Sedo 2011 Market Study Now Available

Elliot Silver
-
3

SedoSedo has released its annual 2011 Market Study with insight into the domain market and activity during the last year. The full market study pdf can be downloaded (for free) by visiting Sedo’s website.

Off the bat, one of the most impressive figures is Sedo’s total sales for 2011: sales volume totaled $84,431,965. According to the company, “.co and .me entering the top ten sold top level domains (TLDs) for the very first time.” The company also offered additional insight into pricing strategy, especially as it relates to Buy It Now pricing and the SedoMLS Network.

Here are several highlights from the just published report:

  • 39,951 sales occurred in 2011, the majority of which took place in the first half of the year.
  • The .com extension continues to dominate, accounting for 44% of all sales. In second place was .de, with 18% of all sales.
  • Top sales for the year included Gambling.com for $2.5 million and Dudu.com for $1 million.
  • Buy Now sales accounted for 35% of all sales in 2011. In Q4 2011 alone, Buy Now sales made up close to 40% of all sales, indicating a steady increase of around 5% per year since 2009.
  • Median prices of nearly all TLDs increased and average prices were stable. The .co and .me extensions showed the strongest increases in median and average prices.
  • The most popular domain name length was eight characters, represented by sales like Gambling.com
  • 47% of sales during 2011 were priced at under $500, and a majority of those were Buy Now domains.
  • IDNX, the first standard price index for the domain industry, shows that the domain market remains closely correlated to the NASDAQ 100 and IT stock numbers. (IDNX -1.5% and NASDAQ +1.7%)

I have not read the full report yet, but it’s something I plan to do very soon. I think the information in the report is invaluable and can help you buy and sell good domain names.

What Go Daddy and Sedo Partnership News Means for You and Me

Elliot Silver
-
12

SedoHere’s some big news heading into DomainFest conference week. According to a press release distributed this morning, Sedo and Go Daddy have entered into a new partnership allowing domain names listed for sale at Sedo to be shown to potential buyers at GoDaddy.

The obvious reason this is important is that people looking to register domain names will be shown domain names that are listed for sale at Sedo. A person registering a name may have an interest in upgrading to a far superior name if given the opportunity, and I believe Sedo has the largest domain marketplace.

Over the last several months and maybe even years, companies like Sedo and Afternic have been stressing that domain owners who want to sell their domain names need to have them priced. I would imagine that only domain names that are available with buy it now prices at Sedo will be shown to buyers at Go Daddy, enabling them to buy the domain name right away. Afternic domain names have been listed at Godaddy since October (coincidentally announced at the last major domain conference).

The questions I would have for Sedo and Go Daddy are:

  • How long will it take to be paid after a sale is made?
  • Will domain names that don’t have buy it now prices be shown?
  • Will domain names need to be registered at Go Daddy to be shown in this channel?
  • Is there additional commission taken out for a sale in this channel?
  • Will Go Daddy be lowering its commission rates to list names in its premium sales channel?

Congratulations to Sedo and Godaddy on this big news. The press release is below.

Read More

Sedo to Hold Exclusive .ME Auction

Elliot Silver
-
4

Sedo will be holding another .ME auction from February 2, 2012 through February 9, 2012. Like the last auction, this auction will include a wide selection of .ME Registry-owned domain names at a variety of price points.

There are a ton of solid keyword domain names included, although I don’t know how helpful the .ME extension will be for many of them. As you’ve probably read, Meet.ME sold for $450,000, but that keyword makes sense for a .ME domain name. While many of the keywords in this auction are exceptional, there are few that really stand out as “ME call to action” domain names.

Some of the names that will be auctioned (that I think are solid) include:

  • Forex.ME
  • Attorney.ME
  • College.ME
  • Friends.ME
  • Lawyer.ME
  • Pet.ME
  • Tickets.ME
  • Tours.ME
  • 999.ME

The entire list of domain names up for auction  can be found at http://www.sedo.com/ME.

5 Picks for the Great Domains Auction

Elliot Silver
-
7

Sedo’s Great Domains is hosting an auction that begins today and runs for a week (ends January 26). There aren’t a whole lot of domain names in this auction, but there are a number of very good names.

Here are my favorite names, taking the reserve price range into consideration:

  • Moroccan.com – $500-999
  • Soulmates.com – $50,000 – $99,999
  • GoldChains.com – $5,000 – $9,999
  • Zimbabwe.com – $25,000 – $49,999
  • DrugDiscounts.com – $1,000 – $4,999

I don’t have any names in the auction, and nobody asked me to select any names (the link is a tracking link not an affiliate link). You can visit Sedo to see the full auction inventory. What are your favorite names in the auction with the prices in mind?

Sedo: $1.5 Million in Sales

Elliot Silver
-
2

This past week, there were a total of 880 sales through Sedo’s  marketplace, totaling over $1.5 million. 40% of total sales were the result of Buy Now listings, and that number seems to continue to rise. I know they make more (and easier) sales, but I am still not inclined to put prices on my domain names. I continue to have an internal debate about it.

The highest value public sale was ICN.com, which sold for $60,000. Whois privacy prevents me from seeing who bought the domain name. There are a number of companies that use ICN for initials. NewYorkApartmentsForSale.com sold for $42,000, proving that even a long domain name isn’t necessarily a deterrent for a buyer. One other notable sale, the potential domain hack, ma.de, sold for $25,000.

As you will see below, there were quite a few domain sales above $5,000 last week. The list only has public sales.

Here are Sedo’s public sales from last week:
icn.com 60000 USD
newyorkapartmentsforsale.com 42000 USD
ma.de 25000 USD
astora.com 16000 USD
gold.biz 16000 EUR
kritiken.de 15000 EUR
himovie.com 14000 USD
mortgage-calculator.co.uk 12500 GBP
broadband.org 12500 USD
dotank.com 11500 EUR
discountglasses.com 11000 USD
ecommerce.eu 11000 EUR
restplatzboerse.com 10000 EUR
traveldoo.de 10000 EUR
ormus.com 9900 EUR
doma.com 7500 USD
aerda.com 7000 USD
health9.com 6500 USD
nemonix.com 6000 EUR
mapply.com 6000 USD
nolimithost.com 6000 USD
ya.cc 6000 USD
euronews.co.uk 6000 GBP
starred.com 5999 EUR
busanamuslim.com 5700 USD
chatgratis.com 5500 USD
xima.com 5200 USD
activism.com 5100 USD
3cy.com 5000 USD
hauntedhouse.co.uk 5000 GBP
giftfinder.co.uk 5000 GBP

Read More

Dave Evanson & Sedo Lock Up Another Political Domain Name

Elliot Silver
-
1

According to a post on his Facebook wall and Twitter account, Sedo  broker Dave Evanson is now the exclusive domain broker for Campaign.com. I don’t have details about the asking price, but it would seem like the perfect domain name for a political campaign consulting firm or strategist, especially with the contentious 2012 election.

Evanson and Sedo seem to be locking up political domain names just as the 2012 elections are dominating the news. A few months ago, Evanson scored the exclusive brokerage agreement on TeaParty.com, and it looks like he is making strides to get it sold. Just last weekend he  announced  “I’m in New Hampshire today and tomorrow for the debates and will be talking about the power of teaparty(.)com.”

The registrant of Campaign.com is listed as domain financing company Domain Capital, although I don’t know if the company is selling it or if another entity owns it. In doing some historical Whois research, it appears that at one point the same company may have also owned Democracy.com, which is listed for sale at Buy Domains for $1.75 million. The current registrant of Democracy.com also seems to be Domain Capital.

Descriptive political domain names are valuable assets since politicians, PACs, and other organizations spend hundreds of millions of dollars on elections every year. A good domain name is a one time cost that can continue

1...484950...68Page 49 of 68