Weak Week in the Aftermarket - The Question is Why?

The past week in the domain aftermarket was the slowest we've seen this year. At first glance one might quickly conclude that the reason for that was the shocking meltdown in the general economy that led the U.S. Congress to pass a $700 billion bailout package for Wall Street. However at the same time that was going on, domain buyers at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference in New York were spending almost $4 million in live auctions and nearly $1 million more in a Moniker online auction associated with the show. That is a lot of money to suck out of the market in one week so it wouldn't be surprising if a lot of those buyers entered this week tapped out.

Most likely it was a combination of those factors. We'll have to wait to see how the rest of this month unfolds before drawing conclusions on how much the malaise on Main Street is affecting the domain market. 

By Ron Jackson

With only a dozen five-figure sales this week (and none higher than that), SnapNames.com was able to claim the #1 position on our Top 20 chart with the $28,750 sale of BlueCollar.com. SnapNames went on to pile up seven chart entries, more than any other venue.

The AfternicDLS also had a good week with four charted domains, including #2 CarExpo.com ($27,750) and #3 Ebio.com ($24,750). Their focus on the small to medium size business market, which is the sweet spot in the market, also continues to pay big dividends for them as they piled up more than 350 four-figure .com sales this week.  

Sedo.com was another venue with multiple chart entries, claiming six rungs on the elite list, led by #5 Quix.com at €12,000 ($16,352). Sedo also had two of the four non .com domains on the all extension leader board, # 12 Brent.us at $10,000 and #19 Fenster.info at €5,950 ($8,092). The others were .orgs; #14 GlutenFree.org, sold for $8,950 at NameJet and #16 Currency.org, sold for $8,630 at SnapNames. 

Here is how all of the top sellers stacked up for the week ending Sunday, October 5:

.Com Supporting Cast

NameJet had the top sale in the .com supporting cast with BankruptcyLoans.com at $7,753. They also scored with Kawa.com ($7,401), EAJ.com ($7,300) and UGD.com ($7,100). AllergySpecialist.com billed $4,400, Clenbuterol.com kicked in $3,901 and ClubParadise.com welcomed $3,800. 

AirPlan.com presented $3,222, AdventureGame.com generated $3,011 and AmpWares.com went for $3,001. FotoLab.com processed $2,999 while Criticare.com and Biomorphic.com brought $2,600 each. AirportHomes.com produced $2,556 while DirectSatellite.com and HealthyTreats.com tasted $2,600 apiece. Constraints.com and GlobalProducts.com provided $2,200 each while BioTime.com clocked in at $2,001. Two other domains, AccessIndiana.com and ActionOnline.com landed $2,000 each.

Back at SnapNames, Blindness.com captured $7,650 while GorgeousGirls.com and GovernmentProperty.com contributed $7,060 each. Legislative.com levied $6,880, MyTax.com tacked on $5,890 and two others; Aristocracy.com and Colourful.com collared $5,880 apiece. Tillers.com plowed $5,800 and Lamas.com lapped up $5,750.

SnapNames had 32 more .com sales ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 that you can see in the chart below:

Sedo sold SkiReservations.com for $7,500 through their GreatDomains platform. At their own venue they moved MRY.com ($7,100), Italien-urlaub.com ($4,769) and Aonbenfield.com ($4,428). ChinaGlobal.com chipped in $4,050, Veranstaltung.com dispatched $3,339 and Spotm.com spawned $3,100. OpenStudy.com penciled in $2,800, WaveSpot.com washed up $2,500 and Estilos.com stopped at $2,000. 

Moniker.com secured $5,500 for VZH.com while RedMobile.com and WorldPokerDirectory.com dealt out $2,625 each. They also handled escrow for the $7,175 sale of SearchPoint.com at SitePoint.com.

At the AfternicDLS DomainNameService.com drew $7,000, VitaminsSupplements.com swallowed $6,560 and Aegina.com detected $5,200. AvenuePartners.com picked up $5,088 while WomensAthletics.com and PersonalComfort.com attracted $5,000 each. 

Ronconi.com rang up $4,800, Alja.com deposited $4,450 and Calzaghe.com claimed $4,420. GTAI.com gained $4,369, TokyoBank.com booked $4,250 and AdwareFree.com found $4,235. MobileMail.com delivered $4,200 and GeneticMedicine.com dispensed $4,015. 

The AfternicDLS had 116 more .com sales ranging from $2,000 to $4,000. You can check those out in the table below:

Elsewhere Namecake.com sold Siwo.com for $5,500 and in a pair of private sales FootballForums.com changed hands for $3,860 and Nikas.com notched $2,000. NameFinder.com also moved AmigoReader.com for $2,000. 

Global Contenders (.biz, .info, .mobi, .net & .org)

The top two domains on this week's Global Contenders Top 20 were both .orgs. NameJet sold #1 GlutenFree.org for $8,950 and Currency.org was cashed in for $8,630 at SnapNames. The first of three .infos on the chart, Fenster.info, was #3 with a €5,950 ($8,092) sale at Sedo. 

.Org and .Net tied for the most chart entries overall with eight each. The .net list was led by #4 Cabo.net at $7,160 via SnapNames and #5 (tie) Ebony.net at $6,000 through Moniker's live auction at the Internext Expo. Tying for that 5th spot was another nice .info, Bride.info at Sedo.

A rare .pro also slipped onto the list at #7. Freelance.pro banked €4,000 ($5,440) in a private transaction. 

Here's how all of the Global Contenders stacked up for the week ending October 5:

r