Sale Of Uk's Most Expensive Domain Name?

[stevie]

05-10-2005 09:53

BIRMINGHAM, England, October 5 /PRNewswire/ -- SMS.CO.UK - an Internet domain name synonymous with the telecoms and messaging industries looks likely to set a record for the price of any UK based domain name to date.
Hollywood Internet Ltd is the Birmingham based company behind the sale, along with and chartered surveyors, GVA Grimley.
The sale will take place in November 2005 by Private Tender and at the sms.co.uk web site, potential bidders are warned that a reserve has been placed on the name.
David Carter, director of Hollywood Internet Ltd., says, "sms.co.uk is the biggest name ever to hit the UK resale market. The potential is enormous and we expect that all of the major telecoms and new media companies will be interested".
The Tenders Sale will take place on a sealed bid basis, with a closing date expected to be 4 November 2005 when all bids will be opened and the name will be sold to the highest bidder, assuming that the reserve price has been met.
This is the first time that a major real estate agent has been involved in the sale of virtual real estate, a fact that is bound to generate excitement in the industry. Russell Hobson of GVA Grimley said, "We at GVA Grimley have been extremely diligent about researching the market. We looked at valuation methods and agree with David Carter - there is no way to value a domain name accurately - it all comes down to what people are prepared to pay, hence the sealed bid Tender".

 

[rob]

Could be the attempted sale of the UK's highest priced domain name

I see this in two ways; firstly the slightly comic build up which boils down to 'we dont have a clue what its worth' and secondly if this is the start of a trend that third parties view 'virtual real estate' as worthwhile it could mean sales shooting up.

"sms.co.uk is the biggest name ever to hit the UK resale market"

I would not agree with that !

 

[bb99]

It'll be interesting to see how widely the press release is reported in the media - presumably that's one of the reasons why the seller is using CVA Grimley to broker the sale.

 

[charlie]

Anyone here involved in the consultation / evaluation process?

we'll have to see how this pans out - like bb99 the coverage of this the better - will push the values of other domains up as well (thats if it goes for a decent price!)

 

[chs]

"sms.co.uk is the biggest name ever to hit the UK resale market"

I would not agree with that !

Me neither, most people say text instead of SMS these days anyway. I wouldn't have thought the type in traffic is anything special.

 

[Edwin]

If it works, it certainly signposts the way for other high-end domain sellers to take. Will be interesting to watch...

 

[Admin]

Me neither, most people say text instead of SMS these days anyway. I wouldn't have thought the type in traffic is anything special.

I would agree with you except OV shows 792 for August, so the traffic would seem to be significant.

http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/?term=sms.co.uk+&mkt=uk

 

[Edwin]

That would suggest anywhere from 300-1,000 daily visitors, based on my own domain vs OT observations. Intriguing that this wasn't mentioned in the press release, but I would guess that sophisticated buyers would know that already.

 

[Paullas]

Thats interesting..

Ive had a few offers for http://www.InternetRealEstate.co.uk

Might have nothing to do with it though but you never know....

 

[ratboy]

Wow, used to work for GVA Grimley, it's interesting how they are now getting into domains. My old man, a lawyer, says he'd value a domain the same way as buildings.

In this sense the domain market could be moving into a real investment opportunity for people outside the market. I guess this is either good or bad for us "hardliners".

Personally, domains are a low risk, potentially high yeilding investment if you know what your doing. The risks...

1. the loss of .co.uk domains by Nominet;
2. other TLD such as .uk being introduced
3. reduction of traffic
4. reduction of PPC income

With a building: huge investments, high risk, low returns (long term)

What do you think everyone?

 

[Admin]

Another article - estimate: £100,000

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/06/sms_domain/

 

[retired_member6]

In the same week I've learned of the above being sold through an estate agent (real estate is a bit american I feel) which is supposedly a first there's also the domain pawning business at Digipawn.com which seems a good idea.

 

[charlie]

I'm still down with edwin etc does any one know what sms means?

UKFast.net Ltd should be happy also manchester based who own the text version

 

[charlie]

http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/thread2224.html

3 mails to my own post - sad :?

admin - do the old boys still play here? I know edwin, revs are members, wheres invincible, - he always spoke a lot of sense? ? grant?

by looking at de****ed/forum i would have thought you have a market share now? are we speaking as the majority do you think?

...speak of the devil and he shall appear!
where you been hidding invincible?

 

[stevie]

Interest High as Closing Date Approaches!

SMS.CO.UK - Interest High as Closing Date Approaches

BIRMINGHAM, England, October 31 /PRNewswire/ -- SMS.CO.UK - a rare 3 letter Internet domain name, is currently attracting the attention of the telecoms and messaging industry as the closing date of Friday November 4 nears for the sealed bid auction that could see the highest price ever achieved for any UK domain name to date. http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=157170

"last minute advertising me thinks"

 

[olebean]

does anyone know what its sold for?

 

[retired_member26]

OVT of 792 means around 600 type-ins per day from my calculation. I heard people call sms in germany but I do not know UK side. People generally just call it "message". I have to disagree that GBP 100K is a realistic reserve for that name.

 

[SF]

Well thats certainly good news for all us catchers, as sales like these are good selling points when closing a deal.

 

[olebean]

turnic

Are you suggesting that 100k is too low or too high?

 

[SF]

I think what Turnic is saying is that us brits, dont really say "sms" we prefer to say "messages" which is very true.

Although 100K is great for a co.uk I would of gone for maybe messages.co.uk for that price