Sedo’s second quarter market report was published today, and the company is reporting that $17.5 million in sales were consummated on its platform with 9,049 domain transactions. From my recollection, there weren’t very many blockbuster sales in the quarter, so it’s a solid number. In the first quarter, Sedo reported 10,133 transactions closed, with a total sales value of over $19 million.
Year over year, sales numbers are a bit down. According to the 2011 second quarter market report, “In Q2, Sedo’s Domain Marketplace saw close to $25,000,000 in global sales.” However, the second quarter saw the $2.5 million sale of Gambling.com, so that is one reason for the higher sales figure.
In this year’s quarterly market report, Sedo reported that the popularity of Buy It Now sales rose to an all-time high of 42% in Q2, up from 39% in Q1. The company continues to push for BIN pricing, which is more helpful for negotiations and MLS sales listings.
Not only is this sales information interesting, but it also provides some insight for an article I wrote a couple of weeks ago asking about the total annual sales volume for the domain industry.
Sedo shared four highlights from the market report:
- Prices remained relatively stable in Q2 2012 with a mean (average) sales price of $1,925 and a median price or $595, both falling less than one percentage point from the previous quarter.
- The .net extension became the surprise top gTLD in Q2, with an average price of $2,470, $300 more than the average price for .com names.
- The .com extension accounted for 48 percent of all domains sold in Q2 2012, an increase of three percent from the previous quarter.
- Sales under $500 accounted for 46 percent of transactions while sales between $501 and $2,500 accounted for 39 percent.
- Italy and Australia entered the top 10 most frequent countries of origin for people purchasing domains on the Sedo marketplace, with China and Austria falling off the list.
You can download the market report pdf on Sedo’s website when you have a chance.
Is it any surprise sales are lower this year?
My sales happen to be way up, but that’s a result of a few large sales (unreported). The thing with the domain business is that anomalous sales happen, and when they do, they can impact the bottom line and sales reports.
Steady figures. If .com stays steady there’s no telling where this is going as the next (very tech savvy) generation hit adulthood and start wanting domain names.
Totally agree, Aussie Domainer. I believe the domain industry will grow into another ‘stock market’ and ‘real estate market’—–and of that size, inspiring entrepreneurship which will solidly rebuild the USA’s economic system, virtually. No pun intended…..and not to discount Australia.
Elliot would you say your sales this year fall into the 80/20 rule (a few large ones that make up for bulk of your revenues)?
Possibly, but I am not really sure because I haven’t really run the numbers, aside from sales vs. monetization revenue.
Is Sedo a benchmark for the entire industry? Maybe it’s just Sedo and the other dinosaurs waning.