數位資產比實體資產值錢的時代來臨了

[哈啦]

今年五月，有一項價值達九百五十萬美元，網路結合實體的交易出現了。

買賣雙方都是在網路珠寶商，買方是ice.com而賣方是一家叫做Odimo Inc.的公司，交易的標的是線上珠寶網站diamond.com。

在這項九百五十萬美元的交易中，包含了網址、網站和該網店的珠寶鑽石等商品，而根據雙方的合約載明，珠寶鑽石的交易價值才二百萬美元，也就是說網址和網站這部份竟然價值七百五十萬美元！

一個看不見、摸不著的數位虛擬數位資產的價值，遠遠高於那些亮晶晶的珠寶美鑽！而這項值七百五十萬美元的虛擬資產中，看似包含了網址和網站內容的價值，熟悉網站製作的人都知道，網頁內容其實不值什麼錢，畢竟它不是那種靠內容來製造收入的網站，而就是產品的介紹和購物車系統，放一大堆圖片，將付款的安全機制做好，而這些對任何稍有規模的網路商店來說，大概幾千到萬美金就全包了。而且網站一旦易主，新的站長常常會將網頁改頭換面，以符合自己的風格。

簡言之，高達七百五十萬美元的虛擬資產交易，真正的重點在於它那個漂亮而且全世界絕無僅有的網址，diamond.com，鑽石達康！

這個網址不光是網路上的地址，其實它更是網路商店或事業的品牌。而擁有這樣一個頂級的網域名稱，拿出去示人，肯定會讓人有眼睛為之一亮的感覺。

其實這個網址的價值不僅僅在於它的稀有性和品牌性，而是它那種豐沛的人氣和流量。全世界有多少人在想到買鑽石時，會「不請自來」，在自己的瀏覽器上直接打上diamond.com試試看能否找到網站？就像您是否在瀏覽器上打sex.com或car.com看看會不會有網站出現一樣？
這就是所謂的type-in，一種不必宣傳、不必靠鏈結、不用廣告而自動生成的流量，這在電子商務中被視為是成本最低收益最高的一種黃金資源。而一般人如果從沒聽過webmasterclub.org或者看到webmasterclub.org的link，大概一輩子不會打這個網址過來訪問
，如果要吸引訪客可能需要在搜尋引擎中排班上很久，不然就是花錢買廣告，才能達到眾所週知的效果。所以那種type-in的流量不就等於省下一大筆的金錢而且幾乎會源源不絕，不像我們如果探取廣告的方式，廣告一下檔，就像關了水龍頭一般，訪客量會迅速地下滑。

但這種黃金資源可不是人人都有，其實擁有這樣資源的網址，可能比黃金還稀有。簡單來說，就是一些具有高業價值的英文單字(或者詞彙)，而且幾乎只有.com才行，像上述的sex.com在去年時以一千四百萬美元成交，而sex.net在今年只以四十五萬美元售出。二者都是只有網址和放滿廣告的鏈結網頁而已，價差卻如此巨大，也就是說.com遠比.net或其它網址後綴如.org，.info等值錢十幾倍以上。

Diamond.com的交易其實預示了一個數位時代的現象，就是這種看不見、摸不著的虛擬資產，比那些傳統實體的資產值錢的時代已經到來了。您今天可以買到一顆美鑽，明天還可以再買另一顆美鑽，美鑽的價格起起伏伏，但大概任何時候都不虞有缺貨之虞。

但像diamond.com這樣的網址，今天一旦被別人登記走，全世界不會有第二個人可以再去登記一個一模一樣的網域名稱了。就如同今天站長俱樂部註冊了webmasterclub.org的網址，那全世界也就只有一個webmasterclub.org，任何人打上webmasterclub.org就只會到達同一個網站，而不會跑去別的地方。

也就是因為diamond.com的稀有價值，因此想擁有它只有花錢向原擁有人買下，而這種擁有響亮品牌和超級流量的網址價格自然不菲，七百五十萬美元說明了diamond.com遠比市面上能買得到大多數真鑽還要值錢喔。

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diamond.com交易新聞。

Ice.com Buys Diamond.com, Inventory for $9.5M

By Jeff Miller Posted: 5/11/2006 5:57 PM

(Rapaport...May 11, 2006) Online diamond and jewelry retailer ice.com, purchased the domain name diamond.com for $7.5 million from Odimo Inc. Ice.com will continue to operate the diamond.com brand, and the company said it agreed to buy diamond.com after securing new financing from Ignition Partners. Ice.com paid an additional $2 million for inventory.

The agreement between the two now prohibits Odimo from engaging in online retail sales of jewelry and diamonds, but Odimo will continue to sell watches and luxury goods.

This domain purchase "is another step in providing jewelry customers with the very best online shopping experience," said Pinny Gniwisch, ice.com's executive vice president of marketing.

"Jewelry makes people feel special. We are in this business because we believe that both men and women deserve to have many purchasing options, whether buying for an important event or for feeling great about their style. We will continue to generate new and innovative ideas in order to better serve our customers."

Matthew Kratter, a banker at Cascadia Capital, advised ice.com on the acquisition transaction.

Meanwhile, Odimo, which recently stated that it required additional capital for continuing operations, announced some changes at the executive level.

Alan Lipton has stepped down as president and CEO, but will remain as chairman of the board. Jeff Kornblum takes the reigns as president and CEO. Rob Voss resigned as a member of Odimo's board of directors.

"With the sale of diamond.com, we can now focus capitalizing on the strengths and opportunities that exist for our worldofwatches.com and ashford.com brands," Lipton said.

"The watch and luxury categories are also operations we believe can be run more efficiently due to their lower cost structure. As a result, we expect to benefit from a streamlined infrastructure and significantly lower costs," Lipton said.

Kornblum said, "It is a great opportunity to lead Odimo in this new phase of our development.

"The sale of the jewelry and diamond segment of our business will enable us to bring greater focus to our company and dramatically reduce our cost structure," Kornblum said. "I welcome the chance to develop this potential and look forward to working with Alan, the board and our Odimo team to take us to a new, exciting level."

Ice.com paid $9 million at the closing sale and delivered an additional $500,000 in escrow to be held as security for the company's indemnification and other obligations.