A small firm that does one thing carefully
Imsa Search is a boutique advisory in Chicago, Illinois. We search for, acquire and transfer exact-match .com domain names for operating companies, and we hold a private portfolio of such names. That is the whole business.
The firm
The name is literal. A company comes to us with the name it should be trading on, and we go and find it: who holds it, what they paid, whether it is in use, whether they will sell, and at what number. When the answer is yes, we run the transfer through licensed escrow so that neither side is exposed. When the answer is no, we say so early and suggest the next best route.
Alongside that work we hold a portfolio of exact-match names in commercial sectors: health, energy, software, retail, property. We acquired them to place them with the companies they describe, and we sell them one at a time, at a figure we can explain, to buyers who will use them.
We are deliberately small. One director handles each enquiry from first reply to closing record, so nothing is lost in a handoff and nobody has to be brought up to speed. We are not a registrar, not a marketplace, and not a law firm, and we work comfortably alongside all three.
To avoid a confusion that comes up occasionally: we are unconnected with any executive search or recruitment business of a similar name. We search for domain names, and only domain names.
How we work
Four commitments that apply to every engagement, whether the figure is four digits or six.
Nothing passes through us
Buyer funds go to Escrow.com, not to Imsa Search. On our own sales the name moves from our account to yours. We are paid after you confirm control, never before.
Confidentiality by default
We do not discuss a mandate, a name, a price or a counterparty with anyone who is not party to it. A mutual NDA is available to any client who wants the commitment on paper.
Clear title, in writing
Every purchase agreement warrants that the name is free of liens, disputes, holds and third-party claims. If we cannot give that warranty on a name, we do not sell it.
A figure we can explain
One number, with the comparable sales behind it, and a plain account of how much rests on what the name will do for you. No ranges, no auctions, no pressure.
Sarah Caldwell
Sarah directs the Imsa Search portfolio and is the person who answers when you write. She has spent more than ten years across digital brand strategy, premium domain portfolio management and intellectual property acquisitions, and most of that time in conversation with founders, chief executives and boards about which names a company should own and what they are worth.
Her style is consultative rather than persuasive. She would rather tell a company it does not need a name than sell it one, and she will explain any figure she quotes to a finance director in a paragraph. She reads Chicago time and replies within one business day.
Sarah holds a B.A. in Business Communications and Economics from Northwestern University.
- sarah@imsasearch.com
- Based
- Chicago, Illinois (Central Time)
- Handles
- Every enquiry, first reply to closing record
- Settlement
- Escrow.com, licensed escrow
Where we are
Chicago, Illinois, on Central Time. We work with buyers and sellers anywhere; the escrow agent, the registrars and the paperwork are the same whether you are in Illinois, Tokyo or London. Meetings are by video call or, for Chicago clients, in person.
If you have received an email from Sarah about a specific name, it is genuine if it came from sarah@imsasearch.com and asked a question rather than making a demand. Reply to it, or quote the name on the contact page, and she will pick up the thread.
Have a name in mind?
Tell us which one and what you would do with it. You will hear back from Sarah within one business day.