Website flipping is not new and recently a website ViralNova.com was sold for $100 million. Similar to website flipping, domain flipping business is also getting on high demand and being sold for millions. Today we are going to list 21 most expensive domain names ever sold.
Most of the people who are in the domain brokering business buy domains, made those live and wait for the good opportunity to sell those. They treat the domains as an investment and sell those at many times higher price. Recently one of my friend had a LLL.com domain which he bought around 10 years ago for around $200 and this year he sold that domain in $$$$$. Here in this post, I am going to share the list of 21 most expensive domain names ever sold.
Also Read: How to Choose a Good Domain Name
Also, the price of most expensive domain names depends on many factor like
• How short it is e.g. LL/LLL/LLLL etc
• TLD gets higher bid compared to other extension domains
• Easily pronounced domain gets good price compared to other. E.g. toy.com will get much higher price than yot.com even though both are LLL.com
• There are many other factors like DA/PR/TF/PA and many others.
Also Read: Top 5 Domain Registrar Companies with Discounts
Cohen had made an estimated $500.000 per month in traffic from the site during its heyday. He managed to flee the US and was later arrested in Tijuana, Mexico.
Kremen sold the domain to Escom in 2006 for $11.5 Million and it was later resold in 2010 for $13 Million to Clover Holdings. Currently Clover Holdings holds the right of sex.com
By looking at the above deals, domain flipping is certainly a great investment and business where you can make great income. If you are seeing any good domain, grab that right now before one can do so.
I hope you enjoyed these 21 most expensive domain names. Do you know any other? Or do you own any premium domain? Do let us know in comments :)
Also Read: How to Choose a Good Domain Name
Also, the price of most expensive domain names depends on many factor like
• How short it is e.g. LL/LLL/LLLL etc
• TLD gets higher bid compared to other extension domains
• Easily pronounced domain gets good price compared to other. E.g. toy.com will get much higher price than yot.com even though both are LLL.com
• There are many other factors like DA/PR/TF/PA and many others.
21 Most Expensive Domain Names Ever Sold
Here are the 21 most expensive domain names ever sold. Though giving the exact figure is difficult due to the mode of transaction done and other constraint but these are the most expensive domain names sold with known transactions.1. VacationRentals.com - $35 M
This is the most expensive domain ever sold in the history. VacationRentals.com was sold back in 2007 for $35 million. The most expensive sale, however, actually wasn’t for a gambling or porn site. Instead, it was the purchase of VacationRentals.com in 2007 for a cool $35m. Brain Sharples, the founder of HomeAway, is new owner of this domain and accepted that he purchased it, as he did not want his competitor Expedia to acquire it.2. PrivateJet.com $30.18 M
This deal was also very close to being most expensive domain names but lacked by a margin of little lesser than $5M. This was sold in 2012 for around $30.18 Million.3. 360.com $17 M
This is the most recent deal happened for $17 million this year (2015) itself when Beijing Qihoo Technology Company Limited acquired 360.com from Vodafone in January 2015 for an estimated USD. The security software and mobile services company has used 360.cn until now, but the .com domain was needed to drive their global strategy.4. Insure.com - $16 M
Insure.com was purchased by QuinStreet, an online marketing services and technology company in 2009. The website now provides life, car and health insurance quotes among others.5. Fund.com - $14.9
Fund.com is owned by Gentile Philip. Gentile Philip bought this domain for £9.9 million in March 2008, which amounted to about $14.9 Million. However, this domain is not yet live and you will find a line written “Please come back later to check FUND.com” while visiting this site. It seems this has just been parked for resale.6. Sex.com - $13 M
The story of sex.com should have been adapted for the big screen. In 1994 Gary Kremen, the founder of Match.com, registered Sex.com. In 1995 Network Solutions, the registrar, got tricked by a man named Stephen M. Cohen, who managed to get ownership of the domain name by falsifying letters and faxes. Kremen took Cohen to court and only got back the domain name after five years legal battle getting on top of this a compensation of $40 Million for lost earnings.Also Read: Top 5 Domain Registrar Companies with Discounts
Cohen had made an estimated $500.000 per month in traffic from the site during its heyday. He managed to flee the US and was later arrested in Tijuana, Mexico.
Kremen sold the domain to Escom in 2006 for $11.5 Million and it was later resold in 2010 for $13 Million to Clover Holdings. Currently Clover Holdings holds the right of sex.com
7. Hotels.com- $11 M
This domain was sold for $ 11 million in 2001, however, new owner David Roche of this domain couldn’t actually confirm at what price the domain has been purchased, in a TV interview to BBC.8. Porn.com- $9.5 M
Another adult domain which was sold in millions. This site is doing well in its category and no wonder why the buyer MXN Limited in 2007 bought this domain for $9.5 Million.9. Porno.com- $8.88 M
Another adult domain which sold in million. Porno.com bought in August 1997 by Rick Schwarz for $42 from a student that bought it the week before for $5. Sold in January 2015 to Czech Adult industry player WGCZ for $8.88M.10. FB.com $8.5 M
Facebook managed to buy fb.com in $8.5 million in November 2010 from American Farm Bureau Federation who are using fb.org as their primary domain and announced they have raised $8.5 million by selling fb.com. Currently fb.com is redirected to facebook.com11. Business.com - $7.5 M
Business.com was sold in $7.5 million in December 1999 to Jake Winebaum, former chairman of the Walt Disney Internet Group.12. Diamond.com - $7.5 M
Diamond.com was also sold in $7.5 million in 2006. This was acquired by ice.com13. Beer.com - $7 M
Interbrew acquired this domain for $7 million in 1999. This domain is again listed for resales on aftermarket.com14. Z.com - $6.8 M
A single letter domain z.com was sold in $6.8 million in 2014 to GMO Internet15. Israel.com - $5.88 M
This domain was bought in 1994 by Joel Noel Friedman, a 46-year-old Jewish American in $5.88 million. Even Google don’t have much information about this domain.16. Casino.com - $5.5 M
Casino.com was sold for $5.5 in 2007 to Mansion Limited of GIbraltar17. Slots.com - $5.5 M
Slots.com was also sold for $5.5 in 2010 to Bodog18. Toys.com - $5.1 M
ToysRUs bought this domain in $5.1 million in 200919. Asseenontv.com - $5.1 M
This domain was purchased by LA Group in 2000 for a price of $ 5.1 million. This domain was used to protect brand name “asseenattv.com” of LA Group. This is biggest domain deal made for defense purpose.20. Korea.com - $5 M
Korea.com deal was done at price of $ 5 million in 2004. New owner of this domain is Korea.com Communications. It was first registered in 1995 and resold in 2004. It is the most expensive country domain. England.com was sold for $2 Million.21. SEO.com - $5 M
This deal took place in 2007 and is considered to be a wiser one. Michael Mann, owner of BuyDomains understood the importance of having a good domain name; therefore, he sold his company and invested in SEO.com. The deal was closed for $5 million.By looking at the above deals, domain flipping is certainly a great investment and business where you can make great income. If you are seeing any good domain, grab that right now before one can do so.
I hope you enjoyed these 21 most expensive domain names. Do you know any other? Or do you own any premium domain? Do let us know in comments :)
Ashutosh Jha
Ashutosh Jha is a professional blogger, Blog and IT Consultant. He writes about Blogging, SEO, Making Money, Internet Marketing and Web Design.
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