One thing I did not see coming, but absolutely should have, was the graded card market.
When I was collecting in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, we did care about quality and centering. We were basically grading cards, but it was subjective. What changed everything was the creation of an entity that grades cards, acts as the official authority on quality, and tracks quantity. Now you know exactly how many cards of a given quality exist, or at least how many have been graded. There could be others out there, but until they are graded by that company, they essentially do not exist.
The wild part of the story is who ended up buying that company. PSA, through Collectors Universe, was purchased by Steve Cohen, the owner of the New York Mets. Cohen is worth around $23 billion and has an art collection reportedly worth $1 billion. He made his money running a hedge fund. That same hedge fund has paid roughly $600 million in fines related to insider trading.
My guess is his next purchase is Fanatics. He likes monopolies. Fanatics essentially has a monopoly on licensed sports apparel and merchandise. They control most of the exclusive licenses for the MLB, NBA, and NFL. It is extremely difficult for a new company, or any company, to produce licensed pro sports products without going through them. On top of that, they bought Topps and secured exclusive rights across the major sports, meaning no one can print licensed cards without going through Fanatics. They are about as close to a legal monopoly as you can get, and my guess is Cohen eventually buys them to complete the package.
I have mixed feelings about all of this. PSA has actually been great for the card market. It gave the hobby exactly what it needed, an authoritative grading standard so values could be established consistently.
Fanatics is a different story. I hate it. It drives up prices and kills competition. That makes sense in trading cards, where rarity is the point. But in consumer apparel and clothing, it makes no sense to me. I hope they eventually get broken up.
Quote of the Day: “A market does not really exist until someone defines quality and scarcity in a way everyone agrees on.” — Paul Graham
Domain of the Day: UrbanNetwork.com Exudes modern, connection, and community. Could be a social network, urban planning, design, fashion. An open vessel
Please Note: The list below contains affiliate links and/or names that have been posted for a fee. It is how we pay for our time since it is a free site. More details at bottom of page. Can go to any of the auctions by adding the names at the end like this one
Dynadot
AENP.com All good letters, thus the 4 figure price at auction
LHL.net I bet this goes over $1K as as well
Dimply.com Love love these types of 5L
GlobalSupremacy.com 28 years old. Take over the world
Komodo.co Yeah, I think of the dragon as well
UWIO.com 21 years old
RealAssistant.ai The irony is not lost
Namejet
Meade.com I greatly underestimated the value of this domain
BlueDonkey.com Love this brand. Easy logo
ThePainters.com Perfect name for your work trucks and billboards
OpenFunds.com “Open” is becomming a popular naming keyword
DWA.net Top Tier letters
RJP.com At $18K at press time
Writify.com Sounds like an AI writing app. Goes to auction today
ConfederateFlag.com Very controversial but sells well down south
Atom – Active Auctions
Purgl.com No reserve and probably could be had for $20
Kozyo.com Brandable but no reserve so price will be real value
Dyyla.com Now at a $40 BIN
Draat.com Now a BIN at $30
VPRV.com Most bids at the current Atom auctions
uStick.com I have no idea what this would be but 2 bidders have an idea
Sedo
JUY.net Met $99 reserve out of the gate
WebsiteTips.com How to build a better website
BYAP.com Most bids and gets 441 monthly visitors
IWMO.com Second most bids. Good letters is the reason
UrbanNetwork.com Already being used by several companies including one entertainment company in LA
Aquascaping.com Big name. Aquascape is a big company
Shekels.com Needs to go up a few shekels to meet reserve
Psychosis.ai No bids. Crazy name
Erotica.es Erotica is also “erotica” in Spanish
Catched
Alpha.solutions Keyword “alpha’ showing up again and again with bids
Robots.capital Another name with bids based purely on the SLD
Coin.guide Crypto and collectible coins both work here
Localize.it A good call to action using the SLD
Dojo.es Dojo is dojo in all countries
Book.guru buy, rent, and book reviews
Fitness.life Go to social media and you’ll see for millions, fitness is their entire life
Horse.es Just another dot es catching bids
Godaddy Domains with Bids
Pavo.com Love the CVCV. I like them all but this one is great
WomensMarch.org The price tells me they are coming for backlinks but I actually don’t see that many
WindFarm.net For all of you looking for a windfarm domain package
WindFarm.org
WindFarms.net
BlueLily.com Its the correct spelling but admit I want to add another L
Exalt.io Taken in 117 extensions
HoneyBe.com Going to be hard to brand but the E saves you a lot of money
LocalRobot.com All robot names are going to get bid. This proves it
VastEnergy.com Exudes you have a lot of it
HardCoder.com As opposed to AI coding
HeyBrain.com Memorable brand
NeuroDiscovery.com Another brain name
Matchfi.com Blockchain is monetizing everything
StupidHot.com They often go together
PecanFarms.com Texas has thousands of them
Eggnostic.com Have to admit I laughed when I saw this so that alone gives it value
Voopy.com The kinds of name I buy
Help.group Exudes customer service
ThinkingCapital.com AI centric venture
Godaddy Names Value Names (Low or No Bids)
Other GoDaddy Names With More Than One Bid
35531.com
360BigData.com
68Live.com
69898.com
74448.com
98070.com
AmericanMilitiaAssociation.com
AppleLotto.com
arkhan.com
BabyBridge.com
BaliSurfingLesson.com
BoySuitUsa.com
BrownAt50.org
CarolinaPlayMakers.com
CashMortgage.com
ClimateSafeLending.org
CopywritingMadeSimple.com
CryptoTradingAcademy.com
dansplan.com
FarmErinMumbai.com
FastDealer.com
FeeBit.com
FelonFriendlyJobs.com
FirstGain.com
FitnessOutdoor.com
freecomputergames.com
GetJob.us
GoCourt.com
GpsInfo.com
GreenPowers.com
hamsaalek.com
HundsRecycleFactory.com
ielio.com
imdating.com
JustLawyer.com
kkpn.com
koora-foot.com
MamaSonDauphin.com
MayViet.com
michiganbsc.org
mixlar.com
MyMenuPal.com
mz66.com
NanDanaHospital.com
NeroCon.com
OmegaLand.com
OutwitTrade.com
ProRecruitment.com
qtdi.com
QueenBling.com
RadiusPizzeria.net
railga.com
renewableuk-cymru.com
SchoolOfMusic.com
shorebirdca.com
SidecutWhistler.com
sksystems.com
SparBank.com
staach.com
takistaverna.com
TaldOr.com
TangleMission.com
TechnoCircle.com
TechViral.news
TenIdeas.com
TheWanderlustProject.com
TrustedContainers.com
TutTons.com
tvgpt.com
u2television.com
VisionFoods.com
VisitNepal2020.com
votekimnguyen.com
WarsawPokerTour.com
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