We recently brought you part one of our mini-series documenting the state of every single seven figure domain name sale that has ever been listed on DNJournal.com. In part one, we looked at the top twenty sales, from Sex.com to Candy.com. In part two, we’ll find out what the next twenty domains are being used for, starting with Sex.xxx and finishing with DataRecovery.com.
Sex.xxx - $3 million - 2014
This is largest listed domain sale that isn’t a .COM. Unsurprisingly, it’s an adult domain name that is definitely NSFW. According to reports at the time, the domain sale was part of a $5 million deal between ICM Registry, the owners of the .XXX extension, and Barron Innovations. While Sex.xxx sold for $3 million, the $5 million deal included other domains including Black.xxx, Cam.xxx and Phone.xxx.
Shopping.de - $2,858,945 - 2008
The first of two .DE domain names to sell for over $1 million is Shopping.de, a domain that was purchased by Unister GmbH, one of the largest e-commerce companies in Germany. The domain currently hosts a website that offers savings on a number of high end products. It looks to be a popular service in Germany, since the domain has a German Alexa ranking of just over 6,000.
CreditCards.com - $2.75 million - 2004
The oldest domain sale of this list is CreditCards.com. This phenomenal domain was purchased by Dan Smith, former CEO of ClickSuccess in 2004. After purchasing the name, Smith created a credit card comparison website that was acquired by investors in 2006. According to DomainNameWire, Dan Smith pocketed $97.7 million from this acquisition. Not a bad return on investment from a $2.75 million domain purchase. In 2010, Bankrate Inc bought the CreditCards.com business for $143.1 million
Social.com - $2.6 million - 2011
Acquired by SalesForce in 2011, Social.com was the largest sale of the year. Originally, the domain was offered for sale in a DOMAINfest auction for $5 million, but after no takers, the name eventually sold for $2.6 million. The domain is forwarding to a sales page on SalesForce’s website, along with many of the company’s other domain acquisitions that include Work.com, Site.com and Force.com.
Investing.com - $2.45 million - 2012
In 2012, Forexpros.com made the monumental decision to switch domains from Forexpros.com to Investing.com, paying $2.45 million in the process. The domain was used by the company to create a complete global financial portal that now composes of 27 editions in 20 languages with Android and iOS apps, too. The site is incredibly popular, with a global Alexa ranking of 719. Some of the credit for this success surely has to go down to the company’s decision to change from Forexpros.com to Investing.com.
Youxi.com - $2.43 million - 2014
Youxi is an excellent example of a high value Pinyin domain name in use. Pinyin is the official system used for the romanization of Chinese characters, and many Pinyin domains are desirable by end users. Yóu Xì is Pinyin for 游戏, which is “Game” in English. The name was acquired by GameWave Technology of Beijing, and is fully developed into a Chinese gaming site. According to DNQueen.net, Youxi.cn was sold for around $90,000 in September 2016.
KK.com - $2.4 million - 2013
One of the rarest domains in existence. KK.com is one of just twenty-six double-repeating two letter .COM’s, and only the second of its type to ever be publicly disclosed, with the other being the $1.2 million sale of mm.com. The name looks to be owned by a Chinese individual, who is currently forwarding the name to kklaw.top for reasons unknown.
Computer.com - $2.1 million - 2007
Computer.com was originally a dot-com startup that was founded in 1999. According to Wikipedia, the company spent half of its $7 million venture capital funding on a SuperBowl ad, and the company was subsequently sold to Office Depot in 2000. Fast forward to 2007, and the domain was put up for auction by its new owners, TigerDirect. The TRAFFIC conference auction produced a sales price of $2.1 million, according to DNJournal. Now, the name doesn’t resolve, and is owned by DVLPMNT Marketing of Saint Kitts & Nevits, West Indies.
114.com - $2.1 million - 2013
It’s interesting to note that the largest public three-number .COM sale, a category that’s traditionally popular in China, ends in a “4”; a number that’s extremely unpopular amongst Chinese investors. The domain 114.com displays a holding page for a forthcoming service. According to the page, which is written in Chinese, 114.com will provide a more practical navigation service. The page also shows “四网络有限公司” as being the company that owns the name. Roughly translated, that’s “One hundred and fourteen Network Ltd”, which is a company registered in Shenzhen, China.
Vivo.com - $2.1 million - 2016
This is a domain sale that we recently covered after a tip from George Kirikos (@GeorgeK). The name was acquired from Real Networks by Vivo, a Chinese smartphone maker who are now one of the world’s largest producers of smartphones. They regularly advertise their products at global sporting events including India’s IPL cricket competition and the English Premier League. Up until recently, the company was forwarding Vivo.com to VivoGlobal.com, but it seems that now the company has fully transitioned to Vivo.com.
37.com - $1,960,800 - 2014
We interviewed the owners of 37.com recently in our Inside Interview series. They actually confirmed that the dollar price they paid was $2.1 million, however DNJournal has it listed slightly lower. Buying 37.com was part of a global expansion of the company’s gaming network, moving from 37Wan to 37Games and 37.com. 37.com now displays 37Games’ main website that contains links to a number of the company’s games.
Seniors.com - $1.8 million - 2007
Seniors.com was sold by domain industry veteran Page Howe in 2007, who was featured in a Business Insider article documenting the sale. Now, Seniors.com is being used to display the Seniors Friend Finder network, which is a dating website for seniors.
Fly.com - $1.76 million - 2009
In 2009, Internet travel company Travelzoo bought Fly.com to house their new travel search engine. Almost seven years later, Fly.com is still owned by Travelzoo and does indeed display a travel search engine. According to DomainNameWire, Fly.com had previously sold for $1.5 million in 1999, and was set to be auctioned off at Sedo until Travelzoo acquired the domain.
Dating.com - $1.75 million - 2010
As you might expect, Dating.com is home to a dating website that also has a corresponding app. The name was sold in 2010 in the DOMAINFest auction in Fort Lauderdale to Harlequin Holdings Ltd. According to DotWeekly, there’s a strong chance that the domain sold again in 2015, with the sale handled by a New York based law firm. The current website has only been displayed on the domain since 2015, so it’s highly likely that this resold in 2015, as DotWeekly reported.
Auction.com - $1.7 million - 2009
Another seven figure sale from 2009 was that of Auction.com, bought by REDC of Irvine, CA. The domain is now hosting a fully fledged real estate marketplace that has an Alexa ranking of just over 4,000 in the USA. Interestingly, in the same week that the Auction.com sale was announced, 92.com was sold on Sedo for $72,900. Seven years later, that name is worth seven figures.
DataRecovery.com - $1,659,000 - 2008
Data recovery can be a lucrative market, with even the most basic data recovery services costing at least a few hundred dollars. ESS Data Recovery bought the DataRecovery.com domain name for close to $1.7 million in 2008. At the time, the CEO of ESS said he had been trying to acquire the domain for five or six years. Since buying the domain, ESS has fully developed the name and now the once-small company now boasts clients including NASA, SpaceX and the US Army.
This article is part of a series: View Series
Sex.xxx - $3 million - 2014
This is largest listed domain sale that isn’t a .COM. Unsurprisingly, it’s an adult domain name that is definitely NSFW. According to reports at the time, the domain sale was part of a $5 million deal between ICM Registry, the owners of the .XXX extension, and Barron Innovations. While Sex.xxx sold for $3 million, the $5 million deal included other domains including Black.xxx, Cam.xxx and Phone.xxx.
Shopping.de - $2,858,945 - 2008
The first of two .DE domain names to sell for over $1 million is Shopping.de, a domain that was purchased by Unister GmbH, one of the largest e-commerce companies in Germany. The domain currently hosts a website that offers savings on a number of high end products. It looks to be a popular service in Germany, since the domain has a German Alexa ranking of just over 6,000.
CreditCards.com - $2.75 million - 2004
The oldest domain sale of this list is CreditCards.com. This phenomenal domain was purchased by Dan Smith, former CEO of ClickSuccess in 2004. After purchasing the name, Smith created a credit card comparison website that was acquired by investors in 2006. According to DomainNameWire, Dan Smith pocketed $97.7 million from this acquisition. Not a bad return on investment from a $2.75 million domain purchase. In 2010, Bankrate Inc bought the CreditCards.com business for $143.1 million
Social.com - $2.6 million - 2011
Acquired by SalesForce in 2011, Social.com was the largest sale of the year. Originally, the domain was offered for sale in a DOMAINfest auction for $5 million, but after no takers, the name eventually sold for $2.6 million. The domain is forwarding to a sales page on SalesForce’s website, along with many of the company’s other domain acquisitions that include Work.com, Site.com and Force.com.
Investing.com - $2.45 million - 2012
In 2012, Forexpros.com made the monumental decision to switch domains from Forexpros.com to Investing.com, paying $2.45 million in the process. The domain was used by the company to create a complete global financial portal that now composes of 27 editions in 20 languages with Android and iOS apps, too. The site is incredibly popular, with a global Alexa ranking of 719. Some of the credit for this success surely has to go down to the company’s decision to change from Forexpros.com to Investing.com.
Youxi.com - $2.43 million - 2014
Youxi is an excellent example of a high value Pinyin domain name in use. Pinyin is the official system used for the romanization of Chinese characters, and many Pinyin domains are desirable by end users. Yóu Xì is Pinyin for 游戏, which is “Game” in English. The name was acquired by GameWave Technology of Beijing, and is fully developed into a Chinese gaming site. According to DNQueen.net, Youxi.cn was sold for around $90,000 in September 2016.
KK.com - $2.4 million - 2013
One of the rarest domains in existence. KK.com is one of just twenty-six double-repeating two letter .COM’s, and only the second of its type to ever be publicly disclosed, with the other being the $1.2 million sale of mm.com. The name looks to be owned by a Chinese individual, who is currently forwarding the name to kklaw.top for reasons unknown.
Computer.com - $2.1 million - 2007
Computer.com was originally a dot-com startup that was founded in 1999. According to Wikipedia, the company spent half of its $7 million venture capital funding on a SuperBowl ad, and the company was subsequently sold to Office Depot in 2000. Fast forward to 2007, and the domain was put up for auction by its new owners, TigerDirect. The TRAFFIC conference auction produced a sales price of $2.1 million, according to DNJournal. Now, the name doesn’t resolve, and is owned by DVLPMNT Marketing of Saint Kitts & Nevits, West Indies.
114.com - $2.1 million - 2013
It’s interesting to note that the largest public three-number .COM sale, a category that’s traditionally popular in China, ends in a “4”; a number that’s extremely unpopular amongst Chinese investors. The domain 114.com displays a holding page for a forthcoming service. According to the page, which is written in Chinese, 114.com will provide a more practical navigation service. The page also shows “四网络有限公司” as being the company that owns the name. Roughly translated, that’s “One hundred and fourteen Network Ltd”, which is a company registered in Shenzhen, China.
Vivo.com - $2.1 million - 2016
This is a domain sale that we recently covered after a tip from George Kirikos (@GeorgeK). The name was acquired from Real Networks by Vivo, a Chinese smartphone maker who are now one of the world’s largest producers of smartphones. They regularly advertise their products at global sporting events including India’s IPL cricket competition and the English Premier League. Up until recently, the company was forwarding Vivo.com to VivoGlobal.com, but it seems that now the company has fully transitioned to Vivo.com.
37.com - $1,960,800 - 2014
We interviewed the owners of 37.com recently in our Inside Interview series. They actually confirmed that the dollar price they paid was $2.1 million, however DNJournal has it listed slightly lower. Buying 37.com was part of a global expansion of the company’s gaming network, moving from 37Wan to 37Games and 37.com. 37.com now displays 37Games’ main website that contains links to a number of the company’s games.
Seniors.com - $1.8 million - 2007
Seniors.com was sold by domain industry veteran Page Howe in 2007, who was featured in a Business Insider article documenting the sale. Now, Seniors.com is being used to display the Seniors Friend Finder network, which is a dating website for seniors.
Fly.com - $1.76 million - 2009
In 2009, Internet travel company Travelzoo bought Fly.com to house their new travel search engine. Almost seven years later, Fly.com is still owned by Travelzoo and does indeed display a travel search engine. According to DomainNameWire, Fly.com had previously sold for $1.5 million in 1999, and was set to be auctioned off at Sedo until Travelzoo acquired the domain.
Dating.com - $1.75 million - 2010
As you might expect, Dating.com is home to a dating website that also has a corresponding app. The name was sold in 2010 in the DOMAINFest auction in Fort Lauderdale to Harlequin Holdings Ltd. According to DotWeekly, there’s a strong chance that the domain sold again in 2015, with the sale handled by a New York based law firm. The current website has only been displayed on the domain since 2015, so it’s highly likely that this resold in 2015, as DotWeekly reported.
Auction.com - $1.7 million - 2009
Another seven figure sale from 2009 was that of Auction.com, bought by REDC of Irvine, CA. The domain is now hosting a fully fledged real estate marketplace that has an Alexa ranking of just over 4,000 in the USA. Interestingly, in the same week that the Auction.com sale was announced, 92.com was sold on Sedo for $72,900. Seven years later, that name is worth seven figures.
DataRecovery.com - $1,659,000 - 2008
Data recovery can be a lucrative market, with even the most basic data recovery services costing at least a few hundred dollars. ESS Data Recovery bought the DataRecovery.com domain name for close to $1.7 million in 2008. At the time, the CEO of ESS said he had been trying to acquire the domain for five or six years. Since buying the domain, ESS has fully developed the name and now the once-small company now boasts clients including NASA, SpaceX and the US Army.
This article is part of a series: View Series
