25 Top Selling Domains of ALL Time
Top Selling Domains
A huge industry exists around domain names. Although it’s unlikely that we’ll ever see prices as high as some of the first top-selling domain names, there are still many lessons that contemporary domain investors and website builders can apply to choose the greatest domain names now.
What are the most popular domains ever sold? What timeless lessons can we draw from them today?
Taking a deeper look at this list reveals a wide range of domain names and topics that are all extremely diverse, but there are certain commonalities that are worth highlighting.
What Are The 25 Top Selling Domains?
We were able to extract the greatest domain sales ever using NameBio’s huge historical database of domain purchases. These are them:
| Domain | Price ($, MM) | Sale Date | Sale Venue | Age (yrs) |
| voice.com | 30MM | 5/30/19 | Private | 20 |
| sex.com | 14MM | 1/1/05 | Private | 26 |
| fund.com | 10MM | 3/11/08 | Private | 27 |
| porn.com | 9.5MM | 6/5/07 | Moniker | 26 |
| porno.com | 8.88MM | 2/4/15 | Private | 22 |
| fb.com | 8.5MM | 1/1/10 | Private | 31 |
| healthinsurance.com | 8.13MM | 7/31/19 | Private | 26 |
| we.com | 8MM | 6/19/15 | Private | 29 |
| diamond.com | 7.5MM | 5/23/06 | Private | 28 |
| beer.com | 7MM | 1/1/04 | Private | 27 |
| z.com | 6.78MM | 12/3/14 | Private | 23 |
| slots.com | 5.5MM | 6/4/10 | Moniker | 26 |
| casino.com | 5.5MM | 11/1/03 | Private | 23 |
| toys.com | 5.1MM | 3/1/09 | Private | 23 |
| korea.com | 5MM | 1/1/00 | Private | 26 |
| asseenontv.com | 5MM | 1/1/00 | Private | 23 |
| clothes.com | 4.9MM | 5/1/08 | Private | 23 |
| ig.com | 4.7MM | 9/18/13 | Igloo/Marcus Kocak | 22 |
| yp.com | 3.85MM | 1/1/08 | Private | 26 |
| hg.com | 3.77MM | 11/27/16 | Private | 28 |
| mi.com | 3.6MM | 4/30/14 | Private | 22 |
| ice.com | 3.5MM | 7/6/18 | Grit Brokerage | 31 |
| shop.com | 3.5MM | 11/1/03 | Private | 27 |
| hippo.com | 3.3MM | 4/20/21 | Private | 24 |
| wine.com | 3.3MM | 9/1/03 | Private | 27 |
3 Insights Into The Top Domains Ever Sold
1. Domain Age Breakdown: Average Age at 25.5 Years Old
We looked at the domain ages of these domains, or how long they had been active. Here are some general statistics:
- Average age was 25.5 years old
- Minimum age was 20 years old
- Maximum age was 31 years old
This demonstrates the significance of age when determining a domain’s worth. It would also be negligent to omit to include the following obvious fact: many of the most well-known names, search phrases, and abbreviations would have been among the first domain names purchased when the Internet was only starting to gain popularity.
Does this imply that age is irrelevant? Obviously not.
In the viewpoint of search engines, the age of a domain is significant. A domain with long-term traffic generation also develops brand recognition and authority that a new site will simply lack.
But it’s not just the age of these names that makes them so precious. Topics and branding are important, too. A 30-year-old domain name with just a random string of letters won’t be worth the high earnings.
2. TLD Breakdown: 100% of Domains are .COMs
This shouldn’t be shocking. Despite the enthusiasm many “domaineers” have experienced for the new TLD extensions over the past 10 years, .com domains continue to dominate all top sales. This is due to a number of factors.
The World Recognized Standard
The most widely used TLD worldwide is unquestionably .com. According to this data chart from Statista, 52.3% of all websites worldwide as of April 2021 are .com sites. The .com TLD was the first to become widely used and is now considered the industry standard.
A domain name’s country-based TLD, such as .ru, .in, or .uk, require a person to physically reside in that country to register it, so keep that in mind if you plan to sell it.
Credibility
A .com domain suggests that the company is professional. That’s the expected extension, and it’s quite typical for what people seek for in a domain name for a website. The weight of the website simply isn’t the same if it is constructed on a .net, .info, or country-based TLD.
Both buyers and the majority of internet users looking for information prefer to visit a .com. The credibility element renders the .com extension more valuable than the other TLD choices.
The .com TLD domain is always recommended by SEO .com when it is available, as it is plainly stated in the first paragraph.
3. Parked vs Businesses on Domains Breakdown
20 of the top domains go to some sort of commercial website. As an illustration, FB.com reroutes to Facebook.com. Zappos.com is redirected from clothes.com. ToysRUs.com is the new home of Toys.com.
Surprisingly. Although it would seem that Instagram owns IG.com, it does not lead to the social media platform. It’s possible that the owners of IG.com are holding out for a significantly bigger offer because they are uninterested. In the long run, we see Instagram acquiring IG.com.
The final 5 of the 25 domains reroute to a “parked” or “dead” page. Most likely, the people holding them are domain investors waiting for a bid.
Among the parked domains are:
- Fund.com
- We.com
- Diamond.com
- Beer.com
- Korea.com
5 Things That Make a Domain Valuable
A domain name’s actual value is influenced by a variety of variables. Most exceptionally valuable domains satisfy most of these requirements, while occasionally just one or two requirements are sufficient for the ideal domain name.
1. Recognizable BrandÂ
Yellow Pages stands for YP, and Facebook stands for FB. These are both instantly recognizable companies.
Even while it can be impossible to forecast the next Fortune 500 firm, keeping an eye out for potential acronyms or truncated names that aren’t protected by copyright can result in significant domain profits. Before, Facebook was merely two unrelated letters combined.
A brandable domain name that is simple to spell, remember, and market increases the likelihood that the name will wind up being valuable even if it is not on the top list.
A difficult to brand name offers less advantages.
2. General Term Domains of High Traffic and High Value Topics
Have you noticed that a large number of the domain names on the list aren’t associated with well-known businesses or brands? They are on issues with significant industry backing and terms with a ton of traffic.
Very generic things like wine, beer, health insurance, jewels, and clothing all generate enormous sums of money. Those domain names would be a significant authority indicator if someone wanted to be perceived as the main player in an industry or one of the top ones.
That covers subjects that are occasionally regarded as “seedy,” such as the frequent terms used in adult movies or the casino.com illustration.
Finding a straightforward domain name with just one or two words, one subject, and a strong industry association is like finding a needle in a haystack.
3. Marketable
A domain name must be simple to promote. On the list above, every single domain hits this trait. These domain names are simple to remember and advertise since they are either abbreviations, frequent topics, or short and straightforward.
Any domain name will have a difference in its marketability depending on how valuable it is.
4. Domain Name Age (History)
Within the domain industry as a whole, aged domains constitute a distinct category. This is true for the majority of domain names because it denotes a past. This could be as a result of the old domain having a strong backlink profile, which can help an SEO campaign on a new site.
A domain name is more likely to have a history the older it is. Remember that not all histories are good, depending on the niche. However, those domain names with a lengthy history might point to something unique.
5. Emerging Trends
Do you remember when it was fashionable to prefix words with a “e” to make them “online”? Email, ebooks, readers for ebooks, e-files, etc. Many of these domain names would fail. But some people did. Imagine owning the domain emoji.com before the popularity of that term spread.
Trying to predict emerging trends is a high-risk strategy for domains, but if the trend materializes, it may also result in some high reward opportunities.
A .Com TLD
While there may be some clear winners among the numerous new TLDs that are constantly being introduced, .com is the most popular and lucrative TLD. Neither are they gaining ground.
Just about 47% of all domains worldwide in 2017 were TLDs. The percentage was 51% in 2021.
Not only is the .com TLD still regarded as the norm, but it is also getting stronger and capturing an increasing share of the market.
Conclusion:
While expecting a brand-new domain to make a multimillion-dollar sale is unfeasible, keeping in mind the lessons that the best-selling domains have to offer will help you find the next domain name to invest in.
You’ll have a better chance of investing in a diamond than a dud if you follow those rules.
Source: SaaSWins
