.mobi Porn.Mobi Sold at auction

Wow, much lower than I expected. Someone got a great deal.

MINDWRECKER.TV said:

I heard Porn.mobi just sold for $120,000
it was either for $110,000 or $120,000

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110k, that's right.

The entire auction (not just the .mobi part) was well below expectations.

I wonder when people will get it - closed auctions are only good for the buyers, as they are practically designed to leave names under-priced.

And yes - it was closed, unless you consider the $499 bidding fee worth paying in advance (and losing if you buy nothing) on the odd chance you would find a bargain there.

It works great as an attraction and incentive for people to attend Traffic, but not for the sellers.
:imho:

That name sold for so low it is not even funny
I bet we see it another auction soon.

A heck of a lot less than it would have gone for last year.

Mobi Cheap said:

110k, that's right.

The entire auction (not just the .mobi part) was well below expectations.

I wonder when people will get it - closed auctions are only good for the buyers, as they are practically designed to leave names under-priced.

And yes - it was closed, unless you consider the $499 bidding fee worth paying in advance (and losing if you buy nothing) on the odd chance you would find a bargain there.

It works great as an attraction and incentive for people to attend Traffic, but not for the sellers.
:imho:

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Where did you read that there was a bidding fee? I don't think they still levy that with auctions.

snoop said:

Where did you read that there was a bidding fee? I don't think they still levy that with auctions.

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Right here.

MinionDH said:

Right here.

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Are you sure this applies to people bidding online? It says telephone and absentee bidding?

And here I was thinking it was going to sell close to or higher than porn.net
Yet, flowers, ringtones, even poker .mobi sold for higher numbers in the past

DomainTakers said:

And here I was thinking it was going to sell close to or higher than porn.net
Yet, flowers, ringtones, even poker .mobi sold for higher numbers in the past

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Don't believe the hype, .mobi prices generally are no where near .net levels.

I watched the whole auction online...

There were about 10 people in the room, from the wide shot I saw (you could almost hear the sound of one hand clapping...lol).


I reckon prices across the board - all extensions - were low....A lot of .coms were passed in, not sold...


I reckon the turmoil in the Stockmarkets, declining property values in the US, and economic slowdown in the US has kicked into domain prices....A LOT of people are a whole lot less well off than they were before Christmas...A LOT of wealth wiped out in the Stockmarket...


I've seen it before...When sentiment in an economy turns negative - it affects all aspects of it....and, it turns fast...


I'd prepare for very flat (or declining) domain prices for the next 1-2 years...

...beyond that timeframe....probably be better...All things move in cycles.

.

DomainTalker said:

I watched the whole auction online...

There were about 10 people in the room, from the wide shot I saw (you could almost hear the sound of one hand clapping...lol).


I reckon prices across the board - all extensions - were low....A lot of .coms were passed in, not sold...


I reckon the turmoil in the Stockmarkets, declining property values in the US, and economic slowdown in the US has kicked into domain prices....A LOT of people are a whole lot less well off than they were before Christmas...A LOT of wealth wiped out in the Stockmarket...


I've seen it before...When sentiment in an economy turns negative - it affects all aspects of it....and, it turns fast...


I'd prepare for very flat (or declining) domain prices for the next 1-2 years...

...beyond that timeframe....probably be better...All things move in cycles.

.

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I'm 100% with you on that. I think domain prices are down a good 30% from last year with the exception of acronym names that seem to have kept rising. Agree about the 1-2 years, batten down the hatches!

i think there are too many auctions. full stop

sedo, snap, moniker etc, domainfest, its never ending

i simply dont bother. i bought one premium name at auction. would rather buy on aftermarket.

actually porn.mobi is not a shock to me. there were some really flat prices and non-selling domains in all extensions.

the domain that shocked me was property.mobi, ridiculously low.
if the buyer doesnt pay and it gets reoffered i will buy it. no question. i assumed it owuld be way in excess.

also lunatic.com, i loved that, brilliant name, shock only going for $15k

lots wrong with auction format and everyone is having to tighten belts.

ghood thing for us Brits though, Northern Rock mess finally cleared up, Barclays posted about 7 billion profit and house prices actually went UP last month!
not all doom and gloom.

time to thin portfolios and hold best. also great time to nail some bargains on aftermarket?

interesting article here- this is ricks views on the recession and domaining- also some other interesting stuff to read-:

http://dnjournal.com/events/2008/traffic-west-2008-preview.htm

Camera.mobi - Investment.mobi - Beauty.mobi - Boobs.mobi - Spa.mobi - Abe.mobi - Cairns.mobi

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Wow!!

snoop said:

Don't believe the hype, .mobi prices generally are no where near .net levels.

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What hype, Snoop?

You're probably thinking of .Asia...

Seriously, the absence of the regular .mobi auctions in the last couple of months has demonstrated to me at least that what people regarded as hype was mostly the natural reaction to the announcements and reporting of the results thereof (and prior to that the campaign to raise awareness of the TLD's existence, which is clearly essential in launching any new extension - as no doubt .asia will remind us shortly).

snoop said:

Don't believe the hype, .mobi prices generally are no where near .net levels.

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And did you actually see the TRAFFIC auction?

In addition to Arnie's and DT's great ponts above, have a look at the obvious price comparison, keeping in mind that shows.net was passed with a stated reserve of 25k or less.

That is, IF you really want to reopen the .net discussion. I hope not: let's keep things nice and friendly, not least since we're all in the same boat.

Prices were low across the board -- per mobi, lottery, property - absolute steals - the winners did extremely well - at least I think

invest.net was very low ----

I read on one of the blogs that if the total sales for this auction came in under $4million, that this would not be good for domain valuations; but if it ended up over $6million, then things would be good
total tally was $4.4 million -- so, the consensus is things are down the middle -- at least valuations are not declining ---

arnie said:

i think there are too many auctions. full stop

sedo, snap, moniker etc, domainfest, its never ending

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agree with you and I think too much domainers buying domains in the auction, not enough end users.
In 2008 I bought no .mobi domains in auction.
I've just bought 3 or 4 cheap com/net domains

Mobineer said:

so, the consensus is things are down the middle -- at least valuations are not declining ---

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I don't think many people would see this is as "down the middle", the total sales was a bit over half compared to the auction before $4.3million versus $8.1million and the % sold was 36% compared to the usual 60-70%. In my view this is as clear as day sign of a declining market.

I'm not surprised that porn.mobi didn't meet pre-auction expectations, as I thought those expectations were too high.

Porn is a lucrative and popular area on the internet, but there is a vast difference between what people want to search for in the privacy of their own homes and what they will search for while mobile.

I think porn would lose a lot of it's appeal with a small cellphone screen.

Some people seem to consider mobi as an adjunct or replacement for .com.

I don't see it that way at all.

Mobi was created for cellphones and people on the move. Quick, pertinant information is what they will be looking for.

GPS technology is a great aid to wireless. A person can find any information they need close to their location.

The cost of usage is another factor. Data use usually isn't included in unlimited or low cost plans. Short and to the point mobi domains are the valuable ones.

With this in mind, I think most of the 600,000 plus mobi registrations are pretty much a waste of money.

I also believe that most of the .com registrations are a waste of money as well.

New tlds have been created, not because there is a shortage of domain names, but because there is a shortage of domain names that make any sense. There are a limited number of those in any extension.

That is not to say that I believe that mobi isn't a good investment for those who had the foresight to register early while considering the future use of the domain name, the use of GPS technology, etc. before they registered it.

For those people, the value of their mobi domains is going to increase expotentially, the same as it has for the very best .com domain names.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to quality. Mobi or otherwise.

sags said:

I'm not surprised that porn.mobi didn't meet pre-auction expectations, as I thought those expectations were too high.

Porn is a lucrative and popular area on the internet, but there is a vast difference between what people want to search for in the privacy of their own homes and what they will search for while mobile.

I think porn would lose a lot of it's appeal with a small cellphone screen.

Some people seem to consider mobi as an adjunct or replacement for .com.

I don't see it that way at all.

Mobi was created for cellphones and people on the move. Quick, pertinant information is what they will be looking for.

GPS technology is a great aid to wireless. A person can find any information they need close to their location.

The cost of usage is another factor. Data use usually isn't included in unlimited or low cost plans. Short and to the point mobi domains are the valuable ones.

With this in mind, I think most of the 600,000 plus mobi registrations are pretty much a waste of money.

I also believe that most of the .com registrations are a waste of money as well.

New tlds have been created, not because there is a shortage of domain names, but because there is a shortage of domain names that make any sense. There are a limited number of those in any extension.

That is not to say that I believe that mobi isn't a good investment for those who had the foresight to register early while considering the future use of the domain name, the use of GPS technology, etc. before they registered it.

For those people, the value of their mobi domains is going to increase expotentially, the same as it has for the very best .com domain names.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to quality. Mobi or otherwise.

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A quick comment about your first statement. You are saying that porn is accessed more at home because the pc offers privacy. For myself, when I am on my phone, nobody is standing over my shoulder. I happen to think the market for porn on the mobile will be huge. Especially since kids will be able to access it regularly without their parents knowing :hehe:

sags said:

Porn is a lucrative and popular area on the internet, but there is a vast difference between what people want to search for in the privacy of their own homes and what they will search for while mobile.

I think porn would lose a lot of it's appeal with a small cellphone screen.

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I believe you are quite wrong and porn will be very successful in the mobile format, and probably a leader in technology when it comes to developing sites.

Kind of creepy when you imagine the guy sitting behind you on the bus looking at porn.mobi.

allnicksgone said:

I believe you are quite wrong and porn will be very successful in the mobile format, and probably a leader in technology when it comes to developing sites.

Kind of creepy when you imagine the guy sitting behind you on the bus looking at porn.mobi.

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Don't let me creep you out :lol:

this sale just confirms that .mobi is overrated, and it has yet to put its money where its mouth is!

keithmt said:

A quick comment about your first statement. You are saying that porn is accessed more at home because the pc offers privacy. For myself, when I am on my phone, nobody is standing over my shoulder. I happen to think the market for porn on the mobile will be huge. Especially since kids will be able to access it regularly without their parents knowing :hehe:

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You're right about the kids, I forget all about them.

I suppose with the huge market potential for wireless (and with mobi a big part of it, hopefully), many of the sales these days will look like absolute steals in the future.

Sags....I think you make a great point about the costs of d/l for mobile holding the mobile web back (at least in the US - but, not in Japan, where 60% of mobile users don't now use a PC at all....all done on mobiles)....But in time this will be fixed in response to demand, imo...


But, I agree with keithmt about porn.mobi....I reckon its actually made for mobile...


...I have BOOBS.mobi, and my thinking for Boobs may be similar to the buyer of porn.mobi....ie a huge daily/weekly natural type-in traffic ("Boobs" = 2.8m Overture a year)....Short, easy to type & spell - and about SEX.....translating into millions of teenage kids (and some not-so-teenage men...lol) checking out Boobs (or sex) several times a day - every day....!!....And, at their whim & convenience, wherever they happen to be, any time day or night....!!

Both names should be MONSTERS on the mobile web, imo...


The other thought I had about current .mobi values, is that if we look at the pattern of Premium .mobi auction sales in Sedo Premium 1, 2, and 3 in '07 + the Feb 08 TRAFFIC Auction....what I see is actually a generally fairly consistent series of price ranges - with the exception of Sedo Premium 3, in December '07 (forget the Sedo fiasco, for a moment)...


In short....in Sedo Premium 1, 2 and Feb 08 TRAFFIC, we saw a small number of $xxx,xxx's - some nice $xx,xxx's - and a lot in the $x,xxx range.....ie all pretty much in line - and healthy for an 18 month old TLD.


...But, in Sedo Premium 3, we saw a totally exceptional blip - with music.mobi at $616,000, games.mobi at $401,000 etc......And, we now know that was just TWO buyers (Alvaro, representing an investment syndicate), and Costa (who had a special need for the music.mobi name)....


What I'm saying is that Sedo Premium 3 did not represent a market upward rating and revaluation of .mobi across the board to very high levels, imo....It represented just two buyers, at a certain moment in time - wit a certain need...

Still nice to see - and healthy for .mobi - but premature to see or expect .mobi - outside special buyer needs - quite up there almost with the best .coms...


So....perhaps we were a little misconceived in thinking a great name like porn.mobi would sell up at those mid-high $xxx,xxx numbers, too...?.....Maybe .mobi has reached a consistent LOW $xxx,xxx level for the very BEST .mobi names to this point - and, not higher...?


...This + the present economic, property, & financial markets difficulties, explains for me why Feb 08 TRAFFIC .mobi sales were so disappointing.....ie a combination of unrealistic expectations, and economic slowdown...


...I reckon greater awareness amongst both end users & consumer-users about .mobi + many, many, more mobi sites up, is whats needed for .mobi value to raise consistently up to the next level (say, MID $xxx,xxx) for the very best names...


....that, plus a return to better economic conditions....Say, 1-2 years...


But, I remain convinced .mobi will be big in time...

.