Any bets: Who needs to be more frequently Flead.com ($211) – an ewok or Chewbacca? Seeing Adorno.com ($2.8k) in the charts this week, I’m sorely tempted to bore everybody with an essay on the philosopher, Theodor Adorno, who’ll never let me forget that “the splinter in your eye is the best magnifying glass”. He’d take a fairly dim view of domaining. Come to think of it, every other sentence the man wrote was a yelp in response to some metaphysical flea bite. So Adorno beats ewoks and Chewbacca hands down.
China didn’t make the top 3 sales, but it came in 4th and 5th. Compared to previous weeks, this represents a rebound. Among the top 30 expired domain auctions from NameJet / SnapNames, 14 can be credited to China, representing 41% by spending. (Last week saw 11 and 32%.)
Why the rebound? Simple. 8 LLLL.com domains, not counting RASU.com ($6.2k). Even the non-“CHIP” XCAD.com drew a $2.1k high bid from China. Two weeks ago, it looked like the expiry channel might have dried up as a source of 4-letter .COMs. But apparently some owners are still abandoning their property, despite domainers’ efforts to preempt the auction process with direct purchases. Clearly, this category has not yet been 100% absorbed by active websites and wholesale traders.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milford.com | 15352 | NJ | RASU.com | 6150 | NJ |
| iVoice.com | 5133 | NJ | JDCF.com | 4109 | NJ |
| 888662.com | 4035 | NJ | Restorm.com | 3600 | NJ |
| HCWL.com | 3150 | NJ | BabySlings.com | 3088 | NJ |
| 81269.com | 2922 | NJ | ProMarket.com | 2802 | NJ |
| Adorno.com | 2757 | NJ | WanRi.com | 2606 | NJ |
| ProjectSolutions.com | 2511 | NJ | SPBB.com | 2500 | NJ |
Milford.com ($15.4k) is a city in at least 5 states – the largest being a small Connecticut town with barely 50,000 residents. To put that in perspective, the German music website Restorm.com ($3.6k) had over 39,000 members in 2012 … shortly before it became a ghost town. Here’s what it once was.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DriveTech.com | 2388 | NJ | BillingService.com | 2323 | NJ |
| SXBC.com | 2309 | NJ | ZDNB.com | 2299 | NJ |
| 81592.com | 2200 | NJ | XCAD.com | 2100 | NJ |
| CRXC.com | 2100 | NJ | 83208.com | 1900 | NJ |
| Techtonic.com | 1888 | NJ | HWNL.com | 1880 | NJ |
| 816288.com | 1705 | SN | Braces.net | 1700 | NJ |
| 866.biz | 1610 | NJ | MovieProps.com | 1595 | NJ |
| CAPS.org | 1550 | NJ | DataSpark.com | 1519 | NJ |
| Canhao.com | 1505 | NJ | 819288.com | 1470 | SN |
Since Techtonic.com ($1.9k) fails the radio test, that pun will need to be explained, explained, explained until the joke is utterly eroded. Blunder? Well, it turned out alright for the Beatles. While we’re on the topic of geology, Canhao.com ($1.5k) – properly “canhão” –means “canyon” in Portuguese. Rivers and tectonic plates aren’t the only agents of geologic change, as the dinosaurs and the Quebecois might tell you. (See below.)
$1.6k was a great deal for the “category killer” MovieProps.com. Producers rent them; fans collect them. Many companies live within this niche. DriveTech.com ($2.4k) and DataSpark.com ($1.5k) are a pair of short ‘n sweet brandables. Each matches more than 1 existing website; and that fact explains the bidding. So domainers should not infer that this is the appropriate wholesale price range for names they invented yesterday.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SpyGadget.com | 1450 | NJ | 333131.com | 1410 | NJ |
| BestLogic.com | 1408 | NJ | PrinterToner.com | 1393 | NJ |
| CityServe.com | 1312 | NJ | HairDesigns.com | 1309 | NJ |
| 813788.com | 1250 | SN | 859788.com | 1155 | SN |
| 20465.com | 1111 | NJ | 819388.com | 1105 | SN |
| JoomlaTP.com | 1100 | NJ | Niessen.com | 925 | SN |
| Inpact.com | 915 | NJ | Compacto.com | 905 | NJ |
| Cichi.com | 875 | SN | AusOpen.org | 780 | NJ |
| SureChem.com | 760 | NJ | PSPUG.org | 760 | NJ |
If we uncouple the 2 auction platforms, it turns out SnapNames is a hotbed of bidding for Chinese-style inventory. Last week, the top 5 expiry auctions there were all 6-digit numerical domains ($1.1k – $1.7k). This pattern could go unnoticed, since NameJet tends to overshadow its smaller cousin. No 2 auction venues behave quite the same way.
You’d find Compacto.com ($905) in the Spanish for “compact disc”. Remember those? Apart from CDs, Compacto.co.uk and Compacto.de both lead to a company that makes shredding machines; so I expect that’s where the .COM is headed. Meanwhile, AusOpen.org ($780) might end up tennis or golf.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 857388.com | 730 | SN | FSII.com | 730 | NJ |
| LinkPop.com | 719 | NJ | Paralegals.net | 715 | NJ |
| Ikonix.com | 707 | NJ | Healthylicious.com | 661 | NJ |
| SimScience.org | 660 | NJ | FlameOut.com | 631 | NJ |
| 853788.com | 630 | SN | 1112333.com | 620 | NJ |
| 768787.com | 611 | NJ | NCME.com | 601 | NJ |
| 588787.com | 565 | NJ | SpeedBack.com | 565 | NJ |
| G9G9.com | 565 | NJ | FuelOffers.com | 565 | NJ |
| JS1355.com | 550 | SN | 351222.com | 545 | SN |
| WillPowered.com | 545 | NJ | Dealer Advantage.com |
535 | NJ |
| NaiHeng.com | 530 | NJ | Animated.net | 510 | NJ |
| TheWorking Proof.com |
510 | NJ | MarkRyan.com | 510 | NJ |
| Win-HEC.org | 501 | SN | PIDHDD.org | 501 | SN |
| 997889.com | 500 | NJ | PhoenixDUI Attorney.com |
496 | NJ |
Ikonix.com ($707) matches the name of a bicycle brand. Aha! Cybersquatting? Cybersquatting?!?! Hold your horses! It’s also an investment firm, a PR agency, a Kiwi computer store, a UK telecommunications company, and an Australian group specializing in projector stage effects. Supply = 1. Demand > 1. The free market can sort out that issue.
With so many bids diverted to numerics and CHIPs, some buyers are finding less competition in other areas. Take .NET as an example. Orthodontists in every city earn their livelihood through braces, and a single customer brings in $5k – $13k directly, assuming no referrals. Compared to that revenue, what’s $1.7k for Braces.net? Paralegals.net ($715) isn’t bad either, considering the word defines a whole profession. Between 997889.com ($500) and Animated.net ($510), I know which I’d prefer to own.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Interactive.com |
493 | NJ | Ladder.org | 450 | NJ |
| BlueNinja.com | 446 | NJ | DeerHound.com | 433 | NJ |
| 388787.com | 432 | NJ | 288787.com | 430 | NJ |
| Sidar.com | 419 | SN | GEQJ.com | 419 | NJ |
| ANJM.com | 390 | NJ | TriNode.com | 380 | NJ |
| MacrosSF.com | 378 | SN | ArchivoGeneralDe Centroamerica.com |
375 | SN |
| Public- International- Law.net |
375 | SN | CQGI.com | 370 | NJ |
| ThePixel Boutique.com |
369 | SN | Umista.org | 360 | NJ |
| Prizim.com | 360 | NJ | ABIFinancial.com | 357 | NJ |
| ShoBan.com | 345 | NJ | 228787.com | 345 | NJ |
| EJDS.org | 342 | NJ | Jewelry Xchange.com |
340 | NJ |
| PQED.com | 339 | NJ | 203366.com | 335 | SN |
| 0793.biz | 335 | SN | BigelowHouse.org | 334 | NJ |
The U’mista Cultural Society maintains a museum in British Columbia, Canada. Tribal dancing was outlawed for the better part of a century, and many of these artifacts had been confiscated by the government. Apparently the word “u’mista” means “when something is returned to its rightful owner”. Ideally the domain Umista.org ($360) will go to a project of equal merit.
ShoBan.com ($345) also has a Native American meaning. It’s an abbreviation for the Shoshone-Bannock tribes, who traditionally lived in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and Oregon but whose territory now consists of a tiny Idaho reservation by the Snake River. (800 square miles equates to a 16-mile radius.) This “ShoBan” abbreviation is used for their own news site as well as – yep, you guessed it – the casino hotel.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QFON.com | 330 | NJ | 57778888.com | 325 | SN |
| LookingDown.com | 321 | NJ | MZMV.com | 320 | NJ |
| CSRIU.org | 311 | NJ | NightSky Events.com |
310 | NJ |
| PTUV.com | 310 | NJ | GFCM.org | 310 | NJ |
| 958938.com | 309 | NJ | VDEH.com | 301 | NJ |
| Sonoran.org | 295 | NJ | Celebrations.org | 295 | SN |
| DeckCast.com | 292 | NJ | 995797.com | 289 | NJ |
| SBYP.net | 279 | NJ | MDMK.net | 279 | SN |
| 77QE.org | 279 | SN | XXQ.biz | 275 | SN |
| 398787.com | 270 | NJ | GNFG.net | 266 | NJ |
| JABA.org | 265 | NJ | GetSharp.com | 265 | NJ |
| EnergyHack.com | 262 | NJ | EZWeed.com | 261 | NJ |
| Tourisme Manicouagan.com |
261 | NJ | Chartered- Health.com |
257 | NJ |
| DigitalSocial Research.net |
250 | NJ | 995765.com | 250 | NJ |
The Manicouagan Crater is 62 miles (100 km) across – big enough to hold 4 ShoBan reservations. In fact, what it does hold is a huge annular (meaning ring-shaped) lake. Apparently it only took a 3-mile-thick asteroid to make that big a dent … 200+ million years ago when dinosaurs were fresh on the scene. As you might guess from the French + Native American name in TourismeManicouagan.com ($261), the asteroid was aiming for Quebec.
If you plan on LookingDown.com ($321) on someone, then throw him into that crater or get yourself a long Ladder.org ($450). Otherwise, you might have to look him in the eye.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DaraTech.com | 249 | NJ | DDXF.net | 249 | SN |
| FlyFriendly Skies.com |
245 | NJ | 995769.com | 239 | NJ |
| 995675.com | 231 | NJ | HolidayCity Europe.com |
230 | SN |
| CEC-2009.org | 230 | SN | KYNC.net | 229 | SN |
| PYJX.net | 228 | NJ | 995695.com | 220 | NJ |
| BMDN.net | 220 | NJ | NSCG.net | 219 | SN |
| Photo Essentials.com |
215 | NJ | Bonvo.com | 212 | SN |
| Flead.com | 211 | SN | QCSL.net | 210 | NJ |
| DCXM.net | 209 | NJ | London Cruises.com |
209 | NJ |
| BHFD.net | 209 | SN | ITUnlimited.com | 208 | NJ |
| Contemporary Jewelry.com |
206 | NJ | HDYM.net | 205 | SN |
| FZFD.net | 204 | SN | Aspen Construction.com |
201 | SN |
| SDNQ.net | 201 | SN | 995697.com | 201 | NJ |
| LSAS.org | 200 | NJ | 669575.com | 200 | NJ |
| HTHM.net | 200 | NJ | GJTW.net | 200 | SN |
Will DaraTech.com ($249) be a new BBC show featuring “Mock the Week” host Dara O’Briain? Doubtful. But here’s what Dara says about tech:
LondonCruises.com ($209) must be great for nymph-spotting, if Edmund Spenser is to be believed. “Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song”.
P.S. Take that, Adorno!
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