A List of Some of The Top Domain Name Sales Ever – Most Expensive Domains
Posted on | January 3, 2009 | 65 Comments
Here are some “Top Domain Sales Of All Time“* (this list was last updated on November 26, 2009)
Insure.com – Sold for $16,000,000 (16 million dollars) in October 2009 to QuinStreet
Sex.com - Sold for: $14 million on January 19th, 2006
Fund.com – $9,999,950 – Sold in 2008
Porn.com - Sold for $9,000,000 sometime in 2007 (Update: OR $9,500,000 — Two different prices shown across many different sites/news reports)
Business.com – Sold for $7,500,000 in 1999 (Remember: This was pretty much a “business” sale with a developed name)
Diamonds.com – Sold for $7,500,000
Beer.com - Sold for $7,000,000
Casino.com – $5,500,000 – Sold to a private company in 2003
Toys.com $5.1M sold to Toys R Us
AsSeenOnTV.com – Sold for $5,100,000 in January of 2000
Korea.com – $5,000,000 – Sold in January of 2000
SEO.com – $5,000,000
SEO.com – $5,000,000 – Sold in 2007
FreePorn.com – $4,000,000 – Sold in February 2008
YP.com – $3,850,000 – Sold to YellowPages.com
Shop.com – Sold for $3,500,000 in 2001
WorldWideWeb.com – $3,500,000 in 1996
AltaVista.com – $3,250,000 (Saw this one but didn’t list it because I was sure it was because of the business built on it)
Software.com - $3,200,000
Candy.com - $3,000,000 Sold in March 2009 by Rich Schwartz. Deal was $3M + % sales.
CreditCheck.com – $3,000,000 -Sold in June 2007
Loans.com - $3,000,000
eShow.com – $3,000,000
Vodka.com – $3,000,000 Sold December 2006
HolidayInn.com – $3,000,000 Sold in 1995
Wine.com - Sold for $2,900,000 in September of 1999
Wines.com – $2,900,000
CreditCards.com - Sold for $2,750,000 in July 2004
Pizza.com – $2,605,000 April 3, 2008
Tom.com - $2,500,000
Dotnology.com – $2.5 million (2000)
Autos.com – $2,200,000
Computer.com – $2,200,000
Coupons.com – $2,200,000
England.com - $2,000,000
Celebrities.com - $2.0 million (1999)
Telephone.com – $2,000,000
Express.com – $2,000,000
Savings.com – $1,900,000
Mortgage.com – $1,800,000
Seniors.com – $1.8 million (2007)
DataRecovery.com – $1,659,000 Sold in 2008
Branson.com - $1,600,000
SolarEnergy.com – $1,600,000
Cameras.com – $1,500,000
TandBerg.com – $1,500,000
MarketingToday.com – $1,500,000
Deposit.com – $1,500,000
Russia.com – $1,500,000 November 26, 2009
Fly.com - $1,500,000 – RESOLD FOR $1,800,000 (January 2009)
VIP.com – Sold for $1,400,000 in September of 2005
Ad.com – Sold for $1,400,000 April 29, 2009 in TRAFFIC auction
Men.com – $1,320,000
Vista.com – $1,250,000
Ticket.com – Sold for $1,525,000 on Afternic
Feedback.com – $1,230,000
Phone.com – $1,200,000
Find.com – $1,200,000
Scores.com – $1.2 million (2007)
Kredit.de – $1,169,175
Call.com – $1,100,000 – Sold on August 31, 2009 -> Live Current Media seller.
Bingo.com – $1,100,000
Mercury.com - $1,100,000
Cruises.co.uk – $1,099,798 Sold in 2008
Chinese.com - $1,090,504 – Sold July 2007
WallStreet.com – $1,030,000
Rock.com – $1.03 million
Invest.com - $1,015,000 Sold in 2008
WebCam.com - $1,020,000 Sold April 2009 in Rick Latona auction
Vibrators.com – $1,000,000 Sold in 2008
Britain.com - $1,000,000
Fish.com - $1,000,000
Topix.com – $1,000,000
Sky.com – $1,000,000
If.com – $1,000,000
iPhone.com – $1.0 million (2007)
CyberWorks.com – $1.0 million
WhiteHouseCrisis.com – $1.0 million
eFlowers.com – $1.0 million
Beauty.cc - $1.0 million
*List may be incomplete. Through some research, this is what I ended up with, and I placed them in order from highest price sold to lowest price sold up to $1,000,000. If I somehow manage to get a better and more accurate (I think this list is pretty decent though, spent a good hour or so looking up the sales), let me know so I can edit/repost!
An absolute GREAT majority of these domains were resold in 2001. I didn’t post many of the years, but an overwhelming number of them were sold then. “Dot Com Bubble” anyone? Enjoy skimming through this post checking out the most expensive domain names ever sold. These domains are definitely worth a bundle and are extremely “exciting” to look at as a domainer. We gotta try to live the dream, right? Imagine buying a couple of these back in ‘94 for the price of a nights dinner at a cheap restaurant and holding onto them… then reselling them for these amounts!
Some other “developed” sales:
ConsumerSearch.com – was bought by About.com for $33,000,000 CASH – A fully developed website (and still is) – NY Times Article
Bored.com – $4.5 million for domain + site
Business.com – Resold for $345,000,000 as a “business” (functional and working website)
ePregnancy.com and other eToys assets $2.150 M
More posts relating to this subject
Tags: best domains > domains > expensive domains > generic domains > list of domains sold > premium domains > top domains
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65 Responses to “A List of Some of The Top Domain Name Sales Ever – Most Expensive Domains”
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"there's nothing like having a vision, imagining it, making it, then having it work, especially if your very being depends on it"
January 3rd, 2009 @ 11:13 am
actually its really devastating what people always looks for, and the highest domain sale listed here proves it
What actually got my attention was TOM.com hehe, nice one TOM
January 3rd, 2009 @ 12:38 pm
Hey,
I think you have the wrong date for shop.com
January 3rd, 2009 @ 3:36 pm
Hey Steve,
Definitely had that one wrong! LOL. It was a 2001 domain
Fixed the post!
January 3rd, 2009 @ 4:30 pm
Sammy,
How can u miss vodka.com, i think it sold for 3 million in 2007 or early 2008.
Happy new year.
By the way are u going to Domainfest?
January 3rd, 2009 @ 4:44 pm
Could’ve swore 100% that Vodka was on there for sure… I still remember the news when it was sold! There’s one more edit… 2 kudos to Steve
As for Domainfest, I’m seriously considering it, the only problem is the days don’t seem to work with my schedule for that week. I’m still trying to convince some friends to head over to Vegas for the affiliate summit!
January 4th, 2009 @ 7:37 am
I sold Bored.com for $4 million in January 2008, although it was a 10 year old website with lots of traffic and content, not just a parked domain. It was actually a $4.5 million deal total, but $500,000 was for 170 related sites.
January 4th, 2009 @ 9:00 am
You missed SO MANY other domains which sold in the same price category. Also, I belief the sales you indicated have some errors in them! porn.com sold for 9.5 million not 9 mil! http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aeAu3dVDDK3c&refer=news I would highly suggest if you are going to report on something DO IT RIGHT the first time because it make you look foolish to say the least!!!
January 4th, 2009 @ 9:12 am
Some you missed:
* SolarEnergy.com – $1.6 million
* Israel.com – $5.66 million
* Vibrators.com – $1.0 million
January 4th, 2009 @ 11:52 am
SolarEnergy.com after having been sold for $1,650,000 on 08/20/08 really puts the spotlight on green and alternative energy names. Its true this was a working website and related business but the big value (over $1,ooo,ooo) is in the value of the name itself. Most all of those other green names recently sold will have to be revalued in my opinion.
BTW….in case anyone questions the sale of this name, it was reported in the buyers 10Q report of a public traded company….its legit.
January 4th, 2009 @ 2:59 pm
I could’ve swore that Israel.com sale was a no-go. It spread all over the internet that it was sold, but I don’t think the buyer paid? Not 100% and couldn’t find it reported anywhere, but I still remember people going nuts asking how Israel.com could get that high whilst America.com wasn’t getting any action. (Update: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/ResponseDetails.jhtml?resNo=3573435&itemno=989326&cont=2)
Vibrators! Yes. That one slipped my mind
A lot of these have gone unreported on some of the big reported sales sites so I had to add the ones that were missing out of memory. Awkward. And a lot of the “Most expensive domains on the net” lists are extremely out-dated.
Updating post to include:
* SolarEnergy.com – $1.6 million
* Israel.com – $5.66 million
* Vibrators.com – $1.0 million
Thanks for making the list more accurate!
January 4th, 2009 @ 3:04 pm
@ Eric:
Whoa! Bored.com?! That’s a great price to get for a website for a GREAT domain + site!
January 4th, 2009 @ 3:10 pm
No problem dude. Here’s one source I was able to swing off-the-cuff on the Israel.com sale, though I think I’d originally read about it on a more popular news outlet:
http://www.seo-mind.com/domain-seo/israelcom-sold-for-566-million.html
Feel free to research or inquire about the sale’s accuracy. I personally haven’t done rigorous due-diligence on it, but given how much media attention the country receives and desire within the Jewish world (and otherwise) to protect the domain from falling into the wrong hands, the $5.66 million tag doesn’t surprise me.
I’ve also heard many rumors about the Israeli government trying (and failing) to purchase the domain off its original owner.
January 4th, 2009 @ 3:10 pm
@ Domain Master:
I don’t think it makes me look foolish to try and put together a more accurate list, especially when requested by a Fka200.com reader. I also mentioned that the list may be inaccurate, and have been updating it due to comments/e-mails I’ve received based on people letting me know of mistakes/forgotten domains. Definitely worth the try since people that are getting into domaining love this type of information, and since it isn’t anywhere else, might as well try to start putting it together from now!
As for Porn.com selling for 9.5 vs 9 million,
http://www.techspot.com/news/25310-porncom-domain-sold-for-9-million.html
http://blog.domaintools.com/2007/05/porn-com-sells-for-9-million/
http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/porn.com-sold-for-9-million-us-dollar.html
I guess it just depends on where the information is being searched for. I sat down for a while searching for sale prices to compile the list. I will update the list to mention either $9 or $9.5.
Happy New Year!
@ Josh P
I was also talking to someone about the sale of Israel.com as an IDN (Unicode: ישראל.com Punycode: xn--4dbrk0ce.com) selling for a large amount of money. Never really got into details, but I’m hoping they will eventually be released in the future. I also agree that the price tag to a government is small as long as it doesn’t get into the wrong hands.
Also found another article: http://www.domainmagnate.com/2008/06/02/israelcom-sold-for-588-million
Thanks for the comments!
January 4th, 2009 @ 3:34 pm
Interesting news about Israel in Hebrew getting plucked off the market. Would love to read the report on that once published.
Some more 7-figure sales I managed to pull up:
* Altavista.com – $3.25 million
* WorldWideWeb.com – $3.5 million (1996)
* eShow.com – $3.0 million (1999)
* Dotnology.com – $2.5 million (2000)
* Celebrities.com – $2.0 million (1999)
* Seniors.com – $1.8 million (2007)
* Scores.com – $1.2 million (2007)
* Rock.com – $1.03 million
* iPhone.com – $1.0 million (2007)
* CyberWorks.com – $1.0 million
* WhiteHouseCrisis.com – $1.0 million
* eFlowers.com – $1.0 million
* Beauty.cc – $1.0 million
January 4th, 2009 @ 6:29 pm
Yep–Israel in Hebrew is supposed to be “top secret”, but I consider it unverified since there was never any juicy information.
Post updated with the other domains!
January 5th, 2009 @ 8:56 am
Sammy, I think you forgot YP.com acquired from LiveDeal.com for 3.85 mil by Yellow Pages earlier. It was recently disclosed by Yellow Pages in their financial statement of purchasing it at that price.
reference link: http://www.domainnamenews.com/up-to-the-minute/livedealcom-sells-ypcom-for-385-million/3595
oh and great work of compiling a list of high sellers
Best Regards,
-
Jay M
ParkingFirm.com
January 5th, 2009 @ 8:36 pm
Just added YP.com!
Thanks for the motivation. It was ridiculous that I couldn’t find a decent enough list online, so I decided to find the sales and post them. The only problem is a lot of the stuff gets out-dated (and I assume this one will one day, but then there will always be another blog post to update the prices/sales).
Thanks again for the reminder about YP!
January 8th, 2009 @ 8:56 am
so apple paid 1 million for the iphone.com domain? I would think that they were legally entitled to it since it is a registered trademark of theirs
January 8th, 2009 @ 9:03 am
Apple did an exceptional job of hiding all aspects of Apple’s culminating product — the iPhone — down to its very name, until Steve Jobs’ famous keynote address. If Apple had pre-emptively filed for a trademark on the iPhone then the world would have known the product’s name prior to its launch. I imagine the filing didn’t take place until after (or simultaneously with) Steve Jobs’ address.
Just a theory…could be wrong. Anyone want to verify?
January 8th, 2009 @ 9:54 am
This is a great list, thanks for taking the time to compile it! Even though many might be wrong or whatever, they still represent an accurate estimate of how much good domains can go for.
January 8th, 2009 @ 11:35 am
Wasnt http://www.bankaholic.com acquired for 14 million last year?
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-bankrate-acquires-bankaholic-for-up-to-15/
January 9th, 2009 @ 2:15 am
BankAHolic went for around $15 million in a two-part deal… requiring the blogger to continue his job blogging and would be paid if a certain quota is made. That’s what I remember for sure… so the $15 million is combined blog sale w/ money going towards making sure a certain requirement is met. I’ve mentioned it a lot on my “motivation to blog” posts since it was mentioned since it was only a 2 year old blog.
As for the iphone debate… they had to purchase it because they came up with the whole “iphone” idea AFTER the iphone.com domain was registered… which in a majority of reverse-domain hijacking cases, does NOT work… so purchasing would be the only way to get the domain!
@ Blogoholic
I’m trying to make sure the list stays up to date, and even considering making it a “page” as opposed to a post. That way it could be shared easier by readers!
@ Josh
Pretty good theory… I’m sure their lawyers handled it for them, lol.
January 9th, 2009 @ 3:22 am
I read somewhere digg.com was bought for 1200$ by Kevin Rose don’t remember the source.
January 9th, 2009 @ 10:39 pm
Great news. I am using domain parking to make money from domains
January 10th, 2009 @ 10:07 pm
Nice list but dont forget that this list probably only represent the names that are reported in public. Many go unreported.
Also the list changes all the time as new names sell and are reported. YP.com was just reported this month. DNJournal does a good job of documenting all the sales reported each week.
January 11th, 2009 @ 5:59 am
Yep @ Domain Name News. The problem to find the “Top” wasn’t as easy as I expected… so for a reader, I decided to compile the list in a post. As long as it helps something, I’m all for it!
Update:
Added some like SEO, CreditCheck, and FreePorn!
January 18th, 2009 @ 11:07 pm
I have a domain name I’ve held registration on since 1999. It’s for sale! The transfer of registration anyway since you can’t “own” a domain name only register it. It’s ranked consistently a(and currently) #1 on Google for its search terms. I have a MySpace so I’m really interested in selling if anyone’s interested. Where would one list for sale a domain name? I’m Ace (randyfricke@yahoo.com if interested.)
January 19th, 2009 @ 3:26 pm
The internet real estate market is growing everyday. Within the next few years the focus will be on the Space Race & Global Warming. Visit http://www.futuredomainnames.com for a view into the next generation of domain names.
January 21st, 2009 @ 2:24 pm
has anybody any experience of any sales / resales of .me domains yet?
January 22nd, 2009 @ 1:44 am
@ Karen:
As of now, there isn’t much going on with .me (relevant to other ccTLDs like .cn, .de, .jp, etc.) I haven’t heard anything spectacular regarding the Montenegro ccTLD, but if anything comes up, I will definitely post something up. I think there was something on Luv.me a week or so ago. If I dig up any information, will reply back to this post!
January 22nd, 2009 @ 2:02 am
Domain name for sale: Currently and consistently ranked #1 out of 25,200,000 search returns for specific (music related) search terms. Averages 400 to 600 daily unique visitors. Outranks Amazon.com, MySpace.com, ArtistDirect.com, Mp3.com and all other (music related) domains on the web. I’m limiting this offer to this forum only (for now). Email me for further details. This one will go fast!
January 25th, 2009 @ 9:32 pm
Really great name list!
January 25th, 2009 @ 9:52 pm
Domain for sale: All of the really great one word domain names are already registered as evidenced by the list above. My domain (3 words but highly targeted and specifially music related) is currently and consistently ranked #1 out of 25,200,000 in GOOGLE search returns and outranks Amazon.com, MySpace.com, ArtistDirect.com, Mp3.com and all other music related domains on the web. Averages 400 to 600 daily unique visitors (not hits). This one should sell quickly so email me for further details.
January 27th, 2009 @ 6:06 am
basickaly all are interested to love some one in young age,somebody getting success in love,
somebody fail in love,but in their mind up to
death they like to love one.
February 4th, 2009 @ 2:01 pm
Really great name list!
February 4th, 2009 @ 2:13 pm
wow Very nice . my god
thanks
February 27th, 2009 @ 5:43 pm
Great list!!! Hard to cover all of them because one are reported in one central location.
March 6th, 2009 @ 5:38 pm
Some of these prices are ridiculous
March 7th, 2009 @ 5:48 am
Sure, there’re a lot of unreported sales. A list of sold domains never could be complete and trusted.
March 7th, 2009 @ 4:07 pm
It’s not about being “trusted” but more to educate. Either way, I’ve been to many of the domaining blogs around the net and there hasn’t been anyone that efficiently enough continues to update the prices of domains that might have gotten resold and what not. As for unreported sales, I’m sure there are very many.
March 7th, 2009 @ 5:17 pm
Everyone, its only about who puts an effort into doing all this, and not about being complete or trusted. If you don’t trust this, please hit “x” at the top right corner of this browser and exit.
Again great job Sammy!! keep up
Best Regards,
-
Jay M
GoaVibes.com
March 7th, 2009 @ 5:26 pm
DOMAIN NAME FOR SALE: RockMusicMp3s.com is a highly targeted and genre specific music related domain name. When I had it as my main website it was consistently ranked #1 (out of 25,200,000) in GOOGLE search returns which of course outranked websites like Amazon.com, MySpace.com, ArtistDirect.com, Mp3.com and all other music related domains on the web. I averaged 400 to 600 daily unique visitors (not hits but unique sessions). Face it, most of the really great one and two word domain names are already registered as evidenced by the list above. Interested parties may email me (Ace) at randyfricke@yahoo.com for further details.
March 17th, 2009 @ 8:00 am
Such an eye-openers. Considering these huge prices for hot domain names, I believe the guys at Facebook got it fairly cheap at $200,000.
March 17th, 2009 @ 9:07 pm
Yep. He created an international business on it, so I’d say he was let off pretty easy with his $200K investment!
April 5th, 2009 @ 10:36 am
Facebook is not yet profitable, if I’m not mistaken.
http://www.amitz.net
April 5th, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
Facebook? I don’t think so, until and unless they are selling user database
lol
May 15th, 2009 @ 3:44 am
nice to read.
May 15th, 2009 @ 3:45 am
good one
May 29th, 2009 @ 6:11 am
Sammy, I’m going to use your compilation plus more from around the web wit reference to you on my newly launched website: http://www.aftermarketjournal.com
Thanks, Jay
May 31st, 2009 @ 3:50 am
Definitely go for it
. I am constantly watching and updating accordingly.
Thanks for the reference. I noticed a lot of people “copied” the list word for word, so anything mentioning the blog is greatly appreciated.
July 27th, 2009 @ 12:10 am
Sammy, awesome, awesome list!! Thank you so much for putting this together. I was interested last night in finding some info on domains, and after much searching found your FANTASTIC list! Thanks again.
Only problem, is that I found it so interesting, that 6 hours later I was still going through your list. So VERY little sleep last night.
July 27th, 2009 @ 12:25 am
RockMusicMp3s.com is for sale. Interested parties contact me at randyfricke@yahoo.com for details or to make an offer. When active I got 400 to 600 unique daily visits and #1 ranking on Google.
August 28th, 2009 @ 1:52 pm
bu googlea akıl sır ermez
August 28th, 2009 @ 2:21 pm
My domain name RockMusicMp3s.com is for sale! When I ran that as my main website it ranked consistently a(and currently at last check) #1 on Google for its search terms. Interested parties feel free to contact me (Randy Fricke) at randyfricke@yahoo.com with serious inquiries only.
August 28th, 2009 @ 3:53 pm
The internet real estate market is growing everyday. Within the next few years the focus will be on the Space Race & Global Warming. Visit http://www.futuredomainnames.com for a view into the next generation of domain names.
August 31st, 2009 @ 5:07 am
ty I noticed a lot of people “copied” the list word for word, so anything mentioning the blog is greatly appreciated…
September 2nd, 2009 @ 9:14 pm
Great list – the iPhone .com sale was indeed under strict NDA to prevent an embargo break on the launch of the iPhone… Apple has mastered the art of “one more thing” or “one last thing” as Steve so likes to present the ultimate new Apple product.
As for the other names, Altavista was the first FAST and relevant search engine developped by Digital Equipment (DEC) and it was in the days when CMGI was an Internet bubble star.
Ah the memories – thanks for sharing!
UI Guru.
September 7th, 2009 @ 11:53 am
Anyone interested in moneypotential.com? email me
November 14th, 2009 @ 8:30 pm
cleansing.com is going on the block for sale in 2010. Minimum bid 1.1 million US$.
Contact us
December 7th, 2009 @ 11:06 am
Newscrawler.net is also going on the bid for 2010 while the minimum bid will be $2.3M USD
December 22nd, 2009 @ 4:21 pm
you can certainly improve the user experience in this way
January 7th, 2010 @ 2:39 pm
good information for me
January 29th, 2010 @ 3:19 pm
I’m surprised telephone.com sold for 2 mil and phone.com only sold for 1.2 mil
January 29th, 2010 @ 4:13 pm
As I stated last year in January 2009. The internet real estate market is growing everyday. Within the next few years the focus will be on the Space Race & Global Warming. Visit http://www.futuredomainnames.com for a view into the next generation of domain names.
February 7th, 2010 @ 10:58 am
Thank Administrator…