Domain Market Study 1st Quarter 2011
As of the end of Q1 2011, Sedo’s global marketplace now hosts over
Q1 2011 TLD Sales
18 million domain names and includes over 1 million members globally. In Q1 2011 the Sedo marketplace saw over $21,000,000 in sales globally and stable average sales prices across all TLDs. For the first time, the .co extension has entered the leading sales list with 2% market share, which
18%
may be the result of Sedo’s February .co auction. Q4 2010 saw record breaking sales like sex.com, but aside from this notable sale, overall Q1 2011 sales numbers were consistent and stable with Q4 2010. For further
7%
please read on to view our complete Q1 2011 domain market study.
1. Division of Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) and Country Code Domain (ccTLD) Sales for Q1 2011 The .com extension remains on top, accounting for 51% of all Q1 TLD
51% 6% 5%
sales. For gTLDs, .net is a distant second with 7% market share, further
4%
proving the continued investment strength of .com. Overall in Q1 2011, .de remains the most commonly sold ccTLD on the Sedo marketplace with 18% market share, followed by .co.uk at 6%, which
3%
puts .co.uk ahead of .eu by 1%. At 18%, .de is also the second most
2%
commonly traded TLD in the Sedo marketplace; beating out gTLDs such
2% 2%
as .net, .org and .info. The combination of gTLDs and ccTLDS on the graph to the right shows how .co has not only made its debut on the top TLDs list, but also how it has already managed to come in neck in neck with .nl and .es domains.
© Sedo, 2011 :: www.sedo.com
.com
.org
.de
.info
.net
.co
.co.uk
.nl
.eu
.es
© Sedo 2011
insight on the domain industry as represented on Sedo’s marketplace,
Sales Volume in $ $40,000,000
sex.com
$35,000,000 $30,000,000
saw a dramatic increase due to several high priced sales. As for sales
Q2 2010
Q3 2010
Q4 2010
Q1 2011
$0 Q1 2010
volume, which is shown in the second graph, the overall number of domains has continued to increase quarter over quarter since Q3 2010.
© Sedo 2011
sales remained relatively consistent, with the exception of Q4 2010, which
$5,000,000
$21,273,575
quarters. As seen in previous quarter over quarter comparisons, Q1 2011
$15,000,000
$36,995,239*
To the right is a graph of the growth in sales volume across the past five
$20,507,143
2. Sales Growth
$21,568,780
$20,000,000
$23,177,253
$25,000,000
*sex.com sold in this quarter.
Number of Domains Sold
10,085
10,500 10,000
10,608
11,000
10,326
11,146
11,500
11,942
12,000
9,500
© Sedo, 2011 :: www.sedo.com
Q2 2010
Q3 2010
Q4 2010
Q1 2011
© Sedo 2011
Q1 2010
Q1 2011 Division of Sales Type
2% 3. Division of Sales Type
7% 5%
To the right is a graph that shows the method by which domains were traded through the Sedo Marketplace in Q1 2011. Offer-Counteroffer remained the most popular sales type, accounting for 43% of all sales, sales on the Sedo marketplace in Q1, which is up 3% from Q4 2010. At 15%
43%
15%
marketplace auctions have reclaimed a position as the third most popular sales type.
28%
© Sedo, 2011 :: www.sedo.com
Offer-Counteroffer
Auctions
Fixed Price
Brokerage
Marketplace Auctions
External Transfers
© Sedo 2011
which is consistent with Q4 2010. Fixed price domains made up 28% of all
Domain Sales per Price Category
2% 4. Domain Sales per Price Category
1%
3%
This graph is a new addition to our quarterly market study. In Q1 2011, at 49%, almost half of all sales through the Sedo marketplace were $500 or less. Domain sales $5,000 and under were the second most popular at 45% market share, while domain sales equaling more than $50,000 were only 1% market share. This graph reinforces how accessible domains can be for business owners and investors working with any size budget.
49% 45%
up to $500
up to $50,000
up to $5,000
> $50,000
up to $10,000 © Sedo, 2011 :: www.sedo.com
Average Sales Price in $
5. Number and Price Comparison (gTLDs)
Q2 2010
Q3 2010
Q4 2010
Q1 2011
.com
2,373
2,401
2,511
5,753
2,595
.net
1,175
1,673
1,675
1,856
1,584
.org
3,376
1,135
2,736
1,552
1,423
.biz
1,224
694
1,054
582
1,745
.info
877
638
926
765
977
with Q4 2010. However, Q4 included record-breaking sales like sex.com. It is important to note that, otherwise, Q1 2011 .com sales were higher than all other quarters in 2010. The overall comparison shows a notable increase in both .biz and .info sales prices.
Average Sales Price in $
6. Number and Price Comparison (ccTLDs) Average sales prices remained relatively stable in Q1 2011 as compared
Q2 2010
Q3 2010
Q4 2010
Q1 2011
sales since Q1 2010.
.de
1,693
1,383
1,449
1,519
1,263
.co.uk
2,283
1,999
1,532
2,030
1,610
.es
1,360
1,725
1,093
1,502
2,031
.fr
11,382
2,466
4,819
8,182
2,466
.at
1,436
802
1,057
760
1,688
© Sedo, 2011 :: www.sedo.com
© Sedo 2011
Q1 2010
with the previous quarters. While .fr saw the most dramatic decrease in average sales price in Q1 2011, both .at and .es saw their highest average
© Sedo 2011
Q1 2010
The average price of the .com extension is down $3,158 as compared
Median in $ 7. Median Sales Prices Q2 2010
Q3 2010
Q4 2010
Q1 2011
.com
510
510
522
650
595
.net
521
581
588
686
589
.org
550
530
589
697
537
.biz
537
380
500
317
405
.info
418
402
431
420
442
quarter; however, there is a noteworthy increase in Q1 median sales price for .biz and .info.
© Sedo 2011
Q1 2010
Median sales prices for gTLDs have remained fairly consistent quarter to
Top 10 Public Sales 8. Top 10 Public Sales The .com extension continues to thrive, once again representing all of the top sales in Q1 2011.
Domain gamesforgirls.com
$500,000
action.com
$270,000
ts.com
$186,000
shield.com
$190,000
mariage.com
€92,000*
xxxbook.com
$100,000 $91,888
podnova.com
$90,000
doorhardware.com
$85,000
tz.com
$80,000
© Sedo 2011
06.com
*french spelling of “marriage“.
© Sedo, 2011 :: www.sedo.com
Sale Price
Performance in Q1 2011 9. The Rising Popularity of .co and .me Average
The new Top Level Domains, .co (ccTLD for Colombia) and .me (ccTLD
Domain Median Sales
Volume
advantage of these two country code TLDs is their dual usage. The .co extension is regarded as a great alternative to .com, and .me is very popular for campaign domains or social media projects, especially in English-speaking countries. While the average prices of .co and .me domains are almost equal, the .co median price ($310), domain sales (176), and overall sales volume ($212,059) are substantially greater than the .me extension.
© Sedo, 2011 :: www.sedo.com
.co
$1,205
$310
176
$212,059
.me
$1,201
$210
116
$139,301
© Sedo 2011
for Montenegro), had a good start in the first quarter of 2011. A big
10. Conclusion
Top 10 Categories
In Q1 2011, Sedo’s marketplace experienced a few decreases across the board as compared with Q4 2010. Most of these decreases were predictable, as high sales such as sex.com in Q4 2010 dramatically raised the
1. Software
numbers last quarter. For areas unaffected by these high sales, Sedo was
2. Religion and Spirituality
either consistent or above past quarterly reports. Also, as shown by the top 10 sales, .com domains are still a solid investment choice. In Q1 2011
3. Employment
we saw steady sales of premium .com domains, new products such as an
4. Regions, Countries, Cities
easier and more efficient offer submission process and the rise of the .co
5. Consulting
extension‘s popularity after both Sedo-driven and media-driven exposure. Overall we are confident that new initiatives, products, and services being launched at Sedo in the upcoming quarters of 2011 will create the momentum needed to further demonstrate growth of the domain market and the continued strength it holds for business owners and investors alike.
6. Jewelry 7. Domain Industry 8. Lodging 9. Insurance 10. Vehicles • Examples of domains sold within the Software category: checker.net and download.co • Examples of domains sold within the Religion and Spirituality category: spiritualnetwork.com and tarot.com.es
© Sedo, 2011 :: www.sedo.com
© Sedo 2011
• Examples of domains sold within the Employment category: findemployment.net and work.io
