Buying and selling domain names is a big business but only for those who know when to buy and what to buy — but actually what to buy is not the big earner, When to sell is the name of the game. We saw people who sits on a domain name for 20 years and now sold it for millions. So patience is the key I guess. Which I have none..
We put together a list of documented million-dollar, domain-only “.com” sales. Unsurprisingly, sex- and gambling-related domains are some of the biggest money makers.
MM.com — $1,200,000
Date sold: July 2014
MM.com was sold for $1.2 million through Sedo in July 2014. It was purchased by Hangzhou Duomai E-Commerce Co. Ltd, a company behind other domain names Game.com, JZ.com and 4.cn.
Power.com — $1,261,000
Date: November 2014
Silicon Valley electronics supplier Power Integrations bought Power.com to replace their old, less simple domain, PowerInt.com.
eBet.com — $1,350,000
Date sold: October 2013
A man named Rick Schwartz registered eBet.com in 1996 for $100. He held onto it for nearly 20 years — making a juicy profit off of it when the domain company Network Solutions bought it for $1.35 million.
Because Schwartz has made a number of high-profile sales (you’ll run into another much later in this list), he’s earned the nickname “Domain King.”
“When do I sell? When the domain name is ripe,” he writes on his blog. “When is it ripe? When the right buyer comes along.”
Solares estimated at the time that he could make up the $1.5 million in 8 years, meaning if all went according to plan, he should have recouped his costs by now.
Russia.com — $1,500,000
Year sold: 2009
Back in 2009, Paley Media, a consulting firm that owns a bunch of different country-specific domains, sold the URL to a “mystery buyer.”Today, the URL just redirects to GoDaddy.com.
Tandberg.com — $1,500,000
Year sold: 2007
“Tandberg Data, a leading global supplier and manufacturer of backup and archiving solutions, decided to take the cash offer for Tandberg.com from Tandberg, a leading global provider of visual communication products and services with dual headquarters in New York and Norway,” The DN Journal wrote at the time of the sale.
The deal was actually completed in December 2006 but wasn’t made public until early 2007.
Dating.com was acquired at the DOMAINFest auction in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, in May 2012. The next-highest domain name to go at that auction was Boardgames.com, for $450,000.
Fly.com — $1,760,000
Year sold: 2009
Travelzoo spent big bucks on Fly.com in January 2009. The site now operates similarly to the flight-finding service Kayak.
Seniors.com — $1,800,000
Year sold: 2007
It was a big 2007 for a man named Page Howe. He sold two domains that year, each for seven figures. Besides Seniors.com ($1.8 million), he sold Guy.com for $1 million.
37.com — $1,960,800
Date sold: March 2014
37.com was sold for $1.9 million during a private sale in March. The domain was purchased by Chinese gamemaker 37Wan.
Computer.com — $2,100,000
Year sold: 2007
In October 2007, Computer.com cleaned up at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. / Moniker domain name auction. WallStreet.com was almost sold for $3 million there, but it didn’t “meet the set reserve prices,” according to DomainRich.
Today, Computer.com is a website for — you guessed it — buying computers.
It was bought by a Chinese company because the number signifies “information” and can be used to call in restaurant and hotel reservations, according to DN Journal (similar to 411 in the US).
KK.com — $2,400,000
Date sold: November 2013
KK.com was sold through the Moniker/SnapNames brokerage firm for $2.4 million in late 2013.
The Domains reported at the time that Liang Zeng of Zijin Digital Plaza in Bejing, China bought the URL, but if you try to navigate to kk.com now, and you’ll simply see a “Domain not active” message.
Youxi.com — $2,430,000
Date sold: March 2014
Youxi.com (which means “games” in Chinese), sold for $2.4 million in a private sale in March 2014. It was purchased by Gamewave Group Limited.
