May 2010 Archives

iGoldrush.com, launched in 1996 is recognized by many in the industry as the original and most comprehensive domain resource, providing everything from basic details on registering domain names to advanced domain name strategy and sales.

With the Local Sunrise phase of the .Co ccTLD launch closed and roughly two weeks until the end of the Global Sunrise, Landrush (public availability at a price of around USD $300 per year) is not far away.

The Landrush phase is provided for businesses that do not hold a registered trademark for a particular name, but wish to protect their brand. This phase gives them the opportunity to register the .co variation of their existing domain, though owning the existing domain is not a requirement. Since this phase is technically open to anyone, many of the bigger domainers will be buying up valuable generic domains. The high price is designed to discourage domainers from snapping up too many domains, during this phase. If two or more people attempt to register the same domain during this phase, it will go into an auction.

Some extensions require to be a resident of a specific country or to own a business.
If you don't qualify yourself, it may be tempting to own the domains to use the services of a third party.

However, is it the right choice ? There are two main issues with this approach:

Slots.com has sold for $5.5 million through Moniker. Slots.com now tops the highest reported domain sales list for 2010 and is one of the highest selling domain names, ever.

Slots.com was originally registered in 1995. The website currently leads players to other Internet casinos offering slots.

Dating.com sold at DOMAINfest Live Auction for US$1,750,000.

The DOMAINfest Live Auction sold 35 domains, with the total exceeding $2 million! Dating.com was the highest selling domain at US$1,750,000.00 and the lowest sale, PersonalBanker.net sold for US$250.00.

See the list below; in highest to lowest selling prices:

Dating.com    
$1,750,000

Boardgames.com    
$450,000

Therapists.com    
$50,000

Antidepressant.com    
$30,000

Golfresorts.com    
$22,500

Efp.com    
$9,950

I had a look at the various .co (Colombia) registrars, resellers and included their pricing below for the various stages:

Global Sunrise: Apr 26 - June 10, 2010 (for Global TM holders)
Landrush: June 21 - July 13, 2010 (for top generics)
General Availability: July 20, 2010(for anything that is left)

Photo.com sold for $1,250,000 through Moniker on the 5th of May. Photo.com now tops the highest reported domain sales list for 2010.

The generic domain name is currently registered under the care of Network Solutions.

It is reported that the new owner of Photo.com will build a website for the domain, to be launched in the next couple of months.

We have just been informed that the domain name registrar and auction house Moniker has been down for the past 15 hours.

It seems to be due to a hardware failure in their LA office.

Domain Auction Service Bido.com will cease business operations effective Wednesday May 5,  2010.

The company was originally founded in 2008. Four of the original founders include Ron Jackson (who left before launch), Sahar Sarid, Darren Cleveland and Jeff Bhavnanie.

Sahar Sarid eventually teamed up with Jarred Cohen.

 

According to DNJournal  first quarter 2010 sales report, total dollar volume was down 18% from same quarter 2009.  While overall volume was down, the median sales price show a slight improvement over both 1Q-2009 and last 4Q-2009.

The median sales price reported in 1Q 2010 was $2,643 as compared to 4Q-2009 that number was $2,610 and 1Q-2009 it was $2,600.  This suggest that the overall domain values have held up with slight improvement over the past 12 months.