259999.com sells for $15,100 (and other expired domain name sales)

Who says there’s nothing new UnderTheSun.com ($3.8k)? Two months ago, a pair of 6-digit numerical domains topped these charts. But those headline-making expired auctions – $7.5k and $7.3k – fail to match last week’s $15.1k sale … even added together! Has the entire asset class doubled in price after 2 short months? Well, that can’t be inferred just by looking at a few peak sales. But it’s safe to say appreciation in this sector has been – hmm, so many adjectives to choose from … Crazy? Tremendous? Unreal? Amazing? Wonderful? A sign of the Apocalypse? Remarkable. Let’s stick with that.

That’s not a fluke. Another 6-digit .COM sold for $6.0k, even though it begins with the notoriously unlucky “4”. Evidently 4 lucky “8”s can overcome such a curse. Not far behind ($5.1k) is a 5-digit .COM bookended by the number “9”. Numerics rank 1st, 5th, 6th. Over $1000, you’ll find 11 of them. And I’m only counting expired domain auctions at 2 venues.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
259999.com	15,100	NJ	GUMO.com	7260	NJ
FTB.net	6128	NJ	MuddyWaters.com	6100	NJ
438888.com	6000	NJ	98569.com	5079	NJ
WE.biz	4900	NJ	VODY.com	4400	NJ
UnderTheSun.com	3750	NJ	NCJRS.org	3601	NJ
SGP.net	3478	NJ	Dowel.com	3402	NJ
GZZT.com	3180	NJ	SnowMaster.com	2877	NJ
DROR.com	2700	NJ	JiaPinHui.com	2420	NJ
iStuff.com	2101	NJ	Wingu.com	2030	NJ

.NET is soaring – Chinese birds anyway. Seldom do we see $6.2k LLL.net sales in the wholesale market. Even that $3.5k item is perched higher than you’d normally expect. What’s the lesson here? That depends. Buy into LLL.net’s while they’re in demand? Avoid LLL.net’s because prices have gone up? There’s no single right answer.

LL.biz domains wouldn’t normally fetch $4.9k either, but I suppose many bidders read WE.biz as the pronoun “we”. Then again, other bidders may be speculating on the same domain as a Chinese play, due to its brevity. Certainly 2595.cc aims squarely at China, and $2.0k is high for that asset class also.

As speculators cast about for “the next big thing”, various Chinese-looking categories are being wined and dined. Normally I’d feel certain that a 5-letter .ORG must be desirable as a Western acronym or sought after for the sake of its back links. However, at the moment I see so much optimistic recklessness – and, yes, group think – that I can’t rule out NCJRS.org ($3.6k) as being “Chinese” even if its buyer isn’t.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
2595.cc	1990	NJ	RMLF.com	1950	NJ
Brand Masters.com	1901	NJ	939898.com	1900	NJ
600188.com	1770	SN	BigEnergy.com	1611	NJ
60367.com	1608	NJ	TheFormula.com	1520	NJ
698678.com	1509	NJ	Mega-Vids.com	1500	SN
HobbyHut.com	1410	NJ	SixRivers.com	1356	NJ
JMO.net	1350	SN	Tech Company.com	1337	NJ
73607.com	1320	NJ	TechHost.com	1200	NJ
HG9187.com	1150	SN	858566.com	1110	NJ
Herbal Pharmacy.com	1009	NJ	WBEditor.com	1005	SN

China isn’t the whole world. As proof, look no further than MuddyWaters.com. $6.1k is a hefty price for the name of a musician. But I’ve sipped a macchiato at a cafe named after this one; and plenty of businesses along the Mississippi could brand themselves this way. Whatever deep-rooted earthiness you hear in rock, pop, or country probably derives from bluesmen like Muddy Waters. Without them, we’d be left with EuroVision.

iStuff.com ($2.1k) – now that’s vague enough to be versatile. Not so, Dowel.com ($3.4k), which is as specific as it gets. (“Dowel” means a cylindrical pin or rod.) SnowMaster.com ($2.9k) matches the name of a snow-blower brand. Now is the right time of year for that company to purchase. Shoveled off the driveway for the first time this year just a few days ago.

HerbalPharmacy.com ($1.0k) was a good buy, considering the size of the pharmaceutical industry and the popularity of herbal medicine. Speaking of big business, the villains in a British TV drama I watched last night hailed from BigEnergy.com ($1.6k). In this context, being “big” has negative connotations. So this buyer may want to brand the competition rather than themselves. Part of who you are is who you’re not.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
UULife.com	978	SN	47210.com	940	NJ
1026.net	910	NJ	Manhattan Village.com	860	NJ
Mobile Orchard.com	851	SN	TheCrown Group.com	842	NJ
SPRY.org	819	NJ	MidwaySlots.com	810	NJ
GISP.org	810	NJ	SlotCarRacing.com	795	NJ
557718.com	775	SN	Antioxidants.net	761	NJ
288116.com	755	SN	GACGA.com	750	NJ
68555.net	730	NJ	TelaLink.net	720	NJ
HeatSource.com	715	NJ	HouseInsure.com	700	NJ
DZAY.com	680	NJ	NJWorks.org	675	NJ

You’ll be forgiven for thinking ManhattanVillage.com ($860) pertains to New York City. In fact, it seems to be related to Manhattan Beach, California. MiraLoma.com ($415) is also a place in California. NJWorks.org ($675) probably stands for New Jersey – which would only be obvious to Americans.

Nutrition enthusiasts never tire of talking about Antioxidants.net ($761); so I imagine somebody with something to say will say it with that domain. All I know is they’re supposedly good for me and make food taste tediously technical. Adding “source” to a keyword is an established naming convention for outlet stores and e-commerce sites. So, yes, HeatSource.com ($715) is a standard phrase from thermodynamics; but, unlike its opposite “heat sink”, this phrase makes a good brand name selling furnaces or heating equipment.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
CounterClaim.com	672	NJ	288119.com	620	SN
Tabbloid.com [sic]	592	NJ	Design-For-All.org	590	NJ
CDED.com	590	NJ	Austin Furniture.com	567	NJ
AllenWrenches.com	565	NJ	333880.com	564	NJ
TJUS.org	550	SN	OldLaptops.com	518	NJ
NYED.com	516	NJ	JicarillaOnline.com	510	NJ
FirstThursday.info	510	NJ	KhongGiann Hadep.com	505	SN
Anthroposophy.com	505	NJ	ENFSI.org	501	NJ
BBCP.net	479	NJ	SmartChoices Program.com	475	SN
DairitenHP.com	475	SN	288117.com	455	SN
Florida Insurance.net	455	NJ	BSPGroup.com	454	NJ
XTXB.net	450	NJ	755711.com	450	NJ

If you’re like me, then you’re not entirely sure what Anthroposophy.com ($505) is. But it is a real belief system and not an invented “brandable”. OldLaptops.com ($518) – some people collect them as antiques already, believe it or not. The rest of us simply want cash back for our outdated electronics. Developed either way, this domain will turn a profit.

Our attitude toward permanence – what lasts and what doesn’t – is perhaps the most telling aspect of our culture, whatever culture that happens to be. Prior to living in New Mexico, I wouldn’t have recognized JicarillaOnline.com ($510). The spelling is Spanish; but Jicarilla is, in fact, an Apache tribe. The language is still taught. You can learn to speak it here.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
ThinkingWith Portals.com	450	SN	PQLU.com	445	NJ
MPWE.com	430	NJ	GPZC.net	429	NJ
Display Banners.com	424	SN	PRNZ.net	421	NJ
LCSF.net	420	SN	MiraLoma.com	415	SN
ASE2013.org	410	NJ	HLVZ.com	410	NJ
LoginCEE.org	410	NJ	NSFR.net	410	NJ
Kaiun.com	405	NJ	W6.biz	401	NJ
KCSG.net	400	SN	BioCrystal.com	392	SN
LadyFox.com	391	NJ	THGU.com	390	NJ
Complete WaveGuide.com	389	NJ	URMall.com	384	SN
ImageDomino.net	377	SN	AstraProject.org	375	SN
RNBX.net	370	SN	OCBX.com	365	NJ
ZGCO.com	360	NJ	558285.com	358	NJ

CompleteWaveGuide.com ($389) might mean surfing. But electromagnetic or acoustic wave guides sprang to mind first, since I had to design some once upon a time. LadyFox.com ($391) matches brands for Australian fashion and Korean cosmetics. You’ll never guess what ThinkingWithPortals.com ($450) is about. Looks like a variant of ThinkWithPortals.com, which is … a video game. Clearly.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
136818.com	350	SN	161639.com	350	SN
HQOF.com	350	NJ	1Idea.com	349	SN
LivingRoom.net	345	NJ	Korean Escorts.com	343	NJ
YBioFuels.org	340	NJ	VGWG.com	340	NJ
PMWN.net	335	SN	2567999.com	330	NJ
YXOX.com	330	NJ	WPAZ.com	329	NJ
LUZL.com	329	NJ	3567999.com	320	NJ
519589.com	320	NJ	OMShop.com	320	NJ
Divorce Settelment.com [sic]	320	NJ	NHNS.net	319	NJ
Milly.net	310	NJ	ZXHF.net	310	SN
598.club	310	SN	YLHK.net	310	SN
WBHF.net	310	SN	GGYGG.com	309	SN
LUFB.com	306	SN	QuoteKO.com	305	NJ
HotelsPerth.com	302	SN	DelcoHistory.org	300	NJ

Those LLLL.net domains are climbing, aren’t they! You’ll find 7 of them between $400 and $479, another 7 between $310 and $370, and plenty more at price points all the way down. What’s striking is that the price range for “CHIP” .NETs – i.e. vowel-less “V”-less LLLLs – now overlaps with the price range for non-CHIP .COMs – i.e. those containing a vowel or a “V”. Between $306 and $390, you’ll find 9 LLLL.com’s alongside those 7 LLLL.net’s. In addition, there’s a 5-letter item in there: GGYGG.com ($309). These days, these categories are all mixed together. That said, 4-letter .COMs range all the way up into the thousands. And the highest sales were non-CHIP CVCVs like GUMO.com ($7.3k) and VODY.com ($4.4k). That category has had years of price stability, unlike CHIPs.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
131356.com	300	SN	CoolProject.com	287	NJ
UTCPower.com	285	NJ	663181.com	280	NJ
695878.com	280	NJ	228782.com	280	NJ
IMTAOnline.net	280	NJ	HNTC.net	279	SN
RealEstate Manager.com	277	SN	337137.com	270	NJ
VMXV.com	265	NJ	BetzMaps.com	265	NJ
WinesForSale.com	265	NJ	Maintenance- Expo.com	260	NJ
FVWH.com	260	NJ	ItalyProperties.com	260	NJ
ThePyramidRock Festival.com	255	NJ	WowProducts.com	254	SN
Monaz.com	252	NJ	587726.com	250	NJ
MWST.net	250	SN	UPIJ.com	245	NJ
JoseAgar.com	244	NJ	TSED.org	244	NJ
288110.com	240	SN	CMSPromo Check.com	238	NJ
MBWL.net	229	NJ	PCHEPA.org	226	NJ
Traveling Great.com	224	SN	Munji.com	221	SN
ReggaeRadio.com	221	NJ	867239.com	220	SN
BuildAShed.com	219	SN	Kloet.com	211	SN
PFLM.net	210	SN	99801.net	210	SN
Kaabo.com	210	SN	AfterMarketing.com	210	NJ
G2RIP.com	205	SN	YouthBG.info	204	SN

CoolProject.com ($287) is a cool name for highlighting cool projects. WowProducts.com ($254) tries something similar. Sometimes all it takes in life is 1Idea.com ($349). AfterMarketing.com ($210) might be read as a single word, based on this very “aftermarket” for resold domain names.

ReggaeRadio.com ($221) is straightforward and nicely alliterative. But I’m afraid that the prices paid for ItalyProperties.com ($260) and GermanyProperties.com ($160) don’t give me much optimism for the current wholesale value of my .PROPERTIES domains. Retail prices may be another story. We shall see.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
SZPTX.com	202	NJ	BGRJ.net	195	SN
BurpeeZoid.com	194	SN	MKDM.net	192	SN
LFNF.net	191	SN	SHPRT.com	190	SN
Macquire.com	184	SN	FMMC.net	180	NJ
TiaoMen.com	180	NJ	S55S.com	179	SN
HistoryAnd Culture.com	179	SN	SportScan.com	172	SN
BDZK.net	171	SN	CRI74.org	170	SN
TipsFrom TheTList.com	169	SN	MrTeam.com	160	SN
Germany Properties.com	160	NJ	MCBR.net	155	SN
NBJ.biz	154	SN	Verken.com	153	NJ
Traslo.com	152	SN	Simplifyd.com [sic]	152	SN
PPDP.net	151	SN

TipsFromTheTList.com ($169) seems to be a book based on various travel blogs – hence “T List”. My best guess is that Verken.com ($153) is Dutch for “Explore!” MrTeam.com ($160) must be a pun on Mr. T, right?

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
PQNC.net	150	SN	LQMQ.net	150	SN
MySatisfaction.com	150	NJ	DomainForYou.com	144	SN
Yangua.com	144	SN	WarraWong.com	140	SN
PJHR.net	140	SN	NorfolkHotels.com	139	SN
CatGen.com	139	NJ	HealthInsurance Options.com	131	NJ
FreeCount.com	130	NJ	922F.com	130	SN
Puedu.com	130	SN	CowboyPal.com	130	NJ
Vavilov.com	124	SN	Ramaglia.com	124	SN
Impex-Info.org	123	NJ	LCGN.net	121	SN
330.club	121	SN	CorkFacts.com	121	NJ
Oases.org	120	NJ	SQWG.net	120	SN
Q817.com	120	SN	TheMeadow Lands.com	120	NJ

Here’s a DomainForYou.com ($144): Is something rugged and manly missing from your life? Do you feel a gnawing vacancy in your social circle that needs filling? Well, visit CowboyPal.com ($130); and order your very own cowboy pal. He’ll follow you around in Stetson and spurs, bow-legged in his chaps, sporting lasso and six shooter, thumbs firmly tucked behind a belt buckle the size of a pancake. Isn’t it about time that you were somebody’s “Howdy, Partner”? Batteries not included.