Case Study: Silver.com / Gold.com
Silver.com acquired for $875,000 in 2012
"We decided we needed a domain name that would help us become the largest online precious metal retailer in the world and believe we have found that with Silver.com."
Kendall Saville,
Angel Investor & Board Member
JM Bullion, Inc
In 2011, Michael Wittmeyer and Jonathan Wanchalk were top affiliates for the precious metals retail giant APMEX.com. They wrote articles discussing the precious metals bull market on their website and bullion enthusiasts appreciated the insight. The two entrepreneurs covered expenses by displaying advertisements to purchase bullion directly from APMEX.com, quickly growing advertising revenue to $5,000 a month.
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The young businessmen contacted APMEX.com with a fair and reasonable offer. APMEX could own this sales channel for just $40,000, a nice score for Michael and Jonathan and a drop in the bucket for APMEX, but the company didn't even respond back.
APMEX soon found out their top online affiliates converted into their top competitor, an upstart named JM Bullion. The fledgling newcomer quickly realized they needed a competitive advantage over the retail giant they just crossed. Barely in business a year selling gold and silver directly to consumers online, JM Bullion made their first corporate acquisition.
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JM Bullion's first acquisition wasn't a business, but a domain name, Silver.com, for $875,000 in Q4 of 2012.​ Buoyed by a formidable new sales channel in Silver.com, JM Bullion promptly delivered the company's first $1 million sales day in precious metals on February 15th, 2013.
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The company's growth continued even when the precious metals market went south. In 2014, the company acquired it's 100,000th customer and by 2016 JM Bullion notched it's 1,000,000th sales order. At this time the company didn't even have 50 full time employees.
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After many more accolades, the company registered $1 billion in annual sales for fiscal year 2020. The following year, just shy of its ten-year anniversary, JM Bullion sold the business along with Silver.com for $136.8 million in cash and stock to A-Mark Precious Metals on March 19, 2021.
The JMBullion.com and Silver.com legacy brands remain an integral part of A-Mark's direct-to-consumer bullion business.​​
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Gold.com acquired for $8,515,000 in 2024
“The acquisition of the gold.com domain represents a significant investment in our direct-to-consumer growth strategy."
"The gold.com domain carries broad global appeal and is an extremely versatile asset that will be incorporated into our long-term strategy."
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"It's rare to have an opportunity to acquire a category defining asset such as this, and we are excited to add the domain to our expanding portfolio."
Robert Pacelli,
Chief Executive Officer
JM Bullion, Inc
Twelve years after JM Bullion acquired Silver.com, the A-Mark subsidiary struck again and doubled down on its category killer domain strategy by purchasing Gold.com for $8,515,000 in 2024. JM Bullion knew from its own history that category defining domain names provide a tangible return on investment and amplify online presence.
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A-Mark Precious Metals' direct-to-consumer division (which includes JMBullion.com, Silver.com, and Gold.com) grew fiscal year 2025 sales revenue 57% over the previous year to a record $2.28 billion.
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Instead of immediately developing Gold.com into a full-blown microsite, as the company did with Silver.com, JM Bullion chose to simply forward the direct navigation traffic from Gold.com to their flagship brand JMBullion.com.
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Over the past decade A-Mark has made several other acquisitions in the bullion vertical:
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- Silvertowne Mint
- Goldline, LLC
- Sunshine Minting
- Pinehurst Coin Exchange
- Atkinsons Bullion & Coin
- Texas Precious Metals
- Silver Gold Bull
- CyberMetals
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The acquisition of Gold.com in 2024, along with Silver.com in 2012, affords JM Bullion and its parent company A-Mark unique marketing and advertising advantages in a very competitive direct-to-consumer precious metals sector.