DomainFest Live Auction Nets Only $665K

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The Moniker.com live auction from the DomainFest show just concluded, with just 62 domains out of 200 domains selling for a total of $665,000.

We will have further thoughts and analysis tomorrow, however first impressions was a surprising lack of interest in .me domains compared to just the New York Traffic show just a few months ago.

.travel domains as expected garnered little interest.

This auction was in stark contrast of the low/no reserve auction of just a few days ago, where almost 60% of the domains sold.

Here is the complete list of domains that sold:

wife.com                                 $100,000
rodeodrive.com                         $60,000
freewireless.com                       $50,000
consumerelectronics.com         $45,000
freecreditreports.net                 $30,000
husband.com                            $25,000
cosmetics.net                           $25,000
range.com                                 $22,000
errors.com                                $20,000
datefinder.com                         $19,000
artclasses.com                         $15,000
detour.com                              $15,000
golfbag.com                            $13,000
reserved.com                           $12,500
alert.me                                   $11,000
contact.me                              $10,000
payperlead.com                       $10,000
artistmanagement.com            $10,000
bridgette.com                          $10,000
fajitas.com                               $10,000
toyrecalls.com                         $10,000
lawreview.com                         $8,000
petbirds.com                           $7,500
homevalues.net                       $7,500
movie.info                               $7,000
electricoven.com                     $7,000
diploma.net                             $6,000
pucks.com                              $5,500
lenders.org                             $5,500
england.mobi                         $5,500
alabamaforeclosures.com      $5,000
europe.travel                          $5,000
devotion.com                         $5,000
trafficanalyzer.com                $5,000
save.me                                 $5,000
customizedhomes.com         $5,000
palmreadings.com                 $4,500
smokin.com                          $3,500
rumours.com                         $3,500
discountshops.com               $3,500
sugarfreerecipes.com            $3,250
free.travel                              $3,000
information.travel                  $3,000
claypottery.com                     $3,000
evaluated.com                       $3,000
landforeclosures.com            $2,500
virtualmaps.com                    $2,500
city.travel                              $2,500
septictankcleaning.com        $2,000
corporateplanes.com            $1,700
heatingequipment.com         $1,500
famouschefs.com                 $1,500
homeinsurancepolicy.com    $1,500
australiarestaurants.com      $1,100
vote.info                               $1,000
complementary.com             $1,000
cardstores.com                     $1,000
metalsmarket.com                $850
fixedapr.com                        $500
bailoutpackages.com           $500
incrediblebargains.com        $500
commercialmodeling.com    $500

About Michael Berkens

Michael Berkens, Esq. is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheDomains.com. Michael is also the co-founder of Worldwide Media Inc. which sold around 70K domain to Godaddy.com in December 2015 and now owns around 8K domain names . Michael was also one of the 5 Judges selected for the the Verisign 30th Anniversary .Com contest.

Comments

  6. RegFeeNames.com says

    I see there wasnt much interest in the .travel domains either then.

    I just dont get them and wonder who bought them and why?

    Not a shock seeing less .me domains being sold just reminds me of the .mobi we had nice sales at the start but wasnt long before they fell away.

    Husband.com is a real shock was it not at Traffic with a reserve for 100K a few months ago?

    I expected stronger sales but times are hard out there!

    Good Luck To all!

    Regards,

    Robbie

  7. Rick London says

    Most of the domains in the latest auctions are either not too good or highly over priced. The hey day is over and buyers want value and will no longer buy anything.

    If domain owners want to sell they need to be reasonable and stop expecting high prices for marginal domains that have little to know interest.

    Look at some of the top domains that sell and say to yourself what is the buyer going to do with this? There are still so many that are sold that seem to have no good purpose.

    These days it is not easy and it is very expensive to develop a good site and get substantial traffic to it.

    What is a use for wife.com or detour.com? Why would someone want golfbag.com and not own golfbags.com?

    As time goes on the auction will generate less revenue unless the price fall or they attract better domains are reasonable prices.

  8. Gordon says

    The economy has people scared, and it takes a lot more guts to spend 5 figures on a name than it did a year ago. There are some great deals here – payperlead.com is an incredible name that describes an entire industry. HeatingEquipment.com for $1500 – i like that a lot. 2.8 million google results for the term. Maybe not a commonplace term, but worth a lot more than $1500.

    Still, there are a lot of junk names that were passed on – and names that i’m surprised made it to the live auction.

  9. Domainer says

    Rick L,
    You sound like a buyer presenting objections during the negotiation process.

    Someone could easily develop GolfBag.com (just as an example) without owning the plural. You just have to realize you will lose some traffic.

    Or, you do what most of us do including yourself.
    By your time til you have most of the bases covered.

    Maybe Garry Chernoff who owns the plural bought it?
    Or, maybe his buddy Frank bought it?

    I believe a lot of the domains went too cheap. But, it is not because the value is not there. It is because everyone is being cautious with expenditures.
    That also includes stocks, bonds and real estate.

    We have to remember, the Domainfest auction is still just “domainer to domainer” sales.

    I would not read a lot into domain valuations based on this and other recent auctions.

    The smart money is buying quietly.

  10. Rick London says

    Thanks for your post.
    We had no interest in that domain so the auction meant nothing to us. I cannot see spending thousands of dollars and countless hours promoting and working on a domain when someone else will get a good share of the traffic that you build up. The is especially true when you own the less popular of the two domains.
    People will enter golfbags far more than golfbag.

    I agree that the auction was for domainers. That is the major problem with all the auctions, There is little to no nationawide exposure.

    If the auction companies were willing to spend a few hundred thousand dollars promoting their auctions to advertisimg agencies, direct mail to relevant busienss for specfic domains etc they would do much better.

    The free ride and large commission days are over.

  11. MHB says

    Guys

    Sorry about not responding sooner, but right after the auction ended we had to change and get on the bus to the playboy mansion and now its 9:30am PST and I got some sleep and actually feel pretty good considering all I drank last night.

    Now to answer your questions rodeodrive.com did sell for $60K.

    I confirmed my list with the moniker folk before I published it. The owner agreed at the auction to reduce his price and grab the money.

    I know who bought golfbag.com is someone you all know and love (not me) who also has a domain blog.

    I will leave it to him to announce his acquisition.

    I have some thoughts on the auction is general and I’m working on a post right now.

  12. M. Menius says

    @Domainer – We have to remember, the Domainfest auction is still just “domainer to domainer” sales. The smart money is buying quietly.

    Very well summed up.

  13. AJ says

    I have to admit I was surprised to see europe.travel go for only $5,000. If the purpose of a domain name is to be short, sweet, and to the point; this domain does it.

  14. Tim Davids says

    peeps won’t put up their best names in a down economy and buyers are holding cash until they feel comfortable…nothing unexpected happened with the auction

  15. DCP says

    Your list is NOT complete. We purchased Boiled.com for $2500 and it shows up on the moniker list of purchased domains. We plan to develop a boiled crawfish, crabs, shrimp site for seafood wholesalers in Louisiana…which is were we are from.

    DCP