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Afternic Sells Close to a Half Million in Domain Names Last Week

Elliot Silver
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8

I just received the weekly sales report from Afternic, and the company closed over $460,000 in publicly reported sales last week. The highest value sale was DoubleYourBusiness.com for $22,500.

Interestingly, the highest value non .com sale was NewYorkNewYork.net, which sold for $5,400. As you may recall, NewYorkNewYork.com was subject to a legthy legal battle, in which the owner had to give up the domain name and pay over $100,000 in fines to the New York New York Casino in Las Vegas. I hope the new owner of the .net has other plans for this name.

Here are the top Afternic reported sales for the week:

doubleyourbusiness.com $22,500.00
fabo.com $15,000.00
vistausa.com $14,000.00
SeniorsLiving.com $12,000.00
successathome.com $10,000.00
tvonpc.com $9,000.00
persianworld.com $8,300.00
DryShampoo.com $8,000.00
happybags.com $6,932.00
amap.com $6,600.00
originalteile.com $6,488.00
FreedomCards.com $6,000.00
newyorknewyork.net $5,400.00
rungirlrun.com $5,000.00
whistleraccommodations.com $4,777.00
globalreferendum.com $4,688.00
dreambath.com $4,500.00
rallycall.com $4,500.00
mysoftwaresolutions.com $4,400.00
tothenines.com $4,288.00
kinderclinic.com $4,188.00
suphanburi.com $4,140.00
livinglean.com $4,000.00
transmute.com $4,000.00
creativedc.com $3,988.00
thehangman.com $3,988.00
fotons.com $3,800.00
experienceclient.com $3,788.00
sappeople.com $3,769.00
agricolo.com $3,700.00
viabank.com $3,688.00
destinationservice.com $3,591.00
takken.com $3,500.00
vertueux.com $3,500.00
eblogger.com $3,500.00
sophiesworld.com $3,500.00
sliceofnewyork.com $3,488.00
managementlink.com $3,388.00
stylegift.com $3,321.00
shiplogic.com $3,188.00
directfromnewyork.com $3,188.00
ecoforum.org $3,188.00
sweetsales.com $3,088.00
socialgravity.com $3,088.00
mcfr.com $3,000.00
bestvitamin.com $3,000.00
quality-assurance.com $3,000.00
carpetcleaningny.com $3,000.00
strength.net $3,000.00
marruecos.net $3,000.00
mediamagnate.com $2,988.00
epdesign.com $2,988.00
womx.com $2,959.00
automotiverecruiting.com $2,888.00
officedaily.com $2,888.00
uebersiedlung.com $2,879.00
x-perience.com $2,800.00
goingonholiday.com $2,799.00
happystudio.com $2,788.00
anonymousfeedback.com $2,788.00
seosystems.com $2,788.00
sewco.com $2,788.00
racional.net $2,788.00
sustainablelife.com $2,779.00
enjoytv.com $2,738.00
salesleadership.com $2,700.00
caviarstore.com $2,700.00
DashReport.com $2,695.00
ssfusa.com $2,688.00
presis.com $2,688.00
yorkpage.com $2,688.00
friendgame.com $2,588.00
growlite.com $2,588.00
macplaza.com $2,588.00
thepartypeople.com $2,500.00
vanitylicenseplates.com $2,500.00
wellbalance.com $2,500.00
homeeffects.com $2,500.00
chocolateroom.com $2,500.00
theranking.com $2,500.00
thefirefly.com $2,500.00
dubstep.net $2,500.00
sophielee.com $2,488.00
carincentives.com $2,488.00
takefive.org $2,488.00
integergroup.com $2,477.00
fiksu.com $2,444.20
mcmtelecom.com $2,400.00
cheapstudent.com $2,400.00
dowhatyoudo.com $2,388.00
inblack.com $2,388.00
roomsearch.net $2,388.00
parksoft.com $2,350.00
triennale.com $2,300.00
rainbowjewelry.com $2,241.00
playpolitics.com $2,200.00
clearmed.com $2,200.00
americanartisan.com $2,188.00
samthompson.com $2,188.00
jreynolds.com $2,160.00
lightofislam.com $2,100.00
catastrophicinsurance.com $2,100.00
platinumfinish.com $2,088.00
lovelights.com $2,088.00
buenacocina.com $2,088.00
chicgift.com $2,088.00
sizzlenewyork.com $2,088.00
tutorbuddies.com $2,059.00
youthfellowship.org $2,056.00
migrationpath.com $2,000.00
bestwayto.com $2,000.00
blingbeauty.com $2,000.00
fixedup.com $2,000.00
trilogysoftware.com $2,000.00
sidebike.com $2,000.00
dejame.com $2,000.00
winterfestival.com $2,000.00
orchidenergy.com $2,000.00
entuitive.com $2,000.00
accessasia.net $1,888.00
solutec.net $1,888.00
bioresource.org $1,700.00
buildlink.net $1,588.00
freedomainnames.net $1,500.00
chitosan.net $1,500.00
lasiksurgerycost.net $1,488.00
whistleraccommodation.net $1,488.00
healthtips.net $1,415.00
webmatrix.org $1,300.00
booknetwork.org $1,300.00
iranianmusic.org $1,288.00
learningexchange.org $1,288.00
preciousjewels.net $1,180.00
lasereyesurgeons.net $1,111.00
4front.net $1,100.00
maxforce.net $1,088.00
partyfood.net $1,088.00
digitune.net $1,088.00

Building Torah.com

Elliot Silver
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44

I’ve finally decided to try and tackle the Torah.com project, which I had put off for 2+ years. My fear has been that I couldn’t do the site justice, and no matter what I build on it, the content will offend certain people with different beliefs. I am not a Torah or Judaism expert, so I couldn’t contribute much to the site, and it’s not something I could just go out and hire writers.

I had a bit of an  epiphany  the other day, and I want to share how I plan to move forward in the next couple of weeks.

I plan to build a site that is very, very similar to DomainQuestions.com. I have found that many people visit Torah.com because they have questions about the Torah, and at Torah.com, they will be able to ask their questions.

To ensure that people know if answers are coming from legitimate sources, I plan to invite a diverse group of rabbis to become “Torah.com Rabbis.” Each will have his or her full profile listed and a special icon will designate the person’s title. This should help spur discussion and allow people to see who are experts and who may not be experts.

I plan to moderate the discussions to avoid anti-semitism or other negativity that is bound to come up. I will use a WordPress plugin to keep all questions in queue as pending review until I approve each.

I am currently generating a bit of revenue from the two affiliate links on the landing page, and I will create a few banners on the new site to also drive revenue.  I may implement a special WordPress plugin that links specific words to affiliate pages, but that will be down the road.

So… what are your thoughts on this plan? It’s taken me quite some time to move forward, but I think it’s a good idea. I’d love your feedback.

When a Domain Broker Won’t Work For You, Broker Your Own Domain Name

Elliot Silver
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11

I get a fair amount of email from people asking me to broker domain names for them.  I don’t generally broker domain names unless I absolutely know someone who would be interested, so I usually send the people to read my Domain Broker list instead.

I’ve found that more times than not, none of the brokers are willing to work with the people who request their services simply because the names are either low value or it’s unlikely they will sell for the domain owner’s expectations.  Since a broker is paid on a commission, it doesn’t make any sense to spend 5-10+ hours searching for a buyer for a name that might yield them a couple hundred in commissions, if it even sells.

If you own domain names that can’t get representation from a top domain broker, I have two suggestions for you – one being more passive and the other being aggressive.

1) List them on Sedo and Afternic.  Both sites get end user traffic and if a buyer is interested in buying a domain name pertaining to a specific topic, he or she will likely find them there. They do quite a bit of promotions, and if there’s an active buyer for your domain name, they will probably end up on either or both of those websites.

2) Contact potential buyers yourself.  When you bought the name, you probably thought that it would be perfect for a specific type of company. Well, go out and search for that type of company.  Email the site contacts and let them know you are selling your domain names. If you price them reasonably and they actually make sense, then maybe the company will buy them. You can use a service like Escrow.com to transact the deal.

If you buy some land in the Florida Everglades or in Arizona’s Sonora Desert and you decide to build a big home on it, you might actually be the only person who finds value there. Just because you bought and built it does not mean that someone else will want to buy it from you. If you get rejected by a domain broker, don’t take it personally. If you believe your domain names have value, there are at least two ways to get them sold.

$7.77 for New .COM and .CO Domain Name Registrations at Name.com

Elliot Silver
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7

I just got word that Name.com is offering a special price on .COM and .CO domain registrations. The company is charging just $7.77 per new registration from now until February 12, 2011.  I haven’t seen a better .CO price anywhere else.

Name.com also released a spoof Super Bowl commercial for your viewing enjoyment:

Perform Due Diligence: Contact Previous Domain Owner

Elliot Silver
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4

Every domain investor should do some due diligence when purchasing a domain name. Generally, this entails a Whois lookup at a site like DomainTools, and it should also involve a Whois History search. If something looks funky in the Whois records, there may be reason to investigate further.

One of the best ways to do due diligence on important domain names is to contact the previous owner. You can easily find out his or her information in the Whois History too. You’ll want to let the person know that you’re calling to do due diligence and you just want to confirm that he or she did in fact sell the domain name to the current owner.

If you really want to pry, you can even ask the price, but most people will find this question inappropriate. You also may not want to know how much more you are spending than when the domain name was previously sold.

Like purchasing art, a domain name’s provenance is important to know. Generally, a domain name will not become more valuable because a particular person or company owned it, but you should know that all previous transfers were legitimate.

Did GoDaddy Turn Off Premium Listings During the Super Bowl?

Elliot Silver
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12

For domain investors who list their domain names with Go Daddy’s Premium Listing program, the Super Bowl commercial was possibly expected to bring a big bump to sales. With massive amounts of website traffic, premium listings should have received significant exposure during the game.

According to what I heard from a few sources, Go Daddy allegedly turned off the Premium Listings program at some point before or during the Super Bowl, just as the company was to experience a huge spike in traffic to its website. The listings are now showing again, but they were absent during the high traffic time when the Super Bowl ads were shown.

From a business perspective, shutting down the premium listings would have made sense since the company may have wanted visitors to focus  solely on new registrations. As a domain investor, this is a pretty frustrating thing to have happened.

When I learned about the .CO Super Bowl commercial, I recommended that people leverage it to sell their premium domain names at Go Daddy. It’s a shame that domain investors apparently didn’t get the opportunity to sell some of their domain names during the Super Bowl

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