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Domain trading industry state in early 2019

In a previous article, we have discussed how .COM domain namespace is heavily saturated which will induce a certain rise in popularity for country-code domains, even more so for region-focused companies.

End-user domain trading is the best indicator of the industry state and health, so we will now take a look at this kind of sales specifically in January 2019:

  • California.com – sold for $3.000.000 handled by VIPBrokerage
  • GME.com – sold for $115.000 on Sedo domain marketplace
  • ILL.com – sold for $60.750 by PerfectName
  • Adika.com – sold for $59,000 to a clothing company
  • Appiscreen.fr – sold for $31.122 on Sedo domain marketplace
  • Dossier.com – sold for $27,000 to an international consultancy group
  • GoGoCasino.com – sold for $19,544 to a gaming company
  • Cosmetics.de – sold for $11.400 on Sedo domain marketplace
  • Lokalnachtrichten.de  – sold for $11.400 on Sedo domain marketplace
  • Luminaries.fr – sold for $7,000 to a lamp and lighting supplier\
  • Entrust.io – sold for $6.850 by Afternic
  • FlashScores.com.mx – sold for 6,100 to a sporting event scores forum
  • JavaHouse.de – sold for $6.000 to a US-based coffee company
  • MyCommerce.ch – sold for $5.130 on Sedo domain marketplace
  • Loaned.co.uk – sold for $3.472 by DomainLore marketplace
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I would note that this is not the total list of every single premium domain sold with a substantial price, and there are certainly other notable sales within all price ranges. However, this domain sale breakdown does give a very good picture of the domain trading market.

Firstly, we see that .COM domains still hold the highest prices. We all know that large marketing resources were invested in making .COM domain extension as the most recognizable. Meaningful single-word .COM domains will hold high value and prices in foreseeable future, there is no doubt about it.

However, country code domain sales are significant, while they do not top .COM with a single sale, they certainly are raking up with volume. This trend will only grow in the future, with ccTLD sheer sales increasing as new and established companies look for suitable domain names with their regional and country domains. While it will be difficult catching a “whale” domain name, trading a larger number of small domain sales with ccTLD is certainly possible.

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The sub $30.000 sales are such keyword domains, short and memorable one or two-word domain names. Keyword domains have lost significance with search engines but they are still a very good choice when targeting a certain audience because they are easily recognized and very memorable, so if you are lacking ideas about certain ccTLD domain registration then focus keywords that currently trending in that specific region online search.

Again, keeping an eye on emerging trends and seizing the moment to get those one and two-word domain names is critical, while four and five-figure domain sales are those that are more likely to gain you profit. Companies that are interested to buy a domain name in the range of over $50.000 are the ones that usually use a broker company or a renown domain trader individual to complete the deal.