Every website needs a domain name. Most people agree that, even in the day and age of search, a domain name is important. Some believe that your domain name is still worth a significant investment in order to secure a “premium” domain name, while some choose to go for a domain on sale, new Top-Level Domains (TLDs), or inexpensive options when starting a new business. When people think of the cost of domain names, they likely think of their $12.99 .COM domain name. You can stumble across those inexpensive options in search, but may sometimes find your first choice for a domain name is taken. Luckily, buying a domain name through traditional means, such as the search bar on your favourite registrar, isn’t the only way to secure the domain name of your dreams. Often, there are domains sold aftermarket by their owners to the right bidder (though for a lot more than $12.99!).
On Hover, you’ll notice that if you make a search for a taken domain name, you’ll be directed to Domain Agents. Domain Agents is a domain name negotiation platform and marketplace. Their goal is to offer domain name buyers and sellers a neutral start-to-finish platform for negotiating the sale of a taken domain name. They’ll try to help you get the domain name you want, but in the end, the seller may choose to keep their domain name.
There have been many expensive sales of domain names sold aftermarket. Unless you’re Gary Millin, or were a domain name investor in the early days of the Internet, you probably won’t own a generic single-word .COM domain name without going through a private sale. That said, with the popularity of new Top-Level Domains (TLDs) and the constant invention of new words and terms (no one in the 90s thought to buy onfleek.com, after all!) you never know what domain name you’re sitting on that will be of high value one day. Check out what these seven domain names below sold for. These top seven hold the highest spots for cost of domain names sold.
1. LASVEGAS.COM sold for $90,000,000
The lasvegas.com domain name was sold for $90 million (to be paid out over a few years), barring any termination of the agreement from the buying party. The agreement was made in 2005 between VEGAS.com, LLC, who is the company buying the domain name, and Stephens Media. VEGAS.com LLC is a destination-specific online travel agency that was founded in 1998. It’s headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.
2. CARINSURANCE.COM sold for $49,700,000
In 2010, QuinStreet purchased carinsurance.com for $49.7 million. QuinStreet is a publicly traded marketing company based in Foster City, California. Prior to owning carinsurnace.com, QuinStreet had already purchased other domain names in the insurance space. In 2009, QuinStreet had purchased the domain name and website for insure.com for $16 million and in 2010, had bought insurance.com (along with other associated assets) for $35.6 million.
3. INSURANCE.COM sold for $35,600,000
See above – QuinStreet owns this one, too!
4. PRIVATEJET.COM sold for 30,180,000
The domain name privatejet.com was sold to Nations Luxury Transportation, LLC from Don’t Look Media.com, a leading intellectual property holding company. Nations Luxury Transportation, LLC, which provides travel services, purchased the domain name in 2012 for $30,180,000 with the goal of using it for their new website. It is believed that, since the domain name was bought in cash and stock, it was the highest pure sale of a domain name ever.
5. VOICE.COM sold for $30,000,000
Voice.com was sold very recently, on June 18 2019, to Block.one for their new block-chain social media platform. The domain name was originally owned by MicroStrategy Incorporated, which is a company founded in 1989 that provides business intelligence, mobile software, and cloud-based services. Block.one was founded in 2017 and aims to rethink social media.
6. INTERNET.COM sold for $18,000,000
QuinStreet was at it again with this sale made in 2009. While internet.com was sold to them for $18,000,000, there were a portfolio of other domain names included in this sale, which included InternetNews.com, Webopedia.com, ServerWatch.com, DatabaseJournal.com, Datamation.com, eSecurityPlanet.com, EnterpriseNetworkingPlanet.com, SmallBusinessComputing.com and Developer.com. WebMediaBrands, Inc., is a leading global provider of news, original information, career Web sites and events for information technology, business, media and creative professionals.
7. 360.COM sold for $17,000,000
Qihoo 360 Technology Co., an internet security company headquartered in China, bought 360.com for $17 million. They purchased the domain name back in 2015 from European mobile company, Vodafone. The domain name redirects to their original domain name, 360totalsecurity.com. This purchase was assumed to be the most expensive domain name sale in 2015.
Btw, if you want a domain name but aren’t looking to break the bank, then check out our sales! At Hover, we love to offer monthly sales on domain names and unique TLDs. We also include free Whois privacy, tiered pricing, and much more!
