A look back at the past week in expired domain name sales.
China is no stranger to these weekly charts, usually sitting as guest of honor or even at the head of the table. Pinyin, LLLs, short numerics …of course. Yet certain Chinese subcategories – notably 6-digit numeric domains – have traditionally been relegated to children’s folding chairs at the far end.
Until now! Last week, NNNNNN.com domains kicked Mommy and Daddy out of their chairs and claimed both the #1 and #2 spots. Those $7.5k and $7.3k upstarts are considerably higher than previous sales too. In fact, before this I’ve only had 6 expired domain auctions at NameJet to report above $1.5k – $1.8k back in February, $4.8k and $3.4k and $1.6k during June, $3.6k in late July, and a $1.7k sale the week before last. So by any measure, last week stands out.
Why the difference? Future upward trend or blip? Looking backward, the upward trend in 5 and 6-digit numerics is undeniable. Recent buyer optimism may have something to do with Rick Schwartz’s announcement last week of 2015’s third highest public sale – $801k for a 3-digit numeric. Also, a large China-themed domain auction just concluded at 4.cn after heavy promotion by RightOfTheDot. Some have argued that weakness in the Chinese stock market is driving investment in alternative asset classes like domains; and it does seem that Chinese domain sales have withstood that market bubble popping.
Aside from those factors, I’d point to something more obvious. We’re looking at expired auctions. If we had quality 5, 4, 3, and 2-digit numerics at auction without seller reserve prices, they would almost certainly beat out any 6-digit interlopers. But good domains in those categories seldom if ever go unrenewed nowadays. Over time, liquidity has improved and end-user ownership has been extended so that such domains are virtually undroppable. As affordable shorter numerics become scarce within the wholesale domain market, prices for attractive 6-digit patterns rise. In other words, these NNNNNN.com domains didn’t kick Mommy and Daddy out of their chairs. Those more premium categories had already left a vacancy.
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 597888.com | 7500 | 576888.com | 7300 |
| ProTime.com | 4200 | ALLC.com | 3677 |
| PrivateNurse.com | 2411 | CCHIT.org | 2100 |
| HalfPint.com | 1978 | Alliance Residential.com |
1850 |
| CoventryGroup.com | 1800 | RLC.net | 1720 |
| LDH.net | 1622 | LEID.com | 1601 |
RLC.net ($1.7k), LDH.net ($1.6k), and TTU.net ($1.4k) show continuing health in the LLL.net category. Last December, 3-letter .NETs had sunk to such a low point that Andrew Rosener of MediaOptions would offer only “$1k or less” for an LLL with 301,000 exact monthly Google searches. Can’t blame the guy for trying. I mention that only to illustrate how LLL.net values have rebounded since last year.
LEID.com ($1.6k) is German for “suffering” or “harm”. With AllianceResidential.com ($1.9k) we have the familiar case of a domain that might upgrade multiple end-user websites – in this case, companies like AllResCo.com or LiveAtAlliance.com. ProTime.com ($4.2k) makes a good brand name. And at $2.4k, PrivateNurse.com was a great deal on a category killer with lead-gen potential written all over it.
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| TTU.net | 1421 | BAIB.com | 1309 |
| SigloXXI.com | 1260 | SportGame.com | 1200 |
| HolidayLodge.com | 1200 | Antonieta.com | 1150 |
| Azimi.com | 1011 | Turkmenistan Embassy.org |
1010 |
| 93078.com | 1000 | PropertyFirst.com | 960 |
| AutoVac.com | 920 | WebNurse.com | 918 |
| Yokao.com | 910 | DNNX.com | 860 |
| AudioCom.com | 831 | Passy.com | 816 |
| EnviroWonk.com | 810 | CyberBully.org | 810 |
| Neuilly.com | 797 | Feeder.net | 770 |
| RKGL.com | 750 | PTKX.com | 750 |
Some Americans may not realize that sports are “sport” and math is “maths” in left-side-of-the-road-driving countries. Hence SportGame.com ($1.2k). Americans “take a vacation” in the UK, but Brits “go on holiday” to the USA. So HolidayLodge.com ($1.2k) isn’t about Christmas and Easter.
SigloXXI.com ($1.3k) is the Spanish 21st century (using Roman numerals). Neuilly-sur-Seine and Neuilly-sur-Marne are Paris suburbs defined by the rivers Seine and Marne. Therefore Neuilly.com ($797) probably means Paris. Antonieta.com ($1.2k) is a first name, while Azimi.com ($1.0k) is an Iranian / Afghan surname. WebNurse.com ($918) echoes the bigger sale of PrivateNurse.com; and it’s a pun on “wet nurse”.
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| OSIV.com | 731 | TrueGenius.com | 720 |
| QCNL.com | 710 | WolfGames.com | 690 |
| IXP.net | 686 | Scullys.com | 680 |
| CapitalMotors.com | 660 | FishMe.com | 638 |
| ArmChair Empire.com |
630 | Summit Learning.com |
598 |
| Peazy.com | 588 | eNursing.com | 575 |
| SeeItFirst.com | 565 | NeedALogo.com | 560 |
| TBIA.com | 553 | StaffRecruiter.com | 551 |
| GlitterArt.com | 535 | XSSE.com | 520 |
| SharedStorage.com | 511 | 64283.com | 510 |
eNursing.com ($575) is the third nursing domain in these charts. Not a bad buy, if you ask me. A couple of generics, SharedStorage.com ($511) and StaffRecruiter.com ($551), also have strong potential. Anybody who watched the X-Files remembers agent Scully. (She’s still the top result in Google above real-life Scullys.) In the actual world, Scullys.com ($680) matches a restaurant in Asheville, NC, and a cafe in Delaware. After a glance, you might give GlitterArt.com ($535) a little respect. Surprisingly ambitious stuff.
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| NobodyLeft Behind2.org |
510 | GetAmen.com | 460 |
| 86744.com | 450 | InsightRealty.com | 428 |
| Formulaire.com | 422 | Q6H.com | 410 |
| BigBeastLovers.com | 400 | VoyagerCo.com | 398 |
| RedMarlin.com | 385 | FWChamber.org | 366 |
| JewishReview.org | 361 | AlcoholicRehab Center.com |
360 |
| Odeon.net | 343 | YOHS.com | 315 |
| Phoenix Transport.com |
310 | DVSystems.com | 309 |
| Zahnersatz Versicherung.com |
308 | ZYAR.com | 292 |
Formulaire.org ($422) is French for “form” – the kind of online or paper form you’d fill out and submit. My best guess for the German domain, ZahnersatzVersicherung.com ($308), is “insurance for dentures”. Odeon.net ($343) matches the brand name of a well known British cinema company. As for NobodyLeftBehind2.org ($510), it smells like a Hollywood sequel. Somehow I was left behind and never heard of it or its predecessor.
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock Momentum.com |
270 | WIPD.com | 270 |
| TiesWeb.org | 222 | NewsVoyager.com | 221 |
| FilipinasMag.com | 220 | CopWatchLA.org | 210 |
| VulcanTech.com | 210 | NMISP.org | 209 |
| AlWaqt.com | 200 | AYLF.com | 190 |
| MysticDragon.com | 190 | UJBN.com | 185 |
| EcoWorld.org | 180 | NursingNotes.com | 161 |
| QVMC.com | 160 | LZWO.com | 159 |
| QIAZ.com | 159 | QZAN.com | 159 |
| P-P-O.com | 158 | UXEP.com | 150 |
| CPST.org | 150 | EWZH.com | 142 |
VulcanTech.com ($210) rubs salt in the wound of a trauma I can never unlive, a music video I shall never be able to unhear, to unsee. Let the cycle of abuse continue:
Should we read WIPD.com ($270) as “whipped”or “wiped”? NursingNotes.com ($161) is our 4th nursing name, while NewsVoyager.com ($221) follows VoyagerCo.com ($398) as the 2nd “voyager”. EcoWorld.org ($180) is an appropriate .ORG for environmental concerns. AlWaqt.com ($200) – جريدة الوقت – was a Bahraini Arabic newspaper. The name translates as “The Time”; but any competent translator would render it as “The Times”, since that plural is the convention for newspaper names in English.
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Celoy.com | 140 | WVQG.com | 140 |
| ZSMU.com | 140 | BeyondPain.com | 135 |
| Prenatal Supplement.com |
133 | xBowsPlus.com | 130 |
| WebLists.com | 130 | Phantom Planet.com |
130 |
| JPShops.com | 111 | Zemou.com | 110 |
| PlasmaTek.com | 108 | RankingTool.com | 99 |
| TimeForHelp.com | 99 | CrazyCowboy.com | 81 |
| CranberryPress.com | 80 | JournalToGo.com | 79 |
| Cactus48.com | 79 | BackHall.com | 79 |
| HAFA.net | 79 | MadFive.com | 73 |
| InventionOfThe JewishPeople.com |
71 | Black Informant.com |
70 |
| LunaBoston.com | 70 | EvePoint.com | 69 |
| 6NetAve.com | 69 |
Congratulations, you made it to the end.
When I read The Hobbit 30 years ago, there was nothing epic about its folklore, so I am not that shocked by the video 😀
It’d be interesting to note any particular pinyin meanings behind the sold 6L .coms.
Nimoy also recorded covers of Credence Clearwater Revival and other contemporary musicians. X croosh eeee 8 ing.
I’m not sure what “597” and “576” signify, but it’s often the case that Chinese speakers read numeral sequences as words. For example, there was a 5-digit numeric that went (loosely) with “Luck be a Lady Tonight”:
https://domainnamewire.com/2015/04/09/namejet-expired-domain-name-review-4/
I still regret selling 888222.com & 222888.com… But hey that’s life… Bought them cheap and did make a nice ROI but you live and you learn.
Hindsight’s 20/20. Nobody knew this future back then. Some people will say they did. But in that case, why didn’t they buy those domains from you?
Joseph-great post and obviously lots of work on your part. I notice that there’s some LLLL.com that sold very inexpensivly. I’ve always thought that with domains it’s simply what someone will pay or what their needs are. I think the CEO paying $1million for DuDu.com along with Apple paying $4.5 million for iCloud.com id are perfect examples.
Thanks, John.
Yes, some of the LLLL.com’s sell in a lower price range – although, even there, they’re way up from values a year ago. On the whole, NameJet remains a wholesale venue – especially when we focus on expired inventory. Retail sale amounts can go well above what people see in these charts.
ttu.net used to belong to my alma mater, Texas Tech (ttu.edu)
Surprising they would let it drop, and also surprising it went so cheap.
Yeah. They ought to have held onto that.
At the very least, letting it go ought to have been deliberate decision by the university – one in which they sell their asset and recover a fair market price. Instead, they flushed $1,421 down the toilet for lack of $10.
They’re the rule, though, not the exception.