Acquiring the publer.com domain after 12 years!

The publer.com domain must have cost me a fortune, right?

To put things into perspective, I acquired the kibo.ai domain for $10,000!

TL;DR: I still have all my limbs ??

Background story (2012)

I came up with the idea and the name Publer (short for Publisher) in the late summer of 2012.

Even though the name was unique (to my surprise), unfortunately, the .com domain had already been taken and used by a company in the Netherlands.

My Publer started as a fun side project, so I didn't think much about the domain and added super before the name.

But by 2017, Publer was no longer a side project, and the super part started affecting the brand perception.

I noticed that the Dutch Publer hadn't updated its website and socials in the past years, so instead of finding an alternative top-level domain (TLD), I reached out, hoping to get the .com.

1st attempt (2017)

I contacted the owners of .com directly and got the following response.

If they would consider selling it in 1 or 2 years, there must have been a price to "speed up" the process.

Simultaneously, I hired a domain broker from GoDaddy, and after months of negotiation, I got a number. $15K-$20K was way beyond my budget!

Even though I offered them free technical assistance and the chance to keep the mailboxes for as long as needed, they did not agree to settle for less.

I gave up and went ahead migrating to the publer.me domain (terrible choice!).

2nd attempt (2020)

.me domains are great for blogs and personal sites but not for SaaS!

Based on customer feedback and reviews, this poor domain choice of mine started to affect the brand perception again.

I made a new attempt for .com using a different service (DomainAgents).

With five digits still unaffordable, I had to look for TLD alternatives.

Debating between .io and .app, the Indie Hackers community came to the rescue.

publer.io became our new home, and once we launched the mobile app, I also acquired publer.app (bonus tip below)

I set up domain monitoring for the .com, but only in case the domain expired and owners forgot to renew it.

3rd time's the charm (2024)

In late 2023, something was going on as I started receiving alerts from the domain monitoring.

Then, I got this message on LinkedIn.

Even though I was trying to play it safe, I was more interested in the Twitter/X handle.

I got an official offer a few days later!

Unfortunately, I cannot reveal the price ... I'm just joking!

€5,000! (excluding Escrow fees)

publer.com and @publer handle

After 12 years, I finally got the publer.com domain! We are still redirecting to .io as we revamp Publer's website.

And equally important, we got the @publer handle for Twitter/X!

Tip: Keep the old username when updating your social media handle

Like domain changes, you may continue getting traffic and backlinks on social that you want to retain.

This is what I did for the old Twitter/X handle @PublerNation

While you can't do 301 redirects on sites you don't own, you can always set up a dummy account with your old username. This applies to Twitter/X, Instagram, Threads, and TikTok.

Would I have paid more?

Probably not!

€5,000 was a very reasonable price in my opinion.

Publer is an already established brand with a unique name, so there's no longer the need to fight for the .com domain. If you search for Publer, we will always come up.

However, looking at the insights, I see we're getting constant traffic even though we have yet to migrate.

Most likely, it is from visitors who mistype .io in the address bar.

Paying much more for Kibo 's domain, which has yet to be launched, was a different story and probably a rushed mistake.

While I love the name (more info on why soon), Kibo is far from being unique.

If you search for Kibo, many different results will be returned: a volcanic cone in Mount Kilimanjaro, bikes, e-commerce, sneakers, and robots.

Considering that .com, .io, or .app are already taken, and Kibo will be heavily tied to AI, I had to sacrifice the kibo.ai domain.

There's a high chance I may go after .com in the future.

Tips

Launch and build the brand first

If you're a SaaS and .com is taken, go with the .io

Stay away from made-up domains for the sake of .com

Acquiring a desired TLD is more of a game of patience than power

Thank you for reading!

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I will cover building an affiliate program from scratch in the next edition.

Stay tuned!