Joseph Peterson reviews the past week of expired domain name sales in this Expired Domain Report.
Some time passed without China topping our list of expired domain auctions; first Insurance1.com and then DataTrack.com took 1st place – both English and U.S.-focused. This week China once again snags the tape at NameJet’s finish line, coming in 1st with PUKA.com ($9.0k). While it isn’t the $62k monster of 3 weeks prior, this sale nevertheless nearly doubles the price of its runner up.
You’ll recognize Hawaiian puka necklaces, although the domain is most likely prized without reference to cone snail shell fragments. Actually, I’m a bit surprised to see a Chinese buyer for this CVCV pattern, since domainers inside or aiming at China express a preference for vowel-less character strings. Pinyin is another story; but, although I could be wrong, “puka” doesn’t look like Pinyin to me. CVCVs are often sought after within the Western market because of their pronounceability and acronym-friendliness.
Would a Chinese domain investor buy with the West in mind? I find myself mulling over that question. To date, few Chinese domainers have adopted non-Chinese criteria for domain purchases; and the expectation seems to be that anything they buy and sell will be deployed inside China. So whereas an American or European domain reseller will cater to both China and the West, Chinese domainers take a more insular approach. At least, that has been my sense of the international situation. Does PUKA.com refute my view? If the buyer anticipates a Silicon-Valley startup buying it from him, then yes.
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| PUKA.com | 8977 | ProTax.com | 4999 |
| StateFund.com | 4999 | TitlePawn.com | 4755 |
| OceanEnergy.com | 4100 | Plazas.com | 3800 |
| GreenBacks.com | 3666 | 557766.com | 3200 |
| Sanad.com | 2977 | ICAA.com | 2612 |
| Swets.com | 2555 | Sillas.com | 2524 |
| FIFS.com | 2447 | SMOS.com | 2028 |
| Somet.com | 1623 | ADGC.com | 1618 |
| WeMove.org | 1610 | RealBody.com | 1600 |
| GCCA.com | 1544 | Medvance.com | 1501 |
| VisualThinking.com | 1435 | Gustavia.com | 1401 |
| SAAE.com | 1400 | Westchase.com | 1252 |
| GlobeCorner.com | 1200 | DigitalText.com | 1189 |
| DigitalConnect.com | 1010 | 币.com (xn--6st.com) | 1009 |
Following that leading LLLL.com sale, we have a quartet of English word pairs, ranging from $4.1k to $5.0k: ProTax, StateFund, TitlePawn, OceanEnergy. The last of these is an extremely significant topic for sustainable energy worldwide – high tech and highly commercial, albeit indirectly. Many websites sell widgets and doodads directly to consumers; but large-cap industries like this one market to voters, sell to politicians through lobbyists, and handle transactions mainly on the scale of long-term government contracts. Their online marketing goals differ from, say, LiftingBelt.com ($255). Anybody can ship me a leather belt for squats at the gym. Harder to ship me an underwater power plant. Whether they’re slated for resale or development, the rules of the game for these 2 domains differ.
Sillas.com ($2.5k) are what you’re sitting in now – Spanish for “chairs”. GreenBacks.com ($3.7k) are U.S. dollar bills. Gustavia.com ($1.4k) is an island capital. Westchase.com ($1.3k) both a region of Houston, Texas, and a small city in Florida. At least half a dozen websites could shorten their domains with this item. Sanad.com ($3.0k) is an Arabic word, but its chief application might be global rebranding effort for Abu-Dhabi-based Sanad.ae, “an asset financing company … for liquidity in the aviation industry”.
By now, every DNW reader knows that China likes repeating sequences; 557766.com ($3.2k) is a clear example. Much less common in our charts are international domain names (IDNs) like the single-character 币.com ($1.0k). And what does it mean? Well, it’s the category that contains GreenBacks.com – “money” / “currency”.
Apart from PUKA.com at $9k, half a dozen other LLLL.com’s finished between $1.4k and $2.6k – all of them containing vowels. That’s true of the next 2 as well, which sold just below $1k: QOZI.com and QFIN.com. Those of you who pay attention to length will notice that the first domain spilling over onto 2 lines is all the way down at $410. Toward the top of the chart, shorter domains leave so much white space that the visual difference is discernible.
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| QOZI.com | 995 | BugPowder.com | 910 |
| HawaiiAttorney.com | 862 | OilChem.com | 820 |
| PVDC.com | 760 | Crowner.com | 760 |
| QFIN.com | 725 | Caryn.com | 709 |
| 4JM.com | 695 | Diligentia.com | 692 |
| BrainTicket.com | 680 | CSCar.com | 640 |
| RCDH.com | 631 | Maclar.com | 625 |
| CargoX.com | 620 | JazzE.com | 619 |
| SanDiegoDivorce Lawyer.com |
600 | NJSN.com | 600 |
| eField.com | 599 | Quello.com | 571 |
| VideoLog.tv | 541 | WhatSold.com | 524 |
| BSRP.com | 520 | WorldReading.org | 510 |
| QRSD.com | 500 | BoatingCourses.com | 499 |
| LGBO.com | 480 | 9WV.com | 473 |
| Wooty.com | 460 | Vannessa.com | 460 |
| MapEmbed.com | 453 | TheUN.com | 444 |
| DWHD.com | 439 | LiveFetish.net | 429 |
| YTWJ.com | 420 | GameMaster Online.com |
410 |
| EgyptDeals.com | 410 | Solvate.com | 409 |
| SBLH.com | 408 | AZWD.com | 401 |
| 658000.com | 401 | 84599.com | 400 |
| Draguignan.com | 390 | SpyMasters.com | 390 |
| IntegratedFitness.com | 379 | WJQZ.com | 379 |
| VetSolutions.com | 370 | MysticFire.com | 355 |
| SetFocus.com | 354 | JKOE.com | 352 |
| HappyPerson.com | 350 | BI88.com | 343 |
| LibertySupply.com | 341 | AVKK.com | 341 |
| ReelWomen.org | 335 | IntecGroup.com | 331 |
| Fawwaz.com | 321 | BoxApp.com | 320 |
| MaxDrones.com | 318 | Linberg.com | 314 |
| EnviroDoc.org | 310 | HG1385.com | 310 |
| Kakoon.com | 310 | JGIC.com | 300 |
| LSIB.com | 291 | EquityHouse.com | 270 |
| CarlosHaya.net | 265 | SafeHealthy Schools.org |
265 |
| GoldEarring.com | 260 | LiftingBelt.com | 255 |
| Flyville.com | 253 | MapsEmbed.com | 250 |
| Aetec.com | 250 | Treasurely.com | 245 |
| ManagementZone.com | 230 | OnlineSchools Search.org |
221 |
| EmpowerSolutions.com | 220 | NorthernLeague.com | 210 |
| Zalue.com | 209 | 46689.com | 199 |
| StudentReporter.org | 196 | Baran.net | 190 |
| SEOAdsense Themes.com |
189 | KPOM.com | 185 |
| BusinessFormula.com | 175 | SpaceAndTech.com | 174 |
| BurmeseCats.com | 169 | 209777.com | 161 |
| OVSV.com | 160 | 846555.com | 160 |
| 03347.com | 160 | Sparbalu.com | 159 |
| VirtualRailRoader.com | 159 | ResolveOfThe BayState.org |
150 |
Quello.com ($571) is Italian for “that” – an important survival word in any language, which, grunted together with a protruding index finger, allows you to buy whatever you can point at worldwide. It’s quite possible the buyer wasn’t thinking of Italian, though, since Quello would be catchy and easily spelled even if meaningless. Not so for the Draguignan.com ($390) region of France. Caryn.com ($709) – also written “Karyn”, “Caren”, and “Karen” – provides a useful reference point for the value of first names. Ditto Vannessa.com ($460). Likewise Fawwaz.com ($321).
Compared to SanDiegoDivorceLawyer.com ($600), the shorter and broader HawaiiAttorney.com ($862) was clearly a bargain. I can’t help but read eField.com ($599) as “electrical field”, although I don’t know how it will be used. BurmeseCats.com ($169) and EgyptDeals.com ($410) are much more straightforward. Given the unrest in Egypt, tourism has been in decline; so I imagine there are real deals to be had. Go!
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 946555.com | 149 | 922111.com | 141 |
| ABMarketWorks.com | 140 | ShuttlePressKit.com | 135 |
| 65949.com | 131 | Get-Shorty.com | 130 |
| YourLifeInsurer.com | 130 | EvolutionNYC.com | 129 |
| AmericaGas.com | 129 | VeroShop.com | 129 |
| 1EMT.com | 121 | BitClockers.com | 120 |
| WPThemes Creator.com |
120 | GramShow.com | 120 |
| VoucherBank.com | 119 | Espero.org | 119 |
| WDJO.com | 119 | BABCN.org | 111 |
| PansLabyrinth.com | 110 | TechnoTax.com | 109 |
| LOJX.com | 105 | TorrentHunter.com | 101 |
| CiberMedios.com | 100 | ChastainLakes.com | 100 |
| RYVD.com | 100 | UltimatePoker Challenge.com |
100 |
| SWTC.org | 99 | MWAE.com | 90 |
| Technosophy.com | 90 | HospitalDe Viladecans.com |
90 |
| BaiSoft.com | 89 | Intermemory.org | 89 |
| Acenta.net | 89 | ShowcaseDisplays.com | 86 |
| ArsSubterranea.org | 81 | Storm-Magazine.com | 80 |
| Audiencia.com | 80 | UMCJ.com | 80 |
| Coumu.com | 79 | Assurance Company.com |
79 |
| NewQuestCity.com | 79 | Arts-Research- Digest.com |
79 |
| BTDomain.com | 79 | XORadio.com | 79 |
| UCanSave.com | 79 | CPRKits.com | 79 |
| Maraboo.com | 71 | Chicano-Art-Life.com | 71 |
| SocialCarbon.com | 70 | RankYour Websites.com |
70 |
| Pingerati.net | 70 | GoldForBitcoin.com | 70 |
| iTechLogic.com | 70 | ZodRecords.com | 70 |
| Vurch.com | 70 | Sovietico.com | 69 |
| YoureAwesome.com | 69 | Arquitect.com | 69 |
| B2CGroup.com | 69 | Tacos.tv | 69 |
| NegociosRentables DeHoy.com |
69 | LessonsIn Business.com |
69 |
| FilmShaft.com | 69 | WorldPDF.com | 69 |
| TwitAPI.com | 69 | Domestic Marketing.com |
69 |
| PayPerViewAdult.com | 69 | CSSCount.com | 69 |
The nearly 200 domains above are too many to discuss individually. Still, a few more are worth pointing out. Espero.org ($119) is Spanish for “I hope” – a theme eminently well suited for .ORG. If you can self-translate the Spanish words Audiencia.com ($80) and Sovietico.com ($69), then YoureAwesome.com ($69).
You’ll recognize a Spanish crossover hit movie in PansLabyrinth.com ($110): originally “El Laberinto Del Fauno”. Get-Shorty.com ($130) is another Hollywood film starring John Travolta. Films of another kind, PayPerViewAdult.com ($69), are offered to many hotel guests. And if you stand on your head and read this backwards in a mirror, then there’s another movie in FilmShaft.com ($69). But the backup singers have good advice for me: “Shut your mouth!”
Hi Joseph, Puka is a pinyin word. Puka (普卡) is a basic credit card with small credit limit in China. Of course, most Chinese want to go for Jinka(金卡, or gold card). Wayback Machine suggested that the domain, first registered in 1996, has never been developed. Many extensions are already taken, including .ca, .net, and .cn.
Thanks, as always, for the info, KC.
In that case, the Puka.com sale is explicable in terms of my usual assumptions about Chinese domain buyers – which is that a buyer in China buys for resale within China rather than for the non-Chinese domain market.
It will be a sea change if I ever find myself bidding against a Chinese buyer for a 2-word English phrase or a Spanish / German dictionary word. Even in auctions for Pinyin, Chinese domain investors encounter competition from bidders outside China, who dabble in multiple domain market segments.
Pinyin domain names are really just for a niche segment. Yes, China has a huge population, but there is still more than 5 billion consumers outside China.
These days almost any small startup has the potential to become a global giant. Because of this potential, I think it is wise to choose a name that is short and easy to pronounce, knowing that you may want the whole world to come to your ‘shop’ and purchase your products/services. The name does not have to be strictly English, but must be easy for the rest of the world to pronounce.
I’m always interested in what sort of names new startups outside the US use for their businesses. I’m always pleasantly surprised by the English words they use for their names. For example, DeliveryHero.com has been in the news lately. Started in Germany, the company has been acquiring companies in some 20 countries and still expanding to become a global food delivery giant. The founders were wise and settled for a very common English name rather than German their native language.
BTW, puka.com, puka.com.cn, and puka.cn are owned by Chinese. Puka.com is parked and the other two are for sale now.
The Internet is global. If you want to start an Internet business, you really need a name that can be used globally. Today, English is still the most popular language in the world, so I believe English words will be preferred even in most non-English speaking countries. However, remember the English language is not static. For example, the Japanese word Sushi is now part of the English language today, so some Chinese words will be recognized globally too.
I expect that’s true. China has integrated economically with the West; so cultural crossover is bound to ensue.
There is a misconception that consumers in a non-English speaking country want everything written in their native language. Take Japan as an example. Many business executives think that they need to translate every English word to Japanese. This is simply not true.(You need to live in Japan to be able to appreciate the subtle use of English in consumer marketing.) Sometimes it’s good to use English words. Actually, these days many Internet startups in Japan use English generously on their websites, which carries a hint that they know the latest trends in the world. While Chinese will remain an important language, I still believe English will continue to be the global standard. So, domain names consisting of English worlds will be most profitable in the long run because that is the largest market. Not Chinese, not Japanese, not Spanish, not…, still it’s English.
“pu ka” can be valid pinyin, but I do not know offhand what combination of Chinese characters that pinyin is intended to represent… perhaps “普卡” for “universal card”