Reglikedomain industry desk

Domain Name Auction Today in Santa Monica — Moniker Live

Live domain name auction starts this afternoon in Santa Monica and online.

A live domain name auction hosted by Moniker will take place Thursday afternoon at 4:30 PM PST at the Santa Monica Fairmont. Live bidding will also be available online.

The auction will have close to 100 premium domain names counting the recently added Rates.com.

A handful of domains have by now received “pre-bids” counting Kiss.me and Love.me. The two domains have by now hit their reserves of $10,000 each.

In a discussion with media Wednesday morning, Oversee.net CEO (parent firm of Moniker) admitted that auctions have become more of a marketing opportunity than a sales event. Many sales of auction domains take place following the actual auction.

But with 14 domains priced over $500,000 it will only take a couple big sales to make the auction hit seven figures.

Also on the wire

Other reporting from the domain desk.

CDomain SalesConsidering selling its domain name portfolio? — Is MarchexTDomain SalesThe Beijing firm that is building a “Great Wall of Domain Names” in China.Rolf Larsen purchases Desktop.com domain name for his next ventureDomain SalesRolf Larsen purchases Desktop.com domain name for his next ventureHDomain SalesHealthcare firm spends $50,000 on .org domain name for hospital chainDomain volume shot up in Q1: Escrow.comDomain SalesDomain volume shot up in Q1: Escrow.comThat 3 three-letter domains dropped this month — It’s crazyDomain SalesThat 3 three-letter domains dropped this month — It’s crazyTo Public.com and a $1.2 billion valuation — From MatadorDomain SalesTo Public.com and a $1.2 billion valuation — From MatadorMoniker Ought to Use Marketplace Pro Instead of SnapNamesDomain SalesMoniker Ought to Use Marketplace Pro Instead of SnapNamesSDomain SalesSells 39,830 domain names in October — GoDaddy Auctions