Tag Archives: Sedo Domain Market Study

Go Daddy Auctions And Sedo Show Dips In Domain Sales

In August Go Daddy Auctions sold 31,481 domain names compared to 33,373 in July, a drop of 1892 for the month. The drop in sales is also reflected in quarterly sales figures with 103,831 domain names sold in the quarter ending 30 June (quarter two) compared to 126,966 in the quarter ending 31 March (quarter one), a drop of 23,135.However the drop in prices for the second quarter can be at least partly explained by the prices of domains, with psoriasis.com, which sold for $350,000 easily eclipsing the top selling domain in the first quarter (looker.com/$50,000). Looker.com would have only come in equal fourth in the first quarter.The drop in prices for the quarters is also reflected in Sedo’s most recent Domain Market Study for the 2nd quarter 2012 that showed drops in sales volumes (10,133 in quarter one compared to 9049 in quarter two) as well as sales value ($19,641,153 and 17,415,345 respectively).Both Go Daddy Auctions and Sedo also give breakdowns of how the domain name was sold. For Go Daddy Auctions, Offer/Counter Offer accounted for 1.5 percent (1509 sales) of all sales, auction for 54.7 percent (56,769) and Buy Now for 43.9 percent (45,553). This compares to Sedo, which offers more types of sales methods, where Buy Now accounted for 42 percent of all sales, Offer-Counteroffer (31%), Auctions (15%), External Transfers (7%) and Brokerage (5%).More information on Go Daddy Auctions sales is available here while the Sedo Domain Name Market Study for quarter 2 is available here.

.NET Domains More Valuable Than .COM: Sedo

The average sale price of a .NET domain name was $300 higher than the average .COM sale in the second quarter 2012, Sedo’s Q2 2012 Domain Market Study reports.However it appears the number of domain names sold through the Sedo marketplace is falling in the face of competition from alternative marketplaces. The ongoing global financial issues could also have some impact, but new domain name registrations continue to grow strongly, with the Verisign reporting growth in the total number of registrations growing 11 per cent year-on-year across all TLDs in their Domain Name Industry Brief for the first quarter 2012. So demand for domain names remains strong.The increase in competition is also reflected in the Domain Name Journal list of top reported sales with Go Daddy Auctions and DomainNameSales regularly having more domain names in the top 20 reported sales than Sedo.In the second quarter there were 9049 domain names sold through the Sedo marketplace compared to 10,600 in the same quarter in 2011. There were also 10,133 sold in quarter one while there were 9778 and 8915 domains sold in quarters three and four respectively in 2011.The average price for .NET domain names jumped around 50 per cent compared to the previous quarter from $1619 to $2470, which means the average .NET domain name was more valuable than the average .COM domain for those sold through Sedo. In the quarter the average .COM domain sale was $2107 compared to $2347 in the previous quarter. The average does not seem to be affected by any significant .NET sale with the highest public .NET sale in the quarter being hot.net, selling for €56,700. Whether there were any unreported sales impacting these figures is not published.But .COM sales remained the most popular extension accounting for almost half (48%) of all domain names sold in the quarter through Sedo, easily eclipsing .DE (15%), .NET (6%) and co.uk (5%).”The .COM extension will remain king for a long time, but the strength of .NET sales this quarter clearly demonstrates the continued appeal of alternate TLDs,” continued Mack-de Boer. “We are looking forward to the new domain extensions being introduced next year, and will be monitoring how well they fare against the historical heavyweights like .COM.”In how domain names are sold, Sedo reports that their Buy Now sales continue to be the most popular method of selling domains, accounting for 42 per cent of all domains sold in the quarter. Offer-counteroffer accounted for 31 per cent of all sales and auctions for another 15 per cent. Sedo notes that buyers increasingly prefer to purchase names at set prices, and that sellers are beginning to opt more and more for the listing type that buyers prefer.”Several factors are driving the growth of Buy Now transactions. First of all, buyers are looking for a quick, easy and hassle-free purchasing experience, where the total purchase price is known up front. Sellers are also realizing that Buy Now prices are simply a good strategy – they have no worries over lengthy negotiations, and they sell more names,” said Liesbeth Mack-de Boer, CSO of Sedo. “The second reason for this growth is the expansion of the SedoMLS network, which distributes Buy Now listings across the Web at registrars and other domain service providers. We’re getting premium domains in front of more people than ever before.”While sales of million dollar plus domains get the headlines, the vast majority of domain names sell for much more affordable prices. Almost half (46%) of all sales through Sedo sold for $500 or less in the quarter while 39 per cent of domain names sold for between $501 and $2500. Only one per cent of all sales sold for $50,001 and higher.Among ccTLDs, there were increases for most of the top contenders, with .AT showing the biggest increase from $1484 in quarter one to this quarter’s average price of $1723. .DE and .FR also showed strong growth while .ES and .co.uk showed declines, but the market overall is still a very strong one for ccTLDs. And for country of origin of buyers, Italy and Australia entered the top 10 most frequent countries for people purchasing domains while China and Austria fell off the list.The most popular length of a domain name was eight characters, closely followed by nine and ten characters, something that has been consistent since Sedo introduced this in their reports six months ago. The longest domain sold at Sedo in the second quarter was private-krankenversicherung-test.de, at 34 characters. The report notes that most domains with more than 15 characters consist of two or more German language terms.In the report, Sedo predicts that with the performance of Facebook’s IPO, domain name investors do not need to worry about social media becoming the main online home for businesses.To download the Sedo Domain Market Study for the second quarter 2012, go to:
sedo.com/fileadmin/documents/pressdownload/Q2_2012_DomainMarketStudy_US.pdf

Sedo Sells 10,000 Domains Worth $20m In First Quarter

Sedo was responsible for more than 10,133 domain name transactions accounting for $19,641,153 in sales, the Sedo Q1 2012 Domain Market Study reports [PDF]. The report also says there has been a significant shift in market dynamics with the number of Buy Now sales surpassing offer-counter offer sales for the first time and hence becoming the most popular type of transaction, accounting for almost two in five sales (39%) in quarter one 2012.Further demonstrating the strength of domain values, IDNX, the first standardised pricing index for the domain market, reached record highs in March 2012 after five months of consecutive growth. Quarter one prices increased by 4.2 per cent, paralleling other economic indices and proving that domain prices are at an all-time high without being inflated.Sedo believes this suggests that the domain market has rebounded from the slump of 2011, and when compared to other standard economic indicators it suggests a market that is well-positioned for future growth, with the potential for additional record highs during the remainder of 2012.”The results of this quarter’s domain market study are extremely promising. With the highest sales numbers we’ve seen since early 2011, this year may have the potential to become the strongest for the domain market in quite some time,” said Liesbeth Mack-de Boer, CSO of Sedo. “Sedo is continuing to invest heavily in extending the global reach of our marketplace, and looking forward to the availability of new gTLDs in 2013. We are confident that we will continue to connect even more domain buyers and sellers in the coming year.”As expected, .COM was the most frequently sold TLD, accounting for 45 per cent of all sales, while .DE was a distant second with 16 per cent of all sales followed by co.uk and .NET, both accounting for six per cent of all sales.In the top ten TLDs there was one change with the reappearance of .ES which had dropped out of the list to be replaced by .CO in 2011. This resurgence in popularity during Q1 2012, Sedo believes, is likely due to an improved transfer process for .ES domains, resulting in more companies buying .ES names to expand their products and services in Spain. The remaining TLDs making up the top ten are .ORG, .EU, .INFO, .ME and .NL.The US and Germany are easily the two biggest domain buyers by country, accounting for 26 and 24 per cent respectively, followed by the United Kingdom with 19 per cent. And 85 per cent of sales were under $2500.On length of a domain name, the most popular for Q1 2012 was between 7 and 10 characters, which was the same as throughout 2011.The mean sales price of the top gTLD, .COM, was $2,347 during Q1 2012 while .ORG, .BIZ and .INFO increased in value since last quarter, whereas .NET saw a slight decline.The .DE extension showed strong growth, increasing significantly in value to $1,454 this quarter. With the exception of .EU, other ccTLDs saw even greater increases. At $1,870, .FR had the highest average sales price, and the .AT extension also saw a significant increase from $867 last quarter to $1,484.

Sedo Study Shows $17m Drop In 2011 Sales

Domain name sales totalled $84,431,965 through Sedo in 2011, the company’s 2011 Annual Domain Market Study that includes a review of the fourth quarter. However this was a significant drop on the 2010 calendar year when there was $101,438,953 in sales, a drop of $17,006,988. However it should also be noted that the $13 million sale of sex.com was included in 2010 figures.Reflecting the drop in sales value, the total number of domain names sold also dropped to 39,951 from 43,499 in 2010. The declines could at least in part reflect the ongoing global financial crisis.As expected, .COM domain names dominate the sales for the year, accounting for 44 per cent of all sales, while .DE came next accounting for 18 per cent. Third with six per cent of sales was co.uk then .NET (5%) and .EU (4%).When looking at statistics provided by Verisign and HosterStats, the sales for .COM domains were also in proportion to their global share of registrations, with .COM accounting for around 44 per cent of all registrations using figures for the end of the third quarter in 2011. However .DE accounted for around 6.5 per cent of registrations.Sedo also reports .CO and .ME entering the top ten sold top TLDs for the very first time, which they believe supports the case for new gTLDs and their potential for success. While these newer extensions increased in value, the traditionally strong .COM also increased, demonstrating that while there is promise for newcomers, .COM domains will retain their value.Interestingly, the country with the most buyers of domain names through Sedo was Germany with 27 per cent of all buyers, followed by the United States (24%) and the United Kingdom (11%). Sedo’s German origins would have an impact here, but nonetheless it is still surprising as Sedo has a significant presence in the US.The report also shows the most common sales types are marketplace negotiations (offer/counter-offer), which accounted for 40 per cent of all sales for the year, while Buy Now sales accounted for 30 per cent of sales, up from 25 per cent in 2010. Sedo notes a strong growth in Buy Now sales can be traced to the growth of the promotion of the SedoMLS Promotion Network. And Buy Now could become the dominant form of domain purchase soon as in the fourth quarter this type of sale accounted for close to 40 per cent of all sales.The continued increase in Buy Now sales, as well as growth in median prices for sales made over the SedoMLS Network, reveal a shift in end user behaviour. More buyers are interested in fast domain purchases, as well as the ability to purchase premium domain names from a recognisable environment, such as their preferred registrar.”This year we saw domain buyers increasingly turn to sources like registrars to purchase their domains, so we’re excited to be playing a key role in providing these buyers with the greatest choice of domains names,” said Liesbeth Mack-de Boer, Chief Sales Officer at Sedo. “SedoMLS places sellers’ domains in front of millions of potential new buyers, and our goal for 2012 is to make buying a domain as easy as registering one for the first time.”Almost half (47%) of all sales were sold in the price range up to $500, while 38 per cent of sales were in the $500 to $2,500 category. While the $2,500 to $5,000 category was next (8%), the proportion of sales in the $50,000 and up category accounted for four cent of sales, edging out the remaining two categories combined.Length of a domain name is also an important characteristic, and it was domains with eight characters that were the most popular with 3,500 sales, including Sedo’s biggest sale of 2011, gambling.com. There were over 3,500 domain names sold for domains with over nine and ten characters as well.Average prices for various TLDs were mixed. The average price for .COM dropped, largely due to the record breaking sex.com sale, from $3185 in 2010 to $2775 in 2011. However .NET sales were stable, .ORG dropped dramatically from $2217 to $1289 and .INFO increased from $795 to $990.Among the top six ccTLDs there was again no consistency with average prices of .DE domains increasing slightly from 2010 to 2011 ($1514 to $1530), while .AT domains increased from $1000 to $1177. But .FR more than halved in the average sale value from $6768 to $2386 while co.uk also dropped significantly ($2008 to $1273). Sales of .EU domains increased from $706 per domain to $1169.Median sales of domains showed more consistency, as .COM showed a steady increase, with the median price of domains increasing from $550 to $650. There were decreases in the median value of .NET ($590 to $555) and .ORG ($591 to $510), while there were increases for .BIZ ($407 to $424) and .INFO ($416 to $418).Among the abovementioned ccTLDs, the median prices increased for all with the exception of .DE. The .FR domains continued to have the highest median price of all reported TLDs as it has done for the last three years, with an average of $1075 per domain.To download the full Sedo 2011 Annual Domain Market Study, see:
sedo.com/fileadmin/documents/pressdownload/Q4_2011_DomainMarketStudy_US.pdf

Sedo Domain Sales Heat Up In Northern Summer With Sales Of $25m In Q2

Domain name aftermarket sales continue to grow at Sedo with $25 million of sales in the second quarter of 2011. Sales increased 13 percent compared to Q1 2011 and four percent year-over-year according to their Q2 2011 Domain Market Study, which reveals domain industry trends based on its marketplace transactions.Notable sales in the quarter included datacenter.com for $352,500 and navidad.com for $100,000, supporting the .COM’s continued strength and relevance. However, domain sales priced at $5,000 and below accounted for 48 per cent market share, proving that there is a wide range of affordable domain choices for both established companies and SMBs looking to extend their brand online. For example, sunburnt.com recently sold for $8,800 and boatoutfitter.com was purchased for only $1,000. Of sales at the other end of the market, one per cent of sales were in the $50,000 and over category.During the three months ending 30 June, 10,600 domains changed hands on Sedo’s Domain Marketplace. Leading with the substantial $2.5 million sale of gambling.com, Q2 2011 represented the strongest quarter the marketplace has seen in over a year, once the record-breaking sale of sex.com from Q4 2010 is factored out.”The significant increase in sales – one of several optimistic benchmarks this quarter -seems to disprove the theory that the announcement of new gTLDs will diminish the value of existing TLDs,” says Jeremiah Johnston, COO and general counsel of Sedo.”The wide range of relevant keyword domain names available to support seasonal and holiday initiatives provides marketers, entrepreneurs and businesses with boundless investment opportunities that are not only affordable but provide the most significant ROI possible.”In addition, the average sale prices of .com domains in Q2 2011 reached $3,114, a 20 per cent increase over Q1 2011. Average .com sales prices for Q2 2011 were also higher than those for every quarter last year, excluding Q4 2010, which saw the record-breaking sale of Sex.com for $13,000,000. Other highlights of Sedo’s Q2 2011 study include:

  • The .COM extension continues to be the most popular TLD, accounting for 52 per cent of all Q2 TLD sales. The .NET extension came in a distant second with 6 per cent of the market share.
  • Overall in Q2 2011, .DE continued to be the most frequently traded ccTLD on the marketplace, accounting for 18 per cent market share, while .co.uk and .EU each accounted for 6 per cent of the market
  • Ten TLDs contributed to at least one per cent of the overall transaction volume of Q2 2011 apart from the above with the remaining TLDs being .ORG (5%), .INFO (3%), .CO (2%) and .NL AND .ES (1% each)
  • The top ccTLDs according to their average price were .ES (with an average sale per domain of $3,540) and .FR ($3,473) with .ES boosted by a confidential record-breaking sale
  • Median sales prices for gTLDs remained fairly consistent quarter over quarter, despite a significant increase in Q2 2011 median sales prices for gTLDs across the board
  • The .CO extension maintains its position as a top TLD, revealing its staying power since its debut on the top TLD list in Q1 2011 and marks it as a valuable contender for investment and as a valid alternative to .COM and other top gTLDs
  • Fixed price sales accounted for 27 percent of all Q2 transactions, putting it in second place as the most popular form of seller-buyer interaction, following offer/counter-offer transactions (41 per cent).
  • Top US sales include gambling.com ($2,500,000), datacenter.com ($352,000) and consolidation.com ($200,000) with the only non-.COM public sale in the top ten being business.co

Sedo’s complete Q2 2011 report can be found online at: www.sedo.com/fileadmin/documents/pressdownload/Q2_2011_DomainMarketStudy_US.pdf

Annual Sedo Domain Name Study Finds Keyword Domains Dominate Marketplace

Keyword domain names dominated the top selling domain sales through online marketplace Sedo in 2009 according to the latest Sedo Domain Market Study. The study found that .COM continues to be the dominant Top Level Domain with 44 per cent of all domain sales.The value of domain names sold through Sedo grew markedly in 2009, continuing the ongoing trend and in spite of the global financial crisis. Year-on-year, Sedo saw a 22 per cent growth in the value of domains traded from 2008 to 2009 and a five per cent growth in the volume of domains changing hands in 2009.The top selling domain name through Sedo for 2009 was fly.com (£1,152,173.24 or $1.760 million)*. Of all reported domain name sales for 2009, fly.com came in third according to Domain Name Journal’s list of top sales for the year. The top two were toys.com in a bankruptcy auction, which sold for $5.1 million followed by candy.com ($3.0 million).The next top selling domains for Sedo were russia.com (£904,319) and call.com (£678,750). Rounding out the top ten for 2009 were server.com, christian.com, talk.com, brazil.com, top.com, body.com and resumes.com.Among the generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs), the average sale price declined for .COM (from £1,282 in 2008 to £1,260 in 2009) although the total value of domain sales more than doubled from £22,488,940 in 2008 to £48,732,030. For all other gTLDs, the average sale price and total sales jumped for all except the total value of domain sales for .INFO. The biggest jump in average sale price was for .BIZ, increasing by more than 50 per cent to £946..COM dominated gTLD sales with almost three-quarters (74%) of all sales followed by .NET (11%) and .ORG (7%). However among all sales, .NET accounted for six per cent of all sales in 2009 following .COM’s 44 per cent.Among country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) sales, .DE dominates with 54 per cent of all sales followed by CO.UK (13%) and .EU (11%).Median (or average) domain name sales however are a different proposition. The median sale for CO.UK, .AT, .ES, .DE and .EU all declined, while .CH and .FR increased. Among the gTLDs, .COM saw a decline while .NET, .ORG, .BIZ and .INFO all reported increases when comparing 2008 to 2009.However when comparing 2007 prices to 2009 prices, all of the reported gTLDs saw decreases apart from .BIZ. The steepest decline in average sale price from 2007 to 2009 was .COM with prices more than halving from £2,563 to £1,260. Among the ccTLDs, .UK and .ES also saw steep declines in the median domain name sale price from £3,461 to £1,543 and £2,363 to £1,034 respectively. Meanwhile .FR went the other way with prices more than doubling from £1,301 to £2,647.Sedo also continued to dominate the aftermarket, accounting for 64 per cent of the top 100 public sales in the domain industry, with the next closest competitor coming in at eight per cent.”Sedo’s continued impressive growth in 2009 demonstrates the tremendous stability of the domain market, as evidenced by its ability to weather the economic downturn,” said Jeremiah Johnston, Chief Operating Officer of Sedo in a Sedo statement.”We expect to see ongoing demand for premium virtual real estate in 2010, with geo, descriptive, .ORG and .COM domains leading the charge, as domain investors and marketers from organisations of all sizes continue to leverage domains to meet their business goals.”The most popular method of sale through Sedo is sold via “offer-counteroffer” (where a sale is negotiated via the marketplace) with 47 per cent of all sales made in this way. Marketplace auctions make up a third of all sales (33%) while fixed price (those that have a “buy-it-now” price) and external transfers each make up six per cent of sales.Sedo expects fixed price transactions to grow in coming year as this pricing model has been shown to appeal to end-user buyers. In 2009 there was a four per cent growth in sales via this method.And the top selling domain categories of 2009 included software, employment, services, regions, country and cities, tobacco, insurance, three-character domains, hardware and casinos.To download Sedo’s 2009 Domain Market Study in full, see:
www.sedo.co.uk/press/domainmarketstudy2009-uk.pdfDomain Name Journal’s list of the top 100 reported domain name sales for 2009 is available from:
dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2009/ytd-sales-charts-2009.htm* All prices in pound sterling are from the Sedo 2009 Domain Market Study and were converted to pound sterling on the day of transaction