Million Dollar Sales is a sporadic series in which we take a look at every single seven and eight-figure domain name sale that has been listed on DNJournal since its inception in 2003. In our previous three editions, we explored the current status of domains such as Sex.com, We.com and Z.com.
In our fourth edition of this series, we will look at eight seven-figure sales from Photo.com to Call.com.
Photo.com - $1.25 million - 2010
This is an extremely interesting name with a recently checkered history. After being sold for $1.25 million in 2010, the domain looks to have then been resold in 2012 for a seven figure fee. Andrew Alleman of DomainNameWire wrote in 2015 of how photo.com had been saved in a UDRP filed by the owners of Foto.com. Fortunately, the domain was saved in the UDRP, but is now parked at Sedo.
Jade.com - $1.25 million - 2016
Another recent seven figure domain name sale is that of Jade.com. As with many sales in our list, this sale was brought to light thanks to the investigative skills of George Kirikos. Jade.com was acquired by CDN Jade Mine Resources, a jade mining and exploration company in Canada.
Mr Shao Long Li, CEO of the company said: “[jade.com] could significantly expand our customer reach by developing a strong platform for the global trade of jade.” The name currently redirects to jademineresources.com.
MM.com - $1.2 million - 2014
In June 2014, Dave Evanson of Sedo announced the sale of MM.com for $1.2 million. This extremely rare domain was owned by Minnesota MicroNet and sold to Hangzhou Duomai E-Commerce Co., Ltd, the company behind Chinese marketplace 4.cn. Since there are only twenty-six double-repeating two-letter .COM’s in existence, the name was always going to attract a high price. Considering the Chinese domain-boom that occurred during 2015, it’s likely that the value of this type of domain increased substantially.
According to a post on TheDomains by Jamie Zoch in June 2015, the domain resold but a price was not revealed. As of writing, MM.com is still owned by a Chinese investor and is currently not resolving.
LA.com - $1.2 million - 2016
Another two-letter .COM domain name and another sale found by George Kirikos. In September 2015, it was announced that GoDaddy secured exclusive rights to broker the sale of LA.com and SV.com. Sometime later LA.com was confirmed as sold, but it wasn’t until May 2016 when we learned the sales price.
LA.com was acquired by Tronc Inc, formerly Tribune Publishing, owners of the Los Angeles Times newspaper. The LA Times have failed to do much with the domain name at all, with a coming soon page still active.
Scores.com - $1.18 million - 2007
Moniker’s silent auction at the Casino Affiliate Convention Amsterdam in 2007 produced one of the largest sales of that year. Scores.com attracted a price of $1.18 million. The domain looks to have been acquired by VegasInsider.com Inc, a self-proclaimed global leader in sports gaming information.
The scores.com website is probably due a makeover since its style doesn’t look to have been updated at all over the past ten years.
Kredit.de - $1,169,175 - 2008
Kredit.de was sold by Sedo in 2008 for a figure that was record breaking at the time. The buyer was Unister GmbH, a German company that owns and operates several high profile .DE domain names including auto.de, shopping.de and news.de. In July 2016, Unister filed for insolvency and according to DomainIQ, Kredit.de was transferred to a new owner in March 2017.
Interestingly, Kredit.com sold for $271,000 just eighteen months after Kredit.de.
Chinese.com - $1,120,008 - 2007
Ten years ago, Sedo completed the sale of Chinese.com. Since then, there doesn’t look to have been much happening with the domain at all, with a generic GoDaddy parked page being displayed for many years. Now, however, there is a coming soon page on Chinese.com so it’s possible that a website will be launched at some point.
The domain now looks to be owned by Pear Technologies, a company that owns a number of other properties including Brazil.com, Turkey.com and Tokyo.com.
Call.com - $1.1 million - 2009
Interestingly, call.com was sold twice by the same company. In 2006, it looks like a company called Live Current sold call.com along with a number of other premium .COM domains. However, it later reacquired call.com before selling the domain for $1.1 million in 2009.
The domain has been parked since then and is currently for sale at Sedo. However, it looks as though the name may have sold again in 2015 as the name moved out of WHOIS privacy protection, listing Avatar Invest Inc as the new owners. Avatar Invest Inc was founded in 2013.
This article is part of a series: View Series
In our fourth edition of this series, we will look at eight seven-figure sales from Photo.com to Call.com.
Photo.com - $1.25 million - 2010
This is an extremely interesting name with a recently checkered history. After being sold for $1.25 million in 2010, the domain looks to have then been resold in 2012 for a seven figure fee. Andrew Alleman of DomainNameWire wrote in 2015 of how photo.com had been saved in a UDRP filed by the owners of Foto.com. Fortunately, the domain was saved in the UDRP, but is now parked at Sedo.
Jade.com - $1.25 million - 2016
Another recent seven figure domain name sale is that of Jade.com. As with many sales in our list, this sale was brought to light thanks to the investigative skills of George Kirikos. Jade.com was acquired by CDN Jade Mine Resources, a jade mining and exploration company in Canada.
Mr Shao Long Li, CEO of the company said: “[jade.com] could significantly expand our customer reach by developing a strong platform for the global trade of jade.” The name currently redirects to jademineresources.com.
In June 2014, Dave Evanson of Sedo announced the sale of MM.com for $1.2 million. This extremely rare domain was owned by Minnesota MicroNet and sold to Hangzhou Duomai E-Commerce Co., Ltd, the company behind Chinese marketplace 4.cn. Since there are only twenty-six double-repeating two-letter .COM’s in existence, the name was always going to attract a high price. Considering the Chinese domain-boom that occurred during 2015, it’s likely that the value of this type of domain increased substantially.
According to a post on TheDomains by Jamie Zoch in June 2015, the domain resold but a price was not revealed. As of writing, MM.com is still owned by a Chinese investor and is currently not resolving.
LA.com - $1.2 million - 2016
Another two-letter .COM domain name and another sale found by George Kirikos. In September 2015, it was announced that GoDaddy secured exclusive rights to broker the sale of LA.com and SV.com. Sometime later LA.com was confirmed as sold, but it wasn’t until May 2016 when we learned the sales price.
LA.com was acquired by Tronc Inc, formerly Tribune Publishing, owners of the Los Angeles Times newspaper. The LA Times have failed to do much with the domain name at all, with a coming soon page still active.
Scores.com - $1.18 million - 2007
Moniker’s silent auction at the Casino Affiliate Convention Amsterdam in 2007 produced one of the largest sales of that year. Scores.com attracted a price of $1.18 million. The domain looks to have been acquired by VegasInsider.com Inc, a self-proclaimed global leader in sports gaming information.
The scores.com website is probably due a makeover since its style doesn’t look to have been updated at all over the past ten years.
Kredit.de - $1,169,175 - 2008
Kredit.de was sold by Sedo in 2008 for a figure that was record breaking at the time. The buyer was Unister GmbH, a German company that owns and operates several high profile .DE domain names including auto.de, shopping.de and news.de. In July 2016, Unister filed for insolvency and according to DomainIQ, Kredit.de was transferred to a new owner in March 2017.
Interestingly, Kredit.com sold for $271,000 just eighteen months after Kredit.de.
Chinese.com - $1,120,008 - 2007
Ten years ago, Sedo completed the sale of Chinese.com. Since then, there doesn’t look to have been much happening with the domain at all, with a generic GoDaddy parked page being displayed for many years. Now, however, there is a coming soon page on Chinese.com so it’s possible that a website will be launched at some point.
The domain now looks to be owned by Pear Technologies, a company that owns a number of other properties including Brazil.com, Turkey.com and Tokyo.com.
Call.com - $1.1 million - 2009
Interestingly, call.com was sold twice by the same company. In 2006, it looks like a company called Live Current sold call.com along with a number of other premium .COM domains. However, it later reacquired call.com before selling the domain for $1.1 million in 2009.
The domain has been parked since then and is currently for sale at Sedo. However, it looks as though the name may have sold again in 2015 as the name moved out of WHOIS privacy protection, listing Avatar Invest Inc as the new owners. Avatar Invest Inc was founded in 2013.
This article is part of a series: View Series
