What Was The Best Domain Buy Of 2009? (Revised With Your Picks)

2009 December 20
by Michael H. Berkens

I have updated and restarted the poll with some of your comments and suggestions.

The only option I did not give you is to vote for the $7 Million dollars portifillio that DirectNavigation.com Reported on last week.

It’s simply unfair to judge a portfolio acquisition against a single domain acquisition.

I also removed the “something else choice”, they were all good buys so pick the one you think was the best.

Here is the post from yesterday:

Well this year has certain seen some huge domain sales.

Looking at Ron Jackson’s DNJournal.com, year to date report for 2009 there are 9 seven figures domain sales,  and it took almost 70K to make the top 100 sales list.

So with a week to go I thought I would open up a poll for what you though was the best buy of 2009.

You can select from my choices on the right and vote, or place your write in selection below.

36 Responses leave one →
  1. 2009 December 20

    For me – it was hands down Jets.com at 325K. RSS.com a distant second, Shows.com 3rd.

  2. 2009 December 20

    Think about it – Toys.com -low ticket items- $5 million
    Jets.com -very high ticket items- $Bargain

  3. 2009 December 20

    That portfolio for $7M+ as documented on directnavigation.com count?

    I don’t know how that can be beat. A $50-75M portfolio for $7M.

    If a purchase makes the DNJournal list, chances are it’s NOT a best buy candidate.

    It’s the ones you never heard of that are.

  4. 2009 December 20

    Russia gets my vote, not sure why, just thinking of there future worldwide influence continuing to grow

  5. 2009 December 20

    MHB… What your prediction for year 2010?

  6. 2009 December 20

    John,

    If Jets.com was such a great deal, why did the seller (a company that does the same thing as the buyer) have to sell the name?

  7. 2009 December 20
    Gazzip permalink

    Russia.com at $1,500,000 gets my vote

  8. 2009 December 20

    Elliott,

    You know the possible answers to that questions lol

    Think beyond the numerous possible reasons of the sale and look at just the name itself. One possible answer I could think of was, the previous company simply did not maximize the possibility of the name. There is more to just relying on type-ins to power a business…

    Did you think Jets.com was a great deal? or not…

  9. 2009 December 20

    Oh, another reason could be badly needed liquidity for unknown reasons…

  10. 2009 December 20

    I like jets.com but how many actual sales would you close per year as a real business and all the networking etc…Shows.com however can be totally automated and have hundreds of thousands of transactions per year :)

  11. 2009 December 20

    That damned $7mill portfolio sale knocks everything else outta the park.

    Un-freaking-real. Wedding.com, Birthday.com, etc. for $7mill? Yeah… that gets my vote!

    BUT–If I had to choose from DNJ list.. Jets.com sale wins my vote. As mentioned, high ticket item. You barely need any leads by having the domain to get your cash back.

  12. 2009 December 20

    What kind of income did the 7 mil domains produce ?

  13. 2009 December 20

    I’m going with pacreatituscancer.com $125 buy that returned $1500 when it won the Luxury Names giveaway LOL

  14. 2009 December 20
    Rick permalink

    Rio.com for 450K

  15. 2009 December 20

    Shows.com for $102k is my vote. Great deal!

  16. 2009 December 21

    What I’d like to know…

    What was the best private (non reported) sale of 2009 ?

    I’d love to see what sales went down without our knowledge.
    That’s the list that would be eye popping.

    But… I’m sure no one wants to share.. ;)

    Right?

  17. 2009 December 21
    fizz permalink

    Have to agree with Tony and Sammy that the $7M package deal as mentioned by Larry at directnavigation.com beats anything else.

    In case anyone missed it, the list of names is: 401-K.com, Airlines.com, Anniversary.com, Annuities.com, Birthday.com, Bookings.com, Bookshelf.com, Bourses.com, Car-Rental.com, Christmas-Gifts.com, Communications.com, Cumpleanos.com, Currencies.com, Dining.com, Distributors.com, Dividends.com, Doctors.com, Electronics.com, Exchanges.com, Excursions.com, Frequentflyer.com, Guidebooks.com, Hospitals.com, Investments.com, Municipals.com, Museums.com, MyValentine.com, Products.com, Profits.com, Royalty.com, Ships.com, Taxfree.com, Technology.com, Tee-Times.com, Ticketrez.com, Wedding.com, Wholesale.com.

  18. 2009 December 21

    Rio.com for 450K.

  19. 2009 December 21
    LS Morgan permalink

    The 7mm portfolio, and it’s not even close.

  20. 2009 December 21

    agree with Rick

    Rio.com for $450,000

    it was a true gift

  21. 2009 December 21

    Again, Rio.com.

  22. 2009 December 21

    You should allow voters who vote “something else” to state what it is.

    Without a doubt Pizza.com.

    We also purchased shows.com, not sure why but it seemed cheap.

    Does a domain have to be substantial money to be good.

    HomeFitness.com seemed like a bargain at 21K. What other domain covers the field.

    Also Stripclubs.com for I think 75K seemed cheap.

    Camps.com at 110K seemed like a steal.

    Many others too!

  23. 2009 December 21
    MHB permalink

    Rick

    You guys could have had your own best buy list, you got some great domains.

    That is one of the reasons I nominated your company for domainer of the year as well as the Domain Hall of Fame.

    I wanted to limit the poll to the 10o top sales reported by Ron Jackson but I
    may re-launch the poll in another day with more choices, based on the comments here.

    Congrats on the great year.

  24. 2009 December 21

    Hands down Toys.com was the best buy.

    There is noting negative you can say about the word. Universal, timeless, accessable to everyone and every economic strata, huge consumer base, giant industry, wholesale, advertising, manufacturing, distribution network, etc… To top it off, State, school and society sponsored holiday designed specifically around toy giving. Can’t get any better than that. Unfortunately we have lost this generic into the giant suckhole that is multi-national corporate ownership so it will not flourish as it should. We should all mourn the loss of truly great generics to massive corporations because it sucks the life out it in a little way and for the most part, they will be lost forever.

  25. 2009 December 21

    Chip…they’re not lost forever. Toys was a court ordered sale and the 7mm portfolio.

  26. 2009 December 21

    shows.com

  27. 2009 December 21
    Pat permalink

    I vote for the name that I sold for 4K, less than six months after I registered it for 7.50.
    Top that ROI — if you can.

  28. 2009 December 21

    The $7mm portfolio without a shadow of a doubt. Those are killer names.

    Wholesale.com for $189,189.18
    Birthday.com for $189,189.18
    Wedding.com for $189,189.18

    Steal!!

  29. 2009 December 21

    I agree with the Chef:) Shows.com was a steal
    iReit paid over twice the amount for it. The domain has huge build out potential … Ticketing is a very good niche if you do it right.

  30. 2009 December 21

    It would have to be between Rio.com and RSS.com, but for the best bang for the buck, I would lean more towards RSS.com.. Great Buy!

  31. 2009 December 21
    Caesar permalink

    Without doubt for me this is Brazil.com for 500k

  32. 2009 December 21

    How about Richard Gabriel picking up Physicians.com for $250k?

    Same guy sold Auction.com for $1.7mil and DropShippers.com for $1.5mil this year!

  33. 2009 December 21
    MHB permalink

    Matt

    Not talking about the sellers here but the best buys.

    I don’t think dropshippers.com was a great buy for $1.5M.

  34. 2010 February 15

    Best value-for-money buy of 2009…?

    BOY.com for just $45k….!!

    ….Seriously, a freakishly cheap steal…..550,000 searches for the EXACT term, every month (G Keyword Tool)….Short, easy to spell, impossible to forget – and, is the category killer for the global young male market (think online Games, music, sport, the gay market….).

    ….By comparison, Guy.com sold for $1 million in 2007, and, Men.com for $1.3 million in 2003.

    …$45k for Boy.com HAS to be one of the best buys of 2009….A $1 million name.

    I like Shows.com @ $102k, as well….That was a great buy, too.

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