Inside NameJet’s record month
The journey to a record December at NameJet.
Did you catch that? Maybe not. To really appreciate just how marvelous NameJet’s (podcast) performance was during December – indeed, throughout the whole of 2015 – let’s rewind and play things back in slow motion.
Since mid 2011, NameJet has noted domain sales that clear over $2000. Early on, the auction platform disclosed as few as 49 domains per month; and during its first year the market place never surpassed 92. Less than 1/4 of months have turned in 100+ domains. In fact, that’s happened just 13 times … 8 of which occurred during 2015.
Let me put that another way:
| Ahead of 2015 | During 2015 | |
|---|---|---|
| Months > 100 Domains | 11.6% | 66.7% |
| Domains Per Month (Mean) | 82.3 | 142.1 |
January, 2015, set a record with 148 domains. Likewise, October beat what had been the record (131 domains back in 2013) with 139 domains. Then came November, blowing the previous 4 1/2 years out of the water: 233 domains! Yet even that pales in comparison with last month. December racked up 383 auctions above $2k, tripling the pre-2015 record.
While the number of high-end auctions has been growing, prices have been growing too. Well, that’s not quite true. Some of you will be surprised by this; but typical prices haven’t really changed, as you can see from the median. It’s the highest prices that have been getting higher. NameJet has always seen big sales, achieving 6 figures even with a couple of 2011 auctions. But following more than 4 1/2 years, only 13 months (< 25%) could score above $100k; and 7 of those fell within 2015. Specifically:
| Ahead of 2015 | During 2015 | |
|---|---|---|
| Months w/ Domain > $100k | 13.3% | 58.3% |
| Mean Price | $5435 | $7220 |
| Monthly Median Price (Mean) | $3075 | $3229 |
Back in July, NameJet obliterated its previous $175.5k record, thanks to a $555.1k auction, which was itself surpassed 2 months later by a $694.1k sale. At this point, that pre-2015 record ranks only 5th overall, right behind a $184k item from December.
So we’re looking at 2 simultaneous trends: (1) more auctions above $2k; and (2) higher peak prices. The combined effect shows up clearly when monthly totals add up to more than $1 million. First July. Then September. October again. November set a record at $1.562M. And December? December nearly doubled the previous month: $2,964,861! (Remember, that figure excludes all auctions below $2k.)
This states it all:
| Ahead of July 2015 | Since | |
|---|---|---|
| Months Totaling > $1M | Never | 83.3% |
| Monthly Revenue (Mean) | $447.1k | $1.025M |
What domains actually sold? Well, it’s impossible for me to discuss nearly 400 domains. But here’s a summary, emphasizing the categories that contributed most to overall revenue – i.e. by weight.
| Class | Count | Total | by Count | by Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LLL.com | 23 | $1.035M | 6.0% | 34.9% |
| LLLL.com | 142 | $589.8k | 37.1% | 19.9% |
| LLL.net | 89 | $325.0k | 23.2% | 10.9% |
| LL.net | 5 | $248.0k | 1.3% | 8.4% |
| NNNN.com | 6 | $183.2k | 1.6% | 6.2% |
| Single Words | 8 | $120.5k | 2.1% | 4.1% |
| Brandable | 22 | $102.0k | 5.7% | 3.5% |
| Generic Phrase | 16 | $77.2k | 4.2% | 2.6% |
| 5L.com | 16 | $74.6k | 4.2% | 2.5% |
| 5N.com | 18 | $59.6k | 4.7% | 2.0% |
| Pinyin | 4 | $43.6k | 1.0% | 1.5% |
| Personal Names | 6 | $22.4k | 1.6% | 0.8% |
| 6N.com | 5 | $13.6k | 1.3% | 0.5% |
| NNNN.net | 5 | $12.2k | 1.3% | 0.4% |
| CCC.com | 5 | $12.1k | 1.3% | 0.4% |
| Other Chinese | 3 | $10.9k | 0.8% | 0.4% |
| L-L.com | 2 | $10.3k | 0.5% | 0.3% |
| Misc .ORG / .INFO | 3 | $9.9k | 0.8% | 0.3% |
| .XYZ | 2 | $8.3k | 0.5% | 0.3% |
| NNN.org | 3 | $6.2k | 0.8% | 0.2% |
You’ll notice that 3-letter .COMs make up more than 1/3 of revenue even though only 1 out of 18 auctions was an LLL.com. Essentially, by comparing % by weight versus % by count, we can tell how a category’s average price compares with the mean price for December as a whole:
- % by count > % by weight … Category underperforms December’s average
- % by count < % by weight … Category outperforms December’s average
For example, 4-letter .COMs constituted more than 1/3 of NameJet auctions; but the average LLLL.com price was only half NameJet’s overall average. (19.9% / 37.1% = 53.6%). The same applies to LLL.net domains. Both these categories are at record highs; yet even so, they sell for less than domains in other categories. For example, LL.net domains average 6.5 times higher than NameJet’s December average. NNNN.com were 3.9 times as expensive. And single-word domains doubled the overall average value.
By my estimate, as many as 328 of these auctions can be credited to China (counting non-Chinese buyers eager to sell to China). That would leave only 55 domains that were obviously non-Chinese. This is certainly an overestimate, since my categorization algorithm errs on the side of Beijing. Manual inspection would adjust that figure downward by perhaps 5% to 15%. But as an upper limit, it seems that Chinese-style domains contributed 85.6% by count, 88.8% by revenue.
Here’s another way of summarizing December at NameJet:
| Class | Count | Total | by Count | by Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .COM | 275 | $2.35M | 71.8% | 79.3% |
| .NET | 100 | $589.7k | 26.1% | 19.9% |
| .ORG | 5 | $12.9k | 1.3% | 0.4% |
| Other TLDs | 3 | $11.4k | 0.8% | 0.4% |
If NameJet continues to note this many auctions, then I’ll be forced to change the format of these monthly articles. There’s neither space nor time to discuss nearly 400 domains as individual specimens. But this time (probably for the last time) I’ll publish the list in full. It’s divided into the same categories appearing in the summary above.
LLL.com:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| LTD.com | 184000 | NYS.com | 80500 |
| JNB.com | 67111 | CML.com | 62501 |
| AUD.com | 55600 | IXA.com | 42000 |
| SAU.com | 41220 | ZEV.com | 36000 |
| USK.com | 35645 | OUG.com | 35000 |
| DGE.com | 34600 | ZNA.com | 34353 |
| ZWA.com | 33300 | SJV.com | 33220 |
| MOQ.com | 33200 | WXU.com | 31111 |
| EFJ.com | 30088 | VPW.com | 29288 |
| IOW.com | 29088 | OQL.com | 29088 |
| CJV.com | 28600 | MQI.com | 25855 |
| XUO.com | 24022 |
LLLL.com:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| MACY.com | 75000 | ROBE.com | 37000 |
| MAPE.com | 16000 | RCCC.com | 14999 |
| AAYY.com | 13100 | ISET.com | 12299 |
| ADDD.com | 10001 | RENY.com | 9800 |
| MMMY.com | 8100 | JJOO.com | 8000 |
| PPPJ.com | 7600 | RUCA.com | 7000 |
| RASU.com | 6150 | DEPE.com | 5600 |
| CNCR.com | 5399 | XBSM.com | 5255 |
| TPSG.com | 5000 | PMJR.com | 4900 |
| CDLC.com | 4544 | HHPC.com | 4522 |
| JDCF.com | 4109 | DPSC.com | 4100 |
| VNNN.com | 4000 | DHTX.com | 3900 |
| WTGW.com | 3700 | EEEX.com | 3500 |
| OZZZ.com | 3434 | IGMC.com | 3433 |
| BSCF.com | 3309 | PMSL.com | 3309 |
| CGSM.com | 3309 | QNLG.com | 3305 |
| EVVV.com | 3301 | TXMS.com | 3300 |
| HNSW.com | 3220 | CSLL.com | 3209 |
| KDTW.com | 3200 | MAMS.com | 3200 |
| OOON.com | 3200 | HCWL.com | 3150 |
| MRTT.com | 3150 | SITG.com | 3110 |
| CFGP.com | 3109 | BNCF.com | 3101 |
| OUUU.com | 3100 | BSKC.com | 3100 |
| WEJI.com | 3100 | GBCN.com | 3099 |
| XFHP.com | 3000 | TXMR.com | 2999 |
| OOOP.com | 2999 | XFEE.com | 2919 |
| KFPX.com | 2900 | FRTC.com | 2900 |
| RRRU.com | 2900 | BRYY.com | 2900 |
| NVVV.com | 2900 | LYLL.com | 2900 |
| KCWL.com | 2809 | DTCW.com | 2809 |
| FKKB.com | 2800 | PFJF.com | 2800 |
| WKYH.com | 2722 | FTNS.com | 2700 |
| HCFB.com | 2700 | PBBD.com | 2700 |
| QBJB.com | 2700 | CDHK.com | 2700 |
| JSSY.com | 2700 | SDTS.com | 2650 |
| PMMF.com | 2650 | CFCP.com | 2650 |
| SDNP.com | 2609 | KGNL.com | 2609 |
| EDDS.com | 2602 | DYHD.com | 2601 |
| FMRS.com | 2600 | KBFP.com | 2600 |
| TRYK.com | 2600 | PBDX.com | 2600 |
| ERHA.com | 2600 | SNSW.com | 2600 |
| GPCW.com | 2599 | AGAD.com | 2588 |
| GGZC.com | 2550 | CLNS.com | 2550 |
| DBYM.com | 2531 | KGWX.com | 2528 |
| QFDT.com | 2520 | KKWP.com | 2520 |
| NMNR.com | 2510 | HRLH.com | 2509 |
| LYMY.com | 2503 | HMNR.com | 2500 |
| LPRP.com | 2500 | JZSW.com | 2500 |
| TCGM.com | 2500 | DBNY.com | 2500 |
| KHDL.com | 2500 | KPBX.com | 2500 |
| SBRC.com | 2500 | SPBB.com | 2500 |
| OOOG.com | 2500 | CSSF.com | 2499 |
| TQHM.com | 2488 | KFNH.com | 2450 |
| SPGD.com | 2450 | CLKZ.com | 2450 |
| FLKX.com | 2450 | PCLD.com | 2450 |
| DFMG.com | 2450 | LVSA.com | 2440 |
| KKWX.com | 2401 | BCNL.com | 2400 |
| KLMQ.com | 2400 | XJMC.com | 2400 |
| WXFP.com | 2400 | NHCZ.com | 2388 |
| DWND.com | 2381 | SXBC.com | 2309 |
| TFQR.com | 2301 | PXLM.com | 2300 |
| RLYF.com | 2300 | CDKN.com | 2300 |
| ZDNB.com | 2299 | GJLL.com | 2222 |
| TQDP.com | 2214 | TWKG.com | 2201 |
| MEKS.com | 2200 | YBNM.com | 2188 |
| RQBP.com | 2180 | RBKD.com | 2160 |
| WJKL.com | 2131 | XKBS.com | 2129 |
| ECJG.com | 2111 | ETIM.com | 2105 |
| MHBQ.com | 2100 | XTQK.com | 2100 |
| KWMQ.com | 2100 | CRXC.com | 2100 |
| XCAD.com | 2100 | VOHI.com | 2100 |
LLL.net:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZBJ.net | 11190 | YZW.net | 5290 |
| ZGW.net | 5109 | ZBZ.net | 4611 |
| WJR.net | 4400 | ZJZ.net | 4400 |
| YYH.net | 4320 | YYP.net | 4310 |
| ZGX.net | 4309 | ZHH.net | 4209 |
| LYP.net | 4160 | XTF.net | 4120 |
| XZX.net | 4110 | YDT.net | 4100 |
| XYG.net | 4100 | ZNC.net | 4009 |
| YDX.net | 3920 | ZNQ.net | 3900 |
| ZKC.net | 3809 | YZH.net | 3809 |
| ZRT.net | 3802 | ZWL.net | 3800 |
| ZXH.net | 3800 | ZPF.net | 3800 |
| ZNX.net | 3800 | XYC.net | 3800 |
| ZFF.net | 3730 | GQG.net | 3709 |
| ZFH.net | 3702 | ZCJ.net | 3700 |
| ZTQ.net | 3700 | ZWG.net | 3700 |
| ZWJ.net | 3700 | ZHX.net | 3683 |
| ZDH.net | 3621 | ZFR.net | 3620 |
| HQY.net | 3620 | ZFD.net | 3605 |
| NZR.net | 3601 | ZKP.net | 3600 |
| YHT.net | 3600 | BPQ.net | 3581 |
| YMK.net | 3530 | ZRM.net | 3529 |
| DZT.net | 3524 | ZFL.net | 3520 |
| ZBQ.net | 3510 | SJX.net | 3505 |
| ZBF.net | 3502 | ZCK.net | 3500 |
| ZJM.net | 3500 | ZKQ.net | 3500 |
| YFG.net | 3500 | XBZ.net | 3500 |
| DBQ.net | 3429 | YMR.net | 3422 |
| NXJ.net | 3419 | QTB.net | 3410 |
| YKD.net | 3409 | ZFG.net | 3400 |
| ZHJ.net | 3400 | YJB.net | 3400 |
| KZG.net | 3320 | YHF.net | 3309 |
| ZQS.net | 3300 | XSK.net | 3300 |
| YGP.net | 3300 | ZQJ.net | 3255 |
| KZP.net | 3250 | NPQ.net | 3230 |
| XPB.net | 3220 | YHL.net | 3209 |
| YXF.net | 3202 | XXG.net | 3200 |
| LQL.net | 3120 | XKG.net | 3100 |
| DQD.net | 3100 | QLL.net | 3100 |
| SLQ.net | 3100 | DPQ.net | 3000 |
| DQR.net | 2929 | HRQ.net | 2922 |
| HQX.net | 2920 | ZRG.net | 2900 |
| ZRQ.net | 2900 | NLQ.net | 2851 |
| DQP.net | 2803 | ZOM.net | 2200 |
| TIZ.net | 2050 |
LL.net:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| RZ.net | 58100 | PF.net | 51720 |
| RS.net | 50600 | ML.net | 48533 |
| KC.net | 39088 |
NNNN.com:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3731.com | 45200 | 3928.com | 44090 |
| 5310.com | 30200 | 2360.com | 27577 |
| 3248.com | 21220 | 3614.com | 14900 |
Single Words:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester.com | 91111 | Constipated.com | 12301 |
| Contours.com | 4123 | Archivo.com | 3300 |
| Dairies.com | 3000 | Kaisar.com | 2300 |
| Borscht.com | 2201 | Passaporto.com | 2126 |
Brandable:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| DiveShop.com | 20600 | eBrokerage.com | 12500 |
| InStat.com | 11300 | eCharge.com | 5601 |
| iVoice.com | 5133 | Sorento.com | 3999 |
| HRPlus.com | 3601 | Restorm.com | 3600 |
| Kidzui.com | 3400 | Profited.com | 3100 |
| ProMarket.com | 2802 | FastApp.com | 2601 |
| BeautyTherapy.com | 2601 | GrowBots.com | 2597 |
| Energetica.com | 2576 | ProjectSolutions.com | 2511 |
| DreamStyle.com | 2500 | DriveTech.com | 2388 |
| Connix.com | 2300 | iLender.com | 2220 |
| ElegantWeddings.com | 2100 | PetPlaza.com | 2009 |
Many of the domains above correspond to pre-existing brands. For instance, Kia makes a car called the Sorento. And Kidzui.com is a defunct project.
Generic Phrase:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| MoveIn.com | 12700 | MedicalDoctor.com | 11100 |
| BusinessGrants.com | 9300 | EdinburghHotels.com | 6611 |
| GlasgowHotels.com | 4159 | ToyShops.com | 4100 |
| FindEvents.com | 4100 | HomeRestoration.com | 3488 |
| ChineseHistory.com | 3433 | BabySlings.com | 3088 |
| LowQuotes.com | 2999 | FuelPrices.com | 2800 |
| ChinaTrips.com | 2556 | BillingService.com | 2323 |
| BloodDiamonds.com | 2299 | FacialTreatment.com | 2151 |
5L.com:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roper.com | 19100 | Lucio.com | 7999 |
| Fasts.com | 4900 | GoMax.com | 4600 |
| iForm.com | 4500 | MaSuo.com | 4400 |
| Momen.com | 4100 | ZiPao.com | 3600 |
| Dowel.com | 3402 | Husco.com | 3000 |
| Itzel.com | 3000 | Mimos.com | 2700 |
| WanRi.com | 2606 | Jarid.com | 2600 |
| Immos.com | 2099 | Wingu.com | 2030 |
As you can see, most of these 5-letter domains belong to various other categories – single words such as Fasts.com and Dowel.com; brandables such as GoMax.com and iForm.com; a number of Pinyin domains; as well as items such as Roper.com, which might be a surname, a word, or a brandable. Those other categories are consequently undercounted.
5N.com:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12277.com | 8000 | 92926.com | 6100 |
| 11345.com | 5309 | 90300.com | 4110 |
| 23023.com | 3102 | 58675.com | 3100 |
| 36007.com | 3100 | 49688.com | 3010 |
| 81269.com | 2922 | 41122.com | 2900 |
| 79653.com | 2879 | 18257.com | 2644 |
| 81592.com | 2200 | 08180.com | 2200 |
| 70696.com | 2022 | 06062.com | 2020 |
| 94943.com | 2020 | 03885.com | 2000 |
Pinyin:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| BenPao.com | 25700 | WeiFan.com | 9320 |
| TongXueLu.com | 4900 | RuiDuo.com | 3700 |
Personal Names:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arnett.com | 7580 | Filmer.com | 4000 |
| Bellon.com | 3200 | Adorno.com | 2757 |
| Analia.com | 2588 | Susans.com | 2300 |
6N.com:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 888662.com | 4035 | 188899.com | 3100 |
| 888971.com | 2209 | 888972.com | 2201 |
| 888359.com | 2011 |
NNNN.net:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0006.net | 3022 | 1225.net | 2500 |
| 1373.net | 2400 | 5963.net | 2200 |
| 1565.net | 2100 |
CCC.com:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| I72.com | 2600 | 1NW.com | 2520 |
| UZ8.com | 2500 | IW8.com | 2300 |
| LL4.com | 2200 |
Other Chinese:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| TENG.net | 4444 | 8668888.com | 4099 |
| Hg4988.com | 2330 |
L-L.com:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| M-E.com | 5380 | F-Z.com | 4900 |
Misc .ORG / .INFO:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| TenByTen.org | 4701 | ABC.info | 3199 |
| Migraine.org | 2018 |
.XYZ:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| GGG.xyz | 5150 | SINA.xyz | 3100 |
NNN.org:
| Domain | End $ | Domain | End $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 699.org | 2200 | 009.org | 2020 |
| 727.org | 2010 |
The end.
