’t want to risk losing it.

  8. @Elliot

    very nice, I work with a Call Center and am also a part time domainer. I’ve also been wokring on a call center directory of sort.

    If you need any help, even with just info let me know.

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