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A four character domain for $16,500? Here’s why

by — Expired Domains 5 Comments

Kassey Lee explains why this seemingly random combination is valuable in China.

Screenshot of the website at 23zw.com in 2011

Here’s how 23zw.com looked in 2011 when an air conditioning company owned it.

It’s no fun watching the 4 character (4C) domain space everyday to see prices of many of these domains selling for only $10 to $20. However, once in a while, when a spectacular sale does occur, I want to know more about the domain. This happened last month when 23ZW.com sold for $16,500.

In fact, 23ZW.com has a rich history related to China. Wayback Machine at Archive.org indicates that the domain was first recorded in 2011. In that year, 23ZW.com was the corporate domain of An Shan Zhong Wang (鞍山众旺), a manufacturer of residential and commercial air conditioners. Here, 23 rhymes with An Shan (鞍山 = a city name in the Liaoning province) and ZW is an acronym for Zhong Wang (众旺 = multitude of prosperity). So, 23ZW matched the company name.

A year later, the domain was probably dropped. In December 2013, 23ZW.com was turned into a fiction portal called Ao Shi Zhong Wen Wang (傲世中文网). Here, 23 rhymes slightly with Ao Shi (傲世 = very proud) and ZW is an acronym for Zhong Wen (中文 = Chinese). Again, 23ZW was used in a meaningful way.

In April this year, the site displayed a message to direct readers to their new site 23ZW.me as 23ZW.com would be closed soon. In May 23ZW.com displayed only a simple landing page with links to some Chinese betting sites. 23ZW.com displayed the message “This domain name expired on 26/10/2019 and is pending renewal or deletion.” last month, so I guess the owner simply let the domain expire.

The history of 23ZW.com shows that this 4C domain was used in a genuine way by end users in China. Similar use of 4C domains can also be found in the 2018 Top 100 Chinese Internet Companies Report. Two companies on the list are using 4C domains.

One is 21CN.com, which is one of the top 10 portals in China. This domain is owned by 21CN (世纪龙信息), a subsidiary of China Telecom. Here, 21 refers to the 21st century and CN probably means “China”. Another one is 52TT.com which is owned by TT Yu Yin (TT语音), a social game developer. While I could not find any explanation for the domain, 52 rhymes with Wo Yao (我要 = I want) and TT may refer to names of some characters in a game.

As the examples of 23ZW.com, 21CN.com, and 52TT.com show, 4C domains do have genuine demand from end users in China—if they meaningful.

I’d bid more if…

by — Expired Domains 4 Comments

Both GoDaddy Auctions and NameJet could make small changes that drive more bidding.

picture of auction gavel with the words "I'd bid more if..."

I’ve acquired roughly 200 expired domain names this year. Most of these have been on the lower end, pricewise. I’d bid more on auctions, especially the higher-end ones, if the expired domain marketplaces made a couple of simple changes.

I’d bid more at GoDaddy if… the site let you bulk upload to a watchlist. Currently, you have to search for each domain individually and then click the watch icon to add it to your list.

I add domains to my watchlist at GoDaddy so that they show up in the app. Then I get an alert when the auction is ending so that I can place my bid.

But because the process of adding domains is so laborious, I only add a fraction of what I would otherwise.

GoDaddy should add a “bulk add to watchlist” feature that’s as easy as bulk backordering at NameJet.

I’d bid more at NameJet if… its app alerts worked. They don’t, and that means I miss the end of most domain auctions. It’s frustrating, and I end up usually not bothering with NameJet because of this.

.Org domains with rich history top expired domain sales

by — Expired Domains 4 Comments

A three-word .org domain name with lots of backlinks was the top expired domain sale at Web.com last month.

Screenshot of KnowYourStuff.org

KnowYourStuff.org, circa 2016. Screenshot from Screenshots.com.

Web.com’s domain auction platforms grossed nearly $300,000 from sales of domains at $2,000 or more last month. The combined total includes both NameJet and SnapNames.

Surprisingly, a three-word .org led the charts. KnowYourStuff.org sold for $30,600 on NameJet.  The Insurance Information Institute used the domain for a service for inventorying your home but discontinued it in 2007.

The domain’s backlinks certainly drove the bulk of the value. It has links from NYTimes.com, Lifehacker, Zillow, NerdWallet, and many insurance websites.

The second-highest sale was also a .org. CFAH.org sold for $24,300. Again, this was because of its prior use by the Center for Advancing Health. It appears that whomever bought the domain has replicated the former site that used the domain.

Here’s a full list of sales on NameJet and SnapNames last month that were $2,000 or more. Please keep in mind that this includes both expired and other aftermarket sales.

Domain NameSale PricePlatform
knowyourstuff.org30600NameJet
cfah.org24300NameJet
phonecases.com24000NameJet
livegames.com14601NameJet
width.com10001NameJet
connectable.com7400NameJet
techbank.com7100NameJet
biodesign.com7099NameJet
devant.com6458NameJet
irda.org6088NameJet
360degrees.com5877NameJet
thinkster.com5756NameJet
vetri.com5650NameJet
danwei.com4700SnapNames
surfa.com4500NameJet
cybersmart.com4311NameJet
benk.com4101NameJet
apartents.com3956NameJet
edigital.com3900NameJet
aranea.com3879SnapNames
iccidd.org3800NameJet
thelen.com3767SnapNames
rcade.com3701NameJet
myauctions.com3500NameJet
fandu.com3304SnapNames
espaco.com3225NameJet
zoofy.com3107SnapNames
worldbest.com3105SnapNames
luggageshop.com3099NameJet
vilas.com3000NameJet
mathpro.com3000SnapNames
cloudmesh.com2900NameJet
voiceanalysis.com2800NameJet
thedrake.com2655NameJet
tcsdaily.com2600NameJet
experiencefestival.com2600SnapNames
voddler.com2600SnapNames
lancom.com2577SnapNames
labradoodle.com2577SnapNames
foreveryou.com2555NameJet
michaelparenti.org2441NameJet
netvantage.com2431NameJet
hwax.com2333NameJet
goactive.com2305SnapNames
dominex.com2256SnapNames
advertizing.com2205NameJet
pabet.com2200NameJet
fvkasa.org2200NameJet
xqdj.com2100NameJet
3kings.com2100NameJet
selfknowledge.com2088NameJet
politiet.com2050SnapNames
wonderfuel.com2019NameJet
altezza.com2013SnapNames
cpsp.com2002NameJet
23116.com2000NameJet
19956.com2000NameJet
ishib.org2000NameJet
12997.com2000NameJet
smartsurveillance.com2000NameJet
19936.com2000NameJet
85336.com2000NameJet
nyss.com2000NameJet

Nominet considers publishing domain name drop lists

by — Expired Domains 0 Comments

Group wants to add sunshine to the domain-dropping process.

Picture of clock with words "expired domains"

.UK domain name registry Nominet is considering publishing drop lists of domain names that are about to be deleted and released. The organization is asking for feedback on the idea and two other issues during a policy consultation.

Nominet points to three issues with the way expired domains are currently handled.

First, only technically savvy people understand what’s dropping.

Second, companies and people that generate lists of expiring .uk domains tax Nominet’s infrastructure to get the data.

Finally, Nominet believes that people who might use the domains (as opposed to investing in them) are locked out of the process because they don’t have the savvy/awareness that investors have.

Nominet wants to know if people think it should provide drop lists to registrars, the public, or both. It also asks:

Do you think that Nominet should encourage competition in the .UK secondary domains market?

The organization is also looking for feedback on reducing the use of .UK domains in phishing attacks by explicitly allowing it to stop a domain from resolving if it believes it has a high risk of phishing use. It also is interested in implementing informational law enforcement landing pages when domains have been seized.