Chinese domain company reports six-figure English-language domain sale.
According to West.cn via eName, Codebank.com recently sold for about 1 million yuan (about $150,000). (Link to source at West.cn removed because no longer active.)
Whois record shows the domain was registered in 2002. Wayback machine’s first record of Codebank.com is 2004, but no real website development has been done ever since.
CodeBank.com already has a sales page and the domain is being brokered by domain brokerage firm eName.
I did a Baidu search and found two similar domains already developed into Chinese websites: Codebank.cn (cloud-based coding services) and Codebank.me (code depository).
There is great demand for English domains in China. Many startups prefer English brand and domain, likely because they aspire to become a global business. I see this trend almost every day when I read Chinese venture capital news.
How can we bank on this opportunity? Make sure your domains are also exposed to potential buyers in China. This can be achieved by listing your domain at a marketplace that has retail outlets in China. A good example is Afternic, which I use predominantly. I just set a price for a domain and let Afternic handle the rest. This approach has the added benefits of overcoming the language and payment barriers.
AbdulBasit.com says
Fantastic sale! I believe many domain owners wouldn’t have sold for that price.
Congrats to both parties.
Thanks for sharing Kassey.
Kassey Lee says
We are going to see more English domains sold for impressive prices in China.
Mansour says
My be I am missing something what is Codebank.com means for a website??
Kassey Lee says
I’m not sure if I understand your question, Mansour. The two examples in the article — Codebank.cn and Codebank.me — are websites dealing with code.