Sedo’s dominant grip at the top of the domain name aftermarket chart has slipped with recent increased competition from other marketplaces, and while the company still accounts for more domain name sales than any other, both the volume and value of domains sold was the lowest of at least the last few years.In the results of its latest quarterly Domain Market Study for the third quarter of 2012, Sedo was responsible for a total of 8,181 domain transactions adding up to a total of $15,147,216 in sales.In the third quarter, median sales prices for the most popular generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) saw significant increases from the same quarter a year ago, indicating strong momentum in domain value. Specifically, .COM domains saw a year-over-year increase of 41 percent, while .NET and .ORG domains both increased 44 percent.In addition, domains were purchased by buyers in more than 160 countries worldwide, further highlighting both the global importance of securing the right domain for a business and the creative approaches some registries have implemented to market country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLD). In the past quarter, the average sale price of .ES domains (Spain) increased drastically to $3,783, due to the high value sale of hoteles.es for €275,000. Despite not having a high value sale of note this past quarter, .DE sales (Germany) remained strong, accounting for 15 percent of sales volume.”Finding the perfect domain name continues to be an important factor in a business’ success, no matter what area of the world you’re located in,” said Tobias Flaitz, Sedo’s CEO. “This quarter’s data reinforce that notion. We also see that businesses are starting to look at new and unique TLDs as a way to differentiate and stand out from the competition. We expect this trend to continue as new gTLDs are introduced into the market in the coming year.”The most frequent type of domain sales in Sedo’s marketplace this past quarter were “Buy Now” sales, where domain investors, consumers and business owners sell and purchase domains at a set price from the start. With benefits for both buyers and sellers, including their ability to expedite sales, remove the potential for lengthy negotiations, and help sellers increase sales volume, Buy Now accounted for a healthy 42 percent of all transactions during the quarter.Additional highlights of Sedo’s Q3 2012 Domain Market Study include:

• Sales per quarter were the lowest per quarter for at least the previous four quarters, going back to at least Q2, 2011, while sales volume was the lowest going back to at least Q2 2009
• The average sales price for .COM domains in the third quarter increased from $2,107 last quarter to $2,225. The market for .COM domains is strong, as it remained the most frequently purchased or traded top-level domain (TLD), accounting for 49 percent of total sales in the third quarter.
• The average sales price for .ORG domains increased to $1,313, up 9 percent from the previous quarter. The sale of work.org for $55,000 was a large factor in this increase.
• The average sales price of .NET sales plummeted almost $1,000 in the third quarter, suggesting that the high average experienced last quarter was the result of several very high value sales.
• The strongest sales volume during the third quarter occurred in July, with 2,839 domain sales taking place. Although the month of September saw fewer domain sales, it had a much higher sales value at $5.85 million.
• 46 percent of total sales this past quarter were for domains priced below $500, which is the same as Q2 2012. The number of domains sold for prices between $500 and $2,500 increased by 1 percent and accounted for 40 percent of all sales. In these price ranges, sales are often unusual TLDs such as wish.li ($500) or those with several keywords, such as hireapp.com ($1,200).
• Domains priced between $2,500 and $5,000 accounted for 8 percent of sales this quarter, the same as last quarter. Sales above that price point were 6 percent of total sales, with internationally brandable domains such as bra.com ($165,000) or designers.com (€118,000) changing owners.

Sedo’s complete Q3 2012 Domain Market Study is available here: sedo.de/fileadmin/documents/pressdownload/Q3_2012_DomainMarketStudy_US.pdf.