March Makes Domain Market Merry With Hundreds of Solid Sales in All Price Ranges 

Maybe I would should go on vacation more often. While I was away the domain aftermarket kicked into high gear with hundreds of sales reported, including three of the year's four biggest to date. This double length report covering sales from March 1 - March 15 will bring you completely up to date on what has happened since my last column two weeks ago.

For starters, the biggest sale of 2009 (and one of the ten biggest ever reported to us) was booked when the transfer of Toys.com to Toys R Us was completed. The giant toy store chain won the name in a bankruptcy court auction with a $5.1 million bid. A pair of 6-figure blockbusters also hit the Big Board this week after #2 Top.com closed at €357,500 ($464,750) and #3 Body.com brought $400,000. Sedo.com handled both of those sales.

In another sign that the high end of the market is stirring back to life, a report came out just as we were wrapping up this article saying that Auction.com has been sold for $1.7 million. I want to take a closer look at this news, but it looks legit and I expect to be charting that sale next week.

By Ron Jackson

While we are talking about big sales I should also mention that I have learned that Gaokao.com changed hand at the end of October for the Chinese equivalent of $555,951. The gaokao is China's college entrance examination and it is reputed to be the largest exam in the world. This sale is outside the date eligibility range for our weekly chart but we will be adding it to our 2008 Top 100 sales chart for posterity's sake (it will rank #12 on last year's list).

We are expanding all three of our charts from the usual 20 positions to 40 this week to accommodate the backlog of sales that built up while I was away. The expanded all extension top sellers list is made up of 25 .coms, 11 ccTLDs, three .nets and a .org. Sedo accounted for 9 of those 11 country code sales and wound up with more chart entries than any other venue, 24 in all.

.Coms swept the first eight positions before the country codes muscled in with a pair of $45,500 sales that tied for #9. Those were LOL.de (German ccTLD) and Campings.fr (French ccTLD). This is the second time LOL.de has sold in the past month and someone made a nice profit on the flip since the first sale, also at Sedo, closed at €17,000 ($21,420).

Two other country code sales reached the top half of the chart. #12 Kino.pl ("cinema" in Polish), representing Poland, brought $43,500 in a private transaction and #13 SexCamera.nl (Dutch country code) captured $42,250 at Sedo.

#18 (tie) Cosmetics.net led the non .com global TLD brigade with a $25,000 sale from the Moniker live auction at DOMAINfest Global that just closed. Here is how all of the leaders stack up for the two weeks ending Sunday, March 15:

There were 20 more five-figure sales off the chart and Sedo accounted for the majority of those, including the three largest (all country codes); 123.es ($13,650), Abnehmen-Ratgeber.de ($13,000) and UV.TV ($13,000). Sedo also sold Kolibri.com ($11,700), SkyTV.de ($11,050) and Caffe.com ($10,530). Huzz.com added $10,500, Esqui.net notched $10,400, VIP.mobi posted $10,099 and UltimatePoints.com provided $10,000. Sedo also sold Shelf.com for $12,000 through their GreatDomains premium auction site. 

At the AfternicDLS, RIA.org rang up $12,000 while three others; CarInsuranceQuote.net, FoxMedia.com and GivingBirth.com delivered $10,000 each. In additional sales from Moniker's live auction at DOMAINfest Global that just closed, Alert.me landed $11,000 and three others; Contact.me, ArtistManagement.com and Bridgette.com kicked in $10,000 apiece. Filmmakers.tv also changed hand for $10,000 in a private sale. 

.Com Supporting Cast

A pair of sales at Sedo topped the .com supporting cast; 1H.com and EuroSports.com, each of which brought €7,500 ($9,750). 9B.com was right behind at $9,700. TopMercato.com tallied €7,000 ($9,100), Conheo.com corralled $8,625, 3DWeb.com drew $8,100 and GlobalChat.com chalked up $8,000. 

Sedo's other winners included Jeux-En-Ligne.com ("online games" in French) at $7,363, VRV.com at $7,150 and Neohw.com at $7,020. RockleyPark.com and Welcome-Cottages.com went for $7,000 each while iSpaces.com spawned $6,250 and DGPS.com contributed $6,200. SkinnyInTheCity.com sold for $6,000, and two others; MKM.com and Gardien.com garnered $5,850 apiece.

Sedo had 90 more .com sales ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 that are listed in the table below.

In sales from their GreatDomains premium auction site, Sedo added $6,101 for Nominal.com followed by a pair of 3-letter .coms, VSM.com ($5,975) and JXW.com ($5,601). Blizzards.com blew in $4,600, SJQ.com clicked for $3,300, MetroSexuals.com massaged $2,500 and Punctuations.com penciled in $2,000. 

Back at the AfternicDLS NetFoto.com focused on $8,688, Vertech.com tacked on $7,500 and PlayersLife.com plucked $6,800. CrewLinks.com crested at $6,000 while Envoke.com and MedicalFinancing.com floated $5,000 each. 

KidsMeals.com downed $4,888 while Paie.com and MedArts.com dispensed $4,500 each. OfficeEasy.com fetched $4,488 and two others; DesignTribe.com and CheeseWheel.com chipped in $4,388 apiece. VTFS.com claimed $4,379, CareToday.com dispatched $4,288, Teexpress.com paid $4,188 and OneTab.com wangled $4,088. 

The AfternicDLS had 120 more .com sales ranging from $2,000 to $4,000. You can check those out in the table below:

The AfternicDLS also sold four others through expanded promotion listings at Sedo. Those were 3Deep.com ($5,461), Geophysik.com ($4,212), PackService.com ($3,588) and HistoricVehicle.com ($2,488). 

In more completed sales from the Moniker/DOMAINfest Global live auction SanFranciscoRestaurant.com served $7,500, ElectricOven.com baked $7,000 and AutoInsurancePolicy.com protected $6,000. Pucks.com netted $5,500, CustomizedHomes.com housed $5,000 and TravelInsurancePolicy.com produced $4,750.

Evaluated.com coaxed $3,000 while VirtualMaps.com and Boiled.com cooked up $2,500 each. LastTreatmentCenter.com and SepticTankCleaning.com cleared $2,000 each and in a sale from Moniker's T.R.A.F.F.I.C. New York auction, CommonStock.com cornered $2,500. From their online platform, Moniker also sold HomeEnergySurvey.com ($5,149), Existential.com ($5,075) and GangMinds.com ($4,125). 

At SnapNames.com, Spectacle.com spotted $7,000, FalseTeeth.com bit off $5,890 and NTCC.com secured $5,450. PartyBoat.com booked $5,000, ClassicsAndCustoms.com cultivated $4,100 and DiscoverHawaii.com docked at $3,855. Hunu.com hauled in $3,050, EuroSpeed.com yielded $3,011 and OnlineTaxSoftware.com untangled $2,900.

ExploreFairbanks.com and PressReleaseDistribution.com distributed $2,600 each while HotelsBrisbaneAustralia.com and MyEras.com recalled $2,200 apiece. HaworthPressInc.com probed $2,166 while Blueberrys.com and JoBoom.com bagged $2,150 each. 8699.com dialed up $2,051 and BioInnovations.com discovered $2,022. 

At NameJet.com, NTES.com uncorked $6,350, BigButtMania.com cracked $5,600 and JunglePoker.com raked in a $3,900 pot. LaFrance.com located $3,088, MarketingBusiness.com banked $2,801 and two others; ElegantTouch.com and TwinLabs.com took in $2,600 each. 

Aerator.com rejuvenated $2,500, ExecutivePay.com pulled $2,339 and EdibleBouquets.com chewed up $2,322. AACA.com commanded $2,270, NewYorkGolfCourses.com holed out at $2,200 and eIdea.com thought up $2,110. StrictlyWoodFurniture.com polished off $2,101, TorontoWeddings.com celebrated $2,100 and two others; DoubledayBooks.com and IrishCottage.com welcomed $2,000 apiece. 

Elsewhere, KevinWood.com sold 1800Trucking.com for $5,500 and RickLatona.com sold Gawkers.com for $2,750. 

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

.Nets swept the first three spots on our expanded Global Contenders chart this week and wound up taking 20 of the 40 positions overall. The first eight names on this chart all broke the five figure mark, so we've already covered those in the all extension section at the top of this report.  

The biggest sale you haven't seen yet is #9 TTS.org, sold through the AfternicDLS for $8,000. That was one of eight .orgs on the leader board. .Mobi was right behind with seven entries while .Info claimed three spots and .travel got two - the first appearances ever on our charts for that extension.

Here's how all of the Global Contenders stacked up for the two weeks ending March 15: