Writing at NameTalent

As some of my readers will note, I have begun to write for NameTalent.  That site has been around for almost a decade and covers various topics of interest to the domain name community.  I feel honoured to have the opportunity to write there.

It does not mean that my personal blog here will stop, although my posts on this site will probably become a bit less frequent. I don''t  plan to post the same content both places,  but occasionally will post in one place and  highlight that post in the other.

Anything related to my own domain portfolio or activities as a domain consultant will stay here.  Also, I plan to keep my series of detailed monthly reports on ngTLD sales here.  My post on advice to domain name investors will continue to be updated here, although some of the topics will be developed into individual posts at NameTalent. The NameTalent posts will be a bit more global in outlook, while the focus in this blog will reflect more of my personal interests as a domain name investor.

My Early NameTalent Posts

Here is a taste of what I have posted to NameTalent so far:

1. Who would want this domain name? The key question to ask is who potential end users will be for a domain name.  I develop that idea along with the related idea of developing value propositions on how the end user might benefit from the domain name.
2. Is domain name investing profitable?  This is a detailed analysis of the domain industry as a whole putting in best estimates for annual probability of a sale, likely net profit from the sale, and annual costs.  It is not meant to be for an individual name or portfolio, but rather the universe of domain names for sale. It does develop different models including the most pessimistic and optimistic bounds.  Please give it a read!
3. Should you use your own landers or ones from a marketplace?  I take a look at the considerations.
4. A guide to transfer of a domain name. It is easier and faster than you think!
5. Why we need the domain aftermarket.  My opinion piece on the world of domain investing, partly in response to the Verisign blog posst.
6. Monthly Sales Report - Actionable Insights.  While I don't repeat the ngTLD monthly sales analysis posted here, I wrote a post about what insights new domain extensions investors might draw from that analysis and how to act on those.  
7. Weekly Sales Analysis.  Each morning on Twitter I do a short analysis giving the number of sales, average and median prices, number of sales above $1000, and a list of some of the names that stood out for me.  On a weekly basis I began to put these together in a weekly report.  This provides an overview of some of the week's domain name sales highlights in one place. 

What Am I Working On?

Some of the topics that I will soon be posting on NameTalent are listed below.

• How do you stay positive as a domain investor when there is a long time since the last sale?
• An opinion piece on effectively giving advice to other domain investors.
• An introduction to using the NameBio database.
• An introduction to UDRP.
• Reviews on several products for the domain investing community.

How Can You  Help?

I am  always interested in hearing what you think should be covered.  Also, early in 2019 I want to begin a series of interviews to feature some of the interesting stories of the domain world.  Don't be shy - do you have a story to tell? Let me know!

Concluding Thoughts

I decided to write at NameTalent primarily to reach a larger audience and to grow as a domain name investor analyst and commentator. In both places I hope you will find my writing fair and balanced, and that it offers fresh perspectives on buying, selling and using domain names. 

New Extension Sales Sept 23 - Oct 22, 2018

This was one of the quieter months of new domain extension sales since I began this series (see links to previous reports at bottom).  The average number of sales per month in the previous seven reports was 120 compared to just 68 this month. The number of sales was down substantially from last month (313), although the sales dollar volume was only slightly lower. The average sales price of $2955 was about quadruple last month's figure, however and the median was also substantially higher this month.

Summary

During the monthly period ending Oct 22, 2018 there were

• 67 NameBio recorded ngTLD sales in the 30 day period, with $180,800 total sale volume.
• The average sales price was $2955. The median price was $801.
• In terms of major sales, 1 was > $50,000, 8 were > $5000 and 29 > $1000.
• Sales in 22 different extensions, with .top, .global and .link most common.
• The highest sale price was design.online $57,500, dispatch.app at $15,000 in second, while four different .global names (switch, scoop, cyber and leap) tied for third place.
• There were ngTLD domain sales during the month at 11 different venues. Dynadot had the largest number of sales (25) followed by Alibaba Cloud (15).
• The types of domain names that sold: 69% were single word,  14% were short (<=3 letters), and 9% were geographical.
• Registries accounted for almost 64% of dollar volume, but less than 19% by number.
• In 2018 YTD there have been 1196 ngTLD sales listed on NameBio, with an average price of $3675. Sales volume is just over $4.4 million YTD. 

Extension Breakdown

I list in the table on the right  (click on table for a higher resolution version) those extensions that had either multiple sales in an extension, or a total monthly sales volume of  $500 or more. They are arranged by decreasing total sales volume, but the number of  sales for each are also listed.

The following extensions had a single sale: agency, city, gmbh, life, pics, run, site, and vip.  In total, there were sales during this period in 22 different extensions,

The Highest Value Sales

Below is a list of the major sales for the reporting period. Only 2 (or possibly 3) of the top sales were not registry.

• design.online $57.500  Sedo
• dispatch.app $15,000  UserScape
• switch.global  $8,000  DotGlobal
• scoop.global  $8,000  DotGlobal
• cyber.global  $8,000  DotGlobal
• leap.global  $8,000  DotGlobal
• edge.network $7515 Sedo
• DMV.online $5101  Dynadot

Venues

The month saw a steady increase in new extension sales at Dynadot and a drop at Flippa.  As pointed out last month, new domain extensions essentially never sell at GoDaddy (at least not above $100). Here are the venues with multiple new extension sales during the month.

• Dynadot 25
• Alibaba Cloud 15
• Dot Global (registry) 9
• Sedo 8
• BizCN 2
• Jiangsu Bangning (registry) 2

Names That Span Dot Effectively

Some of the domain names from this reporting period that I personally feel make excellent use of the extension as congruent with the domain name are the following:

• design.online
• citizen.group
• simple.solutions
• auto.finance
• rock.city
• click.link
• chain.global
• read.life
• sun.group
• switch.global
• edge.network

Great Value

Interestingly a few of the great names went for value prices.  For example click.link was just $123 and rock.city only $130.  In my mind the greatest value this month though was simple.solutions that sold for only $122. The word winter sold in the .xyz extension for merely $101,  a  true bargain price. These show that, at least sometimes, you can get memorable names in the new extensions at excellent value.

Types of Domains

We also performed an analysis of the type of domain name.  The majority (69%) were single word domain names (+ extension of course), although short (defined as 3  characters or less) were also popular (14%).  About 9% were geographical terms.  Numbers remain unpopular in the ngTLDs with only 2 in this  dataset.  Multiple word domains were rare this month, with just a couple off 2 word names and  one 3 word. Three of the names were adult in nature.

Year to Date 

So far in 2018 there have been 1196 ngTLD sales with an average sales price of $3675. The total value of 2018 reported ngTLD sales up to the day of writing is just over $4.4 million. For reference last year saw $5.2 million in total new extension sales.

Discussion

This report has mixed news for new domain name investors. While the number of sales and number of extensions, are both down from last month, they are in line with the year overall.  On average, this month just over 2 ngTLD sales are reported per day in the NameBio database.  The sales volume  has remained almost constant and the average price is up this month (at least compared to the previous two reporting periods).

One reason I produce these reports is to provide guidance to ngTLD investors to help them optimize their chances for success. The fact that ngTLD sales seem to be trending up on Dynadot may be actionable information.  Outside the registry sales, Sedo continues to be the venue that obtains the highest prices for quality new extension names.  Also, this month confirms a general trend  that single word domains with a good match on the two sides of the dot are most likely to sell, although short acronym names and geo names also find traction in the new extension space.  Surprisingly few number domains sell in new extensions, only 2 during this reporting period.

While I show sales by extension, I would caution those investing in new domain extensions that, unlike the com/net/org/info space, it is not primarily the extension that matters, but rather the match between the name and the extension.  As such, high value sales are possible, even if not probable, in almost any extension even those without a sales history.

It is still prudent to be cautious when investing in these extensions, and still true that overall the return on investment seems better in .com. The difference is possibly narrowing, however, and if the comparison is with other legacy extensions, or country code extensions, the case for new extensions could be made (although is still arguable). For those new to this field, my post on 12 reasons why end users (and domain investors) might want to consider new domain extensions may be worthwhile. The health of new extensions, ultimately, depends on the adoption of these extensions in significant websites.

Notes

The NameBio database (or at least the portion publicly reported) does not include sales with value less than $100, nor sales from a number of venues such as Afternic, Undeveloped or Efty (unless buyers or sellers report them individually), nor from most of the ngTLD registries, so it is difficult to estimate how complete a record this is of all ngTLD domain name sales. Sometimes sales are posted on NameBio after their recorded sales date and therefore never appear on the daily report although they do appear in the NameBio database.

Previous Reports

Here are links to the three previous reports in case you want to do monthly comparisons:

• Period ending Sept 22, 2018
• Period ending Aug 22, 2018
• Period ending July 22, 2018
• Period ending June 22, 2018
• Period ending May 22, 2018
• Period ending Apr 22, 2018
• Period ending Mar 22, 2018

Next Report and Other News

We will issue our next report in late November, and it will cover ngTLD sales for the period from Oct 23 through Nov 22. This monthly update on publicly reported ngTLD sales is offered as a service to the domain community.  While I strive to be accurate, no implied guarantee or warranty is associated with this report, and readers should independently verify information before using it in any domain investment decisions.  As always, we welcome comments and corrections. We report regularly on domain name news, with a special emphasis on the new extensions, on our Twitter feed.  Why not join the almost 1600 domain investors, venture capitalists, tech experts, startup owners and other great people that already follow us @AGreatName?  If we can be of assistance in helping you find a domain name at a value price, or using a domain name phrase in a marketing campaign, don't hesitate to contact us through our website (or via direct message at Twitter).

Original post Oct 25 2018.

Disclosure:  I currently hold a number of  ngTLD domain names. I am  not associated with NameBio, but would like to acknowledge their incredible database and their generosity to make it available to the domain community. This, and all other postings at this site, are offered for educational purposes and should not be interpreted as domain investment advice. You are responsible for your own domain investment decisions. 

Top is 4 Yr Old

It has passed without much fanfare but yesterday the .top extension had the four year anniversary of general availability that began on Nov 17, 2014.  Through promotional pricing the .top extension leads all ngTLDs in number of registrations, about 3.7 million registrations currently according to nTLDStats. 

Registration Data

The registration numbers went up to a peak of nearly 4.8 million, then  dropped to about 1.9 million early in 2018, before bouncing back to the current rate of 3.7 million. Plot below is courtesy of nTLDStats.

Sales Data

The .top extension has also done very well sales wise.  For example in 2018 YTD the NameBio database for .top shows 467 sales accounting for bout $2 million volume.  The average sales price is an impressive $4340.  There have been 7 sales in 2018 above $50,000 and 28 for more than $10,000. The extension registration is dominated by China (93% currently), and Chinese registries account for the vast majority of registrations, both premium and standard. The abuse characteristics of the extension remain problematic. I am planning a  more extensive review of the .top extension at some future date.

Promotion at Alpnames

Probably several registrars will be offering discounts to mark the anniversary.  Alpnames have started a promotion where new registrations of .top are reduced to $0.99.  It's active now - not sure how long it will last. According to TLD-List it is currently the best offer on registration among the major registrars.

Original post Oct 18, 2018.

Fine Print

This post is offered for informational and educational purposes only, and should not be considered domain name investment advice. While an attempt has been made to be accurate, there is no implied or explicit warranty, and you are responsible for verifying any information of importance to you. You also accept full responsibility for any domain investing decisions you may make. I have no association with the folks who maintain NameBio. I acknowledge the makers of these for the valuable products that they make freely available to the domain name community. I have no association with the .top registry, except that I have a number of their domain names in my portfolio.  I have no affiliate or other relationship with Alpnames, except using them as a registrar for some of my domain names.

I try to be fair, balanced and objective in my analysis.  If you feel this post does not meet that standard, please express your concerns to me.  I never accept compensation to provide favourable review of any particular service or product.

The text of this posting is ©B Hawkes, all rights reserved. However, you may, without permission, use reasonable length portions of the post as long as a link to this post is also provided. If you wish to use the complete contents of a post, please request permission. I am normally open to reprinting, but will consider each request individually. 

Little Savings Add Up

There are many aspects to success as a domain name investor, one is saving money on your costs. Tools like TLD-list and DomComp can help you find the best rates for registration, transfer and renewal of domain names. As well as using comparator tools, it also makes sense to watch out for limited time specials. We point out a limited time opportunity on right now, but you have to act fast! While saving a couple of dollars might not seem like much, if you have a hundred domains or more, those savings can add up!

Namecheap Birthday Celebration

Namecheap is the world's second largest retail registrar, with over 10 million domains under management. Particularly in the new domain extensions, they are a huge presence offering excellent rates for both registration and renewals.  They are celebrating their 18th anniversary, and are offering customers deals on both renewals and .com registrations.  The renewal deal is 18% off almost all of the extensions, and it can be applied whether your  domains are currently up for renewal or not.  The deal stops at midnight (Eastern time zone) tonight (Oct 17) though, so act fast.

To add renewal of a domain name at Namecheap do the following;

1. Log into your  Namecheap account and go to the Dashboard.
2. Select Domains from the list at the left, then find the domain you want to renew early. 
3. For that domain click on the Manage icon, and  then select Add Years.
4. This will bring up a page with one year the default setting. Make sure that under the price it shows B-Day for special price.
5. If you want to renew for more than one year, just select it from the pull down menu. The discount applies to multiple year periods, and you will see the cost for each option.
6. If you change your mind simply take the renewal out of your shopping cart using the x.
7. Confirm by choosing your source of funds.  
8. The new registration expiry date will instantly show up in your domain list.

I've been a long term customer of Namecheap, with the majority of my domains registered there.  They offer a cost effective solution and have speedy and courteous customer response if you ever need it. Note  that this promotion while applying to almost all extensions, only makes a difference for those extensions not at some current  promotion renewal price.  For example, for my .science domain names there is no advantage to this promotion. 

Namecheap also have a deal on new registrations of .com domain names which you may find attractive, although also look at options at other registrars.

Discussion

So why not head over to Namecheap in the next few hours and pick up savings on renewals. As pointed out in a previous post, renewing in advance simplifies your life and locks in costs at good rates. Deciding what to renew encourages you to take a critical look at your entire portfolio.  Also, having the domain name registered for multiple years make it more worthwhile to develop a mini-site or other long term promotion plans.

It always makes good sense to compare your renewal rate with what options you have if you transfer to another registrar. This is easy using sites like TLD-list and DomComp that compare current pricing at multiple registrars. Do keep in mind, however, that when you transfer your domain name to a new registrar their will normally be a 60 day ICANN lock on further transfer of ownership.

Congratulations to Namecheap, and looking forward to the next decade.  They hint on their blog that some big things are in the not too distant future. By the way, they also have a contest to win $1000 (one winner).  No purchase is necessary, but you will need to outline your case on how the funding could help your business or individual plans.

If you decide to renew some domain names under this promotion, why not share in the comments section the names or extensions and your thinking in selecting those.

Original post Oct 17, 2018.

Fine Print

This post is offered for informational and educational purposes only, and should not be considered domain name investment advice. While an attempt has been made to be accurate, there is no implied or explicit warranty, and you are responsible for verifying any information of importance to you. You also accept full responsibility for any domain investing decisions you may make. I have no association with the folks who maintain NameBio. I acknowledge the makers of these for the valuable products that they make freely available to the domain name community. 

I am not connected to Namecheap and have not been encouraged or paid to make this post.  The screen capture used here is from Namecheap who own the rights to it, and is used here for review illustration purposes only.  I am a customer of Namecheap, and also have an affiliate relationship with them, which is used in one or more links in this post.  That does not alter the price that you pay for any services from Namecheap.

I try to be fair, balanced and objective in my analysis.  If you feel this post does not meet that standard, please express your concerns to me.  I never accept compensation to provide favourable review of any particular service or product.

The text of this posting is ©R Hawkes, all rights reserved. However, you may, without permission, use reasonable length portions of the post as long as a link to this post is also provided. If you wish to use the complete contents of a post, please request permission. I am normally open to reprinting, but will consider each request individually. 

Are Average Domain Prices Decreasing?

Recently I looked at what years the top 100 all time domain sales took place.  The data shows some correlation to the strength of the stock markets, with a slight lag. Other than  that, there is not clear statistical evidence for a net increase or decrease over the two decades studied.  A more important question, though, is what has been  happening to the average  domain sale price. I look at that in this issue.

The Data

Let's start by taking a  look at a NameBio generated graph of the average weekly price over the past decade (click on the image to see a higher resolution view). It is clear that there was more variability in the early years. There is also an indication that the average weekly sales price has been decreasing.  Many weeks this year that average has been $900 and less, whereas in the early parts of the period covered in the graph the average is normally in the $2000 to $3500 range. The plot is for all domain extensions, with the weekly average used.

While the graph suggests that the average price has been decreasing, it is difficult to discern precise data from the NameBio generated plot.  I therefore looked at the average sales price in different intervals, with that data given in the table shown on the right. I looked at data for both all extensions and for .com only,  although the data is only slightly different since .com is dominates the market.

Discussion

Certainly the data seems to suggest that prices are going down for domain names. For example if we look at .com domains only the average over all time represented by the NameBio database (about 20 years) is $2714.  If we look at only the last five years it is $1731 and has dropped to $1258 this year.

One explanation is that more low quality domains are now selling.  There is some evidence in the data for that hypothesis. For example 2016 had 67,600 sales of .com domains while 2017 saw 66,400 sales, but the average number over the last five years is lower, 58,500.

It would be interesting  to know if the median price was going down as well, but this can not readily be calculated for large datasets with the NameBio public interface.

It is relevant to look at resale of the same domain name to see if that was going up or down.  This is more challenging to do, but for a small dataset (I studied 13, 165 domain name sales over  a  61 day period) indeed prices seem to go down more often than  they go up. I found 288 domain sales with a previous sales history, 104 showed an increase and 184 a decrease in price. As I explain, however,  the apparent conclusion may not be valid, and in any case the statistical sample is small.

Over the years there have been some changes in which venues report to NameBio, and it is possible that there are systematic biases introduced by this. 

If it is true that domain prices are indeed falling that has serious implications for the viability of domain name investing.  If we view domains as a commodity it would mean that simply holding a portfolio of names will, on average, be a losing proposition. I will develop this hypothesis in a future blog post, although the apparent downward trend should be of concern to domain name investors.

Original post Oct 5, 2018.

Fine Print

This post is offered for informational and educational purposes only, and should not be considered domain name investment advice. While an attempt has been made to be accurate, there is no implied or explicit warranty, and you are responsible for verifying any information of importance to you. You also accept full responsibility for any domain investing decisions you may make. I have no association with the folks who maintain NameBio. I acknowledge the makers of these for the valuable products that they make freely available to the domain name community. 

I try to be fair, balanced and objective in my analysis.  If you feel this post does not meet that standard, please express your concerns to me.  I never accept compensation to provide favourable review of any particular service or product.

The text of this posting is ©R Hawkes, all rights reserved. However, you may, without permission, use reasonable length portions of the post as long as a link to this post is also provided. If you wish to use the complete contents of a post, please request permission. I am normally open to reprinting, but will consider each request individually. 

End User for Recent Major .Online Sales

As I pointed out recently, there has been momentum in .online extension domain name sales this year.  In today's post I look at who made two of the recent major purchases in the extension and why the acquisitions are a good fit for the company.

The Sales

On Sept 20, 2018 the domain name king.online sold for $17,250 on Sedo. A few days later the domain name design.online sold for $57,500, also on Sedo. The design sale makes the top 10 list of new global top level domain (ngTLD) sales in 2018 YTD at time of writing. I am not completely sure, but using https://web.archive.org it appears that the names were sold through Sedo by the  Radix registry as premium names.

The End User

I see that both domains are now redirecting to the website of King Living, an Australian headquartered furniture business that started in 1977. The company currently operates from a com.au domain name. The company started with the name King Furniture.  They have over the years been early adopters of a number of innovations including steel frames, use of foam in cushions, removable covers, and modular designs.  They have won a number of awards for their designs. They currently operate showrooms in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore. Their expansion plans include a Vancouver, BC, Canada showroom that will open in the coming year.  You can read more about the company here or directly on the history section of the company's website.

Discussion

Now that the company operates well beyond Australia, and has further expansion plans, I think rebranding to a truly global top level domain makes sense.  Undoubtedly they would have liked king.com, but that is the website for King, a major UK based video game maker - you quite probably have used their products, as they make the Candy Crush line!

The fact that King Living selected the .online extension tells me that they see expansion through online shopping. The .online extension has a number of things going for it.  It is one of the top 10 new extensions, both in terms of registrations and  actual use in Alexa 1M websites. About 1 in every 500 registrations make the Alexa 1M, almost as high as .com. The extension has excellent lack of abuse statistics - on day of writing with a score of 0.56 it is tied with .com.  It will be interesting to see if King Living plan to use these names always for redirection or if eventually their main web presence will migrate to them.

There are a number of other extensions that would have made sense for the company, such as king.life or king.design.  The first is available for sale currently by a Chinese domain name investor.  I suspect they selected .online either because acquisition was easier, or because it is more well known by the general public. I do not know if the company has other ngTLD acquisition plans.

I congratulate the company on these digital asset acquisitions.  For Radix, it is good news to have another major company with a long and distinguished history choosing to brand using one of their extensions.

Original post Oct 4, 2018.

Fine Print

This post is offered for informational and educational purposes only, and should not be considered domain name investment advice. While an attempt has been made to be accurate, there is no implied or explicit warranty, and you are responsible for verifying any information of importance to you. You also accept full responsibility for any domain investing decisions you may make. I have no association with the folks who maintain NameBio or NameStat databases. I acknowledge the makers of these for the valuable products that they make freely available to the domain name community. I have no association with the company mentioned in this post.

I try to be fair, balanced and objective in my analysis.  If you feel this post does not meet that standard, please express your concerns to me.  I never accept compensation to provide favourable review of any particular service or product.

The text of this posting is ©R Hawkes, all rights reserved. However, you may, without permission, use reasonable length portions of the post as long as a link to this post is also provided. If you wish to use the complete contents of a post, please request permission. I am normally open to reprinting, but will consider each request individually. 

ONLINE Extension Sales

The top sale for Oct 2, 2018 in the NameBio daily report was a new global top level domain (ngTLD).  The acronym DMV sold with the .online extension on Dynadot for $5101. While this is a single sale, when looked at in a broader context it seems part of a pattern of considerable momentum in the .online extension.

Sales of Online

As of writing the NameBio database shows 87 sales of online with an average price of $4804 (the link will show current values).  There have been 6 sales for more than $10,000 and 34 sales for more than $1000. The largest sale ever was casino.online that sold for $201,250 in 2017.  Second place is the recent (Sept 24, 2018) sale of design.online for $57,500.  The recent momentum is clear at the top of the price list, with 7 of the 10 highest value sales all in 2018 (2015, 2016 and 2017 have one each).

Discussion

I plan to do a full review of the .online extension in the not too distant future, but as background would point out that it is in the top 10 of ngTLDs in terms of registrations.  The extension, part of the Radix portfolio of ngTLDs, came into general availability on Aug 26, 2015.

I think .online has a bright future as it works naturally with many keywords to make a descriptive and memorable domain phrase. Names like casino.online, lodges.online, assurance.online and  counselling.online tell you exactly what to expect at the site.  While many of the sales have been in single words, a number of two word domain names have also sold in the extension, such as AirConditioning.online, FindMe.online, PayIt.online and MyWorld.online.

The extension has a lot of momentum. As noted earlier, 7 of the top 10 sales in the extension were in 2018.  As of time of writing 50 of the 87 sales overall in the extension were in 2018 (the link will show updated data).

For some time it has been true that .online is strong in actual website use, at least when compared with other ngTLDs.  As of writing date it had 1499 websites in the Alexa 1M, or one per every 575 domain names registered.  While this is about a factor of two less than .com, it is better than the vast majority of extensions.

I also view it as healthy that the extension has sales on many different venues including Dynadot, Flippa, GoDaddy, Sedo and Uniregistry.  While there have been initial premium registry sales, it would appear that the vast majority of sales (at least in NameBio database), both in numbers and value, have been in the aftermarket, another encouraging sign.

I might also point out that Dynadot, the venue for this sale, has become more active in ngTLD sales of late.

Original post Oct 3, 2018.

Fine Print

This post is offered for informational and educational purposes only, and should not be considered domain name investment advice. While an attempt has been made to be accurate, there is no implied or explicit warranty, and you are responsible for verifying any information of importance to you. You also accept full responsibility for any domain investing decisions you may make. I have no association with the folks who maintain NameBio or NameStat databases. I acknowledge the makers of these for the valuable products that they make freely available to the domain name community. 

I try to be fair, balanced and objective in my analysis.  If you feel this post does not meet that standard, please express your concerns to me.  I hold personally only a single .online domain name. I never accept compensation to provide favourable review of any particular service or product.

The text of this posting is ©R Hawkes, all rights reserved. However, you may, without permission, use reasonable length portions of the post as long as a link to this post is also provided. If you wish to use the complete contents of a post, please request permission. I am normally open to reprinting, but will consider each request individually. 

High Value Sales By Year

For today's post I used the NameBio list of the 100 all-time highest value sales to look at how high value sales have varied with year.  The sales on the list vary from $1 million to $14 million each.  There are other reported top sales lists (such as this one published by Sedo), that include higher value sales, but I thought it most consistent to use the NameBio verified sales list. The DN Journal top 20 sales of all time are at this link.

Results

The results are shown below (click on image for a higher resolution view).  Each year except 2001 and 2002 had at least one entry on the top 100 list, while the most in any year was 11 (2000 and 2014). 

Discussion

The most obvious trend is a correlation between major sales and stock market health. The periods during and just after, economic pullbacks had relatively few high value sales.  For example only one each in 2011 and 2012, and none at all in 2001 and 2002. The credit crisis induced stock market correction of 2008-2009 seemed to take a year or two to impact the high value domain name sales.  The peak of the dot com era is not surprisingly well represented by high value sales (6 in 1999 and 11 in 2000).

It turns out that 2014, the year when many of the new extensions became available, was tied for the most high value sales (11).

The current year, so far at least, seems on the low side, although the preceding years (2013 through 2017) were all consistent with the average over the 20 year period.

Many are predicting after one of the longest bull markets in history, particularly for the US based stock markets, that a correction is almost inevitable.  The data suggests that major domain sales will correlate with any pullback, although with a delay of a year or two typically.

Original post Oct 1, 2018.


Fine Print

This post is offered for informational and educational purposes only, and should not be considered domain name investment advice. While an attempt has been made to be accurate, there is no implied or explicit warranty, and you are responsible for verifying any information of importance to you. You also accept full responsibility for any domain investing decisions you may make.

I have no association with the folks who maintain NameBio database. I acknowledge the makers of these for the valuable products that they make freely available to the domain name community. 

I try to be fair, balanced and objective in my analysis.  If you feel this post does not meet that standard, please express your concerns to me.  

In a very few cases there may be affiliate links on this blog. This means I receive a small amount if users visit or make purchases via the link. You do not pay any additional charge due to using an affiliate link, and in some cases your cost will be below the normal price. I receive no identifying information about who clicks, or does not click, any link. I never accept compensation to provide favourable review of any particular service or product.

The text of this posting is ©R Hawkes, all rights reserved. However, you may, without permission, use reasonable length portions of the post as long as a link to this post is also provided. If you wish to use the complete contents of a post, please request permission. I am normally open to reprinting, but will consider each request individually.