By Mike Awada. It’s been an interesting month in the industry, with some big sales reported, and nice names some slipping under the radar. Although this edition will focus on .com sales, it’s great to see the influx of ccTLD’s that are showing up in the weekly top sales. I think this is a result of the imminent reality of the new TLD wave setting in. If you’ve got the buzzword, many extensions are both usable to end users and profitable to middle-men.
With 2012 on the horizon, speculation has run rampant that we could be nearing the end of days. With some of the sales reported this week, that claim may not be too farfetched. Let’s take a look at a couple of sales from the month and figure out what these people were thinking.
Veo.com $7,300- Amazing. You don’t have to speak spanish to realize the value of this name. Spanish for “I see”, this three letter gem was able to slip through the cracks on Ebay.com. How did it go for so low? The seller only had a 5 rating on Ebay, so this lack of continuity may have scared some big buyers away.
Marketingland.com $20,000- Purchased by Sphinn.com as part of their recent rebranding effort. While it is certainly much more memorable than their original name, for this name to bring $20k the buyer must’ve been really atted to the ‘land’ suffix. I think this is the type of name that could have been easily interchanged for ville, city, world etc. and purchased for a quarter of the cost.
ChristianDrugRehab.com $10,000- A three word .com bringing in five figures? This domain showcases the value in finding the right buyer for a name you own. The seller obviously found the one guy who needed this exact name for what he wanted to do (despite the fact that ChristianDrugRehab.Co is currently available for under $20).
FaceSkin.com $10,000- A nice two word .com with relatable words that I think it is pretty brandable. But is this worth six ounces of gold? You be the judge.
Adult-dvds.com €2,500- With DVDs on the decline and the emergence of .XXX, this hyphennated name makes me question the seller’s use of their cash reserves.
Allyouneed.com $45,000- All I need is a three word name like this that I can sell in the mid 5-figures. What a great holiday sale for the buyer. Sedo has been doing some big business as of late.
This month has just confirmed what many of us already knew about the Domain industry, and the aftermarket sales industry as a whole: “An item is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.” Many individuals and companies put their money where their mouth was and invested some huge cheddar in some online real estate. These decisions can make or break an organization, some will grow, some will fall, and we get a front row seat.
