NewZealand.com Sold For US$500,000!

[buddy]

This must be the largest official purchase for a single domain this year. Just look at the offer and and sale for SouthAfrica.com and Korea.com. US$10 million and US$5 million. WOW!


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Government pays $1m for our domain name

30.04.2003


The Government paid about $1 million for the internet domain name NewZealand.com.

Tourism Minister Mark Burton told the House it cost US$500,000 ($910,580) and was a sound investment.

ACT MP Rodney Hide, who asked Mr Burton about it, said the deal was "crazy".

"That's the sort of dopiness that should have died out with the dot com crash," he said.

"There were other options ... a suitable domain name could have been bought or obtained for so much less."

NewZealand.com was bought by New Zealand Way Ltd, which is owned by the Tourism Board, TradeNZ and Industry New Zealand.

Mr Burton said it would provide an invaluable portal for those interested in New Zealand tourism, commerce or industry.

"On the evidence and given the function it will perform, it was a sound investment."

Mr Burton said the South African Government had offered US$10 million for SouthAfrica.com and Korea.com was sold for US$5 million.

- NZPA


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3451863&thesection=news&thesubsection=general

 

[bidawinner]

Nice Catch KV, maybe that will help jump start the sluggish domain market..

 

[buddy]

Originally posted by bidawinner
Nice Catch KV, maybe that will help jump start the sluggish domain market..

Yes, maybe we are starting to see the light again. We have been in a dark tunnel too long now However, I'm not sure how trusted those figures for Korea.com and SouthAfrica.com are, but the sale for NewZealand.com seems to be a legit one.

 

[newnoy]

WOW

 

[dtobias]

It was actually US $500,000 (only over $1 million in New Zealand dollars, not U.S. dollars).

My opinion, though, is that official New Zealand government sites ought to stick to the proper namespace in .govt.nz, rather than wasting taxpayer money on inappropriate dot-com domains.

 

[izoot]

You have to look at the tradoff in tourism dollars. Thanks to the Lord of the Rings movies ( and it being an amazingly beautiful place ) New Zealand has become one
of the top vacation/tourism destinations.

I can see you point in saying they should stay in their own namespace...but how many people would know to type in NewZealand.govt.nz ?

They will recoup their costs if not just in $$ but in exposure to the public. The first thing people type is the .com for something they are looking for...so imho it was a reasonable investment.

my 2¢

 

[Bob]

Originally posted by bidawinner
Nice Catch KV, maybe that will help jump start the sluggish domain market..

Oh boy.. Here comes a deluge of NewZealand names on eBay for only $100,000.

 

[Anthony Ng]

EDITED thread and post title.

 

[buddy]

Originally posted by nameslave
EDITED thread and post title.

Good NameSlave! My bad, I just assumed it was US Dollars. Still a good sale at $500,000.

 

[Anthony Ng]

No sweat, kvinsencius. Yeah, I agree that this is a good sale price, esp. for the seller.

 

[gariben]

now, would the New Zeland government pay $50 for newzeland.us?

never!

Long live the King

 

[Ari Goldberger]

This was a big bargain for the Government, only because the deal was closed BEFORE we knew the outcome of the case. Had we waited until the decision came down, the deal would certainly have been north of $1 million.

We still wanted the decision to be published, however, even after selling the name, to get the victory on the books for Virtual Countries and the domain community in general. WIPO initially wasn't going to publish the decision but we pressed for it and they ultimately agreed to.

The value of all country names is much greater now with the Puertorico.com and NewZealand.com victories for domain owners.

Also, it's worth reading the allegations in the Puertorico.com decision. Prior to their filing of the suit, the PR Tourism Bureau had offered $2 million in writing to buy the name, but then changed their mind and decided to file the lawsuit, instead.

 

[FirstPlace]

[/EDITED by Moderator]

 

[TrueIntegration]

That seems about right 500k

How much do you think other extensions are worth?

 

[Anthony Ng]

Originally posted by FirstPlace
[/EDITED by Moderator]

FirstPlace,

Sorry, but you are not supposed to promote your products or services in non-advertising forums.

 

[_Yakov_]

Originally posted by kvinsencius

Tourism Minister Mark Burton told the House it cost US$500,000 ($910,580) and was a sound investment.

Here they go - world starts to realize that investing in domains may be the smartest thing they can do

 

[_Yakov_]

Actually, no doubt NewZealand.com is somewhat undersold

 

[_Yakov_]

-//-

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

It was a very very good buy. I think the domain is really worth more in the $2-3 million range.

 

[DaddyHalbucks]

Oh boy.. Here comes a deluge of NewZealand names on eBay for only $100,000.
++++++++++++++++++

FAILURE is a very effective cure for such idiocy.