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March 11, 2015

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Amazing Week! We Saw the Biggest Sale in 5 Years, Another That May Turn Out to Be Highest Ever Reported + Five More That Hit 6 Figures! 

Well, this year has certainly gotten off on the right foot. In fact, this past week was probably the most remarkable one we've ever seen for domain sales. Rick Schwartz made sure it would be something special when he announced he sold Porno.com for a whopping $8,888,888! That is the highest sale reported since 2010 when the biggest cash sale ever reported - Sex.com at $13 million - was logged. It is also the fourth highest domain sale reported since we started tracking and verifying aftermarket sales in 2003 (you can see our all time Top 20 here).  

A day after after Rick's sale to a Prague-based operator of adult websites was disclosed, George Hong of domain brokerage Guta.com noticed that the WhoIs record for 360.com had changed, moving from previous owner Vodafone to Chinese company Qihoo Technology, who has been operating from 360.cn. After unsuccessfully trying to buy the domain on behalf of a client for 7 figures George was told by a trusted source that Vodafone had previously turned down $14 million for the domain. That set off intense speculation on what the price may have been and today several Chinese media outlets including TechWeb.cn, citing anonymous sources at Qihoo, said the company paid $17 million. Another well-known broker with a source at Vodafone, Andrew Rosener of MediaOptions.com, said he was also told $17 million was the number.

By Ron Jackson

Unfortunately, as of this writing, there has been no official confirmation from Qihoo or Vodafone of the sale price. With all of the rumors swirling around perhaps that will change in the next few days. $17 million is certainly well within Qihoo's means as the company has annual revenues of $7.5 BILLION (that is $7,500 million so $17 million isn't much more than a rounding error to them). 

If they do not report the price paid before their SEC filing for this quarter is due (Qihoo is a public company, traded on the NYSE under the symbol QIHU) it is possible they would release the number in that report. They wouldn't be required to do due to their size (essentially making the transaction immaterial to their overall business) but since the deal also involved a major change for their brand and public presence, they may want to share the information with their investors. 

We certainly hope the number ends up getting confirmed as it would be a new high water mark for an all cash domain sale. With the market for short .coms (and especially short numerics being gobbled up by the Chinese market) the time is ripe for a new all-time leader to emerge. In a related note, in the discussion about 360.com, Andrew Rosener said he had closed a 7-figure deal for 50.com but the exact number is subject to an NDA. 

As if the great news surrounding the Porno.com and 360.com sales wasn't enough we also have five six-figure sales on our latest all extension Top 20 Sales Chart. In any other week, those would have been the center of attention. Three of them were handled by the same broker - DomainHoldings.com whiz Tracy Fogarty - who closed #2 Connaught.com for $250,000, #5 144.com for $110,000 and #6 8788.com for $106,000. In addition to those Tracy put two other sales in the top ten - #7 Mobike.com at $47,400 and #9 Kantu.com at $20,000. In a further sign of just how strong the Chinese market has become, all of Tracy's sales except Connaught.com were made to Chinese buyers.

Sedo, as uisual, was right in the think of the action too with their Senior Broker Dave Evanson nailing down a $120,000 deal for KHC.com. Sedo followed with another home run in #4 Ignite.com at $112,500. Those sales were part of a .com sweep of the top 14 positions on the leader board (the world's most popular extension took 17 of 20 places overall).

The other three spots all went to ccTLDs led by #15 Colour.me, sold by Brands-and-Jingles.com for $10,259. They also sold #16 (tie) Smarter.me for $10,000. 

That left no room for the non .com gTLDs for the second week in a row. That group has not enjoyed a good start to 2015 as, once again, no reported sales from that category reached five figures and we had only ten sales total reported for that entire group.  

Here is how all of the sales leaders stacked up for the week ending Sunday, Feb. 1:

HealthInsurance Services, Inc
eHealthInsurance Services, Inc
eHealthInsurance Services, Inc

The DN Journal Top 20 
Highest Reported Domain Sales - Mon. Jan 26, 2015 - Sun. Feb. 1, 2015
(Foreign currency to U.S. Dollar Conversions Based on Rates in Effect Feb. 4, 2015)
  Domain

Sold For

 Where Sold
1. Porno.com $8,888,888 Pvt Sale
2. Connaught.com $250,000 DomainHoldings
3. KHC.com $120,000 Sedo
4. Ignite.com $112,500 Sedo
5. 144.com $110,000 DomainHoldings
6. 8788.com $106,000 DomainHoldings
7. Mobike.com $47,400 DomainHoldings
8. Viciniti.com $36,200 Sedo
9. Kantu.com $20,000 DomainHoldings
10. EveryWear.com €15,000 = $17,100 Sedo

11. Wardrobes.com £9,999 = $15,198 Sedo
12. Verbierchalets.com £8,000 = $12,160 Sedo
13. Habitt.com $12,000 Sedo
14. IVGlobal.com £7,500 = $11,400 Sedo
15. Colour.me €8,999 = $10,259 Brands-and-Jingles
16.
tie		 Anna.co $10,000 Sedo
16.
tie		 Memorandum.com $10,000 Sedo
16.
tie		 Smarter.me $10,000 Brands-and-Jingles
16.
tie		 Unicloud.com $10,000 Sedo
20. StockHero.com $9,995 Sedo

Keep in mind that these are the highest value cash only 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. Our procedure for verifying the accuracy of domain sales reports is available here.

CLICK HERE for our Year-To-Date Top Sales Charts

Click Link Below for
The All-Time Top 20 All-Cash Domain Sales Reported By DNJournal.com
 (2003 to Now)

.Com Supporting Cast

Sedo led the .com supporting cast of four-figure sales with Bet789.com at $9,125, DubaiLiving.com and StateOfInnovation.com at $8,500 each and Bolang.com at $8,000. FotoShooting.com fetched $7,752, Markland.com made $7,500 and two others - Refarm.com and XCDS.com - drew $7,000 apiece. 

Wegogo.com went for $6,199, ThinTea.com tacked on $6,000 and Contractive.com captured $5,700. Ladatcha.com and QuickNurse.com notched $5,500 each and Euna.com yielded $5,130. 

Sedo had 43 more four-figure .com sales ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 that are listed in the table below: 

Additional Sedo .com Sales Between $2,000 - $5,000
alyaqout.com $5,000   iofv.com $2,580
metafactory.com $5,000 megaupull.com $2,568
suoq.com $5,000 eumeda.com $2,500
topclick.com $5,000 football-odds.com $2,500
miavia.com $4,800 housr.com $2,500
comtent.com $4,446 ipierre.com $2,500
billmo.com $4,332 sfmail.com $2,500
arcady.com $4,000 matikan.com $2,469
impressionen.com $3,990 fulcrumstrategy.com $2,369
fitforfood.com $3,900 mymhealth.com $2,295
freshscreen.com $3,869 sexlinjen.com $2,280
cloudage.com $3,600 valendo.com $2,244
videohybrid.com $3,534 estema.com $2,200
wallofamerica.com $3,200 doudoule.com $2,195
spella.com $3,177 dreamvr.com $2,000
brandtale.com $3,000 junior-college.com $2,000
fmtrade.com $3,000 lunari.com $2,000
matguiden.com $3,000 mlholdings.com $2,000
zeeem.com $2,994 skillsengine.com $2,000
eventro.com $2,850 taxacr.com $2,000
nursinghomeabuselawyer.com $2,800 voneo.com $2,000
helloproducts.com $2,650   

Elsewhere HuntingMoon.com sold MegaSex.com for $6,000 and SFHybrid.com for $3,000 and  StrategyNaming.com moved ExoToy.com for $3,000. 

Country Codes

The ccTLDs were led by the trio of five-figure sales that you saw on the all-extension leader board above with Colour.me setting the pace with a $10,529 sale at Brands-and-Jingles.com. The highest sale in this category that you haven't seen yet is #4 on our latest Country Code Top 20 Sales Chart. That is Einstein.co.uk at $9,120 via Sedo. They also rounded out the first five with #5 AquaGym.de at $7,410.

Sedo went on to sweep 16 of the 20 chart entries. Brands-and-Jingles claimed three places with the other opening going to Golem.eu for #16 Grolman.eu at $2,849. 

Great Britain's .co.uk won the extension race with five chart entries, nipping Germany's .de with four. Montenegro's .me was next with three.  Here is how the country code leaders stacked up for the week ending Sunday, Feb. 1:

Country Code Top 20 Chart
Highest Reported Domain Sales - Mon. Jan. 26, 2015 - Sun. Feb. 1, 2015
(Foreign currency to U.S. Dollar Conversions Based on Rates in Effect Feb. 4, 2015)
  Domain

Sold For

 Where Sold
1. Colour.me €8,999 = $10,259 Brands-and-Jingles
2.
tie		 Anna.co $10,000 Sedo
2.
tie		 Smarter.me $10,000 Brands-and-Jingles
4. Einstein.co.uk £6,000 = $9,120 Sedo
5. AquaGym.de €6,500 = $7,410 Sedo
6. Incassopoint.nl €5,999 = $6,839 Sedo
7. Hamburger.nl €4,500 = $5,130 Sedo
8. Pay4.me $5,000 Brands-and-Jingles
9. Pin.LA $4,800 Sedo
10. FTP.co.uk £3,000 = $4,560 Sedo

11. Nicocas.jp $3,800 Sedo
12. Infliximab.de €2,750 = $3,135 Sedo
13. HotelHeidelberg.de £1,999 = $3,038 Sedo
14. Coding.co.uk £1,998 = $3,022 Sedo
15. GiftcardMall.co.uk $3,000 Sedo
16. Grolman.eu €2,499 = $2,849 Golem.eu
17. Amana.de $2,500 Sedo
18. RBU.cn $2,400 Sedo
19. Salamon.ch €1,999 = $2,279 Sedo
20. Lake-District.co.uk £1,499 = $2,278 Sedo

CLICK HERE for our Year-To-Date Charts.

There were dozens of additional four-figure sales off the chart led by Sedo's sales of Hack.co.uk at $2,052, Bool.io at $1,999 and Gutschein-Vorlagen.de at $1,995.

Sedo had 30 more four-figure .com sales ranging from $1,000 to $1,899  that are listed in the table below: 

Additional Sedo ccTLD Sales Between $1,000 - $1,899
veracode.co.uk $1,899   voestalpine.nl $1,425
dutyfree.eu $1,839 bor.ch $1,311
bananas.co $1,800 middletons.co.uk $1,216
conferencevenues.co.za $1,750 mvg.co.uk $1,200
stadslogistiek.nl $1,710 adviso.fr $1,140
stapler-shop.de $1,710 agilean.de $1,140
5.pe $1,653 akties.nl $1,140
sold.me $1,600 rughe.it $1,140
iotanalytics.co.uk $1,520 schlossgangl.at $1,140
timeless.co.uk $1,512 messebau-koeln.de $1,139
timeless.uk $1,512 refresh.it $1,139
bhl.co.za $1,500 usedcar.in $1,050
shopmate.in $1,500 agis.be $1,025
movienews.co.uk $1,482 features.io $1,000
dedications.co.uk $1,444 luxurylounge.co.uk $1,000

Golem.eu rang up $1,709 each for ePrivacy.eu and MyHair.ch and another $1,139 for DSGroup.eu.

Back at Brands-and-Jingles.com, ExactlyMe.me managed $1,500, Colours.me collected $1,139, MyWater.me sipped $1,001 and BCC.me made $1,000. 

Elsewhere, NetFleet.com.au sold NFA.com.au for $1,428 and DomainLore.co.uk banked $1,216 for iHelp.co.uk.

If there are country code extensions in our report that you are not familiar with, you can look up the nation each extension goes with here. 

Non .com gTLDs (.net, .org, .biz, .info & others, including new gTLDs)

The non .com gTLDs continued to trail the pack with only ten sales reported for the entire category this week and none reaching five figures. YSH.org claimed the pole position on our truncated Non .com gTLD Top 10 Chart (normally a Top 20 list) with a $6,950 sale at Sedo. 

While the new gTLDs have failed to make a dent in .com's dominance (in fact .coms seem to be getting stronger than ever) they are making inroads in the non .com gTLD category and wound up taking four of the ten positions this week with Coastal.cruises claiming the #2 spot after Phil Harris sold the domain to Viking River Cruises for $6,000.

Sedo rounded out the first five with #3 WMC.net at $4,800 and a couple of new gTLDs - #4 FantasySports.word (handling escrow for a name sold by Chad Wright) and #5 Diagnostic.solutions at $2,281.

Here's how all of the Non .Com gTLD leaders stacked up for the week ending Sunday, Feb. 1:

Non .Com gTLDs Top 10 Sales Chart
Highest Reported Domain Sales - Mon. Jan. 26, 2015 - Sun. Feb. 1, 2015
(Foreign currency to U.S. Dollar Conversions Based on Rates in Effect Feb. 4, 2015)
  Domain

Sold For

 Where Sold
1. YSH.org $6,950 Sedo
2. Coastal.cruises $6,000 Pvt Sale
3. WMC.net $4,800 Sedo
4. FantasySports.world $3,000 Sedo
5. Diagnostic.solutions €2,001 = $2,281 Sedo

6. Facework.net €1,800 = $2,052 Sedo
7. Trendy.clothing $1,950 Sedo
8. Dobermann.org $1,850 Sedo
9. E-mobility.net €1,399 = $1,595 Sedo
10. Scozia.net €1,175 = $1,340 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. 

Domain Name Industry Newsletter

 

*****

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. 

Every Wednesday we publish the highest reported domain name sales for the previous week. On Mondays and Tuesdays our contributors send us their sales data for the previous 7 days. We then compile that information and write this article to give you the most comprehensive 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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