Conceptualist.com, By Sahar Sarid

Via Sevenmile.com:

Alex Tabibi’s business card features a dog, a horse, a bird, a ferret and a fish.

Call Tabibi, a former oncologist, the Noah of the Internet. His ark: a burgeoning online catalogue empire called UnRealEstate. Formed in 2002 with his brother Carlo, the company sells a slew of products through a collection of sites with generic yet specific URLs–such as Bird.com and Ferret.com–and splits the revenues with product suppliers.

Tabibi’s grand plan: to own a blizzard of niche markets online–first in the pet-supply realm, then later covering everything from fountains to solar panels. “We want to be the market leader in whatever niche we enter,” says Tabibi, 38.

Sound crazy? After all, Pets.com and a host of other online retailers tried to do the same thing back in the days of the tech boom–and we all know how that ended.

Tabibi believes this time will be different, even if his business model isn’t. Online shopping is more pervasive, as are faster Internet-connection speeds. Snatch up the most-searched Web addresses in the right markets–specifically, those with a younger, Web-savvy customer base and no clear leader serving their needs–and you can’t help but make money, he says.
So far, so good. UnRealEstate pulled in $62 million in sales last year, says Tabibi, and should cross $100 million in 2007. About 10% comes from peddling the company’s own branded products, manufactured mostly in China. He won’t disclose profit figures but says the business is on course to break even some time next year.

(Direct link to Forbes article here)

Note they pulled in $62 million in sales for 2006, and still to this day are not profitable. I’ve been saying this for a long time, development isn’t for everyone.

Re: Garden.com - The domain is most likely a stolen domain, not by Mr. Tabibi but likely the person who sold it to him. I tried to buy it and found out it was for sale by someone who was not the owner, and decided not to buy a stolen domain even if the price was right. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 150K reference is in regard to this domain.

Here’s some email communication I went with the alleged owner:

—————————-

—– Original Message —– From: burpeedz@gardener.com
Saturday, February 11, 2006 11:44 AMSubject: Re: garden.com

Hello,

$89,000.

Don

————————————-

—– Original Message —–

To: burpeedz@gardener.com
Subject: Re: garden.com
Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 22:12:10 -0500

OK Don, deal. Please initiate the deal with escrow.com .Thanks Sal.

————————————

—– Original Message —– From: burpeedz@gardener.com
Sunday, February 12, 2006 11:16 AMSubject: Re: garden.com

Hello,

I initiated the escrow transaction.

Don

————————————

—– Original Message —–

To: burpeedz@gardener.com
Subject: Re: garden.com
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 14:03:26 -0500

Please provide a phone number you can be reached.Thanks Sal.

————————————

Hello,

I don’t speak english.

Don

————————————

After that email I tracked down the owner, a Don Zeidler of a company called Burpee Seeds. I called him up and once got through, he had no idea who I was, that the domain was for sale, or that his email address was changed. I warned him about what is going on, that if someone else controls his Admin email (it was changed from burpeedz@aol.com to burpeedz@gardener.com) he most likely will lose the domain soon, but all he wanted was to get me off the phone and get back to his daily life. Few months later the domain was sold to PetsUnited.

Update: In comment area, Michael Collins who used to be with Afternic writes:

Hi,

I brokered this deal when I was with Afternic and I am sure that we purchased the name from the owner. I have signed contracts from the CEO of Burpee. I can’t disclose the price, but it was much more than $89K.

Michael Collins

Thanks for the note Michael.