Desirable domains go under the hammer

Hot property domain names, including stockexchange.com, are expected to fetch more than $2m when sold on a new domain name auction site launching in the US next month.

Linda Leung in Silicon Valley

Hot property domain names, including stockexchange.com, are expected to fetch more than $2m when sold on a new domain name auction site launching in the US next month.

HitDomains.com, which specialises in trading domain names, intellectual property and websites, will open the bidding for between five and 10 "premier" names to the global finance and business sector during the week beginning 24 April. The company hopes to generate more than $25m (£16m) for existing address owners.

Advertisement

The firm also plans to launch an auction site for the European market in July and is looking for names specific to the region, such as local cities.

Doug Walters, president of HitDomains, said a European auction could generate up to $50m given the growing state of the business-to-business market. "There are lots of venture capitalists out there who want to grab some of the best names," he said.

Walters said HitDomains' history and contact base means that it can double the price owners would make on a name if they sold it privately. He added that buyers of valuable names may also be offered partnerships or equity stakes in the vendor.

HitDomains predicts that each name, such as loansforless.com, will command more than $2m, but believes some have the potential to draw bids in excess of $5m.

The company will also auction other financial and business related names, with bids starting at $500,000 or less. It will determine the starting bids for names and take a commission rate of between 10 and 20 per cent for "premier" names.

HitDomains made its mark auctioning domain names for individuals, but the April auction will be the first aimed at a vertical sector. Over the past year, the company has sold wallstreet.com for $1m and autos.com for $2.2m.

  • Have your say
  • Send to a friend
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Share

Tags:

Do you agree?

Further reading

UK businessman rejects domain name fortune

A Surrey businessman today turned down an offer to part with a domain name he registered for just £63, despite being offered nearly seventy thousand times more for it.

Icann unable to find domain name solution

The internet body that oversees web domain names failed to agree on a final policy for adding new net suffixes at last week's emergency conference in Cairo.

Related whitepapers

Related jobs

Most watched

Xperia X1

Video Review: Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

First Looks Editor Ian Williams gets hands on with the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

iPhone

Video Review: iPhone 3GS

We put Apple's latest iPhone through its paces

IT white papers

Search white papers

Top categories

Poll

Poll: Summer smartphones

Poll: Summer smartphones

Which smartphone will you be taking to the beach this summer?

View poll results

Advertisement

Advertisement

Newsletter signup

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

Existing User

Newsletter user login:

Enter email address to edit your newsletter preferences

Job of the week

Search thousands of IT jobs :

Search thousands of IT jobs:

Advanced search

Hiring now on ComputingCareers:

Related IT jobs

Search thousands of IT jobs :

Search thousands of IT jobs:

Advanced search

Spotlight

a padlock

Microsoft to plug security holes

Microsoft has given advance warning of a number of security...

Nokia handset

Top 10 articles, 10 July 09

No Nokia Android phone, ActiveX attacks and Google enters into...

Can Google beat Microsoft at its own game?

Google's announcement this week that it plans to step into...

iPhone

Video Review: iPhone 3GS

We put Apple's latest iPhone through its paces

Primary Navigation