$27.3k and other expired domain name sales — HaoZhan.com for
A weekly wrap of expired domain name sales.
One reading of HaoZhan.com ($27.3k) is “warlike” (好战 / hào zhàn). China fortunately isn’t – not compared to the USA – but its domain buyers sure are aggressive lately! At least 3 of the top 4 expired domain auctions at NameJet the prior week fit the profile: Pinyin, LLLL, numeric. Whether or not Chinese bidders won the auctions, they would have contributed to those final prices. .COM, of course. What regarding hyphens, though? That’s the million dollar question. We’ll see later who bought K-S.com for $3.4k.
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| HaoZhan.com | 27,288 | PMSC.com | 6000 |
| K-S.com | 3400 | 54599.com | 3320 |
| OLOG.com | 3100 | Neutra.com | 2601 |
| Street Photography.com |
2601 | OldHouse.com | 2601 |
| Maltose.com | 2519 | 877787.com | 2507 |
| CDYS.com | 2500 | NewWork.com | 2200 |
| ReserveBank.com | 2033 | BuyPlants.com | 2020 |
| LSXX.com | 1919 | CBT.net | 1831 |
| BetterTogether.net | 1800 | AboveTheRest.com | 1622 |
| 3Star.com | 1610 | HotSite.com | 1610 |
Incidentally, HaoZhan is also a Cantonese restaurant in London; but I’d be shocked to see non-chain restaurants pay that much for a domain. Meanwhile, PMSC fits various English acronyms:
- Pitcairn-Monroeville Sportsmen’s Club
- Pennsylvania Mountain Service Corps
- Philippine Migrants Society of Canada
- Policy Management Systems Corporation
- private military and security contractor
A number of of them have websites with “PMSC” domains that might be upgraded. Neutra.com ($2.6k) may look like a “brandable” based on “neutral”, but it’s also the surname of a highly regarded modernist architect. The .ORG is by now devoted to his legacy. Maltose.com ($2.5k) isn’t a brandalbe either; it’s the chemical name of malt sugar.
Most rating conventions max out at 4 or 5 stars; so what does 3Star.com ($1.6k) say as a brand – settle for adequacy? Not quite AboveTheRest.com ($1.6k)? Kidding. The name “3 Star” will make a vivid logo; and as long as they don’t build a review site, they ought to be ok. For an LLL.net, $1.8k falls squarely in the standard price range; but in addition to CBT.net, did you notice the TLD on BetterTogether.net ($1.8k)? If you read .NET as “networking”, then both sides of the dot work well together.
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| EventCenter.com | 1506 | BigTomato.com | 1409 |
| XMCT.com | 1400 | TPFX.com | 1320 |
| BoomerWolf.com | 1251 | JRLA.com | 1211 |
| RGYC.com | 1209 | MRAY.com | 1200 |
| Artistopia.com | 1160 | TDRL.com | 1100 |
| CityOfColumbus.org | 1100 | Cruise Worldwide.com |
980 |
| Dowmload.com [sic] | 955 | Limou.com | 822 |
| Layer8.com | 761 | ComfyLand.com | 711 |
| EZTalk.com | 709 | iProducts.com | 685 |
| Fidias.com | 679 | DataHighway.com | 676 |
Sheesh, there are a lot of pizzerias called “Big Tomato”! I’ll bet they each thought their name idea was unique too. BigTomato.com ($1.4k) might upgrade any of these guys: BigTomatoPizza.net, TheBigTomato.biz, TheBigTomatoPizza.com, TheBigTomatoOnline.com, BigTomatoCompany.com, et al. Actually, the last of these makes ceramics. CruiseWorldwide.com ($980) makes perfect sense for cruises. As for Limou.com ($822), well, I suppose it could be short for “limousine” (like “limo”). But it’s also a Chinese first name.
Would you trust a download from Dowmload.com ($955)? That “m” typo must stand for malware, right? 1 key away and a visually similar to “n”. In certain sectors – especially where logins and downloads are involved – brand protection and typo squatting really ought to be taken seriously. Hopefully Download.com will obtain that domain to prevent abuse.
Part of me is always a sad to see old-fashioned websites go extinct. In the early days of the DataHighway.com ($676), web design wasn’t as streamlined and uniform as it is today; and a lot of tinkering and self expression went on within the “maker” class of early adopters. BoomerWolf.com ($1.3k) is an example of what we’re losing. Since 1996, the site has always taught kids regarding wolves; and it went through many incarnations: 1997 to 2015. Everything comes to an end. People move on. Webmasters who keep at it upgrade to match fresh style trends. Either way, society loses some of what it had. Ah, nostalgia!
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| LogicFactory.com | 671 | Padley.com | 660 |
| TinyKitchen.com | 611 | Moonlight.net | 600 |
| 42921.com | 535 | NASMD.org | 535 |
| FinalDay.com | 530 | WGEC.com | 530 |
| RealFind.com | 516 | WIMSERC.org | 506 |
| SirsiDynix Institute.com |
461 | Speciality Cakes.com |
447 |
| OBHS.com | 411 | Manaca.com | 403 |
| Wedemark.com | 379 | PrimeTap.com | 365 |
| Virtual Development.com |
364 | StudioSouth.com | 315 |
| VirtualCruise.com | 311 | GlobalKnowledge Partnership.org |
260 |
| uPitch.com | 257 | MuthaFucker.com | 255 |
| PureCitrus.com | 249 | Vacant.org | 229 |
| TZTI.com | 220 | CXSU.com | 210 |
LogicFactory.com ($671) may sound weird … unless you’ve built computer circuits with factory-produced logic gates. My black friends can call me a “muthafucka”; my white friends can call me a “motherfucker”; but if you call me a MuthaFucker.com ($255), then isn’t it time you settled on a dialect?
What’s a WIMSERC.org, you ask? At first, I thought “Wireless Integrated Microsystems Engineering Research Center”. Wrong! Turns out the domain was most recently a Japanese site selling hair tonic. Then again, domains expire and turn over all the time. Turns out (x2) that I was right regarding wireless integrated circuits – from 2001-2011. Then parking. Then Japan. What next? “Turn, turn, turn,” as the Byrds say:
To everything there is a season
and a time to every purpose under heaven.
| Domain Name | End $ | Domain Name | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| AXMB.com | 210 | Fensalden.com | 200 |
| NationalTextile.org | 191 | iLoveDonuts.com | 165 |
| Banch.com | 160 | RapidSharing.com | 159 |
| Overpopulation.net | 140 | Conservative Online.org |
140 |
| FontGameApp.com | 139 | TeenVideoCam.com | 126 |
| Cheap Electrician.com |
111 | Betras.com | 109 |
| SimStat.com | 109 | ISH2012.org | 101 |
| DavidRiki.com | 81 | EndOfControl.com | 80 |
| WorldPoker Championship.com |
69 | InGoodTaste Store.com |
69 |
Does the buyer of iLoveDonuts.com ($165) love O-shaped cakes or the domain registry? Perhaps both. We had a tradition in nuclear power school that stated the guy with the highest weekly test score had to buy donuts for the class. Since that meant waking up at 5 a.m., fear of donuts kept me aiming for second best!
