According to a press release I received this morning, 4.cn, a Chinese domain name auction platform and marketplace, will host an auction exclusively for .Club domain names. Jeff Sass, Chief Marketing Officer of .Club told me that “this is the first time 4.cn has held an auction for a single new domain extension exclusively.”
The auction contains 25 .Club domain names. All but one of the domain names are NN.Club (2 number) domain names. The one exception is 8.Club. The auctions will all be available for bidding via 4.cn on March 7, and they will close between March 21-24. You can have a look at the inventory on the .Club registry website since they are not yet listed on 4.cn.
I was told that there are no reserve prices, so the domain names will sell to the highest bidder. In addition, “these are all offered by the registry,” Jeff told me. I am not sure what the opening bid will be, but Jeff believes that it is the minimum 4.cn auction bid. He will let me know when he finds out for certain.
To date, the .Club domain name extension has become one of the best selling new gTLD extensions. I believe much of their success has come as a result of Chinese registrations. Some registrars have been offering .Club domain name registrations at just a dollar or two, which I believe has contributed to its growth. .Club currently sits in the #5 spot for most registered new gTLD domain names. nTLDStats.com reports that there are over 720,000 registered .Club domain names.
Here is the press release I received this morning:
CLUB Set for Its Largest China Domain Auction to Date on 4.cn
8.Club and More Offered as Chinese Investors Scramble for
Prestigious Online Real Estate
HANGZHOU, CHINA (March 2, 2016) – 8.club, along with 24 other two-number domain names, including 11.club., 44.club, 55.club, 99.club and more, are set to go to auction on 4.CN, China’s leading domain auction platform and the largest domain marketplace in the country. Bidding will open on March 7th, 2016 at 5pm in China (4am Eastern) and the auctions will have staggered end dates from March 21 through 24th. All of the names will be offered with no reserve, so all 25 domains being auctioned are expected to be sold.
Over the past year, China has emerged as the world’s largest buyer of domain names, resulting in what is likely the biggest story in domain-name investing since the gold rush when the Internet began. .CLUB, which is currently a best-selling and the most used new domain extension on the Internet today, has seen a significant spike in registrations from China with more than 420,000 of its domains having been registered in China and more than US$2 Million in .CLUB premium name sales to Chinese investors in just the past few months. For example, 5.club sold for more than US$58,000 to a Chinese investor at an auction in December.
This portfolio of .CLUB domains in the 4.cn auction is expected to generate a great deal of interest, as numbers have significant cultural meaning in China, with repeating numbers seen as very lucky. The word for “eight” sounds similar to the word that means “prosper” or “wealth” and carries a meaning of success and fortune. Coupling numbers with short, recognizable and meaningful extensions like .CLUB brings high value, as the word “club” is recognized, used and has meaning across the world, including throughout China.
“The strong demand we’ve been experiencing in China, especially for short numeric domain names, should make this auction on 4.cn very exciting,” said Colin Campbell, founder and CEO of .CLUB Domains. “Investors see these names as more than domains. They are a valuable and increasingly liquid currency, and they are in limited supply. We are also honored that 4.cn has selected .CLUB to be the first ever dedicated new domain extension to have its own auction on 4.cn.”
Participation in the auction is easy in either English or Chinese as 4.cn is a fully bi-lingual platform. To register in English, click here.
The complete list of names that will be offered in the 4.cn .CLUB auction:
8.Club 11.Club 13.Club 17.Club 19.Club 25.Club 35.Club 44.Club 45.Club 47.Club 52.Club 55.Club 56.Club 59.Club 62.Club 67.Club 71.Club 73.Club 78.Club 83.Club 86.Club 87.Club 91.Club 94.Club 99.Club For times and other details about the auction please visit www.nic.club/auction
About .Club Domains, LLC
Led by Internet entrepreneur Colin Campbell, whose prior successes include Tucows Interactive and Hostopia.com, .Club Domains, LLC was formed for the purpose of becoming the .CLUB gTLD registry. The company also launched Startup.club to support entrepreneurs building businesses around a .CLUB domain name. With more than 720,000 domain names sold to date .CLUB leads the pack of new domain extensions in sales and usage. More information and links to register .CLUB domains are available now at http://www.get.club.
