The domain name CreditCheck.org sold today for $31K at SnapNames.com today.
The domain was a pure drop domain and seemed to be owned by a company, CreditResearchInc.
I guess that company needed to do some more research to figure out why they let a gem like that one drop rather than pony up the $20 renewal fee.
In any event I can revel that I was on the losing end of the auction when I stopped bidding at $30K.
Congrats to the bidder “piety” who won the auction as I had sessions to attend at ICANN.
In another auction at Snap, SolarScreens.com sold for $4K
Over at NameJet.com jxy.com sold for $5,444
TripPlanners.com sold for $3,666
GuideOnline.com sold for $2,100
jxy.com
strange & pricey
From what I could see Snap closed for maintenance with 1 min left on SolarScreens…..eeek, did you get cut off too?
“I guess that company [CreditResearchInc.] needed to do some more research to figure out why they let a gem like that one [CreditCheck.Org] drop rather than pony up the $20 renewal fee.”
Great comment Michael! LOL
I wonder who won TripPlanners???
I think solarscreens.com went cheap.
Wish i was paying better attention
@ Gazzip
From what I could see Snap closed for maintenance with 1 min left on SolarScreens…..eeek, did you get cut off too?
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Oh yes, that was so some one ‘working from home
called … Halverez
could add there last min bid 🙂
Why spend $30k on a name that is likely a future lawsuit. Seriously does no one do any research.
Some of the 3 character domains are doing better at Namejet and Godaddy private auctions than Sedo.
How exactly is this a future lawsuit?
“How exactly is this a future lawsuit?”
If you spent 7 figures to aquire the .com and your competition has started going after generic domains that contain their ” brand ” ( see freescore.com ) it is highly likely to follow. In fact I would go as far to say that this name was dropped on purpose.
@ Josh
In fact I would go as far to say that this name was dropped on purpose.
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Hilarious ……………
My sides are Hurting …
Best laugh ever! THANK YOU
I suppose it’s funny how the .net doesnt resolve either ? hahaha
Glad I could give you something to smile about, god knows it wouldn’t be your domain success.
I had a feeling it might hit 5-figures but not THAT far into 5-figures. Very nice to see that kind of price on a solid generic .org. Was one of the better dropping .org’s I’ve seen in a while.
Pretty expensive.
Surprised to see that there appears to be only one live mark for “CreditCheck” at USPTO.gov. If someone is willing to spend $31k on the domain, an extra $4K+ more for competent UDRP defense seems reasonable (as a generic). Although there’s not much else to develop with “credit check” than the mark’s stated coverage. Is the argument that a fed suit would be filed instead?
Will this increase the value of my “credit limit check” dot com 🙂
I don’t agree that someone has a “trademark” claim on credit check that would hold up UNLESS the domain was parked and the links went to the trademark holders site then maybe, but anything else you spend the $5K get a three member panel and win.
CreditCheck.org is a great lead generation domain. There is still a lot of upside for the buyer on this one, probably could sell to a lead gen company for around $50k. Once ranked on page 1 – even without revenues this name would be worth 6 figures.
People are sleeping on the value of generic .org & .net lead gen names (i.e. – any name which generates leads for a specific niche such as: Credit, Mortgages, Finance, Banking, Education, Insurance, etc…).
All the traffic comes from search engines and Google doesn’t care if you have .com, .net or .org. Some of the other extensions do matter because they are not as aged and likely have less indexing and history (links). But these 3 are king and although the .org & .net still are valued less than the .com – not by as much as you would think and certainly not as much difference as there would be on an ecommerce name.
There is an even bigger .org lead generation domain in auction at Sedo right now with 370,000 exact match searches and a $12 CPC. Compare that to CreditCheck.org with only 91,000 exact match searches & an $8 CPC – It’s a bargain (but you’ll have to do your own research to find it).
When it comes to lead generation it’s all about how big is your market (meaning how many exact match searches) & how much are those leads worth (can be gauged by the CPC – although the leads actually sell for significantly more than the CPC value).
To CheckingAccount.org,
I clicked on your name and see the Sedo auction. I’m curious – did you ever try setting up a site with high CPC ads for this domain? I can think of a number of very good informational sites that could have been put together for your domain, bringing in ad dollars.
Once ranked on page 1 – even without revenues this name would be worth 6 figures.
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That’s like saying “Once you can run a sub 3 minute mile, the Olympic Gold is easy…”… not to mention that getting to the P1 promised land for a keyword like that would be worth *a lot* more than “six figures”. CPC is close to irrelevant here. At that level, you’re operating as an affiliate.
While the .com’s have the credibility premium and built-in traffic, yes, the engines don’t care if its a .net, a .info or a .pro. The catch is, good luck getting your ticket to the dance developing a head term like “credit check” , regardless of what extension you happen to own. Nothing’s impossible, but the domain name is maybe 2% of the equation to rank for terms like that and to be a contender, you’re going to need a full fledged ‘operation’. Waaaaaaaaay too many resources required for the independent developer to pull off.
Hey if we are going to start pimping domains , I own bankaccounts.com
NOT at Sedo auction
@MHB,
LOL! nice…
Hey if we are going to start pimping domains , I own bankaccounts.com
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This is not a pitch. I’m busy, but….
Have you ever thought about firing the nickel-clicky-companies and actually doing something with these names that might earn considerably more?
*
“Credit check” is a descriptive generic term.
Back in the day, I worked as a “Credit Checker.” My sole purpose on the job was to check the credit of potential borrowers by calling the applicants’ former lenders, employers, etc.
Based on the term itself, a complainant would have a difficult time arguing this one.
😉
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@ Michael – a for the DN Pimpin – you definitely trumped me!
🙂
LS
If you have a proposal in mind for developing bankaccounts.com email with it.
@LS Morgan –
You are right, CreditCheck.org is not going to be easy to rank as that is a high flying keyword term and highly competitive. However, it is DEFINITELY a huge advantage to own the generic domain and it is very possible (with time) for an independent develop to rank that domain. It would likely cost around $10k plus per month in SEO, link building & content, but considering the upside and potential revenues it is well worth every penny.
You are wrong about .pro, etc… – you will never compete with the .com, .net, org with a .PRO domain. Simply not going to happen.
Age is the real key here (assuming everything else is equal).
@Andrew,
How much for FamilyVacation?
@DarkCastle – this is not an appropriate forum for discussing the sale of domain names from my newsletter – not fair to Micheal.
But feel free to email me. Thanks.
Sorry, MHB – wasn’t thinking.
Andrew
Thank you
My train of thought is different from most, I look at the up side of $31k and potential risk of legal fees $$$$+++ should it go so far and say pass, it’s jmo and the way I manage risk.
Would it win a udrp etc, perhaps however and again not worth my $31k+++ to find out should it happen. Considering the way those can go, it’s a coin toss.
“Credit Check” is a generic descriptive term. All this talk of TM issues is ridiculous.
At $30K+ it is not the best value. You can get much better domains for that range, especially in .ORG
Brad
Is credit check as generic as credit score or free score ? You’d have to say yes however it isn’t the case(s). It’s one thing to ” know” you should be ok, how it plays out is another matter. I am not saying you have to be affraid of all generics but oe has to observe the trend in that space and at $31k+ possible defence it for me wasn’t comfortable, that is all I am saying.
You are wrong about .pro, etc… – you will never compete with the .com, .net, org with a .PRO domain. Simply not going to happen.
Age is the real key here (assuming everything else is equal).
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Andrew: DN age and SEO is a hotly debated issue. Some very smart people believe DN age is a minor ranking factor, other equally smart people believe it’s irrelevant. One thing everyone universally agrees on is that *content* age probably has a positive ranking effect. This may be because older content is most likely to have more link-love, or it may be an algo metric. This also creates the illusion of ‘older domains ranking better’ since well aged on-page factors will be on well aged domains.
I happen to be in the camp that believes Google is smart enough to realize that DN age is an irrelevant factor when it comes to distinguishing a credible source from a non-credible one. If so, it would act as a built-in, retrograding force against new sites that may deliver a superior user experience and I believe G is smart enough to not do this.
Anecdote: One of my favorite fingerstyle guitarists is a guy named Sam Pacetti. 2007, I grabbed his .com (previously squatted) and gave it to him. Prior to that, he had been using his myspace page as his primary presence, in addition to another lightly developed site. Once he dev’d out his “new domain” and got a few links, G had it P1P1 almost instantly. Brand new domain, brand new content, recognized as an authority source.
Obviously, this example doesn’t apply exactly to a highly competitive, generic head term, but I do think it’s suggestive of what’s going on in the algo.
@ Josh
In fact I would go as far to say that this name was dropped on purpose.
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Hilarious ……………
My sides are Hurting Again…
Best laugh ever! THANK YOU
You’re welcome.