Killer Domain Names that Sold for Millions

Written by Zac Johnson
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When’s the last time you ordered a domain name? What it for a new web site, or did you potentially see it as being an investment? Domain names are no joke… no matter if it’s a generic keyword or just something you thought up, and there is only ONE available in the world. If someone else wants a domain name that you own… well, you can bet they may have to pay a pretty penny to get it out of your hands.

Back in 2007 I wrote a post titled, Most Expensive Domain Names. A lot has changed since then, so I thought it would be fitting to see what’s been happening in the domain space. With that said, let’s take a look at some of the top selling domains that have sold for millions of dollars! Imagine grabbing one of these bad boys back in the 90s for a few dollars each!

SEX.COM – $13,000,000
Year sold: 2010 / Alexa: 22,186 / Monthly Traffic: 172,692*

Fund.com – $9,999,95.
Year sold: 2008 / Alexa: 674,169 / Monthly traffic: 356*

Porn.com – $9,500,000
Year sold: 2007 / Alexa: 4,084 / Monthly traffic: 1,945,661*

Fly.com – $1,760,000
Year sold: 2009 / Alexa: 12,225 / Monthly traffic: 1,026,834*

Candy.com – $3,000,000
Year sold: 2006 / Alexa: 100,852 / Monthly traffic: 73,953

DataRecovery.com – $1,659,000
Year sold: 2008 / Alexa: 646,623 / Monthly traffic: 6,702*

(* Estimated traffic is based off Compete.com)

What’s funny about some of these sales is that the domain names were purchased for millions of dollars, yet some of them receive very little web traffic. Imagine paying millions for a domain name you never use? Well, it’s actually not that crazy… many of these purchases can be seen as an investment. After all, domain names are simply the real estate of the internet!

The domains mentioned above were just a few of the top domain sales in history. If you’d like to see the full list, Business Insider created a nice little slideshow.

Have you ever bought and sold any big domain names, or have any nice gems in your portfolio?

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43 Replies to “Killer Domain Names that Sold for Millions”

    1. It is pretty crazy. The idea of selling just a domain name and not a business for a million dollar is amazing, though there have been over 70 million dollar domain transactions so far.

  2. It is amazing to know that the 1st and 3rd spots are domains related to sex and porn. I guess those kinds of domains really sells. 🙂

  3. I bought ineeddiscipline.com for $30 back in 2007. I thought that was pretty expensive, it has nothing on the prices some people have paid fr the ones you listed.
    My recent post April 2011 Blog Income Report

  4. Agree–getting keywords in your domain name is the most important consideration if you are going to rely on SEO for traffic and customers. The problem is, domain names containing keywords for popular products and services are almost impossible to get these days! And you wouldn’t believe how many crazy-sounding made up words are already taken, too! I once spent a day searching domain names while trying to figure out what to name a business. . . because it literally took all day. So much stuff was already taken.

    Alex J

    CEO & Founder
    https://www.clickforliving.com

    1. Google has been focusing on giving "exact match" domains less value from the search engines and link juice. Even though they are doing that, I still feel exact match is a big advantage as well.

    2. Best to look for expiring domains and auctions/sales when going for a generic term. Sure, it will cost you some money, but not as much as you might think.

  6. You are right, nowadays there are number of people buy domain names some are doing so for investment and some to make websites. Most of us like to buy Top level domain which is short and easy in remembering.

  7. Almost $10,000,000 for Funds.com!That's amazing.

    Thanks For Sharing,
    Bradley NOrdstrom
    My recent post Happy Cinco De Mayo!

    2. I think $10.000.000 is so high for Funds.com. Where did you get this information ??

  8. For millions of dollars like this you could buy a $10 domain with a made up word and market the crap out of it until it was a household word (ie like godaddy or Groupon or newegg offhand)

    1. And how much money would that cost? How much money have groupon/godaddy/newegg spent on marketing? Those examples the value is in their business and not the domain.
      My recent post Day 33

  9. Zach, I find it interesting how many people tried to grab domains when the .xxx and .me became available. I have done a lot of work internationally and the end domain isn't as important as is it in America. (where the .com is and may always be king)

    1. I think .com will always be king… then .net and .org follow. Never seen too much of a following on the other extensions. They are mainly just to waste money and get people to buy them up.

  13. Domain names will only sell for what someone is willing to pay. I'm curious to know if they sell because the amount of ORGANIC traffic they drive or because people associate a word with a certain service or product?

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  14. I bought LasVegasFightClub.com a long time ago. Then UFC got really huge. Had big ideas but got sidetracked.

  15. when you think about it, those domain names are worth a helluva lot more than what they sold for. i.e. Sex.com. With a good business model behind the site, you could make 13million a month in profits easily. The guys I know in the adult space that run niche sites make millions in recurring customers every month.

    or look at fly.com. think about how much money the airlines could rake in if they branded a good campaign around Fly.com. i.e. customers are much more likely to remember Fly.com vs. Expedia.com. Asides from the simple kindergarten 3 letter word, the name is directly correlated with what Fly is.

    Great post Zac! btw, you headed back to Think Tank this year?

    1. Seriously, it's all a game of monetization. Some really great domains in there, but not with great business plans.

      I will try and make it to Think Tank again this year.

    1. It's tough to get domains that fetch for millions of dollars, but I see domains selling for thousands of dollars every day. It's just a matter of getting them cheap, monetizing and/or finding someone who wants them.

  17. I guess this really proves that no matter what the state of the economy, sex will always sell!

  20. It does seem ridiculous paying so much for a domain. Ultimately, the most you will get is some SEO benefit and an easy to remember name. I can't see that ever paying for itself at those prices.

    @du hoc – the idea of what the government would put on sex.gov has given me horrible images!

  21. It’s disgusting how much a domain name will go for.
    In your opinion, for somebody who would want to get into the domain name game, what are some good tips into finding and choosing a great domain name to sell?

  22. I bought LasVegasFightClub.com a long time ago. Then UFC got really huge. Had big ideas but got sidetracked.

  23. Great post Zac! btw, you headed back to Think Tank this year?

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  25. those domain names are worth a helluva lot more than what they sold for. i.e. Sex.com. With a good business model behind the site, you could make 13million a month in profits easily. The guys I know in the adult space that run niche sites make millions in recurring customers every month.

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