I want to share ten recent acquisitions with you and hope you do the same in the comment section. I haven’t hand registered many names in the past few weeks, but I have been focusing on private acquisitions and auctions.

Here is a selection of new acquisitions from the past few weeks. I am keeping a few acquisitions private, mostly for competitive reasons. My corporate website lists additional investments of mine.

• EventPlanner.com
• EventPlanner.net
• Tourmaline.com – (1995 registration, Tourmaline is becoming a popular gem for jewelry)
• OnlineAuctioneers.com
• Jotters.com
• ChelseaRealEstate.com
• Choirs.com
• CoalAsh.com
• HousekeepingCompany.com
• LivingDonor.com

What are some of your recent acquisitions and purchases?

I use the Google Adwords Keyword Tool (GAKT) to find available domain names to hand register. To do this, I enter my search term, extract a list of 100 keywords and keyword terms, paste them in my registrar’s bulk domain name lookup box, see what names are available to register, go back to GAKT to see the search volume, and then decide whether or not to register the available name(s).

A new tool (announced on DNFBlog.com) that is available eliminates alot of the extra work. You can see the video for the full explanation, but essentially, this Firefox plugin will show users what domain names are available within the GAKT user interface. It’s time saving and helpful.

I have a recommendation for the operators of the tool to make it even more beneficial for users. If they cross-check the unavailable domain names with Sedo and Afternic, users can see if the domain name is for sale. Although it’s helpful to know whether a name can be hand registered, it would be even more helpful if I could see that the domain name is available for sale.

The tool was created by Adam Dicker, with Dale and Simon Hubbard. They are offering a free 3 day trial, and the ongoing cost is $9.99/month or $99.99/year.

I have not tried out the tool yet, but I plan to do so. This is not a paid post or affiliate offer. I welcome your comments about the tool if you’ve tried it to let me and others know about your experience with it.

I want to give a big thank you to Afternic for helping me complete a private acquisition this past week. With the help of Neil Kavanaugh, Aaron Visaggio and Becca Clifford, I was able to purchase CallCenters.com (for an undisclosed sum).

When I worked at AIG, I managed direct marketing programs, which included telemarketing campaigns among other things. When we launched a new product or needed to make significant modifications to a campaign, I would occasionally fly to the various call centers we used in West Virginia and Florida. I am not all that familiar with call center operations, but I do know there is big money in call centers and it’s a very competitive market in the US and around the world.

Back in 2006-07, I made a large offer for CallCenters.com, but I didn’t receive a reply from the owner. There was a website on the domain name, so I assumed it wasn’t available to purchase and I moved on to other domain names.

A few days ago, I was reviewing some names on BuyDomains when I saw a listing for CallCenters.com. Although it was after business hours, I called the company and asked if Neil was still in the office. Luckily he was. I told him I wanted to buy the name but needed him to confirm that the listing was completely legit. He did some research and made contact with the owner, confirming it was a legitimate listing. He put me in touch with Aaron who helped complete the transaction. It was handed off to Becca who works in the escrow and transfers department, and she was able to complete the transfer in less than one business day.

Frankly, this was one of the smoothest transactions I’ve had in quite some time. I appreciate the help I was given to ensure an easy transaction, and I also appreciate the fact that Afternic agreed to keep the transaction price private. It’s nice to have Afternic as an advertiser on my blog, but it’s even better to work with them on a deal like this.

I have a couple of colleagues who buy great domain names in specific verticals. We’ve done business before, and it seems that whenever I bring them a great domain name, they always balk at the price at first and refer me to a report about a great purchase the company made within the past two years.

That purchase was a steal of a deal in my opinion, and they now use it as a comparable when someone brings them a name to purchase or when they are in the midst of negotiations.

Recent comps are a great tool to use when negotiating. Without a MLS system, there are few ways to really value a particular domain name, and a comp shows actual market data. If you can show a buyer or seller a comparable sale, that person might be more inclined to negotiate in your favor, and it’s a great way to say, “your asking price isn’t in touch with reality.”

When you buy a specific type of domain name and are continuing to buy without plans to sell, it might behoove you to report your lower priced acquisitions to an outlet like DNJournal. If you snag a steal of a deal, you can direct future negotiations to that sales report in the hopes that they will see it as a comparable sale. The seller may do his or her own research to find other comps, but if there aren’t many out there, it could be a great way to get a domain name you want at a terrific price.

Personally, I haven’t done this before because as a domain seller, I don’t want my purchase price disclosed. I do think someone who has no sales plans but wants to buy more names in a particular vertical could benefit from having “beneficial” comps reported.

I haven’t done this in a while, so I thought I would share a few domain names I recently acquired (that I still own) and several that I recently hand registered. I am always buying great domain names at solid prices because my business model requires me to keep buying and selling.

If you’d like, you are welcome to post your aftermarket purchases (auctions or private acquisitions) and hand registrations in the comment section below.

• Haggadahs.com – Jewish prayerbook for Passover (acquisition)
• ConferencePlanners.com (acquisition)
• HealthLoan.com (acquisition)
• ChestnutHillRealEstate.com (acquisition)
• PortugueseWaterDogBreeder.com (hand registered)
• NorwichTerrierBreeder.com (hand registered)
• IsraelHoneymoon.com (hand registered)
• IsraelHoneymoons.com (hand registered)
• DominicanRepublicHoneymoon.com (hand registered)
• PreciousMetalsAssayer.com (hand registered)
• TwoHandTouchFootball.com (hand registered)
• CasinoFundraisers.com (hand registered)

As always, if you have stellar domain names you are looking to sell for a good price, let me know. I need to buy some more great domain names.

It’s President’s Day here in the US, and I am going to be somewhere I won’t be able to get good reception, so comments may not be approved as quickly as usual.