Constipated.com, Roper.com and more expired domain name sales

Last time, China was conspicuously absent from the high end of NameJet / SnapNames expired domain auctions; and I proposed 1 theory as to why. Since then, Chinese-style domains have made a comeback; but they’re clearly playing second fiddle.

China placed 3 sales among the top 10, ranking #4, #5, and #6. In the top 20, another 5. Reaching out to the top 30, you’ll find just 3 more Chinese domains. That’s a fairly uniform 37% spread – 32% by spending. Compare that to China’s presence in top NameJet auctions overall during November. My estimate there went as high as 77% by count and 85% by spending.

This discrepancy is very significant. It means that China dominates bidder attention where owner sellers are found behind the auctions, but China is far less significant within the hands-off expiry cycle. Two factors are in play:

1. The most sought after Chinese-style domains have been accumulated by resellers, leaving the expired market increasingly barren.
2. Seller marketing always distorts buying patterns. That’s the point.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
Roper.com	19,100	NJ	Constipated.com	12,301	NJ
Medical Doctor.com	11,100	NJ	WeiFan.com	9320	NJ
92926.com	6100	NJ	TPSG.com	5000	NJ
GoMax.com	4600	NJ	Masuo.com	4400	NJ
Archivo.com	3300	NJ	Bellon.com	3200	NJ
58675.com	3100	NJ	Mimos.com	2700	NJ
FastApp.com	2601	NJ	LYMY.com	2503	NJ

Roper is a surname. But people name their companies after themselves. (For a family business, that’s more about trust than vanity.) Consequently, Roper.com ($19.1k) matches multiple brands: clothing, appliances, pumps, imaging, public opinion surveys, etc. Similarly, Masuo.com ($4.4k) is a Japanese personal name, which has lent itself to railway stations, sushi restaurants, and the like. Conceivably, the buyer may turn out to be Chinese.

WeiFan.com ($9.3k) is Chinese Pinyin for “violate” (违反 / wéi fǎn). As in:

The remaining 10 Chinese domains were evenly split between numerics and 4-letter .COMs. But that Pinyin item outsold them.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
HG4988.com	2330	NJ	TWKG.com	2201	NJ
WJKL.com	2131	NJ	CECY.com	1925	NJ
Gendercide.org	1690	NJ	OnRequest.com	1644	NJ
SliverCoin.com	1600	NJ	GATT.org	1600	NJ
Azana.com	1421	NJ	AIKK.com	1400	NJ
SmartMesh.com	1319	NJ	2004.net	1210	NJ
IXL.net	1109	NJ	Juber.com	971	NJ
FishStick.com	962	NJ	84908.com	920	NJ
ZQIT.com	915	NJ	IRConnect.com	863	NJ
FlameProofing.com	787	NJ	Chile-USA.org	787	NJ
33288.net	761	NJ	BottinWeb.com	710	NJ

Precious metals are the oldest store of monetary value I can think of. So it’s interesting (and faintly amusing) to see which trendy domains eclipsed SilverCoin.com ($1.6k). Juber.com ($971) is a surname. Gendercide.org ($1.7k) looks like a pun on “genocide”.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
261288.com	704	SN	Dresser.net	675	NJ
TombInns Design.com	664	SN	BanDUI.com	626	SN
EuropeOfTales.net	625	SN	OPSD.com	620	NJ
Graysons.com	610	NJ	TBICardiff Airport.com	606	NJ
StyleMatic.com	602	NJ	Citizen-Soldier.org	551	SN
LemonSalt.com	529	NJ	Kurihara.com	526	NJ
ProtectionAnd Advocacy.com	510	NJ	AuthorityPro.com	510	NJ
Grovelands.com	509	NJ	Premier Listing.com	475	NJ
991889.com	470	NJ	3221111.com	461	NJ
CargoTerminal.com	457	NJ	GrrlGamer.com	456	NJ
SCAR2014.com	445	SN	XiaoHaiGui.com	430	NJ
EQFB.com	425	SN	91166.net	425	NJ
Harbauer.com	425	NJ	Vintage Blades.com	418	NJ
Provox.com	411	NJ	AJAG.com	405	NJ

Grovelands.com ($509) matches a recruiting firm built on the matching .CO.UK; Graysons.com ($610) an instrument shop and a hotel. Both are surnames. We’re seeing a lot of those lately. Harbauer.com ($425) is another; one Harbauer is a German company specializing in air and water purification.

The “grrl” in GrrlGamer.com ($456) isn’t a typo; it’s a female-empowering growl. Grrrr! In BanDUI.com ($626), “DUI” stands for “driving under the influence” of alcohol (or other intoxicants). It’s the legal term for drunk driving here in the states – what Brits perversely call “drink driving”. VintageBlades.com ($418) might upgrade this site straight razors. Kurihara.com ($526) is a Japanese city.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
SmartPolymers.com	403	NJ	DwyerLaw.com	382	NJ
PVTN.com	379	NJ	WallaShops.com	378	SN
NovoDesign.com	375	NJ	Potato2008.org	370	NJ
ClinicPlus.com	363	NJ	Otavo.com	359	NJ
FEJZ.com	350	SN	XBUC.net	343	NJ
Octagon Properties.com	343	NJ	WWWG.net	340	NJ
288328.com	327	NJ	CRRRR.com	320	NJ
MauiPhoto.com	320	NJ	Hair-News.com	305	NJ
AJUT.com	300	NJ	SplitStone.com	298	NJ
GolfIsland.com	298	NJ	APEW.com	290	NJ
BeautyMasters.com	281	SN	NXWI.com	280	NJ
UHBU.com	269	NJ	GreenLime.com	268	NJ
ZSVB.com	261	NJ	VLQU.com	260	NJ
VQEL.com	260	NJ	Orlando Ballet.com	260	NJ

SmartPolymers.com ($403) are very cool. Plastics that switch from hard to soft on command? Materials that become transparent or water-permeable when desired? Substances that remember their shape? Smart fertilizers? You get the idea. Scads of applications. Shrink wrap is a familiar example.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
ArtsCenter OldForge.org	254	NJ	NovaStudios.com	247	NJ
DareTo Prepare.org	240	NJ	Shanghai Media.com	235	SN
BGJK.net	230	SN	CircleOf Inclusion.org	220	NJ
PUHU.net	220	SN	ZCDJ.net	220	SN
JWJG.net	220	SN	TXKW.net	220	NJ
NCastro.org	220	SN	SKXP.net	219	SN
YCSF.net	218	SN	MDNB.net	215	SN
Arsenale2012.com	211	SN	AidsAction.org	211	NJ
TracStar.com	209	NJ	HHKB.net	209	NJ
MYTK.net	205	SN	HBYD.net	205	SN
PermaShield.com	205	NJ	Billiga.com	205	NJ
KWMR.net	201	SN	YMSB.net	200	SN
CCGL.net	200	SN	TFBB.net	200	NJ
523368.com	200	NJ	MPSF.org	200	NJ

As with last week, China is most in evidence in the lower price range – among 4-letter .NETs. I see a couple around $340, but everything else falls below $230. If you were to look at LLL.net’s, you’d see some very impressive sales lats week; but those were not expired auctions. 4-letter .NETs remain 1 of the Chinese categories not yet extinct within the expired domain market.

Now, some disclaimer must be given about all my references to “Chinese domains”. When attributing sales to China, I primarily look to the domain style itself and not the buyer’s nationality. So, for example, if an American buys a “CHIP” like TWKG.com ($2.2k), then I give the tally mark to China. That said, if a Western-looking short domain is purchased by a Chinese buyer, then I also give credit to China.

The underlying assumption is that Western domainers hope to be suppliers for China but Chinese domainers seldom aim to sell to the West. With expired domain auctions, the buyer’s identity is frequently unknown at the time of writing. So I cannot assign credit based on nationality.

The other assumption is that Chinese-style domains will ultimately be owned by actual Chinese registrants. Yet with so much speculation and wishful thinking these days on the part of non-Chinese domainers, it’s likely that many seemingly Chinese domains will never reach China. We’ve seen huge numbers freshly registered in TLDs with minimal history of Chinese market demand. What should we call them? Maybe they’ll become Chinese, or maybe they’ll wind up plain “Chinesey”.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
PFCR.net	199	SN	CZPL.net	199	SN
YMSJ.net	199	SN	685667.com	198	NJ
YZFQ.net	195	SN	WSZN.net	194	NJ
SYBS.net	191	SN	GBKP.net	191	SN
PNMS.net	191	SN	Flutter.net	190	SN
SNJC.net	190	SN	JS5505.com	190	SN
JFRT.net	190	NJ	NijiToMidori.org	190	NJ
Indo JobHunter.com	189	SN	SJSL.net	187	SN
SXPH.net	185	SN	LKN.biz	184	SN
ZMK.biz	184	SN	QQLP.net	183	NJ
WJWC.net	183	NJ	KZXY.net	180	SN
MTQR.net	180	SN	BYCX.net	179	NJ
RYTP.net	175	NJ	GGMB.net	175	NJ
XPCL.net	175	SN	TNQ.biz	174	SN
Mercator Minerals.com	174	NJ	SXN.biz	174	SN
HowTo DayTrade.com	172	NJ	PGMP.net	171	SN
GNTR.net	171	NJ	BKSH.net	170	NJ
YNRY.net	170	NJ	YGXX.net	170	NJ
613196.com	170	SN	Morgan Museum.org	168	NJ
MyHomeSpa.com	164	SN	ZKYUN.com	164	SN
NQYJ.net	162	SN	SZRT.net	160	SN
TSRT.net	160	SN	823116.com	159	NJ
PBFZ.net	158	SN	MKTB.net	158	SN
3861.org	154	SN	HoerZentrum.com	151	SN

NijiToMidori.org ($190) was a political organization – part of the green movement within Japan. Hoerzentrum.com ($151) would be “hearing center” in German, unless I’m mistaken. Several websites could upgrade to that domain.

What do we think, folks? In future years, will 4-letter .NETs be traded mainly outside the expiration cycle – as 2 and 3-letter .COMs long have been? If they’re mostly bought up by resellers and market values stay high enough to justify renewal, then that’s the likely outcome. Or will market demand subside, causing some owners to drop their LLLL.net inventory, putting it back on the expiry cycle next year? If 4-letter .NETs vanish from the expiry cycle, that doesn’t necessarily mean prices will have gone up further – only that liquidity incentivizes owners to sell rather than drop. Will we see China and expired domain auctions part ways? Or will buyers simply move on to some new category where domains continue to be abandoned?