Trio of Six-Figure Sales Leads Domain Market Surge Down the Home Stretch

by Ron Jackson
  

There were so many strong sales this week (including the year's highest reported .info sale), we decided to double the size of our Top Ten chart to make room for more of these notable transactions. 23 domains wound up hitting at least 5 figures. With the booming domain market a 20-position Big Board may become a permanent fixture here in 2006 when we will be expanding our sales coverage in other ways as well. 

Moniker.com/DomainSystems.com had a pair of big sales to take positions #4 and #6. They got it done with LionsGate.com at $88,000 (purchased by well-known Hollywood production company Lions Gate Films) and SCW.com at $60,000. SnapNames.com slipped #5 Tablet.com in between those two after that domain drew $71,000 in spirited bidding at the popular auction site. Afternic.com nailed down  the lucky #7 slot with GreatDating.com at $25,000.

Sedo.com had a huge week, racking up nine of the 20 entries on our new list including a sweep of the next four positions. #8 Climber.com led Sedo up the hill after going for �20,000 ($24,014). #9 SkiHolidays.com was right behind at �13,045 ($23,131) with a huge .info sale competing the first ten. That was Funds.info at a whopping �18,750  ($22,247)! In addition to being the year's biggest sale in that extension, this one ranks among the top three New TLD sales overall (trailing only a pair of .US domains that went for $25,000 each). #11 UJC.com anchored Sedo's run after going for �14,500 ($17,410).

.Net got on the board, thanks to the $17,000 sale of #12 Teacher.net at NameDrive.com.  The only other non .coms on the leader board are Digital-TV.co.uk, tied for #18 at �10,000 ($12,007), and #20 DoNotCall.org at $11,010. The hyphenated .co.uk changed hands at Sedo while the .org found a new home at SnapNames. There are many more sales to tell you about, but first let's take a look at our complete expanded chart for the week ending December 18:

SnapNames wound up with four entries on our new chart and Afternic had a pair of big winners. Ebay made a rare appearance on the Big Board after #16 Sex69.com sold there for $12,445. Three other five-figure sales finished just off the chart. UsedCarsOnline.com went for $10,200 at Enom's Club Drop while NUN.com and Retard.com brought $10,000 each in a pair of sales at DNForum.com. Both of those sales were made by the operator of WebsiteGuru.com.

The best country code sales usually come from Sedo and this week was no exception. Konsolen.de ("game consoles" in German) scored �7,250 ($8,602), Park.de provided �4,500 ($5,403) and Franchising.de deposited �3,625 ($4,352). Poker-Chips.co.uk raked in $3,500 and still another German domain, Fassaden.de, contributed �2,900 ($3,482). By the way, one of the new features we will be adding in 2006 will be a new Country Code Top Ten  chart.

Of course, Sedo does well with the global extensions too. Their list this week included GayDVD.com at $7,500, SearchAgent.com at $7,000 and MujeresCalientes.com ("hot women" in Spanish) at $6,500. Picora.com picked up �4,500 ($5,403), ProShop.net rang up $4,750 and Traumhaus.com ("dream house" in German) drew �3,800 ($4,563). MillionDollarBody.com brought $4,000, Antithesis.com added $3,999 and two others, Okurt.com and TrialGames.com, generated $3,000 each. Sedo also dominated our new extension chart which we will talk more about a bit later on.

SnapNames had a huge stack of winners again this week, including Xscape.com and EastTimor.com at $8,100 each, PopularGames.com at $7,877 and eVirus.com at $7,200. GrandCanyonVacation.com carved out $7,088, Meanwhile.com managed $6,350 and PlayersEdge.com earned $6,250. GuitarStores.com strapped on $6,211, DebtLegalServices.com banked $5,988 and Noja.com netted $5,940.

Also at SnapNames, RUJ.com racked up $5,601, VisionQuest.com commanded $5,070 and Accueil.com was acquired for $5,008. PrintingPresses.com posted $4,960, BahamasResort.com kicked back $4,777 and COD.net delivered $4,577. FreeGams.com (typo) and DiccionarioBiblico.com ("biblical dictionary" in Spanish) went for $4,444 each, JVG.com grabbed $4,300 and CollectorItems.com gathered $4,288. DrumStores.com pounded out $4,055, WindowsUSA.com closed at $4,050 and Jtaime.com ("I love you" in French) attracted an even $4,000. 

SnapNames had another 32 sales between $2,000-$4,000. Here's a look at that those:

Back at Afternic, AllPlay.com worked up $6,100, WordToTheWise.com was worth $4,800 and MobileGay.com made $4,000. OpticalFiber.com carried $2,699, Gaigoi.com collected $2,500 and CareerSpace.com booked $2,488. Also, VisitingMD.com dispensed $2,350 and USAMotors.com returned $2,000. 

Enom's Club Drop had some additional entries as well. BestSUV.com brought $4,600, BrassBed.com laid $4,100 to rest and GameClip.com fetched $3,200. LowCalorieCooking.com whipped up $1,900 and a pair of 3-letter .nets, FOM.net and NVD.net, contributed $2,500 and $1,000 respectively.

*****

The big sales week brought five new members to our Year To Date Top 60 Chart - no small feat since it now takes over $66,000 to make the list. Of course, Recycling.com made it with plenty of room to spare and almost cracked the year's Top Ten after that $300,000 sale at Sedo. Despite selling for six figures, ProShop.com and Blogster.com had to settle for positions in the middle of the current list.  Here is a look at the complete 2005 YTD leader board through Dec. 18: 

New TLD Section

.Info has had the most charted new extension sales this year but the global extension has seen most of the highest value sales go to America's country code, .US. This week. info owned both ends of the equation. As noted earlier, Funds.info set a new 2005 high water mark for the extension after going for over $22,000 at Sedo.. .Info also won the numbers game this time out, taking six of the eight positions on our New TLD chart.  

.US also got in a pretty good lick this week, taking the #2 spot with FAFSA.us going for $4,200 at Afternic. .Biz also flexed some muscle with Rob Freeman's $2,000 sale of Seeds.biz at DNForum.com. Aside from those two, .info owned the board though.

A pair of 3-letter .infos struck two strong blows for the extension with OGM.info attracting �3,000 ($3,602) and BOO.info scaring up �2,000 ($2,401). Both of those sold at Sedo, a venue that claimed 6 of the 8 positions on our new list. Here is a look at the complete New TLD leader board for the week ending Dec. 18:

Three more .info sales at Sedo anchored this week's list; Skins.info, still another 3-letter domain - XVN.info, and Abidjan.info. At other venues, GCC.info sold for $550 at SnapNames and Futbol.info kicked in $540 at Afternic. 

*****

Our Year-To-Date New TLD Top 50 chart got three new members this week led by Funds.info. That domain settles in at #3 after going for $22,247. Only Jews.us and VOIP.us (at $25,000 each) brought more in reported new extension sales this year. The entry fee for this chart is currently over $3,500. Here are 2005's highest reported new TLD sales through Dec. 18:

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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