Zip.ai: The $50K Buyer Who Ghosted and a $200K Second Chance
Domain investor "Barman" (@ppcbz) had a problem. He'd agreed to sell Zip.ai for $50,000. The buyer had committed. The deal was set.
Then the buyer ghosted.
Six months later, Barman sold Zip.ai for $200,000.
The One .ai Domain
Barman isn't an .ai domain investor. He's not building a portfolio of AI extensions or speculating on the next wave of tech domains.
Zip.ai was his one and only .ai domain. His entire .ai portfolio.
As he put it: "This is/was my one and only .ai name (100% Sell thru rate)."
He owned one .ai domain, and he sold it. Perfect execution.
The $50K Ghost
About six months before the final sale, Barman had a buyer lined up at $50,000. The terms were agreed. The deal should have closed.
But the buyer disappeared. No explanation. No follow-up. Just silence.
For most sellers, getting ghosted is frustrating. You've mentally spent the money. You've planned your next move. Then the deal falls apart at the finish line.
But in this case, the ghost turned out to be a gift.
The Repricing
After the buyer vanished, Barman reassessed. If someone was willing to pay $50K for Zip.ai, what was it actually worth?
He reached out to colleagues in the domain industry for guidance on repricing. The feedback was clear: he'd been undervaluing the domain.
Zip.ai was:
- Three letters - Ultra-short, ultra-memorable
- Dictionary word - "Zip" is universally recognized
- Perfect for AI branding - Zip + .ai = instant tech credibility
- Rising market - .ai domains were heating up in 2024-2025
He repriced. Higher. Much higher.
The $200K Sale
When ZipHQ came calling, Barman was ready. The company operates an AI-powered procurement platform and had raised $190 million at a $2.2 billion valuation in late 2024.
For a company scaling aggressively in the AI procurement space, Zip.ai was the perfect brand match.
They paid $200,000.
For Barman, this wasn't just a sale—it was a milestone. As he announced on Twitter:
"💥 BOOM! Sold for $200K
Some interesting things about this sale...
- This is/was my one and only .ai name (100% Sell thru rate)
- My largest sale ever and only my second 6 figure sale
- I agreed to sell this name for $50K about 6 months ago, but the buyer ghosted me (thankfully) so repriced it
- This sale puts me over the $2M mark in lifetime gross sales."
The 8th Highest .ai Sale
At $200,000, Zip.ai became the eighth highest .ai domain sale in history.
For context, other notable .ai sales include:
- Word.ai - $200,000
- Talent.ai - $175,000
- Insight.ai - $140,000
The .ai extension has exploded alongside the AI boom. What was once a niche ccTLD for Anguilla has become prime digital real estate for AI companies.
Three-letter .ai domains like Zip.ai are especially valuable—short, brandable, and perfectly positioned for the AI era.
The Buyer
ZipHQ now uses Zip.ai to showcase their AI capabilities. The domain anchors their AI-powered procurement platform, giving them instant category authority.
For a company valued at $2.2 billion with nearly $200 million in fresh funding, $200K for the perfect domain is a rounding error—but one that delivers outsized brand value.
The Ghost's Gift
The buyer who ghosted at $50K inadvertently gave Barman the greatest gift: time to realize the domain's true value.
Had that deal closed, Barman would have walked away with $50K—a solid sale, but nothing extraordinary. Instead, the ghosting forced him to reassess, reprice, and wait for the right buyer.
Six months later, he 4x'd his sale price.
Sometimes the best deals are the ones that fall apart—because they force you to recognize what you're really holding.
The Perfect Portfolio
What makes this story particularly interesting is Barman's portfolio strategy. He didn't accumulate dozens of .ai domains hoping one would hit. He had one .ai domain. And he sold it for $200K.
100% sell-through rate.
In an industry where domain investors often hold hundreds or thousands of domains with minimal sales, Barman's approach was surgical: own one great asset, price it right, and execute when the perfect buyer appears.
One domain. One sale. $200,000.
And a lifetime gross sales total that crossed $2 million.
Not bad for a buyer who ghosted.
Sometimes the worst thing that happens turns out to be the best thing that could have happened.
For Barman, losing a $50K deal meant finding a $200K opportunity six months later.
The buyer who ghosted gave him the chance to 4x his outcome. And Zip.ai became his largest sale ever—his second six-figure sale, and the domain that pushed him over $2M in lifetime sales.
All because someone didn't show up.