Since GoDaddy began concealing sale records as its Christmas gift to the domain industry, this week’s article discusses only expired domain auction results seen at NameJet. Although our overall picture of the expired domain market is smaller, big prices are still on display. When $10k is spent on a 5-digit numeric like 11211.com, we can be sure that the domain is bound for China. Repeating characters and patterns are especially prized by Chinese buyers.
WinnersClub.com ($5.7k) is gambling-related. Multiple casinos advertise “Winners Club” rewards programs; so I’d expect that the bidders and/or the intended buyers come from this set, as opposed to a Belgian gym or the seemingly abandoned winnersclubofcalhoun.org. MailExpress.com ($2.7k) is such a popular name that roughly 100 trademarks (past and present) have claimed it. The U.S. postal service dubbed its fastest delivery method “Priority Mail Express”. Also, there’s a file sharing service (specifically for large email attachments) offered by GlobalScape called “Mail Express”.
We have a trio of 4-letter acronyms that sold in the retail range of $2.5k – $3.1k. I’m sure there’s an end user back story for each of AHFC.com, IRSC.com, and SNTA.com. REMG.com isn’t far behind at $1.4k. Various cartoon characters have been on a MathQuest.com ($1.7k), including Disney’s Aladdin and a non-Bugs-Bunny rabbit named “Bugs”.
There are two completely different meanings for the phrase “Lifestyle Management”. One is represented by the developed .NET website, which provides “preventative health care programs, rehabilitation, long-term wellness education, and corporate fitness management”. Health and fitness, basically. The other sense of “Lifestyle Management” pertains to the ultra-rich, some of whom would be bewildered as lost toddlers at Disneyland without their personal assistants and luxurious concierge services.
Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
---|---|---|---|
11211.com | 10003 | WinnersClub.com | 5700 |
AHFC.com | 3101 | MailExpress.com | 2700 |
IRSC.com | 2600 | 2B2.com | 2569 |
SNTA.com | 2500 | PrivateAir Charter.com |
1906 |
Lifestyle Management.com |
1712 | MathQuest.com | 1710 |
TheNorthShore.com | 1500 | REMG.com | 1409 |
TrainingAPuppy.com | 709 | FastHorses.com | 591 |
UrgentMedical Care.com |
562 | 81755.com | 540 |
BinaryGirl.com | 504 | ChatCom.com | 491 |
Waltzing.com | 454 | GastricBypass Surgeon.com |
454 |
ALOF.com | 452 | ICUMT.org | 350 |
15392.com | 301 | PGDP.com | 295 |
CaneStore.com | 289 | TRFO.com | 288 |
C9K.com | 262 | Megabytes.net | 200 |
SellingSites.com | 179 | Alwaan.com | 160 |
HWSS.com | 121 | Imaginers.com | 91 |
BrandNamely.com | 80 | Birmingham Pledge.org |
80 |
Given the price of charter flights and private jets, $1.9k for PrivateAirCharter.com was not expensive. TheNorthShore.com ($1.5k) has surfing connotations, even though Hawaii isn’t the only place with north-facing beaches. Kite board manufacturers and aquatic centers aside, there are regions and cities going by this name all over the world, from Pittsburgh to New Zealand to Nova Scotia.
When I saw icumt.org ($350), I confess that 2 separate “dirty” readings crossed my mind before the “International Congress on Ultra Modern Telecommunications and Control Systems” did. Currently, their 7th congress is to be held in the Czech Republic, put on by a university in Brno. They use .INFO; but that isn’t really their domain’s biggest problem, now is it. I can just imagine some professor waiving goodbye to a spouse: “Bye, Honey, I’m off to ICUMT!” Or answering a cab driver’s question about where he’s getting off. Electrical engineers really shouldn’t name things … unless that engineer is me?
Johann Strauss II might be perplexed if he saw Waltzing.com tied with GastricBypassSurgeon.com at $454. These days more money is spent cutting bellies open than on Viennese dance lessons. Alwaan.com (الوان) is both a surname and the Arabic word for “colors” – not bad at $160. As a brand name for creative kids or web designers , I quite like Imaginers.com ($91).
It’s amazing how little interest a room full of domainers will take in SellingSites.com ($179). Yes, I know that dogs are cute. But you’d think that people who sell digital assets based on their development potential (at a time when world commerce thrives online) would see as much value in websites as in TrainingAPuppy.com ($709)!
ChuckWagen says
Would you be willing to dig a little deeper into the “end user back stories” particularly for 4-letter .com names? The prices have been through the roof especially at Namejet, and it’s hard for me to believe so many “end users” are so savvy as to monitor all these auctions of late.
Joseph Peterson says
It isn’t always possible to ascertain buyer identity when reporting so soon after the auctions. At the moment, I haven’t followed up with Whois lookups; but here are some plausible buyers:
AHFC = Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
They use a .US currently.
IRSC = Indian River State College
Like most institutions of higher education here in the states, they use .EDU.
SNTA = Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp.
It’s their NASDAQ ticker symbol.
With a quick look, I could find only one major end user apiece for those above. In that case, the other bids would be due to speculators – to mention just 1 category of bidding.
Ironically, it’s the lowest priced of the 4 that to me seems to have the most potential applications and the most justification for a bidding war: REMG.com.
REMG = Real Estate Management Group in Missoula.
They use ForRentMissoula.com
REMG = Real Estate & Management Group, Inc
Based on the .NET.
REMG = Real Estate Masters Guild
They’re at realestatemastersguild.com.
REMG = The Real Estate Marketing Group
Found at TheREMG.com.
REMG = Renewable Energy Management Group, Inc
Based on the .ORG.
Even if end users are not direct participants in the auctions, they are likely to have been contacted by domainers hoping to pre-sell assets they don’t yet own. I get spam about expired or even unregistered domains pretty much daily from non-owners.
ChuckWagen says
Thanks for your input. I hadn’t thought of the “pre-sell” angle, though I should have.