Can a domain name cost so much?

[VladimirYakimenko]

Just noticed that the domain name I was interested in came up for sale.
I have filled up the form and in a few minutes got a pdf doc with rules for bidding...

BUY IT NOW price is $1,000,000US.
Opening bid is $250,000US. Successive bids will be considered in $25,000US increments.

Can a domain name cost so much nowadays? it is a generic dictionary word, but who would pay a million for it?

this is for threads dot com

 

[Faevilangel]

Yup, some domains have gone for millions (toys.com, sex.com etc)

It's down to the visibility of the domain e.g. 500k searches a month etc

Single plural, common words will be in high demand for the search traffic but also brand awareness (toys R Us own toys.com).

The domain will likely be snapped up by threadless or another similar company for hundreds of thousands.

 

[Websitehandyman]

On the other side of the coin I recently was researching for a domain and it's really like stepping into a sitcom. You can acutely see some bizar domains and the path of logic the people took when first registering them.

For example, I recall one was something like gotnomoneyneedmoneytobuyhouse.com

 

[Paul_Rosser]

A domain is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Obviously if the domain has a business attached so has sales the price is easier to work out.

 

[KLTrading]

diy dot com is owned by B&Q i think 1 word sites are mainly owned by big business

 

[Trust Malcolm]

Insure.com sold for $16 MILLION in 2009...it takes me over a year to earn that

 

[webhostuk]

Latest sale was Webhosting.co.uk $500,000 , so it really depends on what some is really ready to pay you.

 

[ecenica]

BUY IT NOW price is $1,000,000US.
Opening bid is $250,000US. Successive bids will be considered in $25,000US increments.

So did you buy it?

Rich.

P.S: Out of interest, what was the domain name?

 

[flx89]

Some domains were sold for huge amount of money....however, i don't think it's worth. You better build a brand on a nice domain name.

 

[threenine]

Buying a domain name , is so 90's!
All the reasons discussed are all BS from that era. When the web was young and people were dum. Those were the days before Google. And people actually typed the name of what they were looking for in the address bar and added .com!

These days things have changed considerably. There are the dinosaurs out there who are hoping to turn a quick buck from selling domain names, but primarily they feed off the stupid!

 

[Latebloomer]

I remember starting my site and got in touch with a colleague trying to be friendly...and selling me e-lottery for whopping £100,000++++ justifying the cost with several massive sales by other people.

If he isn't a doctor, he will be in medication for being delusional.

 

[british steve]

I have been trying to buy a .com domain for the last couple of weeks from a bloke in the USA, a two word domain domain relating to wifi. He told me that it was a great domain, would get lots of traffic bla, bla, bla and then told me he was looking at around $400,000 for the domain but as it was coming up to Xmas I could have it for the discounted price of £250,000 but I would have to buy within the next 24 hours as he had several people interested in the domain and I would need to be quick!

I said thanks but no thanks. Every day for the last couple of weeks he has emailed me with his last and final offer - now he only wants $80,000 for the domain! I have since brought a new .com and .co.uk domain for less than £30 and will be using that. I did notice that wifi.co.uk was up for sale which I quite fancy but I have a feeling the bloke selling will want an awfull large amount of money for that one?

 

[threenine]

It is absolute BS about the losts of traffic etc!

Let him carry on emailing with his significant price drops, until he gets to a Tenner then do him a favour and take it off his hands!

The best thing todo is think of a totally generic name that doesn't mean anything as start building your brand around that!

 

[astutiumRob]

All the reasons discussed are all BS from that era. When the web was young and people were dum. Those were the days before Google. And people actually typed the name of what they were looking for in the address bar and added .com!

I think you're confusing internet-users and facebook-users - one of those groups knows what an address bar is for

A domain is still *massively* important in terms of retention, branding, visibility etc

Yes, many people rely on what a SE spits out for them - but they often know _who_ they're looking for as much as _what_ they're looking for...

 

[threenine]

I think what needs to be understood clearly, that what is *massively* important is not the Domain name but rather the Brand Name. And the decisions about your domain name should revolve around your brand, protecting your brand, and the investment in your brand.

 

[35173]

Wait to see if it sells, if it does then you'll have your answer. I know that's not massively helpful but it depends on what the market agree to value-wise. For example, if tesco .co .uk was up for sale, I bet that would go for a load, however, this-website-is-great-believe-me. co. uk would inevitably go for less. What did you try to buy? I'm intrigued now

 

[VladimirYakimenko]

So did you buy it?

Rich.

P.S: Out of interest, what was the domain name?

The domain was "threads.com" which is (currently) the name of our product, the official tender has ended, but the purchasing form is still there... so I am going to offer a 100 bucks for it

 

[Nathanto]

Buying a domain name , is so 90's!
All the reasons discussed are all BS from that era.

It amazes me that some supposed business people still don't get it regarding domain names!

Are you seriously telling me that you can't see the benefits of abc.co.uk over say abacusbusinesscomputers.co.uk or why WebHosting.co.uk recently went for half a million dollars rather than the £10 or so you can pay for a previously unregistered domain?

 

[serendipitybusiness]

Yep a few posters have it exactly it is about the brand, simple supply and demand ensures that quality .com domain names are worth more than the original registration fee regardless of all of the other aspects to it ie age, whether it has been dropped, previous sites etc.

If you want it and only one person has it, then there is value and in itself the product is unique.

Regarding the post about buying brand domains being so 90's I disagree, supply has gone down, demand has gone up since the 90's this is simple economics.

 

[threenine]

It amazes me that some supposed business people still don't get it regarding domain names!

Are you seriously telling me that you can't see the benefits of abc.co.uk over say abacusbusinesscomputers.co.uk or why WebHosting.co.uk recently went for half a million dollars rather than the £10 or so you can pay for a previously unregistered domain?

Believe me I get it about domain names. but there is also reality.

In 90% of cases people will still only arrive at your website via a search engine, or by a link in their favourites, or via a link posted else where Very few people actually type in the domain name directly in the address bar.

It is all about branding, so when you're starting out on with a new website or a venture and your company name is abc plumbers, you might think that getting a domain name of abc.co.uk, would be a winner, but the reality of the situation is that abc.co.uk is probably the worst domain you could get. You'll get a ton of traffic for abc shoes, abc ovens, abc gravestones, abc tyres and almost anything else abc related, and probably not a lot plumbing related enquiries. You'll also have a lot of trouble trying to come up with a conversion strategy of trying to convert people you are on a shoe shopping frame of mind into a plumbing frame of mind. So lashing big bucks on the abc.co.uk url, is worthless. However, if you took the time to think laterally about your url strategy,
possibly goodqualityplumbers.co.uk, westlondonplumbers.co.uk, cheapplumbing.co.uk , emergencyplumbers.co.uk would probably be a better investment in time but the reality of the situtation is most people will still be searching in the address bar rather than typing in the url.

Interesting you chose webhosting.co.uk as an example, that site is nothing but a "affiliate referal site" so essentially the only way they can think of to make money, is by having affiliate referal links. They can't actually sell hosting. The Alexa profile of the URL, doesn't exude confidence either. http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/webhosting.co.uk#

So the reality of the situation is that URL is of somewhat importance, but it is hardly worth the investment of £500K, only of you're an idiot. There is no possible way that you would get a return on that investment