[news release] TLD Registry Ltd and Sedo, the world’s largest domain marketplace and monetization provider, today announced that the first premium domain name auction of new Chinese character gTLDs has raised US$182,000 from 33 auction lot sales. Bidders in the room and around the world paid between US$2,000 and US$25,388 for valuable Chinese character domain names in the Dot Chinese Online (.在线) and Dot Chinese Website (.中文网) TLDs.

The hybrid live and online auction was staged in the Galaxy Macau’s “China Rouge” private member’s club and was simultaneously held live on Sedo’s online auction platform.

Veteran and first-time domain name investors participated in and won auctions for domain names as diverse as “games.online” (游戏.在线) for $25,388, “casino.online” (赌场.在线) for 25,000, “realestate.online” (房地产.在线) for $16,000, “rent.online” (租赁.在线) for $15,500 and “bitcoin.online” (比特币.在线) for $14,388.

“The inaugural landrush auction for Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website was a complete success,” said Arto Isokoski, TLD Registry’s CEO. “We achieved everything that we said we would do. Our innovative hybrid auction was delivered fully and with great satisfaction for our 50 guests. We are very happy with the value which investors have placed on our TLDs.”

In addition to the domain names sold at the live auction, many investors requested access to additional premium domain names, with some requesting portfolios of hundreds of premium domains in the Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website registries. China’s central government is also backing the adoption of the new TLDs, introducing a new national policy on March 3, 2014 which mandates the use of Chinese domain names for all Chinese government websites.

“The interest we’ve seen in these new Chinese TLDs is reminiscent of the rush for dot com names in the 90s,” said Tobias Flaitz, Sedo’s CEO. “This auction has shown how strong the market is for Chinese character domains, and we look forward to seeing how their values will evolve as the market matures.”

The 30-day Landrush period of Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website concludes on April 24, 2014, with the TLDs’ General Availability beginning on April 28, 2014. Domain names in Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website are unrestricted and available from a worldwide registrar network.

The auction event was sponsored by .CLUB Domains and Afilias.

About TLD Registry Ltd
TLD Registry Ltd is a trans-national internet domain name registry which holds the exclusive rights to manage the essential new Chinese internet top level domains Dot Chinese Online
(.在线) and Dot Chinese Website (.中文网). TLD Registry Ltd was founded by Finnish internet entrepreneurs, is incorporated in Ireland, and employs expert personnel and domain name industry veterans in Beijing, Hong Kong, Helsinki, New York City, Austin and Oslo. TLD Registry’s principal investor is Finland’s Vision+ Fund in addition to business angels.

About Sedo
Sedo is the leading domain marketplace and monetization provider worldwide. Headquartered in Cologne, Germany and with offices in London, England and Boston, USA, Sedo has assembled the world’s largest database of domain names for sale with more than 18 million listings. The success of Sedo’s model has attracted a client base of more than 2 million domain professionals in 180 countries worldwide. The company’s support team speaks 23 languages natively while its award-winning interactive marketplace seamlessly services client needs in six different languages. Sedo also has a full suite of services available for new gTLD applicants, including premium auctions in all application phases, marketing support, pricing, consulting and brokerage services to reach domain buyers globally. With more than 13 years of experience, Sedo is trusted by organizations and individuals around the globe as neutral partner for buying, selling and parking domains.

This Sedo news release was sourced from:
https://sedo.com/presse/presse.php?tracked=&partnerid=&language=us&id=640