Sizing the domain name aftermarket

Please provide me with data to estimate the size of the domain name aftermarket.

How big is the domain name aftermarket? How much dollar volume of domain names sell on the aftermarket each year?

It’s a challenging question to answer, which is why estimates vary widely. It’s hard to come up with accurate numbers when the inputs are hard to come by. Most large domain investors are privately held. Those that are publicly held offer many services and don’t break out aftermarket sales.

A recent Boston Consulting Group study estimates that 1.25 million domains changed hands in the aftermarket last year and that domain investors own 27.7 million .com domains. That implies a 4.5% sell-through rate (assuming we’re just looking at .com), which is well above what domain investors achieve. Based on the methodology, it’s possible that the study also considers expired domain sales, which might account for the high sale rate, but then the average sales price in the study is too high.

With this in mind, I’m going to explore piecing together how big the domain aftermarket is. It will be challenging and I’d like your help. Please send me any data you think might be helpful. This includes data you have captured about the largest domain investors, or your own data if you have a large portfolio or operate a service that captures domain data. I will keep data sources confidential and will only present information in aggregate.