Today, on October 21, the Great Domains auction ends at Sedo. Its main intrigue is whether Portugal.com will be sold today. The seller set quite a wide reserve range, the minimum amount for which the domain can be sold, at $250,000 – $499,999. The current offer hit $250,000, which is the low end. However, the reserve is not met yet, and the seller can refuse the deal, according to The Domains.
It is noteworthy that country names in the .COM domain zone were historically viewed as a very valuable asset. For example, England.com sold for $2 million, and Russia.com for $1.5 million. Deals on Britain.com ($1 million), Singapore.com ($800,000) or NewZealand.com and Brazil.com ($500,000 in both cases) come to mind. However, all these deals were made 10-20 years ago. Today the situation has changed, and national governments are increasingly claiming the rights to such domains. In the spring, the French authorities won a dispute over the right to own the France.com domain at the US Court of Appeals. And although the registrant is trying to challenge this decision, a precedent has already been set, and the potential buyers of Portugal.com should also be prepared to face legal consequences.
