Trio of Six-Figure Sales Triggers a Fabulous Fortnight for Domains

by Ron Jackson
  

When it became necessary to combine two weeks worth of sales in one report, I planned to double the size of this week's Top 10 chart. but when all of the numbers were in, the flood of five and six figure sales required expanding the list to 30 entries and that still doesn't hold all of the sales above the 10K mark! This summer is truly going out with a bang. 

A trio of six-figure sales headlines our new list with top honors once again going to a Spanish keyword domain, Dominio.com ("domain" in Spanish) which went for $120,000 in a private transaction. When a premier Spanish keyword domain changes hands is it even necessary to name the buyer any more? When you see coffee you know cream is nearby. When we see a big Spanish domain sale, we automatically chalk up another acquisition for Chris Chena! This time was no different as the prolific developer from Paraguay added still another gem to his collection.

Afternic.com and Sedo.com also soared into the six-figure stratosphere with a pair of $100,000 sales. Afternic did it with a sweet 2-letter .com, EQ.com, while Sedo turned the trick with Mueller.com. Mueller is a very common German surname and many companies use the name, including a famous spaghetti maker. In this case, a wood crafts company was the buyer. Sedo wound up sweeping three of the top five slots, also scoring big with #4 Hanover.com at $75,000 and #5 Car.de at �58,000 ($72,296). Hanover.com was bought by the Allmerica Financial Corporation. Hanover Insurance is one of their key brands.

GreatDomains placed two .tv domains on our expanded Big Board with a pair of the biggest sales ever for that extension. #6 Travel.tv went for $65,000 and #13 Mail.tv tuned in $35,000. .Com commanded the rest of the Top Ten, led by #7 Line.com which was sold for $60,000 by KuwaitNET.net. Moniker.com/DomainSystems.com followed with a nice one-two punch, landing $51,100 for SuccessForce.com and $50,000 for BattleRap.com (battle rap is currently a popular music genre). You'll see still another Moniker entry in the middle of the chart, Riff.com, at $27,015. SnapNames.com anchored the top third of the leader board with #10 BibleCollege.com finding $45,805 in the collection plate. 

Great Britain's .co.uk made a strong showing this time out, with four of those popular ccTLD's turning up among the 30 biggest sales (all four were sold at Sedo). #11 Republic.co.uk went for a whopping �23,500 ($43,288) to front a stellar quartet that also included AllTheBrands.co.uk (�9,997 = $18,418),  1800Flowers.co.uk ($16,000) and China.co.uk (�7,000 = $12,896). .Net did some muscle flexing too. Standing back to back are #17 Bikini.net at $21,805 and #18 WebDesign.net at $19,999. Bikini.net was uncovered at SnapNames while WebDesign.net changed hands at Ebay.

Before we take a look at the complete winner's list, allow me just a moment to express my heartfelt thanks to the amazing number of people who sent emails, faxes and left phone messages last week offering help when they discovered our site had been attacked (I was traveling when the incident occurred so the outage lasted longer than it normally would have). There were so many messages of support I haven't been able to reply to you individually, so when you read this please know how much I appreciate each and every one of you (including those who couldn't leave a message because the answering machine was full)! As for the hacker (who has also defaced several other domain sites) the only emotion I feel is sadness for a fellow human being who is wasting the brief time he has on this earth hurting others and trying to destroy what they have worked hard to produce. I pray that you will start using your talents to help others rather than continuing to spread heartbreak and destruction in a world that already suffers from too much of both. 

Now let's join our winners in victory lane then I'll continue our rundown of a phenomenal week in the domain industry:

#1 Dominio.com was one of two private sales on the Big Board. The other was Production.com, acquired from Shuki Haiminis of HaiminisHolding.com for $25,000 by LogicBank LLC. Company spokesman Seraphim Marcopoulos told us "the site will be developed as a portal for the Film/TV/Media/Video/Music production industries. The initial focus will be on Film and TV production with an anticipated launch during the last quarter of 2005." Having come from the TV industry myself I understand the size of the industry this domain addresses and it looks to be a terrific bargain from where I sit.

Other than #30 TheArtOfWar.com which sold at Pool.com for $10,639, all of the charted domains we have not yet discussed changed hands at either SnapNames or Sedo. The SnapNames list included #12 PlanetRingtones.com ($35,010), a 3-letter .com, #19 STX.com ($19,500) and a 2-character .com, #26 3S.com ($12,698). The winner's list at Sedo was even longer (they wound up with 12 of the top 30 sales). Their roster included a nice Spanish keyword domain that didn't go to Chris Chena, #14 Tangas.com (equivalent to "G-strings" in Spanish) which revealed $30,540.

You can see Sedo's other flag bearers above and they also had one of the four 5-figure sales that didn't make the chart, Tain.com at �5,700 ($10,500). Afternic had one at the same price, DirectFax.com, while Pool.com and DotcomAgency.com each posted $10,000 sales, Pool with Garnets.com and DotcomAgency with KitchenCart.com. 

Sedo's success story continued with GlobalHighway.com ($9,000), ChinaCapital.com (�7,200 = $8,975) and ConsolidateBills.com ($7,000). PSTV.com tuned in �3,400 ($6,263), Preorders.com booked �4,500 ($5,609) and two others fetched $5,000 each; CurrencyRate.com and Charlestown.com. As they always do, Sedo also racked up a long list of solid country code sales. Rheinkreuzfahrt.de ("Rhine cruise" in German), Nilkreuzfahrt.de ("Nile cruise" in German) and Nilkreuzfahrten.de ("Nile cruises" in German) docked with �5,800 ($7,228) each. WalkTall.co.uk strolled in with �3,000 ($5,527) and Testbox.at (Austrian country code) added �4,000 ($4,986). Date.nl (Netherlands ccTLD) attracted �3,316 ($4,133), Umwelt.tv ("environment" in German) brought �1,500 ($1,870) and Scuba.ws (Samoan ccTLD) surfaced with $650.

SnapNames had a sensational couple of weeks as well. Raygun.com zapped $9,109, ArmyPants.com zipped up $8,999 and AidsDrugs.com injected $8,988. HoustonFlowers.com delivered $8,888, OperatingRoom.com sewed up $8,606 and Sandbags.com soaked up $8,322. Others making a significant impact on the bottom line included SeaKayak.com ($7,777), SouthBeachMagazine.com ($7,600) and AllenTexas.com ($7,544). HealthSavingsPlans.com ($7,388), FilthyCartoons.com ($6,999) and PastaRecipes.com ($6,988) were among the tasty side dishes. PhotographicMemory.com recalled $6,868, typo domain EbayMoters.com turned over $6,640 and WaterBirth.com bore $6,188.

SnapNames also scored with NetPharmacy.com ($6,105), CheapWebspace.com ($5,588), NorthernStar.com ($5,200) and clothing brand name Trabzonspor.com ($5,101). DesignerReplicas.com ($4,844), MetalCoatings.com ($4,811) and CarbonDating.com ($4,788) kept the party going with help from Kinderhook.com ($4,650), SingASong.com ($4,555) and CanadaCitizenship.com ($4,544). FamousLandmarks.com drew $4,488, VirtualMail.com sent $4,458 and PlatinumRX.com dispensed $4,400. WeightLift.com pumped $4,311, ScootersForSale.com sold for $4,288 and Camelids.com carried $4,188. Others cracking the 4K mark were LasVegasFreeStuff.com ($4,121), Bookstores.net ($4,104), SavingsClub.com ($4,100) and BusinessMagazines.com ($4,022). 

The sheer volume of sales at SnapNames was so large I think it will be easier for you to digest the rest of their results through the table below:

For those who still have room for dessert, here are a few extra treats from SnapNames; PrimeHealth.com ($2,151), MainePhoneBook.com ($2,138) and ChiggerBite.com ($2,116). OK, so that last one isn't really a treat! How about HDA.org ($2,080), FreeAcrade.com (typo at $2,070), RaceTicket.com ($2,050) or HallelujanAcres.com ($2,050)? Or perhaps MotorcycleCenter.com ($2,049) is more your speed? ConcretePatch.com also cemented $2,049 and Colocated.com brought $2,038. By now you get the idea. They had a couple of busy weeks at SnapNames!

The good times were rolling at Afternic as well. HomeSafety.com secured $8,000 while three others earned $5,000 each; Soy.net, Podvertiser.com and 2P.com. Vice.tv flipped on $3,500, Ucode.com unraveled $3,488 and BlogWatch.com saw $3,150. The supporting cast included KimSnyder.com ($2,800), CTJobSearch.com ($2,750), TheShuttle.com ($2,700) and FulfillmentServices.com ($2,700). PokerDream.com dealt $2,600 while Nododo.com and FunnyPages.com contributed $2,500 apiece. BeKind.org banked $2,450, MoviesVideos.com brought in $2,300 and a logjam at $2,000 each included WeightLossClinic.com, Ifrasia.com, Complaints.net and BlogStream.com. 

Now for a dip in the Pool.com where DriveInMovieTheaters.com screened $6,388, ExpertSexChange.com lopped off $6,000 and typo CheatPlanit.com commanded $5,988. Others seen at poolside included ArizonaForeclosure.com ($5,588), CateringServices.com ($5,100) and PicturesOfCats.com ($4,850). PictureOfTheYear.com snapped $4,556, DogCalendar.com counted off $4,500 and TheGameOfLife.com cost $4,099 to play. Long domains seemed to be in vogue at Pool with titles like WebHostingDeals.com ($3,988), WorldBookOfRecords.com ($3,800) and FloridaTravelPackages.com ($3,333). DefaultedLoans.com recovered $3,322, LawyersDirectory.com added $3,100 and EastgateMall.com brought $2,874. 

Also at Pool, DallasUsedCar.com and BostonUsedCar.com went for $2,750 each. FootballShirt.com sported $2,699, CreditPlan.com plucked $2,600 and a trio at $2,400 each included ToyCapGuns.com, RoundTrampoline.com and 33612.com. GramScale.com weighed in at $2,350, TeenEatingDisorder.com swallowed $2,300 and CeilingLighting.com brightened up the ledger with $2,272. AlaskaPackages.com ($2,161), DirectSale.com ($2,111) and BackpackCamping.com ($2,100) kept the black ink flowing as did typo Googhle.com and 7SeaCasino.com at $2,050 each. Rounding out the Pool roster were TheArkOfTheCovenant.com ($2,000) and a pair at $1,938 each; MusicMuseum.com and AdolescentDepression.com.

Back at Moniker/DomainSystems, SolutionSet.com sold for $6,200 and BuzzzOne.com (yes, three z's) wound up with $5,175. In addition to their $60,000 sale of Line.com, KuwaitNET sold 816.com for $3,350 to wrap up a wild pair of weeks in the domain market!

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To further underline how many big sales occurred over the past 14 days, all of the Top Ten domains earned places among the 60 biggest sales Year To Date. With all of those new members joining our VIP club, the entry level gets bumped to $45,000 for a spot among the year's Top 60 sales. Here is a look at the complete 2005 leader board: 

New TLD Section

News was good on the New TLD front this week as well. Our new chart is headed by one of the ten biggest new extension sales so far in 2005. That was TravelNet.info which went for �5,000 ($6,231) at Sedo to give .info it's third consecutive win on our New TLD leader board. That was one of eight four-figure sales reported over the past 14 days. .Biz had four of those including #2 Niederoesterreich.biz ("Lower Austria" in German) at �1,500 ($1,870) and #3 Deals.biz at �1,300 ($1,618). Andrew Allemann from DomainNameWire.com picked up the latter domain at Sedo, a venue that accounted for 8 of the top 10 sales reported.

.US also joined the four-figure parade with Photographer.us going for $1,400 at NamePros.com. A moderator at that domain forum, -db-, sent the name to forum regular Harpo who hails from Hawaii (see Harpist.us). -db- was involved in another Top 10 transaction at NamePros where he also let #5 Templates.info go for $1,399. 

Others riding the four-figure wave were RDF.biz ($1,122), LowNoise.biz ($1,012) and Handwerk.info ("handicraft" in German) which went for an even $1,000. Mines.info missed the mark by just $3 after changing hands for $997. Here is a look at the complete new extension leader board for the 2 weeks ending Sept. 4:

Christiania.info anchored our new list after going for $835 at Sedo. In other new extension sales at that popular venue, IDN domain B�roservice.info attracted �500 ($622), VIPTravel.info booked �450 ($561) and two others brought $400 each; ZUM.us and DebtReliefLawyers.us.

With the entry price for our New TLD Year-To-Date Top 50 currently at $2,500, TravelNet.info was the only domain to crack the list, entering at #10. Here are 2005's highest reported new extension sales through Sept. 4:

As always, we welcome all verifiable sales reports from companies, private sellers or individuals with knowledge of an important sale made through any channel. To contribute information and help make this column better,  just drop a note to [email protected].

We truly appreciate the industry leading companies represented on our charts who share their sales information with us to help everyone in the business get a handle on current domain values. Individuals like Richard Meyer of the American Marketing Corporation also provide invaluable help by sending us data for these sales reports each week.

Every Tuesday we publish the highest reported domain name sales for the previous week. On Monday our contributors send us their sales data for the previous 7 days. We then compile that information and write this report for Tuesday publication to give you the freshest sales report in the industry. 

We will close with this standard caution. These are not average selling prices - these are top selling domains. One of the biggest impediments to making sales is pricing domains at unrealistic levels. For most of us, pricing domains at the levels achieved on the Top Ten chart will leave us waiting a long time to make a sale! We hope you will use the information presented here as a measuring stick that will help you price your domains at levels that will put more money in your pocket more often!

Editor's Note: If you wish to review previous Domain Sales columns, they are available in our Archive.

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