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Domain Names Selling Like Crazy

By Robert | June 25, 2007

The domain after-market is just as old as the internet it’s self. For as long as their has been domain names there have been people that want what other people have. Some go for every cheap and as we have seen some go for well into the millions. With some domain names it doesn’t matter what the contents of the original site was, or if there is any at all. It all about the name.1999 was said by many to be the peak of Web 1.0 and likewise 1999-2000 was the previous peak of domain sales. Back on the 21st of June Business.com was placed on the market for $400million . For domain sellers it’s a party again like 1999.

Last week alone, $10million was spent at auction for domain sales, with 16 domains being sold for well into the 6 figure range. Free Credit Check.com & Credit Check.com sold together for $3million, although as the DomainTools Blog points out this was at a relatively low multiple of around 7x yearly earnings compared to the usual 9 or 10x profit. Seniors.com sold for $1.8 million and even Blogging.com raised $135,000. The exuberance in the market even extends to the spam infested .info domain, with Houston.info selling for $17,000.

Ultimately it’s up to the market to decide the value of anything and it all depends on how much you want it and how much you can afford; however the domain sales market appears to be outperforming the established site marketplace. It seems these days that an estabished profitable site will go for less then a good domain name with no revenue at all. A good domian can make very goos money on it’s own, but the sad part is these domain names are being wasted, many of them end up being used by buyers as nothing more than spammy CPC advertising front ends powered by Google Domain Parking, Sedo and other similar providers.

At the end of the day it doesnt matter what your domain is, to have a successful website you need good content and nice design, a domain name alone is worth nothing until you out a site on it. I think this is sometimes loss when people buy domains. Have a great name is one thing, but if the sites sucks then no one will ever return.

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