Toys.com, Birthdays.com, Hobbies.com Sold at Auction

[Gerry]

WOW!

Great report by Andrew on http://domainnamewire.com

Caution: Don't let your spouse read this.

Toys.com, Birthdays.com, Hobbies.com Sold at Auction

Yesterday at 10 am substantial assets from The Parent Company were scheduled to be auctioned off at the law offices of Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP. The Parent Company owns a number of online retailers including eToys. Among the domain names owned by The Parent Company are Toys.com, eToys.com, Toys.org, Birthdays.com, Birthday.net, eBirthdays.com, eKids.com, Hobbies.com, iToys.com, Pinata.com, and ePregnancy.com.

Complete story:


ePrenancy.com
birthdays.com
pinata.com
eParties.com
Toys.com
eKids.com
Hobbies.com
iToys.com
eToys.com
Toys.org


I WANT 'EM ALL!

 

[Yusio]

Wow, some nice sales in there.

 

[INVIGOR]

Man, did anybody on this forum know or talk about it?? Nice names and fantastic sales!

 

[nicedomains]

Birthdays.com, Pinata.com, eParties.com $200,000 sold to Done Ventures

Hobbies.com and iToys.com $102,000 sold to Domain Equity

Good deals IMO..

 

[EG.domains]

Good sales.

Toys.com was the best. IMO

 

[stewie]

thx :yo:

 

[jasdon11]

Good sales.

Toys.com was the best. IMO

Agreed.

 

[cursal]

WOW

Thanks for posting Doc.

 

[hugegrowth]

wow, and didn't hear anything about this.

I wonder if they could have got more if they had auctioned through Sedo, or gave it more publicity...

 

[Gerry]

wow, and didn't hear anything about this.

I wonder if they could have got more if they had auctioned through Sedo, or gave it more publicity...

Perhaps. But there appears to have been some stipulations on bids and guaranteed funds.

And, if you'll notice, it was those that RUN AUCTIONS that were BIDDING!

Moniker and I believe Sedo were in on the bidding.

Now, while this is totally on the up and up, suddenly you may be entering into that grey area of bidding where one would think that there is a conflict of interest here;

The entity conducting domain auctions is now suddenly bidding in a domain auction? The auctioneer of domain names is now a domainer and has a portfolio?

This falls into that area where there is very little oversight and no regulation in this industry.

If the auctioneer is now a domain holder, what other domains would that auctioneer want?

And are we to be 100% sure that the auctioneer is not bidding in the auction or having others bid on their behalf?

We saw this going on in the .asia auction. And this all met a blind eye as all involved declared nothing was wrong or unusual.

I think my domaining days may be coming to a close.

The gatekeeper is also the key master.

 

[cursal]

Your raise some valid points Doc.

I have always thought that people like Monte,Chris Hartnett, and other Domain related business owners had private portfolios.
They must. They are in the middle of it all. What better place to pick up names than right there in the heart. That is, imo, the best place to not only keep a finger on the pulse of the industry, but also to shock it now again by mergers and bidding in Top name auctions.

This doesn't seem any more gray than a week ago. Why does it seem so to you now?

Let's not forget that now most names (quality names) do not drop anymore. They are caught and resold (after possible cherry picking) on the aftermarket. Also another "gray area" that has become industry standard.

I'm not saying any of this is the right way for things to happen, I just don't see how this incident causes you to cut such a deep line now.....or is this, "The straw that broke the camels back"?

We could also believe that they were bidding on the name to attract more people to their future auctions, get more hype to industry, and get a nice ROI for the company... Who knows?

 

[austinandrew]

Although Oversee.net did submit an initial offer, it didn't show up to the auction. Sedo was not involved.

 

[Gerry]

Although Oversee.net did submit an initial offer, it didn't show up to the auction. Sedo was not involved.

Thanks for clarifying, Andrew.

Your raise some valid points Doc.

I have always thought that people like Monte,Chris Hartnett, and other Domain related business owners had private portfolios.
They must. They are in the middle of it all. What better place to pick up names than right there in the heart. That is, imo, the best place to not only keep a finger on the pulse of the industry, but also to shock it now again by mergers and bidding in Top name auctions.

This doesn't seem any more gray than a week ago. Why does it seem so to you now?

Good question, but it has a lot to do with so much that I have been reading lately regarding ICANN. And most of it is in a very negative light.

There has been a tremendous amount of concerns that have been raised and will be brought to public light over what ICANN does and does not do in regards to regulating this industry.

 

[Compassion]

There has been a tremendous amount of concerns that have been raised and will be brought to public light over what ICANN does and does not do in regards to regulating this industry.

How soon is this going to happen?

 

[Gerry]

How soon is this going to happen?

I'll see if I can find the article. It is very very long and wordy but an excellent read.

You may have to cross reference sometimes.

The author does a great job at combining every thing and put a great deal of effort and thought into it, but I do not agree with all of it.

Here is a piece I was referring to and I will try to track down the other components:

http://www.thedomains.com/2008/12/13/open-letter-to-icann/

and the other:

http://forum.icann.org/lists/gtld-guide/msg00026.html

These are two of the best comments, commentary, and noteworth commentators I have read in quite a long time.

Mike Berkens of TheDomains.com

and

George Kirikos of Leap of Faith Financial Services Inc.

 

[cursal]

Thank you again...

Will read those over when I have some time on my hands. They are long,

and there is lead in to the troubles with ICANN

ICANN loses $4.6 million of your money in the stock market
Thread here
Posted by George Kirikos

 

[Gerry]

Thank you again...

Will read those over when I have some time on my hands. They are long,

and there is lead in to the troubles with ICANN

ICANN loses $4.6 million of your money in the stock market
Thread here
Posted by George Kirikos

Yup, read that last night or the night before.

$25 million in cash for a not for profit company.

Amazing.

Now you know what all those little $0.25 (now $0.40) fees paid for.