Money.ca went for $25k. This is where I swear.

**FormerDnForumer** · 12-21-2009, 04:56 PM

I chased the owner of money.ca for sometime. Certainly I wasn't alone, but when my opening offer of $10k was declined some years back, i struck up a brief conversation with the owner. I kept pestering him, but he never replied after that.

Someone was obviously better at getting his ear than I was, as they convinced him to sell at a incredibly low price of $25k. I never thought he would sell that cheap.

http://www.money.ca/blog/?p=400

Read it and weep.

**TheLegendaryJP** · 12-21-2009, 05:24 PM

Not weeping yet, something is VERY strange here, he was offered more and declined, whois only reflects an admin person name change from Dean to James, same registrar, company and account! They even use the same admin email. Only other change was address.

Im sorry but this imo is either A) a ploy to get more than $25k or B) An internal exchange and thus why no " outsider " had a chance. Sorry but you need to get up early in the mornin to fool me.. and my money.

See whois...

Old Owner:
Registrant:
Name: 3473015 Canada Limited o/a $MONEY.CA
Number: 73396

Administrative contact:
Name: Don Shaughnessy
Job Title: President
Postal address: 3473015 Canada Limited o/a $MONEY.CA
215 George Street North
Peterborough ON K9J 3G7 Canada
Phone: +1.7057485181
Fax: +1.7057484831
Email: don@moneyfyi.com

New Owner:
Registrant:
Name: 3473015 Canada Limited o/a $MONEY.CA
Number: 73396
Description: MoneyCanada Limited

Administrative contact:
Name: James Dean
Job Title: President
Postal address: MoneyCanada Limited o/a $MONEY.CA
7181 Woodbine Avenue
Suite Suite 226
MArkham ON L3R 1A3 Canada
Phone: +1.905-475-0000
Fax: +1.705-475-0001
Email: james@moneyfyi.com

**FormerDnForumer** · 12-21-2009, 05:26 PM

Josh, could be that the guy is paying over time, as mentioned in the blog post. Whois changeover after full payment maybe.

**TheLegendaryJP** · 12-21-2009, 05:28 PM

Could be lots of possibilities I suppose, maybe he even took over his account buy why use this guys email too for your new admin? Odd to say the least, what is odd is he turned down more, could be a friend, former employee, partner, something but I dont buy it at all.

**FormerDnForumer** · 12-21-2009, 05:30 PM

It is certainly bizarre that the new owner would mention the price he paid, and that people told him he stole the domain. Rather insulting to the old owner to trumpet it on the site, especially if he did give him terms on paying.

**TheLegendaryJP** · 12-21-2009, 05:36 PM

Exactly, furthermore he uses the same template too ? lol I cant give this too much weight just yet Cam.

The new addy reflect a CA, visit larry.ca to see his site. The story says he bought from a CA, not Larry, so is he a CA too, strange isnt it. Also why use the nae James Dean, that isnt the CA at that addy.

A lot of questions.. any way if it is all true which I am 30/70 on, good for him, steal, maybe a bit but he aint retiring, I know what it takes to get big $$$$$$'s on .ca, good luck to him.

**stewie** · 12-21-2009, 06:28 PM

if it's true it's stupid...lol and if its not true it's stupid...

...if the domain was bought/sold for 25k should have keep his lips tightly together and let everyone wonder what he paid... telling everyone you paid 25k for money.ca is almost as dumb as selling for 25k. JMO

nice pick up but the promo/blogging it was plain dumb and didn't help anyone.

**thebutler** · 12-21-2009, 07:44 PM

At 25k you'd think the guy would know how to set up the permalink structure on his blog better.

**domainatrix** · 12-21-2009, 08:34 PM

We actually have some knowledge regarding this particular sale. We have had discussions with both James Dean (that's his real name), the current owner of the money.ca, and Don S. (the former owner). We tried to buy the domain a few years back for a client. Don did sell to James in a complex deal in which I believe he maintained some rights via revenue or advertising.

After he bought money.ca, James Dean attempted on several ocassions to buy RRSP.ca from one of our clients for $10,000+, but it was not sold because the payments were to be made over a two year period.

Also, James owns some other nice ones including www.MutualFund.ca.

In short, the sale is legit, and definitely a good buy at $25K. IMHO

Jen

**TheLegendaryJP** · 12-21-2009, 09:59 PM

Thanks for the info, clears up a lot, so it is NOT an out right sale at $25k, he maintains interest in the name, makes sense considering the price. What doesnt make sense is how he figures working with a guy like that will be profitable, he seems like a kid... just how I read things.

I have to suspect Don is a very hopeful man because he could have gotten more in cash to sale out right and didnt.

**tekz999** · 12-21-2009, 11:11 PM

So low price? Then why didn't you offer 25k? the opportunity was there and you missed the bus. Blame no one but yourself.

**victornumber** · 12-21-2009, 11:22 PM

I guess Don saw potential in the kid. James was also very persistent like he mentioned on the money.ca blog and called and talked for hours about his ideas and what he would do. Normal domainers don't have this time and would pursue efficiency (eg some domainers with mass emails). They might buy it and then try to flip it. Don knows it won't just be a parking page and would actually add value to Canada (eg the publication of the money magazine). Plus as the person above mentioned, Don keeps a portion of revenue and advertising rights which is basically a percentage of James' money magazine company.

**TheLegendaryJP** · 12-21-2009, 11:53 PM

Originally Posted by tekz999

So low price? Then why didn't you offer 25k? the opportunity was there and you missed the bus. Blame no one but yourself.

I don't blame myself, he TURNED DOWN as much or more! That is why it is making sense seeing as he holds an interest at $25k and didnt sale out right.

He thinks this guy will generate revenue and even if he was offered more than $25k in the past, he passed on it and went this route. May work better for him, may not.

And on many occassions I have seen names sale for less than I offered because people dont keep emails or become unreachable and decide one day to make a move. Timing in this industry is crucial... I offered $150k for a LL dot com last year, he didnt even bother replying, went to auction at moniker and sold for $90k or so minus fee's. Some people are just greedy and they pay the price, some are greedy and it pays off.

**FormerDnForumer** · 12-22-2009, 08:28 AM

Originally Posted by tekz999

So low price? Then why didn't you offer 25k? the opportunity was there and you missed the bus. Blame no one but yourself.

Yea, as Josh mentioned, nothing to do with blame. Don was tough to get ahold of, and I am usually pretty tenacious in tracking people down, so in that sense I didn't do a good job. It was more a feeling I got that he wasn't selling cheap at any "reasonable" price so I moved on to other things. If there'd been even a murmur about rev share I would have upped my cash offer considerably. I know my partner would have as well, as a huge collector of .ca's.

It is certainly tasteless to post right on your new site how cheaply you "stole" a name, and if you are sharing revenue over the years, then you're not really stealing, unless you're broadcasting the fact that you got the better end of the deal. It just wouldn't be my approach.

So not really about blame, more about the craziness of selling that domain so cheap, rev share or not. That site is badly done, and I doubt there's going to be much revenue in the current scenario.

It does tell you a lot about the lack of vitality in the .ca space when one of the top ten names goes for a song.

**TheLegendaryJP** · 12-22-2009, 08:35 AM

Well said Cam, the thing still stinks to high heaven imo, same ugly backround.. who trades a name and lets the new owner brag on his old page how he stole it?

Speaking of a song Cam, my fav is " Take the Money and Run " Steve Miller.... apparently not Don's style of music. He's more of a Space Cowboy lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFGZufk4HFs

**FormerDnForumer** · 12-22-2009, 08:41 AM

Originally Posted by TheLegendaryJP

Well said Cam, the thing still stinks to high heaven imo, same ugly backround.. who trades a name and lets the new owner brag onhis old page how he stole it?

Speaking of a song Cam, my fav is " Take the Money and Run " Steve Miller.... apparently not Don's style of music.

Not singling Don out, but I never understand when people who own monster names are so busy doing other things that they never bother to find out what the name alone is truly worth. There's so much ego in thinking you can build a monster site that will compete with the Royal Bank's site or Canoe media or whatever that you don't take a moment to figure out the domain's goodwill on its own.

I'm sorry but no one is going to take that money.ca site seriously, including a possible media suitor. Lost opportunity for both parties. :(

**hugegrowth** · 12-22-2009, 09:53 AM

I don't know if the sale speaks to the vitality of the .ca space. If it had been a publicized auction sale and went for that, then maybe. This sale happened behind closed doors and no one knows the real details of it.

**FormerDnForumer** · 12-22-2009, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by hugegrowth

I don't know if the sale speaks to the vitality of the .ca space. If it had been a publicized auction sale and went for that, then maybe. This sale happened behind closed doors and no one knows the real details of it.

Sure it does. This name should not have sold for less than low-to-mid six figures under any conditions, but it did. I brokered a similar top ten .ca some months back, methodically targeting every logical end user, media company and speculators, and I couldn't get mid five figures for it. It really, really shocked me, and I broker for a living.

On another board, one of the former owners of this board, Safesys, posted a fantastic cautionary post about the lottery nature of much domain speculation today, and the .ca space is similar. Sure, end user sales happen, but the aftermarket is truly awful, and you get a real slap in the face when top ten names sell for nothing.

I can't figure out why the new owner of money.ca would brag about a $25k buy if he indeed is paying six figures, so we have assume he stole it. Point is, it annoys me but it doesn't surprise me. .ca is a bust, at least for now.

**Banned: Wzhxvy** · 12-22-2009, 01:27 PM

Reading the blog in the link from the OP tells you all you want and need to know...

**hugegrowth** · 12-22-2009, 03:40 PM

End users still aren't falling all over themselves to buy great .com's, so you can't expect more from .ca right now, especially this past year when there was so much economic uncertainty. Lots of great .com's sit unsold until the right buyer comes along, usually an outside the box thinker who sees that a category killing domain is good for the business they're in (e.g.: auction.com, vodka.com, candy.com). Each week in dnjournal you see good and bad domains sell for high prices, and good and bad domains sell for low prices. There's no guidebook for prices, it's still pretty much the wild west.

Money.ca is just one sale, and we don't even know the full details. The 25k is obviously low, I think GMX.ca sold for almost as much. If it sold for 25k in a three day auction that was advertised here so all the .ca players could compete for it, then I'd say there's a problem with the market.

Without knowing the traffic it gets, it's hard to say what you would use this domain for. Names like MutualFunds.ca, Bonds.ca, Stocks.ca would all have products to back up a site, Money is almost too generic. Would people typing it be looking for how to make money, invest money, coin collecting, stock market, banking ...? I don't want to downplay the name too much, it is a top domain, but it is a broad category.

Who knows, next month this domain might sell to a bank or mutual fund company for the six figures.