Posts With The Sedo Tag

Pizza.com Sale - Fact or Fiction?

pizza_dot_com.gifAlmost six weeks have passed since the winning 2.6 million dollar bid in the Pizza.com domain name auction, and there is still no word of the transaction being completed from the seller, buyer or broker. The website has not changed; it remains a partially developed page with news that hasn’t been updated in five months, banner advertisements for various restaurants, and a public message board for posting random pizza thoughts. Something I found funny, are the numerous postings from visitors offering their own pizza related domains for sale. For the moment at least, the thing bringing people to the Pizza.com website is not freshly baked pies — it’s the dream of making some fresh cash.

The only thing that’s changed is the domain’s whois record information, which has been switched to a ‘private’ registration. Some would say it’s a sign of the transaction being finished, and the new owner wanting to stay anonymous for a while. Others will point to a cover-up or conspiracy. Ever since this sale was first announced, there’s been no shortage of skeptics claiming it was “Fake”. I guess only time will tell.

I was discussing this topic with my friend RJ, a domainer himself and owner of the Internet’s #1 domain community NamePros.com. I asked who he thought the buyer might be, assuming of course the sale turns out to be legitimate. Was it Pizza Hut? Domino’s? Papa John’s? Some new pizza brand? His answer might surprise you.

“Not necessarily any of the above” he told me. He also said the 2.6 million price tag made it “unlikely to be another domainer looking to flip the name”, which means re-selling to somebody else at a profit. He added “It could be a private group wanting to start a company to centralize the pizza business like Hotels.com has done for the lodging industry.”

Stay tuned folks — I will update when more information becomes available.