Poll: What is 8.CO Worth?

Tech Cocktail published an extensive article about the 8.CO domain name  that is now  up for auction via Heritage Auctions. You’ll notice that Tech Cocktail uses Tech.CO for its website, so it isn’t a surprise that the author wrote that 8.CO “may just be the luckiest domain on the Web.”

I think the auction is going to do well, and the article cites quite a few factors that could drive the price significantly higher. Some of the factors cited by the author, in addition to some of my own factors:

Ignite.com Leads the Way at Great Domains Auction

The first Great Domains auction of 2015 hosted by Sedo ended this morning, and Ignite.com sold for $112,500. The reserve price on Ignite.com had been set between $50,000 – $100,000. In total, the auction grossed a bit under $130,000 in sales, with 6 domain names selling.

I know that Sedo broker Dave Evanson had been reaching out to end user buyers to sell Ignite.com, and there is a good chance one of those contacts was the buyer given the final sale price. Once payment is made and the domain name transfers, I will follow up on this if there seems to be a good story about the acquisition. There are quite a few companies that would benefit from owning Ignite.com, and “ignite” would make an excellent brand name.

The second highest sale of the auction was Wardrobes.com, which sold for 9,999 GBP. The list of the 6 domain names that sold is published below. I presume

ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com Sells for $85,000 on Flippa

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On Sunday, I asked you what you think the sale price will be for the ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com auction held on Flippa. The majority of people who voted thought the domain name would sell for under $100,000.

The auction concluded this evening, and it looks like those people were correct. ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com sold for $85,000 on Flippa using a buy it now option that was added to the auction. In total, there were 344 bids placed on the auction, prior to the BIN price being chosen.

Interestingly, buy it now (BIN) prices were added to the listing as the auction was

SelfieSticks.com Sells for $29,100

The SelfieSticks.com domain name sold in auction this afternoon for $29,100 at NameJet. There were three bidders who bid over $19,000 in this auction, and there were 78 bidders who had backordered this domain name.

Based on the current expiration date, it looks like the SelfieSticks.com domain name was a privately held domain name that was sent to auction  rather than the usual expired domain name auction that is most regularly seen at NameJet.

The domain name has a creation date of

NamesCon Auction This Afternoon

As you’ve likely heard by now, NamesCon will be conducting its first domain name auction later on this afternoon. The auction was organized by Right of the Dot (ROTD), and there is a big focus on the new gTLD domain names. Just about every time I’ve seen ROTD founders Monte Cahn and Mike Berkens at NamesCon, the duo seem to be huddling together over a laptop, most likely working on the auction.

I am most curious to see how the bidding goes on the new gTLD domain names. Although I have heard about many new gTLD sales, most seem to be private and unreported (sidenote, if I ran a new domain name registry, I would prohibit non-disclosure agreements on registry sales). This auction may give more of an indication about the new gTLD aftermarket, although usage of domain names will trump big sales.

There are a variety of domain names from new extensions including

HA Domain Auction to be Held at Waldorf Astoria

The date and venue for the next domain name auction being conducted by Heritage Auctions has been set. According to Aron Meystedt, Director of the Domain Name and Intellectual Property Department at Heritage Auctions, the live auction will be held on February 9, 2015 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. The Waldorf is one of the most famous hotels in the City.

Previously, Heritage Auctions put out a call for submissions, and it seemed clear that the company was only looking for the best of the best domain names. In the email sent out today, the company shared more details about the quality of domain names they expect to include.

Here is what Aron had to say about the domain names the company is considering: