“How much is my domain name worth?”
It’s a common question that Web Watch is often asked, and surprisingly comes up in more casual conversations than you may think one would experience in an average week.
Of course, let’s get the important piece out of the way: you DO own a domain name or two, don’t you?
If not, you know you can always buy one from any number of domain name registrars that you may find online.
Right. So now you have that ultimate, desirable domain name. So what next? Are domain names really good investments?
The Domain Game:
How People Get Rich From Internet Domain Names
Yes, yes they are.
According to SEDO, one of many domain name resellers online, the average sales price of a .COM domain in 2011 was $2,741 (with .NET, .ORG, .BIZ, and .INFO domains bringing in less).
Sure, that’s not a ton of money, but it really all depends on what the demand is for the name you have available for sale. For example, who would have thought that dudu.com would have sold for $1 million? Sure, it makes sense that 3d.com sold for $500k (although they probably should have gotten more than that). In 2011, the domain name gambling.com was sold for $2,500,000.
Some trends you should be aware of:
- .COM addresses command 44% of the marketplace. There’s a reason why Internet companies are pushing the other top-level domains, and that’s because those other areas have more growth potential. But whether people are comfortable going to any website that’s not in the .COM space still remains to be seen
- Germany and the US lead all domain name purchasers
So how much do you think you can get for your domain?
- 47% of all domains sold were sold for less than $500
- 38% sold between $500-$2,500
- 8%: $2,500 – $5,000
- 1%: $5,000 – $10,000
- 2%: $10,000 – $50,000
- 4%: $50,000 and higher
The most popular domain names sold contain just eight characters. If yours is longer than 12-13 characters, you may not get as many interested parties in your domain than you would if it were shorter.
Heck, you may even hit paydirt just from watching the news. Scott Crider did so when he purchased a domain based on a HAT HE SAW while watching a TV press conference. He says that he has more than made up for the $10 he paid for the domain in just a few days of traffic. All it takes is being aware of what’s going on around you, and be ready to jump on a trend before someone else does.