NamePros Blog

Bob Hawkes · Aug 20, 2020

The Internet was in less than 5% of homes when visionary Gary Kremen registered jobs.com, housing.com, autos.com, sex.com and about two dozen other valuable domain names. For free! The story is relayed in David Kushner’s superb book The Players Ball. The...

James Iles · Aug 16, 2020

In this week's Top Topics, an investor asks for suggestions as to what you do when you first acquire a new domain name, and we ask - does being multilingual make a difference in domaining? Elsewhere, there's a video interview with AbdulBasit Makrani, and this week's featured poll asks you to...

James Iles · Aug 12, 2020

Slightly late, this is Top Topics from last week, covering stories from the week commencing Monday August 3rd, 2020. These stories include the sale of the Trading.tv domain for $15,000, the revelation of the Notarize.com domain purchase price, and AbdulBasit Makrani's Afternic experiment...

Bob Hawkes · Aug 12, 2020

While .com certainly dominates the domain name aftermarket, significant .net sales continue to take place. For this article, I took a look at NameBio recorded .net sales of $10,000 or more during the period Jan 1, 2015 to Aug 10, 2020. There were 206 .net sales of $10,000...

Bob Hawkes · Aug 4, 2020

In the first half of 2020 I noticed significant sales being regularly announced by Jason Sheppard. Then, a couple of weeks ago, on successive days he announced sales of two .vc extension domain names, each at a retail price of $4999. The name basic.vc sold July 23, while...

James Iles · Aug 3, 2020

In this week's Top Topics, we look at the best methods for managing your domain names, the featured poll asks where you source most of your domain names from - whether that's auctions, hand registrations or by other means, and what's the best way to invest your money now to achieve a $300,000...

Bob Hawkes · Jul 28, 2020

Last month we noticed that two high-worth domain names had transferred ownership, IT.uk and IT.co.uk. We did not know the price of the sale until today, however, when the domain name appeared in the weekly Sedo sales list.

The domain name IT.co.uk sold for 187,200 GBP...

James Iles · Jul 24, 2020

In this week's Top Topics, AbdulBasit Makrani gives some advice about renewing domain names in advance, an investor shares a comprehensive list of places to find reported sales data, and there are details on how you can get free replays of The Domain Show sessions.

Elsewhere, an investor shares...

Bob Hawkes · Jul 22, 2020

One great thing about selling domain names is it is so easy to get started. With just a little money to buy a few names, and an Internet connection, you can be in the business of domain name selling. There is no need to be part of a large company or set up a facility. You can do it alone if you...

James Iles · Jul 19, 2020

In this week's Top Topics, a six-figure sale from 2015 is uncovered thanks to some details that were found in an SEC filing. We also take a look at Mike Mann's $1 investment that netted him $58,000, and an investor struggles with outbound sales. Elsewhere, domainers are encouraged to share their...

Bob Hawkes · Jul 16, 2020

We are a bit more than halfway through 2020, so I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the top 100 domain name sales so far this year. I used the sales recorded in NameBio, extracting the list effective July 11, 2020.

As of writing, to make the top 100 of the year required a...

James Iles · Jul 12, 2020

In this week's Top Topics, Dofo's founder invites investors to ask questions that he can answer using the hundreds of gigabytes of domain data that the company processes. Elsewhere, a domainer stumbles across one of the best geographical domain portfolios in existence, and George Kirikos...

Bob Hawkes · Jul 9, 2020

In a recent NamePros Blog post, I looked at the different ways a domain name can be found. One of the most important is through the lander.

Over the last few years additional marketplace choices, and additional lander options at marketplaces, make it possible to add a variety of...

James Iles · Jul 5, 2020

In this week’s Top Topics, AbdulBasit Makrani shares the results of his June Afternic experiment that includes a $50,000 “buy now” sale. Elsewhere, investors discuss the recent SCOTUS Booking.com decision, and an entrepreneur asks domainers for opinions on the best alternative domain to register...

Bob Hawkes · Jul 1, 2020

Given concerns related to the economic upheaval resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, many have speculated on whether domain sales have decreased or increased. In this article, I look at domain name sales data for the first six months of 2020, comparing it to the same period in...

James Iles · Jun 28, 2020

In this week’s Top Topics, we feature a poll asking whether your year so far has been successful in terms of domain sales. Elsewhere, we discuss first and last name domains, and an investor asks whether a company can be too successful to need a great domain name?

First Name and Last Name...

Bob Hawkes · Jun 25, 2020

Successful domain investing might be simplified as

Acquire domain names that people will want.
Price them correctly.
Get the names noticed by potential purchasers.
Effectively negotiate sales.

In this article, intended mainly for those relatively new to the field, I look at...

James Iles · Jun 20, 2020

In this week's Top Topics, we feature a $22,000 .TV sale that was announced this week, less than a year after it was acquired for $1,900. Elsewhere, investors discuss the news that Mike Mann dropped fifty thousand domain names, and our featured poll asks whether you would pay to attend a virtual...

Bob Hawkes · Jun 17, 2020

One of the biggest domain name sales of the week was Jackpot.io that sold for about $48,500. I got in touch with the seller, barman (@ppcbz), to learn more about the sale, his background in domain investing and his plans moving forward. The seller announced the sale on...

James Iles · Jun 14, 2020

I wanted to highlight @Kate Buckley's sale of GreenStreet.com for $100,000 and the story of how she sold the domain. According to DNJournal, Kate initially reached out to the company that ultimately bought the domain, but their CEO wasn't interested.

Fast forward several months, and...

Bob Hawkes · Jun 10, 2020

Last week I looked at sale statistics for the .io domain extension, as well as the history and regulatory framework. In this post I analyze the types of names that sell in the extension, plus sales venue statistics. I also take a look at current status of major .io domain name...

James Iles · Jun 7, 2020

In this week's Top Topics, AbdulBasit Makrani shares the details in the latest installment of his Afternic experiment series. Elsewhere, I ask domainers to share what has happened to their sold domains, and after reaching a significant milestone of five thousand domains, an investor asks the...

Bob Hawkes · Jun 4, 2020

Many domain investors and startup owners are enthusiastic about the .io domain extension. Quality single word names can command five-figure prices. The extension has one of the best global sell-through rates of all extensions.

The rate of adoption of .io by startups continues to...

James Iles · May 31, 2020

In this week's Top Topics, we feature a debate about the ethics of staying quiet when a newer investor spends thousands of dollars on poor quality domains. Elsewhere, a domainer has shared a list of the five thousand most popular prefixes and suffixes, and someone asks the community for advice...

Bob Hawkes · May 28, 2020

Most domain name investors start out with hand registrations. Many later move on to acquiring domain names mainly through expired auctions or closeouts. While it is true that many of the best domain names were registered long ago, creative domain investors can occasionally find worthwhile names...

James Iles · May 24, 2020

One of my favorite parts of the week is choosing the discussions for Top Topics. I get to take some time to browse the talking points of the week and compile a little list of Top Topics that I think will be interesting to you, the reader. I hope you like this week's selection, but as always, I'm...

Bob Hawkes · May 21, 2020

It seems that everyone is using Zoom and talking about Zoom, or more formally Zoom Video Communications Ltd. To domainers, part of the conversation is about the .us domain extension the company uses.

Samer started a NamePros discussion asking why they continue...

James Iles · May 17, 2020

Yesterday, I noticed that the domain name Stash.com had changed WHOIS status. It had moved from "ClientTransferProhibited" to "ok," signifying that the domain has been unlocked. This often implies the domain is about to move. Typically, this wouldn't even be close to being newsworthy, but this...

Bob Hawkes · May 13, 2020

A wholesale domain name transaction refers to a domain investor acquisition. For example one investor buying a domain name from another here on NamePros, or an investor acquiring a domain name in an expired domain auction.

A retail transaction is a sale to the business, organization...

James Iles · May 10, 2020

In this week's Top Topics, we feature the latest from an investor's test of the effectiveness of Afternic, and we hear from a domainer as to why they became a member of the ICA. Elsewhere, we see details of a domain flip that occurred just three hours after the investor registered the domain...

Bob Hawkes · May 6, 2020

Domain names can be viewed as either a product or a service. In the product model, a potential purchaser browses available names, selecting one that is a good match.

Seen as a service, the domain expert works with a client to identify aspects of an optimum name, and then helps them...

James Iles · May 3, 2020

In case you missed it, NamePros writer @Bob Hawkes produced an in-depth look at portfolio diversification this week. A highly diversified domain name portfolio may be better prepared to stand the tests of an economic downturn. If you are curious about exploring the concept of...

Bob Hawkes · Apr 29, 2020

Domain names in health and education have recently seen increasing demand, while some other areas have fallen slightly out of favour. Those who held quality domain names across many sectors were less impacted, both positively and negatively, than those with narrow specialization. This article...

James Iles · Apr 26, 2020

In case you missed it, Facebook likely acquired the domain Rooms.com for an undisclosed fee very recently. The news was first mentioned by myself on Twitter and first covered on Elliot Silver's (@EJS) DomainInvesting.com. This acquisition comes as Facebook released its Zoom rival...

Bob Hawkes · Apr 22, 2020

Interviews provide insights directly from those involved in domain name sales, acquisitions and the industry. Nothing can quite replace hearing domain industry influencers speak in their own words.

While several of the well known domain industry blogs and podcasts serve up interviews weekly, I...

James Iles · Apr 19, 2020

The Pronoun.com domain sold at an expiry auction this week for $9,999. The name certainly has a prestigious history. According to DomainIQ, the domain was owned by Nat Cohen's Telepathy Inc until July 2017, when Pronoun.com was acquired by Macmillan Publishers for their Pronoun self-publishing...

Bob Hawkes · Apr 17, 2020

This morning the Premium Domains division of Donuts confirmed the sale of the domain name My.Life for $175,000. I had reached out to them a few days ago, after rumours of the sale first emerged on NamePros.

If, or when, the sale is listed on NameBio, it would become by far the...

Bob Hawkes · Apr 15, 2020

Many have speculated on how the COVID-19 pandemic, and associated business climate, will influence the domain name sales market. In this article I look for statistical evidence of recent changes in domain name sales numbers or total dollar volume.

I also collected opinions from domain...

James Iles · Apr 12, 2020

In this week's Top Topics, we look at the potential correlation between the Coronavirus pandemic and domain name sales, and we see which prominent industry figures domainers respect the most. Elsewhere, Dofo's founder shares an analysis of the.COM extension and an investor has trouble tracking...

Bob Hawkes · Apr 8, 2020

The book Domnomics: The business of domain names authored by John McCormac, provides historical, statistical and economic insights on the development of the domain industry.

Domnomics is a noteworthy contribution to our understanding of how the domain business has...

James Iles · Apr 3, 2020

Is automation powerhouse Zapier about to rebrand to Zap? It looks like the company bought Zap.com earlier this year, anyway. According to DomainIQ, the name moved from NameCheap to Name.com under privacy protection in January, with Zap.com now redirecting to Zapier.com. Incidentally, Name.com is...

Bob Hawkes · Apr 1, 2020

This article looks at .org extension domain name sales during 2019. I use data from the NameBio database, only considering sales at prices of $5000 or more.

There were 123 sales above $5000, accounting for a total sales volume of just over $1.6 million.

The...

James Iles · Mar 29, 2020

In this week's Top Topics, an investor asks whether it's an opportune time to perform outbound sales in light of the social isolation that much of the world is experiencing right now, thanks to the Coronavirus. Speaking of the Coronavirus, a domainer shares their story of how their domain...

Bob Hawkes · Mar 24, 2020

The headlines continue to be dominated by the health risks associated with the COVID-19 virus, along with the economic impact of pandemic mitigation steps.

NamePros members have discussed the pandemic itself, the ethics of holding coronavirus domain names, whether the demand for...

James Iles · Mar 22, 2020

Michael Cyger, the founder of DNAcademy, hosted his second “Quarantine Social”, an hour-long chat hosted on Zoom. The chat attracted over fifty people, but if you weren’t able to make it, there’s a recording of the chat in the DNAcademy blog.

I think it’s a superb community initiative that...

TCK · Mar 18, 2020

The Coronavirus crisis will eventually end. When? That is difficult for the experts to predict. Unfortunately, politicians and red tape may stand in the way. In the meantime, more and more people are working from home. Could this be an opportunity for you to focus more on growing your domain...

James Iles · Mar 15, 2020

After reading Jamie Zoch’s blog post at the Uniregistry Blog entitled “Break Your Domain Routine”, I’ve been inspired to try out some changes of my own. As a domainer, it’s often easy to get stuck in a routine, so breaking your routine to find out whether you can improve on certain aspects...

Bob Hawkes · Mar 11, 2020

In a world absorbed by concern over community spread of the coronavirus, many large gatherings are being cancelled or altered. For example, the South by Southwest events in Austin, TX have been cancelled for 2020. Last year the combined attendance at the events was about 400,000.

The...

James Iles · Mar 7, 2020

In this week’s Top Topics, we feature the news of the reported $8,133,000 domain sale that investor George Kirikos unveiled. This sale surpasses that of the $8 million fee paid WE.com, which I revealed on this blog several years ago. The new sale sits firmly on the list of the largest...

Bob Hawkes · Mar 4, 2020

This article covers 2019 sales of .com domain names that are made up of three or four words. The analysis is limited to sales reported in the NameBio database.

There were 49 sales above $7500 of domain names comprised of at least three words. These sales represent 3.9% of all .com...

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