Published May 17, 2011
There's still brisk trading in registered domain names according to online domain marketplace Sedo's latest report.
The Q1 2011 Domain Market Study states over 10,000 domain names were bought and sold via the service during the period, generating USD$21 million in sales.
The .com extension remained the Beverley Hills of domain name real estate, accounting for just over half of all sales, followed by .net, at 7%. Sale prices for .com names averaged 9% more in Q1 last year.
In terms of country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD's), Germany's .de extension continues to be the most popular at 18% market share, followed by co.uk at 6%. The .de extension was so popular, it even outpaced generic extensions .net, .org and .info.
The .co extension (Colombia) hit the leading sales list for the first time with 2 percent market share.
Certainly not all domain sales are of the high value that have hit the headlines recently, in fact almost half of all sales through the Sedo marketplace were $500 or less.
A single high profile domain name that sold for USD$13 million aside, Sedo says overall Q1 2011 sales numbers were consistent and stable with Q4 2010.
The top 10 categories of domain names sold during the quarter were Software, Religion and Spirituality, Employment, Regions, Countries, Cities, Consulting, Jewelry, Domain Industry, Lodging, Insurance and Vehicles respectively.
Mythbuster: while the terms "buying" and "selling" domain names are often used, nobody can really buy a domain name; all they can do is to purchase the rights belonging to another registrant to lease that name. Whether someone has registered a new name for $100 or spent millions "buying" a domain, if the registration should lapse for long enough, the license will then be made available for others to register.
The full Sedo Q1 2011 Domain Market Study can be viewed here (PDF).
Thinking of getting into the name trading business? Be wary of domain name appraisal and valuation scams.
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