Expired Domain Note: KeyPoint.com, SellOff.com and more
A weekly roundup of expired domain name sales.
February 8 marked the Chinese Fresh Year. Yes, 2016 is to be the “Year of the Monkey”. Following the amazing surge in prices we saw during 2015 – the “Year of the Sheep”, it amuses me to say – the Chinese domain sector went through a predictable downturn that has lasted 2 months so far.
Partly to allay worries regarding stagnant or falling prices, domain investors in the West have clung to this Fresh Year holiday like a life raft, assuring one another that celebrations would distract bidders and that a Chinese custom of saving money to pay off last year’s debts makes any market slowdown expected, temporary, safe.
There is some truth in that. But only some. As stated by CNN Money, seasonal variations around the Fresh Year tend to mask what the market is up to. Still, they note “gloomy” figures and “deepened concerns” regarding China’s economy.
Did Chinese bidders vanish? No, as you can see, they remained active the prior week, bringing in 6 of the top 20 expired domain results: #3, #6, #7, #13, #17, and #18. That’s consistent with the week ahead of and the week ahead of that and weeks back in January. Looks normal to me.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KeyPoint.com | 8160 | NJ | Aromat.com | 5399 | NJ |
| JJ2.com | 5010 | NJ | SellOff.com | 4700 | NJ |
| Ceramicas.com | 3870 | NJ | JiuChuang.com | 3810 | NJ |
| 92696.com | 3700 | NJ | Oishii.com | 3551 | NJ |
| TheFool.com | 3200 | NJ | Munny.com | 2902 | NJ |
| Equity Lenders.com |
2900 | NJ | ALDC.com | 2666 | NJ |
| LFLN.com | 2319 | NJ | OFT.net | 2100 | NJ |
| StockRocket.com | 2100 | NJ | Devis Assurance.com |
2005 | SN |
Both of NameJet’s top expired domains can be classified as brand upgrades. An astonishing variety of projects use the name “KeyPoint” ($8.2k) – among them a credit union, a job board, accountants in Bahrain, mobile keyboard apps, a survey firm, media buyers, some commercial property outfit, even a church.
The runner up, Aromat.com ($5.4k), matches the brand name of a well known seasoning product sold by Knorr. Ahead of you shout “cybersquatter”, though, consider that Aromat.com can be used to brand anything aromatic. In Brazil it’s a chemical firm. In France, a restaurant called L’Aromat.
Ceramicas.com ($3.9k) is Spanish for ceramics. Oishii.com ($3.6k) names Japanese restaurants in Dallas, Boston, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Houston, etc. Although DevisAssurance.com ($2.0k) looks deceptively English, it’s actually French for “insurance quote”. Not a bad price for lead gen in such a competitive niche!
OFT.net ($2.1k) is an English word oft found on the lips of dead authors if seldom since. Antiquated though it is, “oft” remains recognizable; and the meaning is positive and basic, making for a solid acronym.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NF6.com | 1750 | NJ | 88888880.com | 1657 | SN |
| Wesel.com | 1655 | NJ | ShadowLand.com | 1655 | NJ |
| RCV.net | 1600 | NJ | PixelQi.com | 1400 | NJ |
| EAWD.com | 1350 | SN | 998826.com | 1300 | NJ |
| Continuum Books.com |
1290 | NJ | Investica.com | 1247 | NJ |
| AMCT.com | 1232 | NJ | VideoHost.com | 1211 | NJ |
| 095999.com | 1205 | SN | SolarScience.com | 1200 | SN |
| CSGOBoost.com | 1200 | NJ | RomaPizza.com | 1166 | NJ |
| ProtectYour Identity.com |
1161 | SN | 48565.com | 1100 | NJ |
| XMAT.com | 1100 | NJ | Facilita.com | 1016 | SN |
| FundSpace.com | 1010 | NJ | QuickPhone.com | 1000 | NJ |
Speaking of acronyms, the top LLLL.com sale was a non-CHIP: ALDC.com for the Abby Lee Dance Firm or any American “L” in Washington D.C. (Lobbyists form “leagues” at the drop of a hat.) A number of other non-CHIPs sold well: EAWD.com ($1.4k), AMCT.com ($1.2k), XMAT.com ($1.1k), and ITDH.com ($803).
Interestingly, there’s only 1 “CHIP” sale to note – an item with repeating letters at $2.3k. This category rarely expires anymore. The pool dried up a few months ago, as witnessed by the fact that no LLLL.com CHIPs sold at SnapNames this past week. None. Mainly, domainers own the stuff. Increasingly, Chinese domainers using Chinese registrars. Even looking through non-expired auctions at NameJet, CHIPs are scarce. It appears sellers were holding back their inventory (perhaps afraid of the Chinese Fresh Year), had run out of domains to sell, or had set reserves too high (remembering 2015 prices).
PixelQi.com ($1.4k) is the name of a defunct firm that made LCD screens. Facilita.com ($1.0k) is Spanish / Portuguese. Depending on the context, it might be translated as “makes easy”. Meanwhile, Wesel ($1.7k) is a city in Germany.
The “CSGO” in CSGOBoost.com ($1.2k) stands for “Counter Strike: Global Offensive” – a video game. Apparently, enthusiasts lust following a higher rank so keenly that they’ll pay professional players to get it for them; and there are at least half a dozen websites selling CSGO “boosts”. Yeah, I know.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12442.com | 970 | SN | Thasos.com | 968 | NJ |
| Brambling Design.com |
960 | NJ | StayFree Magazine.org |
955 | SN |
| MySelect.com | 935 | NJ | HomeDepot Careers.com |
931 | SN |
| 621288.com | 930 | NJ | UX6.com | 920 | NJ |
| 06820.com | 919 | NJ | BeadKits.com | 890 | NJ |
| WestWood BLVD.com |
888 | NJ | 9395888.com | 851 | NJ |
| 9193888.com | 850 | NJ | AfriBlog.com | 850 | SN |
| 555129.com | 837 | NJ | 9597888.com | 832 | NJ |
| ITDH.com | 803 | NJ | AZ100Years.org | 800 | NJ |
| 998825.com | 800 | NJ | Eradicator.com | 799 | NJ |
| ConceptPro.com | 785 | NJ | Microbiology Bytes.com |
770 | NJ |
| iMale.com | 760 | NJ | 0699.net | 760 | NJ |
| 06747.com | 750 | NJ | 7879888.com | 740 | NJ |
For less than a thousand bucks, you can own 1 of the Greek isles: Thasos ($968). As a domain name, anyway. You want to buy islands? Then go back in time and, instead of buying domains, found Oracle! For those of us with human-sized ambitions, BeadKits.com ($890) ship well, making them a good fit for e-commerce.
ConceptPro.com ($785) uses an established naming convention that will, I believe, make .PRO a big hit, now that TLD has been opened up. There’s a Concept Pro making cameras. AZ100Years.org ($800) celebrated Arizona’s centennial back in 2012; now it’s been embalmed for the sake of its back links. Well, it’s a kind of afterlife. May we all be so lucky!
If HomeDepotCareers.com ($931) isn’t cybersquatting, then what is? As far as I know, there’s only 1 Home Depot – the 1 my girlfriend drags me to of a Saturday. Chicago has an iMale Salon; so iMale.com ($760) might serve as an upgrade for them. Maybe if I got my hair permed and nails done at iMale, I’d feel less emasculated.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glovis.com | 735 | NJ | CannabisStrain.com | 725 | SN |
| Beachs.com [sic] | 713 | SN | TraceWatch.com | 713 | SN |
| DoggieDoor.com | 711 | NJ | AutoDraw.com | 710 | NJ |
| Orbitron.com | 700 | NJ | uVent.com | 679 | NJ |
| YuYan.net | 668 | SN | Roswell- Record.com |
664 | NJ |
| ChurchPlans Online.org |
630 | NJ | Jingi.com | 630 | NJ |
| Downplay.com | 626 | SN | Hannu.com | 625 | NJ |
| NABI.org | 619 | NJ | TVParts.com | 610 | NJ |
| PCOptimizer.com | 610 | NJ | SOUI.com | 600 | SN |
At $725, CannabisStrain.com charts the continued growth of legal marijuana in parts of the USA. “Strain” here means type / variety. Any other kind of strain is what cannabis gets rid of, eh. The Roswell-Record.com ($664) was once a newspaper for Fresh Mexico’s 5th largest city. Yes that’s the same Roswell where we keep the aliens.
Glovis.com ($735) matches a logistics firm on .NET and the Global Visualization Viewer on .GOV. (Why must government websites be so terrible?) Hannu.com ($625) is a Finnish first name. YuYan.net ($668) means “language” in Chinese (语言 / yǔ yán), though in what sense I’m not sure.
For my money, Downplay.com was an absolute steal at $626. And NABI.org ($619) is potentially the most significant domain in this chart. In Arabic, نبي (“nabi”) means “prophet”. Not a word to be taken lightly.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SignatureTech.com | 591 | NJ | BestOfItaly.com | 590 | NJ |
| OpenCola.com | 585 | SN | GoDai.com | 579 | SN |
| XAPZ.com | 575 | SN | IBIS.net | 570 | NJ |
| 7166888.com | 570 | NJ | 1176888.com | 565 | NJ |
| Unleash ThePhones.com |
550 | NJ | Leather GuitarStraps.com |
550 | NJ |
| RHHE.com | 550 | NJ | FDAE.com | 550 | NJ |
| TUNQ.com | 550 | SN | ChiTown DailyNews.org |
550 | SN |
| DQYDJ.com | 536 | NJ | GYXO.com | 531 | NJ |
| ODYM.com | 530 | NJ | Grain- Incubation.com |
526 | SN |
| AirTravel Center.com |
526 | SN | CuteLittle Factory.com |
525 | SN |
| Strength Fitness.com |
517 | NJ | EIYO.com | 516 | NJ |
| BlockPlus.com | 511 | SN | MedSonic.com | 501 | NJ |
| SevenUpdate.com | 500 | NJ | VIPDog.com | 500 | SN |
OpenCola.com ($585) was an open-source cola. You heard right: a publicly available drink recipe anyone could modify. How cool is that? UnleashThePhones.com ($550) spent 4 years as a cell phone review site. Following being started by a teenager, the blog became unexpectedly popular. He bid adieu last May.
GoDai.com ($579) could be sushi or security, the latter being more likely. Readers outside the USA might suppose that “Chi Town” – as in ChiTownDailyNews.org ($550) – is short for “China Town”. It’s not. It’s Chicago.
MedSonic.com ($501) is a natural fit for ultrasound technology. That’s what the .BR site provides. Ditto .CY. Brazil and Cyprus are onto a good thing with that brand name. SignatureTech.com likewise resembles a few branded websites – some slick, some clunky.
| Domain | End $ | At | Domain | End $ | At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UnitedForce.com | 499 | NJ | R2Hobbies.com | 480 | SN |
| TuFarmacia.com | 476 | SN | XVIO.com | 471 | NJ |
| CallOption.com | 465 | SN | CLMGroup.com | 454 | NJ |
| Merchandiser.net | 450 | SN | QUJZ.com | 446 | SN |
| Objectivism.com | 440 | NJ | Crasc.org | 440 | NJ |
| CyberDogs Magazine.com |
430 | SN | WGTO.com | 422 | NJ |
| SuperFinder.com | 418 | NJ | Afendi.com | 410 | NJ |
| MillaySociety.org | 410 | NJ | Black Weekend.com |
404 | SN |
| Alphabet Obsessed.com |
404 | SN | Antibes YachtShow.com |
401 | SN |
| MixApp.com | 400 | SN | Top Recruitment.com |
395 | NJ |
| VTPR.com | 386 | NJ | Austin Foreclosures.com |
385 | NJ |
| Informatique- Facile.net |
385 | SN | Chlamydia Test.com |
379 | SN |
| Outdoor PoolTable.com |
359 | NJ | WIXQ.com | 356 | NJ |
| HCMV.com | 355 | NJ | MJRO.com | 355 | SN |
In order to shorten these articles (and my work day), I’ve been raising the bar. For a few weeks, $250 was the lower limit. This stretch, I stopped at $350. Next week, the minimum threshold might be $500. As a result, whole categories of domain sales will go unreported, since they mainly swim beneath. But that’s the way the cookie crumbles. 90% of the domain activity I track can’t be noted due to limitations of space and time – i.e. life is short.
What regarding LLLL.net CHIPs? For the past 2 weeks, I’ve watched them hang on right around $250; and I’ve predicted they’ll fall below. They’re tenacious critters; got to give ’em that. SnapNames sold 17 above $250 with another 26 in the $224-$250 range. Repeating letters are a feature shared by 8 of the top 17 … and, surprisingly, by the lowest of them all: NSSM.net ($224).
Objectivism.com ($440) is the philosophy of Ayn Rand – more influential among American conservatives and libertarians than academic philosophers. TuFarmacia.com ($476) is “your pharmacy” if you’re 1 of the 45 million Spanish speakers in the USA. That’s 14.1% of the my country’s population. Globally it’s 405 million; so 1 out of 9 Spanish speakers lives here. What pharmacy wouldn’t want to be the choice of so many people?
Has the craze following Google’s ABC.xyz subsided, domainers; or are we still AlphabetObsessed.com ($404)? Google … or Alphabet or whatever their name is … can’t purchase every “alphabet” domain imaginable, much as they’ve tried. Rather than spending any more on that trend, may I suggest buying a toy? An OutdoorPoolTable.com ($359), perhaps. Or a Munny ($2.9k). Seriously, buy a Munny; they look awesome!
