Even after researching it, this domain sale doesn’t make sense.
It all started when I read that XPJ44.COM sold for $4,105 last month according to Namebio. Even though I look at a lot of domains everyday, I must confess that I don’t understand this domain.
First, I went to Wayback Machine but found not much activity on XPJ44.COM during the last few years. That means the domain does not carry any traffic or backlinks which may be worth something.
However, Wayback Machine did point me to 0567.net where XPJ44.COM is still listed for sale. It also has many domains beginning with XPJ or ending with 44. Entering ‘xpj’ into Baidu search showed many sites related to entertainment or gambling but I did not notice any domain beginning with XPJ followed by a number in the first 10 pages of the search results.
One search result that caught my attention is GrandLisboaHotels.com, which is owned by Grand Lisboa, a Macau-based hotel that has a casino and an entertainment venue. Its name in Chinese is Xin Pu Jing (新葡京)=new Portugal capital. Macau was a colony of Portugal). So, it seems to me that the acronym XJP is associated with gambling.
Then I did a search on eName’s domain marketplace to find hundreds of domains based on the letter+number pattern ending with ’44’. This shows there are investors trading this kind of domain.
Yes, XPJ can be an acronym for many Pinyin phrases such as Xian Pi Jiu (鲜啤酒=draft beer), Xin Ping Jing (心平静=a tranquil mind), and Xiao Pei Jian (销配件=sell parts). 44 also rhymes with many Pinyin phrases such as Shi Shi (世世=generations), Shi Shi (市市=markets), and Si Shi (思世=think of the world). However, creating a meaningful and easy to remember Chinese brand from XPJ44.com is not easy. Actually, I have not come across any large Chinese company with domains similar to such a pattern.
Overall, my impression is that XJP44.com is associated with gambling and similar domains containing 44 may be limited to being traded among investors only. I fail to see how it can be used by a corporate buyer.
John says
You think that’s mysterious, ay? I have a domain worth $500 million to $1 billion+.
Kassey Lee says
At least my editor thinks it is mysterious. Ha ha!
John says
He or She is wise to do that since I’m totally serious. 🙂 People have seen me in the blogs way more than long enough now (years) to know I say what I mean and mean what I say. As you might guess, however, I won’t be saying what the domain is anytime soon. Still not the time.
Kassey Lee says
John, I have no qualifications nor intention to judge your domains. As I have written before, I’m the worst domain appraiser in the world. Who would have thought Voice.com could be sold for $30 million?
Brian B says
Sure you do
Matt says
I love the mystery here. It’s the type of rabbit hole I sometimes fall into. Don’t sleep until you get to the bottom of it 🙂
Kassey Lee says
The adage I learned from Frank Schilling (Nobody knows nothing) is a constant reminder to me that I know little about domains.
Travis says
or this is money laundering
H says
Laundering $4k? Are you serious?
Kassey Lee says
Agreed. The amount is too small.
Nottodayson says
Because they couldn’t possibly do it more than once, right?
j1ceasar says
Americans are from the moon . Chinese are from Mars.
Arpit Agrawal says
Could be the same buyer asking someone related/known, to buy it to create a hype.I happened to spot and a share a similar 4k.net sale on NamePros, where the buyer sold the domain after 30 days at a 50% loss.
It may not be an actual sale.
Looking at the 4k.net sale too, I was wondering why would someone buy a domain for $10,099 and sell for $5,099 in 30 days. Just doesn’t add up