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domains Bao.com just sold for $172,984 USD on 4.CN - a meaningful Chinese pinyin word

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brandsly

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NameBio just reported the sale of bao.com for $172,984 on 4.cn. This is most likely a sale to another investor and reflects the "liquid value" of the name. To the right end user, I think this is a 7 figure domain.

Since I speak Chinese, I'd like to share this sale and some possible meanings and usage of the word.

Bao is a highly versatile word that can mean many things based on the character. There are many more than the ones listed below, however, these are the most common and valuable characters with the "bao" sound and pinyin spelling :

包 - bag, purse, package, bun (food)
宝 - treasure, jewel, precious, baby
爆 - burst, explode
保 - protect, insurance, ensure
抱 - hug
报 - report, newspaper
饱 - full, satisfied

As you can see, these are very positive words or common objects, making it a very desirable name.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
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Interesting! Thanks for the insight :)
 
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Do you think it was fairly priced?
 
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Do you think it was fairly priced?
I think 4.cn is more like a "trading" platform, I don't think this is an end user sale. If it is, then it's definitely way undersold. But I believe it's sold to an investor. I think this is at least a 7 figure name to the right end user.

Liquid value wise, I don't particular follow the Chinese market, so I'm not an expert on this. But I'd assume this is the current market price and seems fair. With that said, I also don't think the market is the strongest right now, so it has potential for higher liquid value when the market was stronger in the past or possibly stronger in the future.

On a side note, I also know some Chinese investor friends with impressive portfolios of high valued liquid domains like 2L .com domains are seeking buyers at the moment. So it might be a trend right now that some Chinese high profile investors are looking for liquidity.
 
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Do you think it was fairly priced?

Thanks for raising the question. I just edited the original post to reflect my last reply.
 
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Great post. Chinese market is a different ball game in itself.
 
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Awesome info just love it and Thanks for more Knowledge about the Chinese market @brandsly
 
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Bao is a highly versatile word that can mean many things based on the character. There are many more than the ones listed below, however, these are the most common and valuable characters with the "bao" sound and pinyin spelling
Thanks for excellent explanation. Please share more of your Chinese knowledge as related to domains. A quick check indicates that Bao can represent about 40 Chinese characters, and TaoBao.com (searching for treasures) is a very popular site in China.
 
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Thanks so much for the superb explanation @brandsly. I hope you will do this regularly on NamePros when you see sales with strong meanings in Chinese. Speaking both Chinese and obviously excellent English must be a definite asset for you.

This is probably a dumb question, but so the domain could mean many different things, according to which Chinese character that it is. Therefore, the company would need to market with both the Chinese character and the 3L domain for people to uniquely know what it is? Like just the domain name is insufficient.

I also appreciated your discussion of pricing trends and this
So it might be a trend right now that some Chinese high profile investors are looking for liquidity.

Thanks again,

Bob
 
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So it might be a trend right now that some Chinese high profile investors are looking for liquidity.

Exactly right, a large number of Chinese entrepreneurs are seeking overseas assets with high circulation value, which is an opportunity for the 2L and 3L domains.
 
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Bao also means Bread in Cantonese.

Definitely a seven figure name for the right buyer.
 
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I don't think this sale is to an end user. Bao.com is just too good and too versatile for a 6-figure.

Thanks for sharing
 
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4.CN
Exactly right, a large number of Chinese entrepreneurs are seeking overseas assets with high circulation value, which is an opportunity for the 2L and 3L domains.
This is the main reason for the surge of domain sales over the past year, and some very "interesting" domain sales that don't match the market price.
 
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That is very true. Thanks for sharing. Bao is a word has multiple positive, brand-able meanings. Also, true that, Many Chinese investors are seeking buyers for their 2L.com。

Side note, 2019 Oscar's best short film is "Bao" :)
 
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This is the main reason for the surge of domain sales over the past year, and some very "interesting" domain sales that don't match the market price.

After all, China's population is number one, although it is not number one in other respects.

Welcome everyone , provided they follow the rules.
 
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Thanks so much for the superb explanation @brandsly. I hope you will do this regularly on NamePros when you see sales with strong meanings in Chinese. Speaking both Chinese and obviously excellent English must be a definite asset for you.

This is probably a dumb question, but so the domain could mean many different things, according to which Chinese character that it is. Therefore, the company would need to market with both the Chinese character and the 3L domain for people to uniquely know what it is? Like just the domain name is insufficient.

I also appreciated your discussion of pricing trends and this.

Thanks again,

Bob

Thanks Bob. I haven't been investing in the Chinese market, so my Chinese skill hasn't been of much use in domaining so far haha, but I think I should!

To answer your question. Currently, Chinese companies mostly still market their names in Chinese characters along with the domain in English letters. The spelling of Chinese characters in English letters (we call it pinyin) is only for pronunciations, it's how children learn to pronounce the characters in school, but we never actually write or use letters, only Chinese characters. The Romanization of the Chinese characters also became very useful when it comes to typing on English keyboards.

Additionally, Chinese characters has 4 different tones / pitch, with each tone, it narrows down the number of characters with the same sound. There will still be more than one character most of the time with each tone, so context is what makes people recall the intended character and meaning. So on TV/radio ads, based on the context of the ad, people will know which character it is.

I'm glad you liked the discussion!

And here's an example of a popular Chinese company that @Kassey Lee mentioned. It's like the Ebay of China. You see that it's marketed in Chinese Characters.

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Bao also means Bread in Cantonese.

Definitely a seven figure name for the right buyer.

Ah yes, I wrote "bun" :ROFL: which is the Chinese bread haha. I forgot it's also the same for western bread. I'm glad you learned some Cantonese :xf.laugh:
 
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I don't think this sale is to an end user. Bao.com is just too good and too versatile for a 6-figure.

Thanks for sharing

I think so too! I think the market has also proved that domians that can be used by Chinese companies (like "chips", or pinyin names), especially the short ones, have even higher value than names that are only Western.
 
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nice name!
great sale
lifechanging amount as some say!

wonder what owner paid it and roi range. guess we never know.
 
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4.CN

This is the main reason for the surge of domain sales over the past year, and some very "interesting" domain sales that don't match the market price.

Chinese investors have definitely pushed domain values to new heights in recent years and redefined market prices. Names that can be used by Chinese companies because they are pinyin spellings or have relation to pinyin (like chips) became much more valuable and sometimes being sold for incomprehensible prices if you didn't know the language and Chinese markets.

There's also a big wave of technology startups in China that makes short domain assets very valuable and in high demand.
 
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That is very true. Thanks for sharing. Bao is a word has multiple positive, brand-able meanings. Also, true that, Many Chinese investors are seeking buyers for their 2L.com。

Side note, 2019 Oscar's best short film is "Bao" :)

Thanks May, I will have to give it a watch!
 
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Ah yes, I wrote "bun" :ROFL: which is the Chinese bread haha. I forgot it's also the same for western bread. I'm glad you learned some Cantonese :xf.laugh:

After 13 years I know about 13 words 😆
 
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