Vodka.com sells for $3M
Russian Vodka firm buys domain; one of the biggest domain name sales ever.
David Kesmodel, who contributes to Reglike and is writing a book regarding the domain name industry, has uncovered the sale of Vodka.com for $3M.
Domain name investor Roy Edward Messer sold the domain to Russian Standard Vodka, which recently entered the United States market. The deal was brokered by Sedo.
Kesmodel uncovered the sale in part through some coverage in the Russian press. The press he found stated that the deal was worth over $1M, but Kesmodel dug deeper to find out the actual sales value.
As Kemodel points out on his blog, this is just another example of sizable firm understanding the value of generic domains. Many big firms don’t “get it” yet, but they will over time:
The sale “is a good indication of how sizable corporations are starting to see the value of domains as a crucial part of their international marketing campaigns,†stated [chief operating officer and general counsel of Sedo Jeremiah] Johnston. “And it shows domains are becoming status symbols.†Sedo and other domain brokers have been striving to persuade more corporations and modest businesses to explore purchasing generic domains as a way to build their brands. Barnes and Noble, which owns books.com, and Bank of America, which owns loans.com, are among sizable firms that have used such names to attract clients who seek information by typing terms directly into their address bar, rather than using a search engine.
Bravo to Kesmodel for the scoop and bravo to Roy Edward Messer, a former carpet salesman, for the sale. Credit is also due to Russian Standard Vodka for understanding the power of a good domain — instant credibility. Another firm that gets this is Fairytale Brownies. I received a box of Fairytale Brownies for the holidays. I had never heard the firm until receiving the gift. Then I noticed the firm’s URL on its box: Brownies.com. I instantly believed, rightly or wrongly, that Fairytale Brownies is the top brownie firm.
