Sedo Sells 10,000 Domains Worth $20m In First Quarter
Posted in: Domain Names at 07/05/2012 20:14
Sedo was responsible for more than 10,133 domain name transactions accounting for $19,641,153 in sales, the Sedo Q1 2012 Domain Market Study reports [PDF]. The report also says there has been a significant shift in market dynamics with the number of Buy Now sales surpassing offer-counter offer sales for the first time and hence becoming the most popular type of transaction, accounting for almost two in five sales (39%) in quarter one 2012.
Further demonstrating the strength of domain values, IDNX, the first standardised pricing index for the domain market, reached record highs in March 2012 after five months of consecutive growth. Quarter one prices increased by 4.2 per cent, paralleling other economic indices and proving that domain prices are at an all-time high without being inflated.
Sedo believes this suggests that the domain market has rebounded from the slump of 2011, and when compared to other standard economic indicators it suggests a market that is well-positioned for future growth, with the potential for additional record highs during the remainder of 2012.
"The results of this quarter's domain market study are extremely promising. With the highest sales numbers we've seen since early 2011, this year may have the potential to become the strongest for the domain market in quite some time," said Liesbeth Mack-de Boer, CSO of Sedo. "Sedo is continuing to invest heavily in extending the global reach of our marketplace, and looking forward to the availability of new gTLDs in 2013. We are confident that we will continue to connect even more domain buyers and sellers in the coming year."
As expected, .COM was the most frequently sold TLD, accounting for 45 per cent of all sales, while .DE was a distant second with 16 per cent of all sales followed by co.uk and .NET, both accounting for six per cent of all sales.
In the top ten TLDs there was one change with the reappearance of .ES which had dropped out of the list to be replaced by .CO in 2011. This resurgence in popularity during Q1 2012, Sedo believes, is likely due to an improved transfer process for .ES domains, resulting in more companies buying .ES names to expand their products and services in Spain. The remaining TLDs making up the top ten are .ORG, .EU, .INFO, .ME and .NL.
The US and Germany are easily the two biggest domain buyers by country, accounting for 26 and 24 per cent respectively, followed by the United Kingdom with 19 per cent. And 85 per cent of sales were under $2500.
On length of a domain name, the most popular for Q1 2012 was between 7 and 10 characters, which was the same as throughout 2011.
The mean sales price of the top gTLD, .COM, was $2,347 during Q1 2012 while .ORG, .BIZ and .INFO increased in value since last quarter, whereas .NET saw a slight decline.
The .DE extension showed strong growth, increasing significantly in value to $1,454 this quarter. With the exception of .EU, other ccTLDs saw even greater increases. At $1,870, .FR had the highest average sales price, and the .AT extension also saw a significant increase from $867 last quarter to $1,484.
