This week the domain industry mourned the death of one of its greats, Igal Lichtman.
The tragic loss of Igal, way before his time, is also a cautionary tale for all domainers, as some of Igal’s prize domains were lost this week as well.
Three domain names owned by Igal’s company, Mrs Jello LLC, expired and were auctioned off this week generating almost $75,000 in sales for the auction companies but nothing for the family of Igal. (these are the only one’s I know of but there could have been more)
Several years ago when Domain Guardians was announced and the concept of having someone watch over and manage your domains after you passed, I thought it was a fantastic idea with the only downside being that so many in our industry are so young.
The day after Igal passed, I got an email from another family that Judi and I knew outside of the domain industry announcing that their father just passed away at 52.
So while we all expect to live until our 80′s or longer, unfortunately life doesn’t always work out that way, and In Igal’s case we are seeing as what is becoming a cautionary tale for all domainers.
This week Vodka.net sold for $20,000, Penis.net which sold for over $5K and Vegans.com sold at $48,000 at SnapNames.com; all were all domain names owned by Mrs. Jello, LLC, all which recently expired and all of which resulted in big paydays for the auction companies and registrars but nothing for the family.
So all domainers need to have a plan in place for someone to watch over and manage their assets which took them a lifetime to acquire.
It could be a well informed family member or many in the domain industry who would watch over the domains, get them renewed and monetize and sell domains on behalf of the family.
Bottom line no matter your age, or your health, its never too early to have a plan for your assets including your domains, so the value of your work go to the benefit of your loved ones and not the auction houses.
RIP Igal.…
