If you haven’t taken notice, NamePros has been reporting the top domain sales from various marketplaces on a daily basis. I thought that it would be fun, and educational to some, to report on who purchased the domain names and how they are using them. Hopefully, this will provide readers with a sneak peek into the minds of end-users.
While there were quite possibly many more end-user sales that are still in the planning stages, below are 14 sites that are currently operational. In all, they represent a little over half a million dollars changing hands in exchange for valuable digital real-estate.
NBAStore.co.za; $5,500; March 25th, 2015; Sedo
XFU.com; $12,300; March 28th, 2015; Flippa
Mercari.com; $108,678; March 31st, 2015; Sedo
Customer.org; $5,600; April 2nd, 2015; Flippa
Analytics.io; $10,000; April 7th, 2015; Flippa
ProMedical.com; $4,995; April 11th, 2015; NameJet
Hotels.fm; $6,000; April 12th, 2015; Flippa
Lights.co.uk; $36,886; April 16th, 2015; Sedo
PAX.com; $200,000; April 28th, 2015; Sedo
DailyLottery.com; $25,101; May 7th, 2015; NameJet
TaxShelter.com; $8,566; May 11th, 2015; NameJet
GreenInvestments.com; $9,100; May 13th, 2015; NameJet
Vinous.com; $25,000; June 10th, 2015; Sedo
Filament.com; $89,000; June 25th, 2015; Sedo
It’s advised that you should to go back through @Domain Sales posts on your free time to see what is being used now, and why. Also, be sure to follow the account to keep up to date on recent acquisitions.
Knowledge is power in this industry; knowing what has sold in the past and for how much can help you easily gauge the value of your domains. This should also open your eyes on what other industries that you could be focusing your marketing efforts on and even what types of domain names you should be investing in. Keep in mind that these sales may also not have been directly to end-users, rather domainers, and flipped once more for profit.
All sites appearing to be parked, portfolios, in development, or mini-sites were intentionally left out. As a safety precaution, you should have up-to-date anti-virus software installed before visiting any domain listed; I did run into one domain that has a website containing malicious content, not appearing on this list, which was successfully removed.
While there were quite possibly many more end-user sales that are still in the planning stages, below are 14 sites that are currently operational. In all, they represent a little over half a million dollars changing hands in exchange for valuable digital real-estate.
NBAStore.co.za; $5,500; March 25th, 2015; Sedo
This sale is actually surprising on several levels. It’s using the South African ccTLD to redirect to the official NBA European division’s online store (.eu). This should make anyone conclude that the sale was to the National Basketball Association themselves. With further investigation, a whois reveals that this domain is owned by “Victor John” of New Jersey, and not a private registration or domain administrator at the NBA Headquarters in New York. It all seemed suspicious until a check was done on the domain’s headers and it’s being forwarded without an affiliate link. As of now, it’s unknown whether the NBA contracted out this purchase and the registrant never applied privacy or if an unscrupulous buy. However, if you own the trademark, why not just take it? At any rate, NBA is a trademark; trademarks should be avoided at all cost, especially at $5,500.
XFU.com; $12,300; March 28th, 2015; Flippa
This is an apparent acquisition by XF.com Investments, the owners of the oldest domain name Symbolics.com, and operated by a valued member of the NamePros community, Aron Meystedt (@XF.com). It’s currently being forwarded to the main company website of XF.com that wants to buy your names.
Mercari.com; $108,678; March 31st, 2015; Sedo
Mercari is a popular Android and iPhone application to buy and sell anything in Japan. It’s likely that they made the .com purchase in order to appeal to the English-speaking market.
Customer.org; $5,600; April 2nd, 2015; Flippa
This is a simple redirect to Jivy Group, a company which was founded as an entrepreneurial body with the vision to nurture ideas into reality. After looking at their company profile, it will be interesting to see how they eventually put this to use.
Analytics.io; $10,000; April 7th, 2015; Flippa
Yet another top domain name purchase made by Jivy Group. It makes me wonder what they’re up to next, as well as looking into what they have done more.
ProMedical.com; $4,995; April 11th, 2015; NameJet
This domain is now in the hands of WorldNews (WN.com) Network. They are using it to direct users straight to their Pro Medical series which provides information on medical marijuana, vaccinations, and other hot medical related topics.
Hotels.fm; $6,000; April 12th, 2015; Flippa
Hotels.fm is used as a redirect to Booking.Yeah; I mean, Booking.com. I wonder if this was an all-cash deal, or if the seller got a nice suite for the night to go with it as well.
Lights.co.uk; $36,886; April 16th, 2015; Sedo
This sale most likely came about with the decision for Lampenwelt GmbH & Co. KG and Lampenwelt GmbH to merge and enter the English-speaking market, appealing specifically to United Kingdom, with a fitting one word product domain name.
PAX.com; $200,000; April 28th, 2015; Sedo
PAX.com is a fantastic purchase by Pax Labs, Inc., which is a company that specializes in innovative and premium vaporizers. This definitely goes to show that big tobacco isn’t so big anymore; the trend of vaping continues to rise, despite the millions of dollars being spent to make people believe that it’s harmful to one's health. They’re still using this domain name to redirect to what is believed to be their original site, PaxVapor.com.
DailyLottery.com; $25,101; May 7th, 2015; NameJet
By looking at this name, it seemed like it could be used in a very lucrative fashion to create an online lottery system of some sort. I don’t know the legalities behind that; though it really doesn’t matter; it’s another WN.com purchase for the New York Daily Lottery series.
TaxShelter.com; $8,566; May 11th, 2015; NameJet
A company in the Cayman’s that specializes in hiding your money from the IRS? Nope, none other than a purchase by WN.com with a video explaining what a tax shelter is.
GreenInvestments.com; $9,100; May 13th, 2015; NameJet
Another domain name put to use by WorldNews to explain the benefits of investing in green.
Vinous.com; $25,000; June 10th, 2015; Sedo
A brandable upgrade from VinousMedia.com, which is a website that connects wine connoisseurs from around the world on a social platform.
Filament.com; $89,000; June 25th, 2015; Sedo
After seeing this name, I thought it would be closely related to the vaping niche again. Instead, it was a great purchase by a company that specializes in enterprise scale wireless technologies.
It’s advised that you should to go back through @Domain Sales posts on your free time to see what is being used now, and why. Also, be sure to follow the account to keep up to date on recent acquisitions.
Knowledge is power in this industry; knowing what has sold in the past and for how much can help you easily gauge the value of your domains. This should also open your eyes on what other industries that you could be focusing your marketing efforts on and even what types of domain names you should be investing in. Keep in mind that these sales may also not have been directly to end-users, rather domainers, and flipped once more for profit.
All sites appearing to be parked, portfolios, in development, or mini-sites were intentionally left out. As a safety precaution, you should have up-to-date anti-virus software installed before visiting any domain listed; I did run into one domain that has a website containing malicious content, not appearing on this list, which was successfully removed.
