Hosting.mobi Sells for $101,000

First Sedo .mobi auction nets $850,000.

Following a roaring start, .mobi aftermarket sales cooled down over the past few months. But Sedo’s first .mobi premium domain name auction was a big hit, selling close to a million dollars of domains. The auction had restrictions; buyers have to develop the domains within 6 months. (I’ll follow up to see if that actually happens.)

The top sale was Hosting.mobi, which fetched $101,000. Other notable sales include bank.mobi ($51,501), download.mobi ($51,500), currency.mobi ($47,000) and insurance.mobi ($42,005).

Perhaps the most promising result in the auction was insurance.mobi — since of the buyer. It was purchased by Insurance.com, an independent, online insurance agency that compares insurance quotes. “We see the long-term value of the mobile internet,” stated Joe Singleton, Director of Information Technology, Insurance.com. “The .mobi domain will be a valuable tool in continuing to build our future consumer offerings.”

Flowers.com attempted to buy Flowers.mobi during a TRAFFIC auction, but TRAFFIC organizer Rick Schwartz outbid them. He paid $200,000 for the domain. By comparison, Insurance.mobi looks like a bargain.

The next Sedo .mobi auction is October 31. The auction will include car.mobi, gps.mobi, gay.mobi, kiss.mobi, love.mobi and map.mobi, among others.