Has Anyone Ever Sold A Domain Name?

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   andyozposted 13 years ago

   Yesterday I was considering starting up a second website.  I had an idea that I've been mulling over for a while.  When I went to check on availability of domain names I was very suprised to see a .co.uk address available.  There is a certain company that I would have expected to snap that address up a while back.  So I bought the domain name. 
   
   So now I'm wondering, is there any likelyhood that this very large company would be interested in buying this name off me?  Has anyone else sold a domain name before and if so how does it work?  If nothing comes of it I still have a great domain name for a new site if I can be motivated enough to get it up and running.

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      hyperimmunehealthposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I recently heard that .co addresses were becoming extremely popular, so much that one company sold over a million .co domains. they owe it all to overstock switching to the .co domain.  There are a few companies that will sell your domain unfortunately i don't have their names but do a search to find a company that resells domains. If the domain is that good you may want to consider holding it, getting some content on it, traffic and then asking for a higher price.

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   2. 60

      SiddSinghposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Your surprise was well founded - brand name in website is a bad idea. You could (at least in theory) get a cease and desist notice, at worse you could be forced to surrender the domain without as much as a thank you.
      
      Here is an old discussion http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/57376
      
      From LEGO.com -
      
      "LEGO, the LEGO logo, DUPLO, BIONICLE, MINDSTORMS, the BELVILLE, KNIGHTS’ KINGDOM and EXO-FORCE logos, the Brick and Knob configurations and the Minifigure are trademarks of the LEGO Group."
      
      Read this, especially towards the bottom of the article - http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/corporate/fairplay.aspx

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      1. 88

         andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Oooo, that's interesting.  Thankyou, looks like an interesting one.  So I can't use the red 'Lego' logo, I would need a disclaimer and using the title 'Lego' in my domain name would be very risky.  I'm not sure if I would get away with it or not.  All I would really be doing would be increasing the publicity of Lego products.  I can't see why Lego would mind that.  But I don;t want to get into some legal dispute with a massive company. 
         
         Thanks for the post.

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            SiddSinghposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            You are welcome.
            
            I actually toyed with the idea too - mostly because a lot of people seem to be doing that. But eventually decided against it - its wrong, and lot of hassle too. I don't think any company would like you to use its brand name in a domain - especially if the brand is well known - like LEGO.
            
            Anyway, there are plenty of ways to skin a cat!

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      BlissfulWriterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I had attempted to sell a domain name, but there was no buyer.  So I just let it expired.   
      
      You can sell domain names at sitepointmarket.com and godaddy.com

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2. 0

   icountthetimesposted 13 years ago

   I think it depends in the name is generic sounding, or a trademarked name. If they own the trademark and you approach them with it, they might be able to effectively just take it off you anyway. Whereas if it's a domain they can't possibly have the rights over, I would think the situation will be different.

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   1. 88

      andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Hmmm, well the domain has their company name in it.  It's actually Lego with something extra on the end.  Would I be allowed to create a website based on Lego with Lego in the title?  There are lots of other websites out there about Lego and I'm pretty sure Lego don't own all of them.

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         icountthetimesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         It  would be somewhat legally dubious, assuming that they own rights to the term lego, which I believe that they do. It may be that they aren't interested in shutting down most sites using their company name, but if you approach them to sell them something that includes a term they own the right too, I think that might be a bad idea.

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         1. 88

            andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Ok, cheers for the advice.

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               icountthetimesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               No problem .

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         Website Examinerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Lego has a very aggressive trademark enforcement policy, which also includes action again "cyber squatting." If you create such a site, make sure that the products and services are distinct - for example, your site could be offering reviews.

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3. 72

   LeanManposted 13 years ago

   if there are searches for the domain name and you can make it rank - go for it.. sell lego - it could be the foundation blocks for your online empire...
   
   Nothing wrong with having a website with lego in the URL.. as long as you don't claim to be Lego..... if you do a check in google keyword tool how many searches are there for the phrase that makes up your website name? If there are a lot then if you do it right you can plenty of visitors to sell lego to from amazon and other affiliates...

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   1. 88

      andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      That was what I was thinking, cheers

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   2uesdayposted 13 years ago

   Hi Andy,  this is just a thought but have you seen some of the lego art that there are photos of if you search the term lego art pictures? I think there are galleries with it. I wondered if this might be a way of using lego on the site without breaking any copyright rules. I do n't know if it would work as it was just an idea that came to mind.

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   1. 88

      andyozposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks but I think the real issue would be having the word 'lego' in my domain name.  A good suggestion though.

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