Posted: 22 Nov 2010 02:15 PM PST

According to a note DNN received from Sedo, Overstock purchased o.co.za through Sedo for $9,000 USD. This continues Overstock’s quest to own as many o.* domains as possible, ultimately hoping to own o.com.

Here’s the note DNN received from Sedo:

Recently, Overstock purchased o.co.za through Sedo for $9,000. This sale is only one of many recent .co.za domains sold through Sedo in 2010. The seller of o.co.za, Gavin Durni, owner and founder of Durni Companies, has successfully sold several other .co.za domains with Sedo including Furniture.co.za, Toys.co.za and Mattresses.co.za. Durni is well known in the domain industry as a savvy investor and is quite confident in the potential investment opportunities the .co.za extension offers. His top .co.za sales to date include several five figure sales and he continues to attract buyer interest with his portfolio of premium names for this up and coming market.

The .co.za extension is the ccTLD for South Africa and it's already being widely used by local and global businesses to target the regional markets in South Africa. With the attention the 2010 World Cup brought to South Africa this past summer and the corporate expansion of businesses to the area, we expect to see more .co.za sales activity on the Sedo marketplace in 2011.

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Ning Partners with eNom for Domain Registrations

Posted: 22 Nov 2010 09:52 AM PST

Social Networking Hosting company Ning, co-founded by Marc Andreessen of Netscape fame, has now partnered with eNom for domain name registrations. Customers that do not want to use the Ning-provided subdomains, can now purchase their domain directly through Ning’s reseller relationship with eNom for the price of $24.95 per domain name year. Previously Ning customers wanting to register their own domain had to do so outside of Ning.

It remains to be seen how many Ning customers will take them up on the offer at this comparably high price-point.

eNom and Ning Partner To Offer Domain Name Registration to Ning Creators

Partnership Allows eNomCentral Domain Name Owners the Ability
to Quickly and Easily Build Social Websites through Ning

PALO ALTO, CA – November 22, 2010 – Ning, the world's largest platform for creating custom social websites, today announced a partnership with eNom, the world's largest ICANN-accredited domain name wholesaler, owned by Demand Media. This new relationship will actively promote Ning social website capabilities to eNomCentral customers, and also enable Ning customers to easily search for and purchase domains in order to brand their social communities.

"We are always looking to bring new valuable options for Ning Creators," said Matt Halprin, EVP of strategy and corporate development at Ning. "We are taking our powerful social platform and making it available to the large eNomCentral customer base, which helps them evolve their websites into truly custom social destinations. In the same vein, eNom is making its product available to our Creators."

Previously Ning Creators were required to leave Ning in order to purchase a unique domain address for their websites. Now through this partnership Ning Creators interested in purchasing a custom domain, starting at $24.95, can do so directly, through the Ning Dashboard or by visiting www.ningnames.com.

eNom will promote Ning as the go-to social website service for its existing as well as new customers on their retail channel, www.eNomCentral.com.

"We are excited to bring the social power of the Ning platform to our customers as they understand the importance of having a personalized destination online," said Chris Sheridan, vice president of sales for eNom. "We also appreciate the opportunity to make domain registration a simple and complementary step in the creation of customized websites by Ning Creators."

About Ning

Ning is the leading online platform for the world's organizers, activists and influencers to create social experiences that inspire action. For brands of all shapes and sizes, Ning makes it easy to build custom and powerful social websites. Ning Networks span categories like politics, entertainment, small business, non-profits, education and more, connecting millions of people every day around the topics they are passionate about. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Ning was co-founded in October 2004 by Chairman Marc Andreessen and is privately held. For more information, visit www.ning.com.

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Metaverse Launches Product Parking Solution for Domains

Posted: 22 Nov 2010 08:21 AM PST

As announced in a press release today, Metaverse has released a new product domain parking service. The “Metaverse for Domains” service displays products related to the domain name on the site and pays a 15-20% commission on sales. The service will only work with domain names in which the company has retail products to compliment the domain name. Currently Metaverse offers products for domains in the wall art, posters, and home decor markets, but is planning to add more product types.

Metaverse started in 2002 as a technology company, offering a web content management software package delivered as a hosted service. To showcase the features of their content management package, they launched FulcrumGallery.com – a demo site which at the time only displayed images of the master painters. The site grew a life of its own and was re-launched in 2004 as an online store. Sales on Fulcrum Gallery soon surpassed software sales, leading the company to switch focus on online retail. Today, their store offers over 200,000 art prints which can be custom framed or transferred to canvas.

Can this new service compete with existing solutions like NameMedia’s SmartName Shops or Epik? Will domainers trust the new entrant into their space? Metaverse also mentions that the sites generated through their service may be indexed by Search Engines, but will they ultimately face the same de-listing struggle as other services? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

See the full press release after the jump.

Metaverse Creates Retail Sales From Underutilized Domain Name Assets
Metaverse launches first of its kind retail domain name monetization platform, creating value for domain owners and retail customers alike.

Monmouth Junction, NJ (PRWEB) November 22, 2010

Metaverse Corporation has launched a new solution which enables owners of unused domain names with a retail product focus to earn an income stream by allowing Metaverse to launch an online store at their domain name. The resulting revenue share is much higher than can be found with solutions that rely on advertising as the primary means of creating monetization while the domain owner holds the domain for future use or sale.

Most of the registered domains on the Internet are left unused while domain owners hold them in their portfolios for future use or sale. Few options have been available to create any income from leveraging their value during this time. Domain name owners seek to try to create some income from the domains in the meantime to help cover annual registration costs. However, almost all available solutions rely on advertising revenue as a means of monetization, which results in very little value created; commonly only a few cents a month to a few cents a day.

These solutions typically consist of a 1 to 5 page website which is nearly 100% full of advertising. These “websites” are essentially spam and are an annoyance to visitors and are for good reason excluded from being indexed in search. Conversely, the websites Metaverse launches are full featured online stores with hundreds of pages of relevant products, which provide a positive user experience and often results in being ranked in search.

“With so many premium names tied up in portfolios, it’s hard to secure a good name for retail use,” said Metaverse founder and Chief Executive Doug Kerwin. “A good domain name is extremely important in online retail. Our platform enables us to launch new brands leveraging good domain names, sharing the rewards with the domain owner.”

Metaverse’s first of its kind solution launches a fully featured online store at the domain, sharing 15 to 20% of the product revenue with the domain owner. For example, if you own the name JazzDecor.com, Metaverse will launch a store which directly offers for sale several hundred Jazz art prints and posters. Users who visit this domain find relevant products related to their intention in visiting the site and make purchases. The resulting revenue share can be a hundred times higher than what the domain owner would earn with traditional advertising based methods.

Metaverse will only work with domain names in which it has retail products to compliment the domain name. Currently Metaverse offers products for domains in the wall art, posters, and home decor markets, but will be adding additional product types. More information is available at http://www.metaverse.com.

About Metaverse Corporation – Metaverse is the parent company of FulcrumGallery.com and wholesale distributor Lieberman’s and has been a leading online retailer in the wall art space since 2005. The company has offered private label solutions of its e-commerce platform since 2007 to several hundred clients including many big box retailers. Metaverse currently employs 60 in its South Brunswick, NJ offices.

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