1985
First Dot-com (.com)
March 15th, 1985: Symbolics.com is the first .com registered in the world.
This is just months before Marty McFly goes Back to the Future for the first time… Since then, everyone who’s ever bought a domain wished they could do the same.
1993
www
The Mosaic web browser is released which helps to popularize the World Wide Web and the internet boom begins.
2 years later, the National Science Foundation gives Network Solutions the power to charge for domain names. The fee? $100 to register a domain for two years.
Domains as assets
Enterprising companies and individuals grab some of the best .com domain names available. Most do not realize just how incredibly valuable they will become.
Public companies can see a bump in their stock price by simply changing their name to reflect the internet age, by adding a .com, or even by updating their website. Over the next 6+ years a speculative bubble is created as companies begin to trade in excess of their intrinsic value.
1998
PPC
The Pay-per-click model is developed by Idealab and Goto.com founder Bill Gross. Great domain names become even more valuable as they can be monetized with minimal effort.
Astute investors purchase generic and keyword rich domain names to capitalize on direct navigation/type in traffic and the advertising revenue they can generate. Domains are seen by many as a form of Virtual Real
Estate. Names like WeddingShoes.com generate upwards of $9,000 per year simply from users visiting pages that are auto populated with ads.
WallStreet.com is brokered by Monte Cahn for $1,030,000 in May 1999 and is one of the first reported million dollar domain sales.
1999
5 Trillion
1999-2002 The dot-com bubble bursts.
Losses are accelerated by the 9/11 attacks. An estimated 5 trillion in market value disappears. Many companies go bankrupt. Often the only thing left of value is a great .com. The best domains are auctioned off to the highest bidder, picked up by competitors, or domain name investors.
2001
Our beginning
2001-2002 Our founder purchases hundreds of .coms to support and grow interests in real estate, oil and gas, and the manufactured housing industries. Over the coming years, the brick and mortar businesses are mostly left behind and thousands of additional dot coms are purchased at auction, through portfolio acquisitions, or individually from their previous owners. A new company is in the making.
2010
Fat City Properties LLC is created to offer domain name acquisiton, sales, development and consulting services. Our primary objective: to buy and sell domains in the high five figure and under range which we consider to be the “sweet spot” of the market for small to medium sized businesses in terms of affordability and benefit.
In November, Sedo’s Jeff Gabriel brokers sex.com on behalf of Escom which breaks the record for top selling domain only, all cash transaction, at $13 million.
2015
Leading edge
Fat City Properties becomes the largest independent owner of ‘City’RealEstate & ‘City’Homes dot coms for US cities above 5,000 population. In June 2016, NameBio releases their study on the top selling geo+keyword domain names based on number of sales and average sales price. Real Estate & Homes are #1 and #2.
Present
Industry booming
Hundreds of millions of dollars of already owned domain names are sold in the aftermarket each year. It is not uncommon for a startup to spend 1-10% or more of their initial funding to acquire a domain name.
Most large companies own dozens, hundreds, even thousands of domain names to protect and service their brands. Some, like Microsoft, have treasure troves of nearly 100,000 domains to pull from when new products or services emerge.
we are passionate about domains
Seeing the possibilities of online real estate, we have been fortunate to be in the business of acquiring and selling domain names since 2001. We believe the credibility provided by a great domain name can be the foundation for your brand as well as your success online. Fat City Properties LLC is a privately owned company which we formed in 2010 with a view to help businesses brand themselves, acquire highly targeted leads and increase sales by providing the perfect domain name.
Whether you are looking to start a new brand, improve an existing brand or support your current products or services through the acquisition of a relevant domain, we are here to help. We have an extensive portfolio of premium, industry specific, brandable, and generic keyword domain names and our core focus is to help businesses and individuals utilize them to expand their web presence and increase profitability.
what others are saying
Thank you @iFatCity for helping us inspire families and kids to get creative and share their love of this great city! Great doing business with you and we’ll let you know how the project goes!Natalie www.KidRated.com
I had been searching for two specific domain names for a better ranking in my business, and one finally came up for sale! I’ll never regret this transaction, because at the beginning I was afraid to do it, but at the end, it was the most comfortable experience I had outside of Europe. It is more difficult to conduct business in France with French people, believe me! Fat City, thanks for all, it was a real pleasure!!!Cedric/Jeff www.Vinylium.com www.VinylPressing.com
I have already established several new clients simply because my domain name has helped to open more doors and give my business increased credibility. I can’t thank Fat City Properties enough for all of their support and I am recommending them to anyone and everyone I can. They will definitely be our go to company for all of our domain name needs.Jason Watson Owner BoxerApparel.com
Having owned the .net of our domain for several years, we were happy to see the .com come up for sale. Thank you for a quick and easy transaction!Ivan Demkovitch
We’ve purchased well over 100 outdoor retail related domains over the years through the secondary market. Our first purchase with Fat City went seamlessly. Within 48 hours the domain was in our account. I’d do business with Fat City Properties and their customer service reps any day. If only all business transactions went as smoothly.Mark Taylor
Customer Spotlight
A few great ways some of our previously owned domains are being put to use:
IfIHadANickel.com
KidRated.com
PuppyRobot.com
Onyva.com – French for ‘Let’s go’
Prenatals.com
TheMerrier.com
Fat City:
-noun Slang.
A condition or set of circumstances characterized by great prosperity or having a superior advantage; a great thing or place; happy; a state of wealth and comfort; easy street: She’s living in fat city ever since she inherited her fortune.
Origin: 1960-65
Synonyms: be in fat city, be in hog heaven, be sitting pretty, have it good, have it made, easy street, the perfect domain name
Notable Quotations:
1964
“You’re in fat city – you’ve got it made.”
American Speech, 1964
1965
“Johnny came home from college this Christmas and announced he was in fat city and everything was swave.”
NY Times, 1965
1966
“And then came the war – fat city, big money…”
Hunter S. Thompson in Hell’s Angels, 1966
1967
“I have kept my cool. I haven’t bugged out. I am still in fat city.”
President Lyndon Johnson, Time Magazine, 1967
1974
“Fat city, Well I could be livin’ in. In fat city, I could be sittin’ real pretty.”
‘Fat City’, song from the album ‘White Horse’, 1974
2010
“Grammy fat city for Slim Shady. Detroit rapper Eminem capped off a near-perfect year in music by snagging a whopping 10 Grammy nominations – the most of any artist this year.”
New York Post, 2010
2011
“Underwriting Can Take JP Morgan Back to fat city.”
Forbes, 2011
2017
“And they called themselves fat city.”
“That’s kind of a funny name.”
“Yeah, that is kind of a funny name.”
Channing Tatum & Farrah Mackenzie, from the movie ‘Logan Lucky’, 2017