We have all likely heard about some awe inspiring previous domain name sales.  You have probably heard about a few sky high sales in the past that have made news.  Have you ever wondered just what a running tally would look like today of some of the most expensive domain name sales?  What are the record breakers, the top sales, the highest sales figures for domain names?

Most people think of domain names as just a web address that can be bought for anywhere from 10 to 30 dollars…or maybe even on sale for 99 cents during a promo.  While that is true for many domain names, it certainly is nowhere near fact for a different class of domain assets. What the industry calls premium domain name assets have astounding sales records and valuations!

Premium domain names have tremendous valuations, and while most premium domain names sales are hidden from public view because of non-disclosure agreements, competitive reasons, and privacy concerns, there have been enough sales in the past that have become part of the public record to give us a glimpse at some absolutely jaw dropping valuations!

There is a domain resale market, or what can be called the secondary market for the sale of premium quality domain names (high value premium domains held as investments by organizations or individuals who may choose to sell them to other investors or end users).  GoDaddy states that this secondary market has some sought after premium domain names regularly selling in the thousands of dollars.  There are many online reporting sales sites that try their best to track these sales (at least the ones that are public knowledge) such as DNJournal.com or Namebio.com etc…  There you will find on a daily or weekly basis many sales that sometimes get into the hundreds of thousands of dollars…while that is impressive of course, and often a complete wake up call to many…we want to know just what are the very top, the most expensive domain names sales out there?

What is the most valuable domain name sale out there…which domain name has sold for more than any other so far?

Some say the top spot likely belongs to Cars.com at $872M!

We have not been able find a concrete record stating its actual sales price alone, although it has been reported that an SEC filing related to Cars.com has it valued as an intangible asset in the amount of $872M…some have inferred that this equals its domain name valuation…which would be absolutely staggering, however we don’t have a concrete accurate figure for the sale of just the domain itself, and “intangible assets” could include other items…so we kept it off the list.

LasVegas.com …. sold for $90 Million!

LasVegas.com would likely be next (but as far we understand it has not been fully paid for just yet…so we also kept this one off the list for now).   It has been reported that LasVegas.com was sold in 2005 for $90 M….absolutely astounding…however the transaction is over a 35 year period of time, with $12 M at start followed by installments until the year 2040.  LasVegas.com is a fantastic domain with an incredible price!

The table below lists the top most expensive domain names publicly reported (the ones we could find anyways…there likely is many more).  It is very clear that this list is incomplete as many if not most sales are not public knowledge for various competitive reasons….but it is a great reference list or starting point.

Here are the 43 most expensive domain names publicly reported.

1. CarInsurance.com – $49.7 million
2. Insurance.com – $35.6 million
3. VacationRentals.com – $35 million
4. PrivateJet.com – $30.18 million
5. Internet.com – $18 million
6. 360.com – $17 million
7. Insure.com – $16 million
8. Fund.com – £9.99 million (approx. $15M)
9. Sex.com – $13.5 million (avg. price of $13M and $14M)
10. Hotels.com – $11 million
11. Tesla.com – $11 million
12. Porn.com – $9.5 million
13. Porno.com – $8.8 million
14. Fb.com – $8.5 million
15. We.com – $8.0 million
16. Business.com – $7.5 million
17. Diamond.com – $7.5 million
18. Beer.com – $7 million
19. Z.com – $6.8 million
20. iCloud.com – $6 million
21. Israel.com – $5.88 million
22. Casino.com – $5.5 million
23. Slots.com – $5.5 million
24. Toys.com – $5.1 million
25. AsSeenOnTv.com – $5.1 million
26. Clothes.com – $4.9 million
27. Medicare.com – $4.8 million
28. IG.com – $4.6 million
29. Marijuana.com – $4.2 million
30. GiftCard.com – $4 million
31. Yp.com – $3.8 million
32. HG.com – $ 3.7 M
33. Mi.com – $3.6 million
34. Ice.com – $3.5 million
35. AltaVista.com – $3.3 million
36. Whisky.com – $3.1 million
37. Vodka.com – $3.0 million
38. Candy.com – $3.0 million
39. Loans.com – $3.0 million
40. Sex.xxx – $3.0 million
41. Shopping.de – $2.8 million
42. CreditCards.com $2.7 million
43. KK.com – $2.4 million

Now that we all have a little whip lash from reviewing the above list.  We bet many of you are now wondering what your domain name may be worth?

Here are a couple of online tools to play with … although they are not truly accurate valuations as each domain name asset is unique, they do give you a starting point as to what your domain name “may” be worth, a kind of “estimate” based on certain data points, historical similar asset sales records, search volume, cost per click for the term, letter character makeup / position / popularity and combinations etc…

Who knows maybe you own a domain name asset that could be on this list someday 🙂 … (it is fun to think about…we all can dream right?)

Free domain name valuations.

Online domain name valuation tools you can try.  Here are some of our favorite online domain name valuation tools.

• GoDaddy – Domain Name Appraisals – free valuation tool from GoDaddy
• EstiBot – try it for a free valuation estimate
• Uniregistry – setup a marketplace account, and they can do an auto appraisal for you
• Sedo – setup an account to sell your domain, and they can do an auto appraisal for you
• NameBio.com….you can search past sales stats and try to come up with a figure yourself based on similar names sold.

Premium domain name assets can literally be worth any amount really, as every single domain name is unique.

The vast majority of domain names registered are really worth no more than their registration fee, and often times not even that sorry to say (what the domain would be worth to someone else other than the current owner that is)….however it is common place now for many premium + sought after domains to sell in the range of $5K to $50K….and among those there are so called category killers, EMDs (exact match domains), some one word domains, very short domains, and brandables which can sell well over $100K!  These numbers may not be high enough to make it on the list above, but they sure are fantastic valuations!  All these figures are USD by the way….this can be an extremely exciting space, and for some it can be extremely profitable too!

How to buy, sell, or invest in this sector…

Want to learn more about premium domain name assets, their valuations, and investing in them as an asset class….contact us…it is what we do.