Expired Domain Note: Carol.com, Pranksters.com and more
Deck the halls! Carol.com, which GoDaddy sold for $20.8k this past week, may be one of the best brand names for the Christmas season. Either that or some woman named Carol ought to be immensely flattered! Another dictionary-word .COM, Pranksters.com reached $7.1k. It’s not hard to imagine a “Pranksters” show based on the premise of pulling pranks proving pretty popular. Plenty have.
That clip I just linked to is also something of a comment on the price paid for Mambo-Foundation.org: $8.2k. That’s a bit baffling. Now, I say “paid”; but here I only note on bidding — not consummated sales, which cannot be verified until 7 days have elapsed. (For GoDaddy expired auctions, that is.)
Speaking of the future … Why get bogged down in retirement planning when — by thinking a bit farther ahead — you can forecast whether you’ll be reincarnated as a cockroach or a king? Perhaps soon enough, MyKarma.com ($1.2k) will allow us to check our cosmic moral status in the same way in which we right now monitor our credit scores or compulsively tally up our Facebook friends.
BioChar.com ($5.4k) is something potentially quite notable. I’m not entirely sure what distinguishes biochar from ordinary charcoal. But it is used in agriculture (to increase soil fertility); and it has been proposed as a way to combat climate change (through carbon sequestration). You can buy biochar by the bagful online. So perhaps not only farmers but governments wishing to subsidize carbon offsets will make Biochar.com quite profitable.
As a reminder that expired domain auctions do not always result in sales, consider HumanTouchLLC.com. Despite the $2k high bid amount I’m charting below, the website appears to be up and running without any change of ownership. So I’m guessing the firm chose to renew rather than allow someone to buy their domain out from underneath them.
In contrast, LIVSunLife.com ($5.5k) hasn’t yet been renewed by its former registrant. The LIV “Sun Life Stadium” is home to the Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes — professional and college American football teams.
When it comes to WildlifeActionPlan.org ($1.8k) and the plural ($425), my hunch was that legislation of some kind must mandate such “wildlife action plans”. Regulations create consultants; and only consultants could explain those price tags, since the domains otherwise have negligible branding appeal. As it turns out, I was right: “In order to receive funds through the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program and the State Wildlife Grants Program, Congress charged each state and territory with developing a wildlife action plan.”
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carol.com | 20750 | Mambo-Foundation.org | 8200 |
| Pranksters.com | 7100 | CashAdvancer.com | 6899 |
| LIVSunLife.com | 5500 | BioChar.com | 5450 |
| NaturalDetox.com | 3150 | BanBen.com | 3051 |
| Zeerk.com | 2024 | HumanTouchLLC.com | 1999 |
| WildlifeActionPlan.org | 1825 | Michaels.co | 1654 |
| NewLeadershipAlliance.org | 1326 | UECE.com | 1325 |
| VeteransFund.org | 1275 | HIVVaccineEnterprise.org | 1225 |
| MyKarma.com | 1200 | Nelly.co | 1009 |
| ALateQuartet.com | 1009 | NEO.co | 1000 |
| Ofouq.com | 1000 | TheOpenPhotoProject.org | 940 |
| Mai.co | 918 | KingJamesBibleTrust.org | 811 |
| Ze-Gen.com | 800 | 50988.com | 790 |
| DreamHouseCleaning.com | 787 | LibreCultura.org | 780 |
| Ethnobotany.org | 755 | XERU.com | 725 |
| FetishClothing.com | 723 | MCIC.org | 711 |
| FallsCityOnline.com | 711 | V-me.tv | 710 |
| SunHosting.com | 708 | TargetedOffers.com | 700 |
| YourMoneySite.com | 697 | PowerDigital.com | 635 |
| Joes.co | 630 | DiosDelCacao.com | 622 |
| SkyDogPottery.com | 605 | RedirX.com | 580 |
| MuddyRiver.com | 570 | WarrickDunn Foundation.org |
560 |
| OurFiscalSecurity.org | 560 | CANQ.com | 520 |
| AgingNets.com | 511 | TheDarlingLife.com | 510 |
| HamiltonUSD.org | 510 | STMA11Fukushima.info | 510 |
| Noodle.co | 505 | LikeThisPhoto.com | 504 |
| Genei.com | 503 | MasterEducation Guides.com |
503 |
| Ruobing.com | 503 | IEA2012.org | 497 |
| MediaCenter.org | 485 | MedicoDeOlhos.com | 482 |
| ModRobes.com | 480 | WhereToShop.com | 480 |
| ValuedOpinion.com | 468 | Operation MedicineCabinetNJ.com |
456 |
| CathyJordan.com | 455 | FlyingYogi.com | 455 |
| Lininger.com | 455 | SuccessCharters.org | 452 |
| FocusedTraining.com | 442 | WildlifeActionPlans.org | 425 |
| CarsInPedia.com | 425 | MyEquineSource.com | 425 |
| CabanaGrille.com | 417 | CakeFarts.com | 411 |
| Amelie-LeFilm.com | 410 | Tavernes.com | 410 |
| GoingEvergreen.org | 406 | Radio-International.org | 406 |
| GlobalSpeakers Federation.org |
406 | HappyGoLucky TheMovie.com |
406 |
| CyprusExplorer.com | 405 | Keira-Knightley.org | 404 |
| FreeSalesLetter.net | 403 | WitchesWay.net | 401 |
| PTMagazine.com | 400 | FitList.com | 393 |
| Preware.org | 393 | MarijuanaTattoos.com | 380 |
| YERL.com | 373 | TEO.co | 360 |
| BestBoutique.com | 360 | Projector123.com | 358 |
| BelarusConsul.org | 355 | ElderWeb.net | 355 |
| CinderellaProject.net | 355 | ThaiGemStone.com | 355 |
| Abicam.com | 353 | EVEB.com | 350 |
| MaxServer.com | 350 | PhilipBrunner.com | 350 |
| RecoverTrucks.com | 327 | LorisHealthCare System.com |
326 |
| DragonsResources.com | 325 | OldGamesItalia.com | 325 |
| TeamRadioShack.com | 321 | Riziko.com | 318 |
| Hybrid-Vehicles.net | 315 | NWConcreteInteriors.com | 311 |
| AEChina.com | 310 | AzuCarSJ.com | 307 |
| PeakNetwork.org | 305 | MYHJ.com | 305 |
| RedWingMusic.com | 305 | GtosInc.com | 305 |
| FANF.com | 305 | YouTube4k.com | 305 |
| CanadianKids.net | 305 | Bailey-Foundation.org | 305 |
| BlogTeacher.net | 305 | Fubar.co | 305 |
| MillstreetBrews.com | 304 | Gulf-Biz.com | 302 |
| TezzVoip.com | 301 | PJXX.com | 296 |
| ThePinewoodLodge.com | 295 | Retrika.com | 295 |
| LoveKorat.com | 295 | Beckmann FuneralHome.com |
290 |
| ENDB.com | 287 | MySnazzy ChickenCoop.com |
287 |
| HabershamOBGYN.net | 285 | Reepedia.com | 283 |
| BestWindows MobileApps.com |
280 | Alowap.net | 276 |
| IndieRecordShop.org | 275 | FrankeSpinosa.com | 270 |
| HomeFitnessManual.com | 270 | MamaBBlog.com | 270 |
| Loud.co | 265 | Zee.co | 260 |
| LOVQ.com | 260 | RollerLagos.com | 259 |
| ApartmentInDallas.org | 257 | UniversityDaily.net | 256 |
| CanadanSanoMat.com [sic] | 256 | EternalJewels.com | 255 |
| TheFairbornPaper.com | 255 | DifferentiaPress.com | 255 |
| BuyingDomainNames.com | 255 | MUUB.com | 255 |
| MrWebReview.com | 255 | FGLY.com | 250 |
| PlaybackMag.net | 250 | Envahisseurs.com | 239 |
| RestonTimes.com | 235 | AbeilleDuNet.com | 234 |
| DidYouTrade.com | 229 | QueensTravel.com | 227 |
| KingTux.com | 227 | SwingingBridgeResort.com | 225 |
| TinnitusTreatmentGuide.org | 225 | MySafeer.com | 225 |
| NolaFunGuide.com | 225 | MichiganSEO.com | 220 |
| MIXF.com | 217 | WhiteHallChamber.org | 215 |
| ppiinnee.com | 215 | WankAid.com | 211 |
| Free4PSD.com | 206 | TrentonTitansHockey.com | 206 |
| ProjectReconnect.org | 206 | 1861FarmHouse.com | 206 |
| IndiePub.com | 205 | N9M.com | 205 |
| THTC.org | 205 | AllTravelService.com | 205 |
| Victoria411.com | 205 | Bookoo.co | 205 |
| Hope-Care.org | 205 | IntegrativeHolistic Doctors.org |
205 |
| LongIslandCriminal Lawyers.com |
205 | CelebrateRecovery Blog.com |
205 |
| Photography- Photographers.com |
202 | NPSanjal.com | 202 |
| DetrasDelRumor.com | 201 | MegaVisionRD.com | 201 |
| Original-Content.net | 201 | SunriseIron.com | 201 |
| Stolen-Movie.com | 200 | BestVanturizm.net | 198 |
| KevinsKoffeeKart.com | 195 | MusicAfter.com | 193 |
| GetWetTour.com | 190 | 68670.com | 187 |
| StreetSights.org | 186 | WebAtlas.org | 181 |
| ChinaVentureNews.com | 181 | FoodDanceCafe.com | 180 |
| MPASWork.org | 180 | GrowingHealthy SchoolsWeek.org |
175 |
| TheSketchersons.com | 175 | Save1800Suicide.org | 175 |
| EvergreenSearch.com | 175 | MoneyTies.com | 172 |
| MyGreatTrip.com | 170 | UnitedWayIsaco.org | 170 |
| PickHealth.com | 170 | NarutoXXXHentai.com | 170 |
| Staging.co | 167 | MangoesAnd PalmTrees.com |
166 |
| DolphinDHow.com | 166 | TheChildrensHospital HUMC.net |
165 |
| MatanCrop.com | 165 | ProShopPublishing.com | 165 |
| Pays.co | 165 | 5844.net | 161 |
| UGUM.com | 160 | MotsDuScrabble.com | 160 |
| VictimSupportMalta.org | 160 | IdahoPharmacists.com | 156 |
| WhatIsYourFood Worth.com |
156 | TheDraftingTable.net | 156 |
| TheDailyScrapper.com | 155 | LaGrandeResort.com | 155 |
| WhiteHatSEOServices.org | 155 | TwistFlix.com | 155 |
| Wedding-Dresses -Custom.com |
155 | MullionOnline.com | 151 |
| FOXY.co | 150 | Reverse-Email.com | 147 |
| IDN.co | 143 | LearnEnglishWorld.com | 141 |
| QuilcedaFarm.com | 140 | LuxMobileGroup.com | 135 |
| SoftCommunication.net | 135 | LuYouJixie.com | 131 |
| Pabrikkue.com | 131 | Quiero.co | 130 |
| 4DNutrition.com | 125 | Horoplus.com | 125 |
| HotelsOfWarsaw.com | 125 | WorkWithBrian.com | 125 |
| GreenSL.net | 125 | GLWY.com | 125 |
| CTGW.com | 123 | HowToWatchSports.com | 115 |
| MTS.co | 115 | WFHF.com | 111 |
| Ma-Loupe.com | 111 | RedOakRoad.com | 110 |
| SRWP.com | 110 | Ma-Souris.com | 110 |
| Zimsy.com | 108 | MorganCountySheriff.org | 107 |
| DNF.co | 106 | BagLadyOfBeaufort.com | 106 |
| Technical-Outsourcing.com | 105 | TheBluesBarn.com | 105 |
| Cashier.co | 102 | Treboli.com | 101 |
| MarijuanaFree.com | 101 | Danica.co | 100 |
| AAP.co | 100 | Web-Hosting.co | 90 |
| FunGuys.com | 90 | TumbleDownFarm.com | 86 |
| Orthodontic-Insurance.org | 85 | PretzelBar.com | 78 |
| GreenFashionLine.com | 75 | IrritableBowelSyndrome Guide.com |
67 |
| 21246.com | 65 | 22746.com | 65 |
Expired auctions at GoDaddy the prior week gave us a representative cross-section of .CO wholesale market appraisals. 33 .CO domains are charted above, although there probably were others. 6 fell between $505 and $1654. The highest of these, Michaels.co, probably derives its value from the prospect of resale to Michaels.com, the dominant arts and crafts retail chain in the USA. Otherwise, the highest sales were all extremely short: Nelly.co, Neo.co, Mai.co, and Joes.co. Under certain circumstances, I do think the pros can outweigh the cons for some .CO domains as brand names. I’d cite Noodle.co ($505) and Staging.co ($167) as 2 examples.
Other .COs mainly didn’t reach high prices. 10 fell between $100 and $167 … with another 10 below $100. Most of those I didn’t watch would either have sold in the low ranges or not have sold at all. Nevertheless, there were some very notable .CO domains in the bunch. DNF.co looks suspiciously like DNForum.com. And Adam Dicker (the forum’s owner) did file a lawsuit against the owner of DNF.ca in the past; so I was surprised to see DNF.co go uncontested at a meager $106. Danica.co would appear to be targeting GoDaddy’s own sponsor, Danica Patrick. I’d take its expiry and low price of $100 as signs of indifference from GoDaddy; but bidders apparently saw it as worth speculating on.
Two other .CO domains’ low prices surprised me. One was IDN.co, which stands for “international domain names” — i.e. those written in non-latin scripts. Domainers have been interested enough in IDNs over the years that at least one forum is solely dedicated to them. And many fresh registries are promoting IDN TLDs. So $142 does seem low. The other surprise for me was Quiero.co, which means “I want .CO” in Spanish. No matter how much .CO may be marketed to English speakers, it does remain the country code for Colombia. If I were the .CO registry, I would have used Quiero.co to market .CO within the Spanish-speaking world. Not worth $130 to them, I guess.
It’s interesting to note how the market values good keyword phrases or lucrative niches even when the domain itself has problems. You’ll see a lot of those cases in the table above — domains with hyphens, third-choice TLDs, and non-idiomatic word order that reflects search engine type-ins rather than human speech. I by now commented on Mambo-Foundation.org ($8.2k), which seems to be a fluke. Mainly I’m referring to items like these: Hybrid-Vehiclees.net ($315), Photography-Photographers.com ($202), Original-Content.net ($201), Wedding-Dresses-Custom.com ($155), Technical-Outsourcing.com ($105), Web-Hosting.co ($90), and Orthodontic-Insurance.org ($85). Perhaps celebrity search traffic would place Keira-Knightly.org ($404) in that category too.
Altogether, there are 48 hyphenated domains in the GoDaddy table above. Some of these seem to reflect European sensibilities, which tolerate hyphens more readily: Amelie-LeFilm.com ($410) and Radio-International.com ($406). Ze-Gen.com ($800) corresponds to a firm with its own Wikipedia entry. Worst of the group is V-me.tv at $710. Simply atrocious!
Not as bad as KevinsKoffeeKart.com ($195), though. Certain acronyms ought simply to be avoided in the USA. Envahisseurs.com ($239) is French for “invaders”. Genei.com ($503) seems to be Romanian for “gene”. MedicoDeOlhos.com ($482) is a Portuguese or Brazilian eye doctor. Ma-Souris.com ($110) is “my mouse”. DiosDelCacao.com ($602) would be the god of the chocolate bean. If you’re hoping to sell .HIV or .ENTERPRISES, I don’t know if it’s encouraging or discouraging to see HIVVaccineEnterprise.org sell for $1225.
NameJet auctions the prior week turned in some impressive results. eAuto.com has obvious potential in the automotive industry and sticks with the “e” prefix trend, which isn’t entirely played out yet. So $17k isn’t that surprising. Souvenirs.com suggests lucrative merchandising applications that more than justify its $16k price. NameJet took possession of this domain 3 days ahead of the auction; so I hesitated ahead of reporting it here. The domain does seem to have actually expired, but I imagine the auction functioned more like seller-run auctions that employ reserves. That’s just a guess.
VelvetRope.com ($7.9k) makes a strong brand name since of the object’s association with glamorous occasions. Macaw.com ($7.4k) may either sell exotic birds or brand something else. I’d be interested to see what kind of business model goes with JobShare.com ($5.2k). Honestly, I’ve heard the word Fuckable.com ($2.5k) more times than I can count. Although in bad taste in most social contexts, it’s a strong brand name for porn.
CompanyPhoto.com was a steal at $160. Other good names for branding purposes include LifeOutLoud.com ($605) and ColorFactory.com ($1.4k). I also like Shopkeeping.com ($151) for a commerce blog or service. And WellDoctor.com ($509) has a great double meaning between wellness and the following Q&A: “What seems to be the problem?” Response: “Well, Doctor …”
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| eAuto.com | 17088 | Souvenirs.com | 16250 |
| VelvetRope.com | 7888 | Macaw.com | 7388 |
| JobShare.com | 5278 | Fuckable.com | 2500 |
| SchwabLearning.org | 2100 | Winny.com | 1805 |
| ColorFactory.com | 1409 | AHSU.com | 1400 |
| SEPSchool.org | 1201 | RAEF.com | 1100 |
| BringThemHomeNow.org | 1011 | TeeBForBusiness.org [sic] | 747 |
| MetaSoftware.com | 736 | SoupMan.com | 689 |
| VNN.org | 676 | KFCO.com | 636 |
| 99070.com | 610 | LifeOutLoud.com | 605 |
| ProjectorRental.com | 559 | EstudiosTerritoriales.org | 555 |
| WellDoctor.com | 509 | KPorterfield.com | 468 |
| GZCT.com | 455 | FestivalOfNature.org | 440 |
| SummerClasses.com | 436 | PopMagazine.com | 430 |
| MagnoliaRealEstate.com | 415 | WoLavers.com | 403 |
| TGames.com | 389 | CardDeck.com | 365 |
| SeniorMobility.com | 345 | Trouveasy.com | 311 |
| Sdada.org | 310 | Commonwealth EducationFund.org |
301 |
| JXML.com | 273 | Couture.co | 220 |
| Orlando AssistedLiving.com |
210 | DWDM.com | 209 |
| MDBB.com | 209 | OGCE.com | 200 |
| CompanyPhoto.com | 160 | Shopkeeping.com | 151 |
| Sofia.info | 140 | Richmond AssistedLiving.com |
119 |
| LosAngeles AssistedLiving.com |
119 | Boston AssistedLiving.com |
109 |
| Charlotte AssistedLiving.com |
109 | Pennsylvania AssistedLiving.com |
92 |
| MyCity.tv | 90 | Denver AssistedLiving.com |
84 |
| WebLinkSEO.com | 81 | BalloonSales.com | 79 |
| Missouri AssistedLiving.com |
74 | Buffalo AssistedLiving.com |
72 |
| Pittsburgh AssistedLiving.com |
72 | Raleigh AssistedLiving.com |
72 |
| Tennessee AssistedLiving.com |
72 | Tacoma AssistedLiving.com |
71 |
| Sacramento AssistedLiving.com |
71 | Detroit AssistedLiving.com |
70 |
| Oakland AssistedLiving.com |
70 | SanJose AssistedLiving.com |
70 |
| Indianapolis AssistedLiving.com |
69 | KansasCity AssistedLiving.com |
69 |
| Tulsa AssistedLiving.com |
69 | Louisville AssistedLiving.com |
69 |
| NewOrleans AssistedLiving.com |
69 | LongIsland AssistedLiving.com |
69 |
Obviously you noticed all the city assisted living domains. Very few of them saw any actual bidding during the auctions, despite having between one and two dozen backorders apiece. Since the minimum bid increment at NameJet is $10, all 16 of those that ended below $79 basically had no auction bids. But 6 of them did go higher — the highest being Orlando at $210. Given Florida’s sizable retirement population, that ought to come as no surprise.
P.S. Every week there are so many expiring domains for yesteryear’s movies that domainers ought to start an expired-domain film club. I’ve seen Amelie-LeFilm.com ($410). Didn’t see Stolen-Movie.com ($200). Or HappyGoLuckyTheMovie.com ($406). Did anybody see ALateQuartet.com ($1009) with Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener, and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman?
