Perfect number, perfect sale: 360.org sells for five figures

When I acquired 360.org a little over a year ago, I was not intimidated by its seller’s asking price. In fact, the purchase of 360.org took very little negotiation behind the scenes; I was willing to pay the $2,500 price tag but ended up paying five hundred bucks less. To me, paying two grand for a perfect number was worth it.

Wikipedia explains why 360 is such a special number. You don’t have to be a freak of numerology to recognize it as the definition of a full circle in degrees, and the circle as a shape does seem to maintain both actual and apocryphal qualities.

When I acquired the domain name, I envisioned creating a web site about earth, communication, the environment – something global and related to nature. A lot of companies use domains that end in “360.org” and I did have several inquiries from such entities, claiming “not for profit” status and thus making rather symbolic and unsatisfactory offers, which I had to decline. I am in this business for profit and although charity has its place in my personal and professional life, I was not going to let go of this domain cheap.

A few months later, I listed 360.org at TRAFFIC / Orlando 2008, with an optimistic reserve of $6,000. At the live auction, the Moniker guys presented it by gesturing the shape of a circle to the bidding crowd. It was instant recognition of what the number signifies.

Fortunately, the domain did not sell; I realized afterwards that a room full of domainers looking for single word .com’s with traffic did not present me with the best selling options. However, it’s interesting seeing that none in this educated crowd shared my 360-degree vision!

At the end of 2008, a year after the domain’s acquisition, I received a couple of private inquiries – one of them was a rather arrogant email “demanding” a selling price instead of bearing the burden of placing an offer through Sedo. I have little tolerance for behind-the-keyboard snubs and my response was definitely a non-politically correct one.

Right before Christmas, the second inquiry started with a low offer of $2,000 via Sedo and ended at $10,000 with the bidder withdrawing their bid when I asked for more. Now, I am not one who shuns ten grand easily, as it represents a considerable amount of money; after the bidder canceled their round of offers I had that clutching feeling in my stomach thinking, “Did I just throw $10,000 in the garbage?”

I contacted Sedo and attempted to learn more information about my mysterious bidder; they responded that although they were not an active member they were a company. This small bit of information gave me the chance to a) feel better about having just declined a ten thousand dollar offer and b) initiated a secondary round of contact via Sedo’s brokers. They were instructed to inform the bidder that the domain was worth much more than their final bid and that I was willing to negotiate a sale – if only we could meet in the middle.

The secret to successful domain sales seems to be simple: stick to your gut feeling guns. Evaluate a domain’s worth using your own intuition and don’t listen to the obligatory surrounding noise telling you that the economy is down, that the domain’s worth a registration fee, or that you’re simply crazy. At least, be objective with the value of your own assets and learn the methods required to evaluate them.

Right after New Year’s, the same bidder placed a direct offer at Sedo, much higher than the previous one. At that point I was confident that this transaction was almost complete; despite that, I took the chance of counter-offering a higher amount (the “stick to your guns” element) but lower than what I wanted during the first round. The bidder responded with a counter-offer a few thousand dollars lower; I played my final round of “cat and mouse” with one more offer, confident that they would accept it and close the deal.

I went to bed that night knowing that in the morning I’d have a sale.

So the agreement was made a week ago and the exchange occurred this week, making the transaction complete and official. As far as I know, it’s the largest recorded sale of a 3-number .org; perhaps of any number in .org. After all, a perfect number like 360 requires a perfect sale!

To find out the exact selling price, check out DNJournal next week. For several years now, Ron Jackson’s highly commendable efforts of recording and re-energizing the domain community through the research, publication and analysis of domain sales have been producing superb results for our industry.

Have a fabulous new year!