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$3 Million Sale of Vodka.com and Two Huge .Org Deals Assure Merry Christmas for Domain Market 

by Ron Jackson
  

2006 has been good to the domain business and with less than two weeks to go until the New Year the upward momentum just keeps getting stronger. Over the past seven days we saw Vodka.com go for $3 million in the year's second biggest domain sale and the two biggest .org sales of 2006, with both of those easily clearing the six-figure mark. 

Roy Messer's sale of Vodka.com to Russian Standard Co. (the makers of Imperia brand vodka) made headlines around the world and the deal,  brokered by Sedo.com, should draw additional corporate attention to the value of great generic domain names.

Russian Standard is run by billionaire entrepreneur Roustam Tariko who invited Messer and Sedo's Director of Brokerage, Christian Kalled, to come to St. Petersburg, Russia to meet face to face with him in an effort to hammer out a deal for Vodka.com. Messer, a veteran domain investor from Tallahassee, Florida, told us he first heard of Tariko in November 2005 when he read an article about the Russian tycoon in Business Week magazine. Three months later Messer signed an agreement with Sedo to market Vodka.com and suggested they contact Tariko to see if he would be interested in the domain.

Sedo did just that and in their first call to Tariko in April, he offered $1 million for the domain, but Messer was not interested at that price and immediately turned it down. Fast forward six months to October 2006 when Russian Standard was getting ready to open a new distillery, giving them a renewed desire to acquire Vodka.com. They again called Sedo and told Kalled and Messer they had one week to come to Russia if they wanted to make a deal!

Messer and Kalled rushed to get visas then took off for St. Petersburg where they sat down in person with Tariko for the first time. "I was very impressed by him," Messer told us. "He spoke excellent English and was just a very nice, down to earth guy." Tariko also had an understanding of the domain market and the relative value of various keywords. When Messer and Kalled told him they wanted $5 million for Vodka.com he challenged Kalled to convince him the domain was worth that much. 

Messer said Kalled launched into a remarkable off-the-cuff, non-stop presentation that after a few minutes prompted Tariko to declare "Time Out! I Get It!!". He then said, "I am prepared to offer you $3 million for the domain." Messer and Kalled asked for a moment and stepped outside the room to discuss it. Messer gave the proposal his approval and they walked back in and sealed the deal with a handshake.   

Roy Messer is a real gentleman who is widely admired in the domain business. Everyone who knows him is delighted for him as well as for the industry as a whole, as this transaction is another giant step forward in corporate recognition of the inherent value in category-killing domains. 

If it weren't for Vodka.com, the .orgs would have reigned supreme this week. SnapNames.com sold Date.org for $150,349 in the highest .org sale reported since we started tracking domain sales in the fall of 2003 and they rang up another $105,500 for Loan.org! To complete a six-figure trifecta, the popular expired domain auction house also sold AddictedGames.com for $135,350. Overall, SnapNames swept 10 of the 20 spots on the Big Board. Sedo racked up half-a-dozen chart entries while BuyDomains.com bagged the remaining four. 

In the race among the various extensions, .com dominated by taking 16 slots. .Org claimed two, with .info and .de (German ccTLD) getting one each. .Info scored big with #5 Credit.info, sold for $36,000 at Sedo in the year's second biggest .info sale (the leaders can be seen on our Year-To-Date sales charts). Sedo also sold #10 Konsolen.de ("console" in German) for €20,000 ($26,388). Here's a look at the complete leader board for the week ending Sunday, Dec. 17:

 

The DN Journal Top 20 
Reported Domain Sales - Mon. Dec. 11, 2006 - Sun. Dec. 17, 2006
Euro to Dollar Conversion (€ to $) is Based on Rates in Effect Tue. Dec. 19

  Domain

Sold For

Where Sold
1. Vodka.com $3,000,000 Sedo
2. Date.org $150,349 SnapNames
3. AddictedGames.com $135,350 SnapNames
4. Loan.org $105,500 SnapNames
5. Credit.info $36,000 Sedo
6.   Inmobiliario.com
("real estate" in Spanish)
$35,250 SnapNames
7.  EllipticalMachines.com $34,800 BuyDomains
8. Kleinbank.com $27,906 SnapNames
9. Sida.com $27,000 Sedo
10. Konsolen.de
("console" in German)
€20,000 = $26,388 Sedo

11. SmileyFace.com $24,250 SnapNames
12. Edulink.com $23,850 SnapNames
13. CitationMachine.com $22,250 SnapNames
14. Springbox.com $20,000 Sedo
15. 123Spela.com €15,000 = $19,803 SnapNames
16. MedicalStudents.com $17,000 BuyDomains
17. Logistica.com $15,250 SnapNames
18. LittleGuy.com $15,000 BuyDomains
19. CSDN.com $14,500 Sedo
20. IndividualRetirementAccounts.com $12,350 BuyDomains

Keep in mind that these are the highest value sales that have been reported to us in the past week. This column is meant to be an educational tool, not a complete list documenting ALL high value domain sales. Such a list is impossible to produce because many sales are kept private at the insistence of buyers, sellers or both.

CLICK HERE for our Year-To-Date Charts.

 

.Com Supporting Cast

In still another five-figure sale just off the chart, SnapNames sold ManLift.com for $10,500. They also had their usual boat load of solid four figure sales including Gigaweb.com at $8,700, CrownPrincess.com at $8,600 and Wateverlife.com at $8,544. B0.com (B - zero) brought $7,500, Inchworm.com went for $7,200 and OverFifty.com fetched $6,988. LoyolaUniversity.com booked $6,800, SpecialtyInsurance.com secured $6,600 and Cerveau.com sold for $5,655.

Also at SnapNames, FurnitureCloseouts.com delivered $5,550, FoldingBeds.com found $5,400 and NetVault.com locked up $5,201. TaxLine.com took in $5,105 while AmetureMatch.com and PrinterInkRefill.com returned $5,100 each. MusicSelection.com drummed up $5,099, Bulkhead.com bagged $5,009 and Quizila.com captured $4,667. SnapNames had 35 more sales ranging from $2,000 to $4,300. You can see those out in the table below.

Additional SnapNames Sales Between $2,000-$4,300
ases.com $4,300   slimesoccer.com $2,650
myfreepaysight.com $4,100 2flasgames.com $2,650
mychecksfree.com $4,100 buffbody.com $2,626
imtoosexy.com $4,100 newyorkcityfood.com $2,600
cityofcapecoral.com $4,033 weathersource.com $2,450
illinoisautoinsurance.com $4,000 customwristband.com $2,450
dentalworld.com $3,960 ratemyproffessors.com $2,395
strawberrypies.com $3,900 planetsalsa.com $2,395
chickeninvaders.com $3,877 columbusproperties.com $2,161
vermontland.com $3,850 bootmobile.com $2,150
montessoripreschool.com $3,722 rankinroad.com $2,060
sportchat.com $3,339 canadianprices.com $2,056
cabelss.com $3,250 financia.com $2,050
internetratings.com $3,150 citifinancailauto.com $2,050
northants.com $3,001 mercedezbenzfinancial.com $2,040
violincases.com $2,967 boxerpuppy.com $2,013
texasrefinance.com $2,700 bostoncellular.com $2,011
talktools.com $2,700   

Back at Sedo, Genomica.com generated $9,000, Fyreball.com lit up $8,000 and ActiveGuy.com cornered $7,500

BuyDomains piled up an enormous number of strong four figure sales this week, including DeferredAnnuities.com ($8,000), GeneticTests.com ($7,000) and DigitalHuman.com ($6,000). UsedMac.com and Samma.com served up $5,000 each while BachelorWorld.com connected for $4,488. Vibez.com clicked for $4,000, LiveStreaming.com downloaded $3,888 and StayDry.com soaked up $3,500.

Other winners at BuyDomains included FindDoctors.com and FinanciallyFree.com at $3,400 each and HomeTheatreSystems.com at $3,300. PerfumeBottle.com sprayed $3,200, FishingBaits.com hooked $3,100 and LoanGroup.com deposited $3,088. Buy Domains had 57 more .com sales ranging from $2,000 to $3,000 that are listed in the table below:

Additional BuyDomains Sales Between $2,000-$3,000
humanelement.com $3,000   smeweb.com $2,350
dentalbiz.com $3,000 vacationlodging.com $2,300
activeclothing.com $3,000 thewebagency.com $2,300
jumpjet.com $2,900 surplussupplies.com $2,300
acpv.com $2,900 sofasets.com $2,300
tvcine.com $2,888 gamesquad.com $2,300
saudidistribution.com $2,888 backgroundreports.com $2,300
winerefrigerator.com $2,800 takle.com $2,288
brightchristmas.com $2,800 mailbackup.com $2,288
breakit.com $2,800 100natural.com $2,288
bothfeet.com $2,788 solargenerators.com $2,200
sixpoint.com $2,700 jobdatabase.com $2,200
roadcrew.com $2,700 internationalmotorsports.com $2,200
winterclothing.com $2,650 gaymillionaire.com $2,140
householdappliances.com $2,600 mevo.com $2,100
inad.com $2,550 learninglive.com $2,100
furnituregalleries.com $2,550 hometheatresystem.com $2,100
secretsexposed.com $2,500 arcticart.com $2,100
crazychicken.com $2,500 thisiswar.com $2,088
cookingsupplies.com $2,500 heartcheckup.com $2,088
computingcareers.com $2,500 guideformen.com $2,088
byio.com $2,500 actionize.com $2,088
newzealandpost.com $2,488 bikersclothing.com $2,050
naturalplastic.com $2,488 proboats.com $2,000
livefrom.com $2,488 phpsoftware.com $2,000
officefurnishings.com $2,450 eratz.com $2,000
caribbeanbeach.com $2,450 ecorner.com $2,000
pacificnational.com $2,448 domedia.com $2,000
hospitalityshop.com $2,400  

In addition to all of those, BuyDomains racked up almost 200 more .com sales ranging from just under $2,000 down to the $388 each paid for RulesOfEngagement.com and TheWiseMen.com.

At Enom's Club Drop, BTOnline.com banked $4,600 and Starret.com discovered $2,500

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

The .orgs dominated the Global Contenders chart for the second week in a row, claiming the top two spots with those blockbuster six-figure sales you've already seen on the all-extension leader board, and taking 9 of the 20 GC positions overall. .Net was next with 7 slots, including #4 Mobile-Phones.net at £2,700 ($5,316) and #5 Coffeemaker.net at $5,105.

.Info and .mobi split the remaining four spots. .Info scored big with #3 Credit.info at $36,000 while .mobi's best punch was landed by #9 600.mobi at $3,250. There were several very nice one-word .orgs on this week's chart. In addition to the two at the top, the list includes Horse.org, Ship.org and Road.org (all five of the one-word .org domains were sold at SnapNames).

Here's how all of the GC leaders stacked up for the week ending December 17:



Global Contenders Top 20
 Highest Reported Non .Com Global TLD  Sales 
(.Net, .Org, .Biz & .Info) Mon. Dec. 11, 2006 - Sun. Dec. 17, 2006
Euro to Dollar Conversion (€ to $) is Based on Rates in Effect Tue. Dec. 19

  Domain

Sold For

Where Sold
1. Date.org $150,349 SnapNames
2.  Loan.org $105,500 SnapNames
3. Credit.info $36,000 Sedo
4. Mobile-Phones.net £2,700 = $5,316 Sedo
5. Coffeemaker.net $5,105 SnapNames
6. NIL.net $4,700 SnapNames
7. Horse.org $4,100 SnapNames
8. Ship.org $3,675 SnapNames
9. 600.mobi $3,250 Sedo
10. Road.org $3,202 SnapNames

11. HouseCalls.net $2,555 SnapNames
12. Noleggio.net $2,500 BuyDomains
13. MusicMall.mobi $2,250 Sedo
14. SouthwesternCollege.org $2,200 BuyDomains
15. SPH.net $2,002 SnapNames
16. HousingResearch.org $1,800 SnapNames
17. WirelessIQ.info $1,750 SnapNames
18.
tie
Syndio.org $1,666 Sedo
18.
tie
Syndio.net $1,666 Sedo
20. PRW.org $1,610 SnapNames

CLICK HERE for our Year-To-Date Charts.

There were 19 more four-figure sales just off the chart. SnapNames and BuyDomains each claimed nine of those with the remaining one, AEC.mobi, selling at Sedo for $1,250

At SnapNames, FreeWebsLayouts.net landed at $1,600, NowAndZen.net notched $1,451 and Cumrec.org returned $1,224. MyDevry.net drew $1,210, Discovery-Center.org sold for $1,201 and Brian.info brought $1,150. Other winners at SnapNames included CardmemberService.net ($1,144), ArabFiles.org ($1,005) and Estrella.org ($1,000)

At BuyDomains, VideoNet.net tuned in $1,500, AdCentre.net added $1,400 and $1,200 blossomed from Gardenia.net. BackgroundSearch.org found $1,100 while five other names sold for $1,000 each; TravelSearchEngine.net, SFOnline.net, PacificNational.net, NetTec.net and DirectSelling.net.

Country Codes

Germany's .de dominated the Country Code chart this week, taking the top two spots and 6 of 18 overall. In addition, for the second week in a row, Germany-based Sedo.com swept every single entry on our ccTLD top sellers chart! You've already seen the top domain, Konsolen.de, on the all extension leader board at $26,388. MP3-Download.de was a distant second at €4,433 ($5,850).

France (.fr) had a strong week with four charted domains, including #6 Batterie.fr at €2,510 ($3,312) and #7 Venise.fr at €2,500 ($3,299). The European Union's .eu was next with three chart entries including #4 Schneeketten.eu ("snow chains" in German) at €3,000 ($3,959). Great Britain's co.uk was the only other country with multiple entries, scoring twice.

Taiwan (.tw), Japan (.jp) and Belgium (.be) were the other nations appearing on the new Country Code list. Here's a look at the complete ccTLD chart for the week ending December 17:



Country Code Top Sales
 Highest Reported ccTLD  Sales: Mon. Dec. 11, 2006 - Sun. Dec. 17, 2006
Euro to Dollar Conversion (€ to $) is Based on Rates in Effect Tue. Dec. 19

  Domain

Sold For

Where Sold
1. Konsolen.de
("console" in German)
€20,000 = $26,388 Sedo
2. MP3-Download.de  €4,433 = $5,850 Sedo
3. TotalMobile.co.uk £2,500 = $4,922 Sedo
4. Schneeketten.eu
("snow chains" in German)
€3,000 = $3,959 Sedo
5. Property.tw $3,500 Sedo
6. Batterie.fr €2,510 = $3,312

Sedo

7. Venise.fr €2,500 = $3,299 Sedo
8. EmploymentLaw.co.uk €2,400 = $3,167 Sedo
9. Graphia.eu €2,000 = $2,639 Sedo

10.  Washington.jp $2,500 Sedo
11.

Daguitstappen.be

€1,650 = $2,177 Sedo
12. WEP.fr €1,500 = $1,979 Sedo
13. Orientalement.fr €1,500 = $1,979 Sedo
14.  Markt24.de €1,000 = $1,319 Sedo
15. Zitate-Portal.de
("quotes portal" in German)
€900 = $1,188 Sedo
16. ZitatePortal.de
("quotes portal" in German)
€900 = $1,188 Sedo
17. Ferienhaus-Finnland.de
("holiday house - Finland" in German) 
€880 = $1,161 Sedo
18. Lastminutereisen.eu
("last minute travel" in German)
€875 = $1,155 Sedo

CLICK HERE for our Year-To-Date Charts.

Now that you're up to date on what happened over the past week, check out how the leaders stand year to date in all categories by visiting our Year To Date Charts page.

*****

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 who share their sales information with us to help everyone in the business get a handle on current domain values. Richard Meyer of DotCom Group, LLC also provides invaluable help in collecting 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 night publication to give you the freshest sales report in the industry. 

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


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