We have written to the owner and can confirm that the domain montana.com is currently on sale on ebay.
The current price is $140,000 with over a day to go and the reserve price has NOT been met.
If you have interest in bidding on, or following the auction here is the link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Montana-com-Domain-One-Word-State-Name-Domain_W0QQitemZ120216301687QQihZ002QQcategoryZ11153QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Anyone have thoughts on the Value of this name – Montana.com? Does not mean you would buy it for that, but what is it worth to an end user whether that be state tourism or an independent developer.
I would love to buy it, but right now we are developing our state, and I do not have the model perfected.
I am guessing Montana.com does not sell as the reserve will be set above $250,000 (just my guess) and doubt eBay is where this will sell. But, with exposure on this blog and in domainers hands, you never know.
Anyone willing to toss out their serious…I think this name is worth $XXX,XXX? estimate.
Here is another thing to ponder…it seems a city.com may be easier to develop. I may agree with this as we are having a tough time with state.com ourselves getting the entire scale defined.
YET, I still believe Montana.com should be worth more than any city.com in that state.
This may not hold true with Chicago.com vs Illinois.com (same owner there I believe) or Phoenix.com vs Arizona.com.
What is more valuable…a city.com or a state.com? It may or may not be the one that is easiest to develop. Or it could just be a case by case issue every time.
I have to say the name has got to be valued at $200-$300K easily, Not big on Montana facts but owning this name gives you an immediate business with type in traffic. (which i dont bother with 🙂 But i dont know why they are selling on ebay, sure they will get a percentage of the buyers but not the 1’s that count like if they were to sell on sedo/afternic and so on.
the size of the city is a big factor…I’d rather have the capital city over the state any day. 200-275k is my guess. This sale may also be aimed at Disney
The name should sell over $250K
The question is what is the upside?
yemen.com a country just sold last week for $100.
Iran.com failed to sell at 500K a few months back
If your going to develop it out the upside is huge. If you just hoping to sell it to another domainer, I think the top may be 500-600K
Awesome insights. I believe (seriously just a guess) that the reserve is arond $300K. I think it will sell, just not on ebay.
I would love to add the name but do not expect now – just a timing issue.
Why Disney? Hannah Montana?
that’s a strech
No kids for me so I wouldn’t have made that connection
that’s a stretch
No kids for me, so I wouldn’t have made that connection
Greg–were I in a “buy-a-state.com” mode, I’d gladly pay up to 250k for it…though w/only 1 million population, I’m pretty sure there’d be more (and quicker + easier) profits to be had from a 300-500k+ population city.com.
Wouldn’t surprise me, though, if the owner’s looking for a 400-500k range price; which I think is too much for a state like this.
Agree that eBay is a poor place to obtain top dollar (which might therefore help a buyer if seller’s reserve/ minimum price expectation is actually less than 200k or so).
@ Steve M. – I think you are right on with this one with your price guestimates. If we were adding another state.com, I would go after this one right now at this level. These comments really are insightful.
@admin – agree on the 250k as well. Wonder if knowing the reserve would help the auction.
I have called the company which owns montana.com, Blackfoot Communications, to verify the sale.
They stated that they are merely using ebay to determine a value of their asset.
Auction ended with Reserve Not Met at $310,100. I thought that was a solid result on eBay and no idea of the actual reserve. 31 bids.
As an interested prospective buyer, I found it hard to bid as I hate to get emotionally involved without knowing if the emotion is even worth it. Why attach yourself to a name, be the high bidder at the end, and then find out it was all for nothing. Even though you should always approach auctions without emotion (and we do well at this) it does come into play.
If Blackfoot was merely determining value, with a rediculous unattainable reserve, or no intention of selling it seems unfair to the bidders. Interesting test though for them.
Kind of a slimy way to go about it if you ask me. Why waste the time of sincere bidders?
They should have had some independent appraisals done.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one in a future TRAFFIC Auction or SnapNames auction as part of an industry show.
Well; my first reaction is the same as yours, Jim…yet, on 2nd thought, I suppose it is a good way to get at least a general feel for the market for a given domain; especially a true premium like this one (I still kick myself for passing on Illinois.com; which if I recall correctly sold for only 50k on Afternic just a few years ago)…
…and as for the worth and value of appraisals; if you haven’t already seen it; read Rick’s nice in-depth analysis: http://rickschwartz.typepad.com/
Values are soooo subjective–far more so than in most of the business world as each domain is unique–and the market is so fractured, that it really should be no surprise that general agreement is virtually unheard.
Really; it’s more like antique, painting, coin auctions, and the like…where even the “expert” auction houses themselves are often off; both too high, and too low.