A typical domain name might cost you around $12, but not if you're looking for one that captures a popular industry in cyberspace. From sex to money to shopping, the all-encompassing domain names that are most popular amongst web surfers often come with an astronomical price tag. Here's a run-down of some of the most pricey domain names by category.
Business
Many people have hedged their bets on domain names with a money theme. In 1999, Business.com sold for $7.5 million -- and just eight years later that domain and the business tied to it fetched an astronomical $350 million from RH Donnelley, which this year changed its name to Dex One Corp. In 2009, Insure.com -- now a website that provides quotes for life, car and health insurance -- sold for $16 million, according to Domain Name Journal. And a year prior, Fund.com sold for $10 million. Ka-ching.
Adult Industry
With the online porn industry raking in billions each year, it's no surprise that sex-related domains have million-dollar names, too. In 2007, multimedia and investment firm MXN Limited bought Porn.com for around $9.5 million. And most recently, in November 2010, Sex.com fetched an eye-popping $13 million in a deal between Escom LLC and Clover Holdings Ltd., the buyer. The domain name was originally registered back in 1994 by entrepreneur Gary Kremen, the founder of the popular dating site, Match.com.
Sex.com$13 million (2010)
Alcohol
Liquor, wine and beer are obvious money-makers for restaurants and bars -- and when it comes to domain names, they're not doing too shabby, either. In 1999, VirtualVinyard.com bought wine.com for nearly $3 million. In 2004, Beer.com was purchased for $7 million, and two years later Vodka.com sold for $3 million. Now that's the spirit.
Information Technology
While it may be the most basic of domain names, Internet.com is also among the priciest of those focused on cyberspace. In 2009 the domain name was bought by QuinStreet, a direct marketing service firm for $18 million as part of a bundle of business assets. Other Internet-related domain names have high sticker prices, too. The name DataRecovery.com for example, sold for $1.66 million and Computers.com fetched a respectable $2.1 million.
Shopping
The Internet is also an ever-increasing space for shopping, so profiteers are always looking to snag domain names that consumers might turn to first. In 2008 Clothes.com sold for $4.9 million and that same year, Shopping.de garnered a sizeable $2.8 million. Popular items for purchase also become top-dollar domain names, such as Camera.com with a $1.5 million price tag and Diamond.com, which sold for $7.5 million.
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Comments:
Domain is domain, and fortune is fortune. Not all of us will have a good fortune and a good domain.
One of my friend have good domain http://www.send.com and related to send that is http://sendliquor.com and more.They have around 20 to 25 domain name related to send word.
Ok Everyone wants Premium .Coms in order to make a million. Alright. => Here's your chance. I am willing to sell 1,000 Premium .COMs for Only $80K. Once you see them I think you'll agree that the profit potential could be around 1 million dollars. May God Bless.
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LowerGasoline.com is for sale! Great for Promotions
Nice information.shrugs and boleros
wonder how much my domain getintoo.com would go for?
yes Jeff, i agree with u... with a perfect strategies, u should be able to make domain as your investment...
There is so much bad advice in these comments. I guess the $500K I made in the domain industry last year and the $1+ million im on track to make this year is all about to crash and burn. Guess Rick L. & Rick S. better close down shop too. Good knowing you domain industry. Btw... Icann.org would you please reverse the recent updates you did to the domain industry by allowing the creation of approximately 340 undecillion domain names/addresses with IPv6. Much appreciated! Signed, Sarcasm
I's have to argue that the day of the domain is almost over, with the advent of tinyurl and other services, people can buy keyword rich domains for just about anything. Think about the odds, it's about as likely that your domain will sell for $20k as it would be for some kid to get into the NFL - it just doesn't happen that often because there's other ways around it, and people just don't care. All evidence indicaes people enter sentences into google "my toilet is plugged can I use bleach to unclog" and this would pull trom many keywords, mostly using content from sites. So my point it, if I owned toilet.com I would have any better of a chance getting hits, it'd all be up to the SEO. By the way, I've owned Webmasterseo.com for many years, you'd think I could sell it, even cheap, to someone in India or where ever, no one cares - your article is behind the times, how many over 100k domains sales have their been in the last two years? Who's getting rich is the domain registrars because people are holding onto millions of domains thinking they are worth something, renewing them each year. I don't think domain name considerations really matter anymore, and certainly won't into the future. IMHO John Marus, http://www.ErectionCentral.com
The first thing to consider is an Internet domain name is real estate. You have got the pick the right location to open a brick and mortar business and the same is true with the online world. You want a domain name that has the keyword relate to your core business. You want that type-in traffic and boost with SEO. Buying a name like beancounting4u.com verses bostonaccountant.com will cause you to burn a lot of cash on SEO, advertising (online and off) and other promotions with your URL just to get noticed online. Shop wisely and invest a little extra in a keyword rich domain as it will save you in the long game.
great site
If I knew how lucrative this would be like Kevin Ham knew back then I'd be sitting pretty like him. Kevin owns hundreds of thousands of domain names and earns I believe $20M a week or a month I'm not too sure but its $20M. I've been doing this business for 5 years and at start lost lots of money not knowing what and how to chose a name, and I must confess that even still today I'm still learning what names are valuable so its not that easy as it seems to just buy an $12 domain name and make millions. It doesn't happen that way and it will not happen unless you have deep pockets to buy those premiums that comes up for auction at times. So good luck to everyone who invest in domain names ... you'll need it. Now that was just for top one word domain names .... ;)
There is thousand dollar domain transactions everyday on auction platform like SEDO I will suggest a great site for more about these multi million dollar domains: dnjournal.com I'm also in the domain business we call domaining and like many own a portfolio at HED.co
It is so cheap to buy a domain and the return potential is so great, It cant hurt to pick up a few here and there if you find them to be available... However I am sure there are people who do this full time for a living, so the pickings are probably pretty thin.
It is really a pain in the ass when you look for the best domain name you may find in the internet. I've planned to put up a sports website and the Sports.com domain costs something I never expected! lol
I think many of these big number domain names have been snatched up by now. However, the best bet is to snatch a domain name of an upcoming booming product or industry
The insure.com sale in 2009 included the domain as well as its well-established website content. The other sales mentioned were, I believe, sales of domain names only.
Really? I thought million dollar domains went away during the dot-com boom. -www.awkwardengineer.com