I monitor the domain sales lists over at DNJournal and constantly look for trends in both keywords and TLD. To me these lists represent the state of the industry – a window-into what people are buying, where they are buying it, and how much they are willing to pay.
While of course it’s always fun to see the latest big .com sale I like to look in the CCTLD and Global Contender (non .com gTLDs) space as these are the TLD’s I focus on myself. That’s right – I said it – I am not a big .com investor! Do I believe in .com – absolutely – but I’m always looking to take my own path and find the next big opportunity.
So what trend have I seen lately? Just looking at the Global Contender list from this week I see fifteen out of the top twenty sales are .net – and the rest are .org. There is not a single .biz or .info in the list! Does this mean that .biz and .info are useless TLD’s? No – but this should be a clear sign to all the domain investors out there that the market is not actively looking for .biz and .info at this time.
Now I’m not saying you should stay-away from .biz or .info in all cases – .info can actually be great for monetization – but if you want to sell your domains you’ll want to stay focused on .net and .org with a stronger focus on .net since this is what the buyers are looking for. These domains are not selling for peanuts either – just take a look at the top five gTLD sales:
- Apps.net – $25,900
- Amsterdam.org – $25,000
- Review.org – $14,502
- ConstructionManagement.net – $12,500
- CheapestAutoInsurance.net – $7,495
Yes – there are no six-figure sales on the list but it only takes a few five-figure sales a year to get yourself into the six-figure range. I can’t say I’m there yet myself but I can say I know where I’m investing and it’s a buyers market out there – so get your share of great domains and you might just find yourself on this list in 2010!
