I had been using the Whois Monitor tool at DomainTools to monitor the status of two similar domain names owned by the same company. The names were geographic Hotel.com and Hotels.com domain names. During the past couple of years, the status on both changed twice, and I received an update each time.
On May 20th, I received an email from DomainTools informing me that the domain names were both in pending delete status. I immediately went to NameJet and backordered both of them. The next day, I received an email from NameJet informing me that I had won the Hotel.com name for $59. I really wanted the pair, and if I had to choose Hotel.com or Hotels.com, I would have chosen the later.
I did a quick Whois search and saw that the Hotels.com name had been caught by another registrar but hadn’t been updated with a registrant yet. I went over to Snapnames and saw that it was available to bid on for $19, and the auction would end in just under two days. While I generally wait for the last minute to bid, I didn’t want to forget, so I placed my backorder.
A day and a half later, I received a confirmation from SnapNames informing me that I won the auction for $19.00.
I was willing to pay more for the names, but in the end, I am pretty happy SnapNames was able to catch this drop for me, saving $40. Now I just have to wait for the 60 day registration period on these pending delete purchases to find a buyer.
There are two domain auctions that begin fielding bids today. The Moniker / Snapnames Spring auction runs from April 19 – May 17, and Sedo’s monthly Great Domains auction also begins today and runs through April 26. As of this post, there are 100 names in the Moniker / Snap auction and 85 names in the Great Domains auction.
Below are some of the names I like in these auctions. Feel free to share your favorites in the comment section below. I do not have any domain names listed in either auction.
Moniker / Snapnames highlights and reserves
Affiliates.org $201-$500
Companies.org $5,001 – $10,000
Mahogany.com $25,001 – $50,000
MovingCompany.com $250,001 – $500,000
Platinum.com $500,001 – $1MM
Great Domains highlights and reserves
CustomPaint.com 1,000 – 4,999 USD
HBB.com 5,000 – 9,999 USD
LLL.net 1,000 – 4,999 USD
Train.net 5,000 – 9,999 EUR
Acknowledging.com 1 – 499 USD
Apps.net
It’s very possible that additional names will be added to each auction inventory, so visit the auction pages to see the full catalogs.
The domain name industry is an imperfect market, but I believe approximate values can be determined based on comparable sales (comps). That’s how it’s done with physical real estate, and while it may be more difficult with domain names, one can get an idea of valuation based on comps.
Every week, Ron Jackson at DNJournal reports weekly sales information from a variety of sources like Sedo, Afternic, Snapnames, NameJet, and other independently verified sources. Likewise, NameBio and DNSalePrice record historical domain sales, and both sites have databases full of domain sales.
When DNJournal posts its weekly sales chart, I quickly scour the list to see what sold and for how much. While scanning the sales, I think about domain names I’ve seen for sale that could be considered comps, and I also think about alternative domain names (ie singular or plural names) that might have a similar valuation. I search sites like Sedo and Afternic for simular names, and I also privately inquire about names of interest.
I know that other domain investors are doing the exact same thing, so time is of the essence with this, and it always feels like a race to read Ron’s DNJ report so I can start searching for names of interest.
There are a couple of faster ways that you can learn about domain sales before they’re reported and I want to share them with you.
Sedo has its RSS feed with recent sales. You can learn what sold at Sedo days before the sales are publicly reported. On occasion, they will report a sale and a buyer or seller will request that it not be reported, so if you catch it early, you may be one of the few people to take notice.
You can search NameJet and Snapnames for auctions that have bids. If you aren’t the first bidder and don’t bid as high as the leading bidder, you likely won’t win the auction (can’t be entirely sure in case someone drops out). If you are participating in the auction and don’t win, it will show up under your auction history, giving you the sales price before it’s public.
From my perspective, the second method is more accurate because that’s more of a market value than a private sale price may be as there may not have been competitive bidding for the name. However, the first value may be more indicative of end user value.
Moniker’s end of year auction, currently running on Snapnames, is ending this afternoon at 3:15pm EST. I highlighted my favorite domain names from this auction a couple of weeks ago, so no need to re-hash those selections.
Listed below are the domain names that currently have bids, although some of the reserve prices have not been met. Most notably, CE.com has a $1,000,000 bid, although the reserve price is apparently higher than $1 million and the auction page states that the reserve has not been met.
If you have an interest in any of the domain names, now is the time to head over to Snapnames to place your bids (or at least set a reminder for later this afternoon).
Domain Name Reserve Price Current High Bid paternitytest.com $5,001 – $10,000 $21,500
fyny.com No Reserve $375
omib.com No Reserve $351
qx.com $50,001 – $100,000 $82,500
apw.com $10,001 – $25,000 $12,999
mentality.com $5,001 – $10,000 $6,751
conp.com No Reserve $375
ce.com $1MM – $5MM $1,000,000
f.biz $10,001 – $25,000 $10,001
mock.com $10,001 – $25,000 $10,000
yogurtshops.com No Reserve $300
Moniker and Snapnames has released the list of domain names that are included in this year’s Year End domain auction. The auction has started, and it will run through November 17, 2011 at 3:15pm (EST). At the time of this post, four domain names currently have bids: Mock.com, fyny.com, omib.com, and Mentality.com.
There are 53 domain names in this auction, and many of the auctions do have reserve prices. The list of domain names in the auction is listed below along with the reserve price ranges. I bolded the names I like (I may bid).
I saw the list of domain names and prices for Stephen Douglas’ Future Trend Domain Auctionâ„¢ which will be held on Snapnames from August 24, 2011 at noon through August 30, 2011 at 3:15pm EST. I am not a big fan of buying or registering any type of “trend” domain names, but I believe many people do buy these names with the hopes of striking it rich.
The list of domain names and reserve prices are listed below, and further below is a poll question asking how you think this auction will perform. I understand Stephen and the domain owners will be heavily marketing and advertising these domain names to companies that may be interested in making a purchase, so perhaps end user participation will help propel this auction.
You can learn more about the auction at Snapnames.
