BenPao.com at $25.7k in Chinese-dominated week for expired domains

Chinese buyers pick up the top spots last week.

Thanks to mulled cider and holiday caroling, this article appears later than usual. Fa la la la la! While these auctions took place the week prior to Christmas (December 16-22), we decided against publishing on Christmas Day.

As you can see, China came back with a vengeance. 10 sales over $2k were 4-letter .COMs, proving that category hasn’t been completely diverted  from the expiry cycle after all – not yet. As many as 17 of the top 30 auctions might be credited to China. Even the hyphenated F-Z.com ($4.9k) went to someone in Hong Kong.

Topping this list are a couple of 5-figure Pinyin domains. BenPao.com ($25.7K) means “to run” (奔跑 / bēn pǎo). And KaiYao.com ($10.5k) means “to prescribe medicine” (开药 / kāi yào). We all know that pharmaceuticals are big business. Well, it seems Chinese domain investors know it too and will often buy domains for the same reasons we do in the West – meaning meaning and relevance for end users, not just artificial scarcity among short character strings.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
BenPao.com	25,700	NJ	KaiYao.com	10,500	SN
BeanTown.com	7600	NJ	58R.com	7300	NJ
Edinburgh Hotels.com	6611	NJ	11345.com	5309	NJ
F-Z.com	4900	NJ	WJR.net	4400	NJ
Glasgow Hotels.com	4159	NJ	KidZui.com	3400	NJ
TXMS.com	3300	NJ	TXMR.com	2999	NJ
KCWL.com	2809	NJ	FuelPrices.com	2800	NJ
WKYH.com	2722	NJ	SDTS.com	2650	NJ
EDDS.com	2602	NJ	FMRS.com	2600	NJ
Energetica.com	2576	NJ	LVSA.com	2440	NJ
DWND.com	2381	NJ	RBKD.com	2160	NJ

BeanTown.com ($7.6k) is a nickname for Boston, Massachusetts, where the puritans used to bake beans on Saturday to avoid cooking on Sunday. Even the Beantown Tavern in North Carolina bills itself as a “traditional Boston bar”. One possible end user would be a training camp in Massachusetts called Beantown Classic, which organizes showcase tournaments for Women’s ice hockey. But Boston isn’t a given, since the Beantown.Cafe in Sierra Madre, California, appears to be thinking only of coffee beans.

KidZui was an internet browser especially designed for children. Evidently, a Wikipedia article wasn’t enough to ensure the project’s longevity. Some time between 2006 and now, those kids began browsing with somebody else.

Energetica.com, which to English speakers looks like an invented “brandable”, is also simply the Portuguese adjective for “energy”. That meaning accounts for Brazilian websites like Energetica.ind.br and CEIEnergetica.com.br. (“CEI” = Companhia Energética Integrada; so their domain actually refers to the word twice.)

Yet there are Energetica brands scattered across the entire planet: both Bolivia and India have their own Energeticas; in Australia, Energetica designs websites; in the Netherlands, Energetica sells nutritional supplements; renewable energy news is gathered at Energetica-International.com; and an investment initiative for Aberdeen in Scotland’s energy corridor uses the subdomain Energetica.uk.com. Alongside EdinburghHotels.com ($6.6k) and GlasgowHotlels.com ($4.2k), that would make quite the week for Scottish domains.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
Webmasters.org	1802	NJ	9987777.com	1601	NJ
Alcohol Delivery.com	1510	NJ	SolarFuel.com	1500	NJ
999298.com	1410	NJ	Drunk.org	1311	NJ
366168.com	1303	SN	iJack.com	1282	NJ
SkySpan.com	1236	NJ	SUEL.com	1210	NJ
6878999.com	1111	SN	ChildPolicy INTL.org	1001	NJ
RenChun.com	969	NJ	AppServe.com	913	SN
1711888.com	913	SN	CrazyPC.com	865	NJ
APNews Registry.com	849	NJ	Digital Wireless.com	825	NJ

SkySpan.com ($1.2k) could upgrade SRPSkySpan.com, a Georgia-based supplier of commercial outdoor umbrellas. Or it could help Australia’s SkySpan – a manufacturer of skylights – go global with .COM. Actually, there’s yet another Australian SkySpan in the very same niche as the U.S. company; and they have websites at both Skyspan-Umbrellas.com.au and SkyspanShade.com.au. Same product category? Same brand name? Quite crowded, eh! Ownership of SkySpan.com may not settle who the “real” SkySpan is, but I daresay it would influence which of them consumers gravitate towards.

RenChun.com ($969) may be a personal name. APNewsRegistry.com ($849) must refer to the Associated Press. Adding “INTL” as an abbreviation for “international” – e.g. ChildPolicyINTL.org ($1.0k) – is the sort of awkward makeshift we’ve grown accustomed to seeing over the years. Naming conventions like that arise due to pressure from perceived domain scarcity and a reluctance to go long. But I predict that such fallback options will become less common in the future, partly due to greater TLD variety.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
PrintWeb.com	760	NJ	YunBaiKe.com	759	NJ
MidTown RealEstate.com	755	NJ	Intelligent Finance.com	742	NJ
LocateIP.com	730	NJ	AutoriteApsara.org	716	SN
UpChucky.com	701	NJ	Hypios.com	699	NJ
223773.com	695	NJ	LaCruz.com	665	NJ
KYRE.com	651	NJ	322877.com	630	NJ
GFES.com	629	NJ	NHAD.com	610	NJ
116363.com	610	NJ	BettingAmerica.com	589	NJ
EMIF.com	586	NJ	BankCapital.com	585	NJ
PeneSalud.com	550	SN	DEAX.com	529	NJ
JS531.com	521	SN	Elope.net	511	NJ
MeritCare.com	511	NJ	Castix.com	492	NJ

Numerics had a relatively lackluster showing, compared to Chinese Pinyin and LLLL .COM domains this week and also measured against their own performance during previous weeks. A single 5-digit domain scored $5.3k; but, apart from that, results at SnapNames and NameJet fell between $303 and $1.6k. Mainly these are 6 and 7-digit .COMs, of which there are 1 million and 10 million possible, respectively. If all 7N domains were registered, then on average 27,397 would expire or be renewed daily.

At $511, Elope.net is the biggest .NET auction in this list after WJR.net ($4.4k). AutoriteApsara.org ($716) isn’t “auto rite” for cars; it’s French (autorité). You see, the Cambodian authority that manages the ruins of Angkor, capital of the medieval Khmer empire, is called APSARA.

LaCruz.com ($665) could be a surname or any number of place names throughout Latin America. UpChucky.com ($701), which sounds for all the world like vomit, was apparently owned by someone named Chuck. Near as I can tell, it spent 15 years as a site for jokes and novelties.

New York isn’t the world. NYC isn’t New York. Manhattan isn’t the whole of New York City. Midtown is merely a slice of Manhattan. Yet MidtownRealEstate.com can still easily fetch $755.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
ScreenPlay Writing.com	445	NJ	VMCW.com	429	NJ
RoboticVacuum.com	415	NJ	NeedForDrive.com	411	NJ
HealthyTraining.com	402	NJ	KMG-Ethiopia.org	402	SN
EXCB.com	400	NJ	RechargeNow.com	399	NJ
AiDaMi.com	389	NJ	BlockLand.com	389	NJ
DigiTab.com	382	NJ	PerfectBlinds.com	362	NJ
AutismOnline.org	360	NJ	717880.com	358	SN
ZWNews.com	350	NJ	UCOX.com	350	NJ
RBLN.net	344	SN	AWVN.com	343	NJ
HLSD.net	342	NJ	BroadWorks.com	341	NJ
PCWH.net	340	NJ	XPLS.net	340	NJ
Motivational.net	340	NJ	HealthIndustry Council.org	339	NJ
ZQSP.net	339	SN	997595.com	331	NJ
LCSM.net	331	NJ	UNKD.com	330	NJ
Automir.com	329	SN	GFFC.net	329	SN
TLTT.net	320	NJ	MTCT.net	319	SN
AEAX.com	310	NJ	QLUZ.com	304	NJ
ZMWG.net	304	SN	NNYS.net	304	SN
HQMR.net	304	SN	9978899.com	303	NJ
211919.com	300	NJ	LNKK.net	300	SN

Motivational.net ($340) reminds me of this self-help seminar, which is right up domainer alley:

Automir seems to be a Russian brand name. It spans multiple automotive websites. Indeed, the ccTLDs run the gamut from Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Bulgaria to Russia, Germany, and the USA. Judging by the logos, these may be separate companies.

ScreenPlayWriting.com ($445) would usually be called simply “screen writing”. A possible meaning for AiDaMi.com ($389) is “love rice”, since dà mǐ (大米) is “rice” and “ai” can mean love. Then again, ái dǎ (挨打) means “to get thrashed” or “take a beating”.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
MSLF.net	299	SN	FunSilly.com	295	NJ
BFZJ.net	294	SN	ZJQT.net	292	SN
FWWP.net	291	NJ	LKRJ.net	291	SN
DTLY.net	289	SN	GZCR.net	286	SN
HXJT.net	284	SN	KSTH.net	284	SN
MQYM.net	284	SN	GQDM.net	284	SN
CGMX.net	284	SN	ZQLS.net	281	SN
WHKZ.net	281	SN	MSKS.net	281	SN
GZQW.net	280	SN	WHNF.net	280	SN
115HH.com	280	NJ	CCHR.net	280	NJ
TFWB.net	280	NJ	CPDS.net	279	NJ
KHCJ.net	279	SN	DGZC.net	279	SN
WDC.biz	276	SN	HZKQ.net	275	SN

As you can see, 4-letter .NETs enter the chart at $344 and go all the way down to (and past) my $250 cutoff. Within that range, LLLL.net domains outnumber everything else. There are nearly 80 of them.

Domain	End $	At	Domain	End $	At
GCJN.net	274	SN	CDNL.net	271	NJ
KlarNet.net	270	SN	ICLP2013.org	265	NJ
RPNS.net	262	NJ	DKNR.net	262	NJ
JKXY.net	261	SN	DMPJ.net	261	SN
FNLX.net	261	SN	ZZFQ.net	260	NJ
NHVU.com	260	NJ	Frety.net	260	NJ
THML.net	260	NJ	Idaho SnowBiz.com	259	NJ
NXBL.net	259	NJ	FBCD.net	259	NJ
Baltimore Velo.com	259	NJ	LFNX.net	259	SN
QDLD.net	255	SN	TGHW.net	255	SN
QDXF.net	255	SN	QDWQ.net	255	SN
DGQS.net	255	SN	SQPR.net	255	SN
SPNW.net	255	SN	LJKD.net	255	SN
PJGQ.net	255	SN	YSWP.net	255	SN
MPNT.net	255	SN	MFRW.net	255	SN
KPKM.net	255	SN	PPBK.net	254	SN
RDFG.net	254	SN	SNTJ.net	254	SN
QNSD.net	254	SN	DTKS.net	254	SN
SSKX.net	254	SN	RRedWare.com [sic]	253	NJ
WCGX.net	251	SN	MQNM.net	251	SN
DGLL.net	251	SN	JSLS.net	250	SN
Mangda.com	250	NJ