Now that 2020 is done and dusted, I’m taking a brief look back at the top ten sales of the year, as listed by DNJournal. What has happened to the names since their respective acquisitions? Let’s find out.
Table of Contents
Bullish.com – $1,080,000
This blockbuster sale took the top spot in November 2020, sold for $1,080,000 including commission thanks to a combination of BestWeb and GoDaddy. The name moved to corporate registrar MarkMonitor, but the buyer’s identity was never revealed.
Unfortunately, the name still isn’t being used and the WHOIS information doesn’t disclose the name of the new owner. Was the purchase linked to a cryptocurrency project in light of Bitcoin’s meteoric recent price rise?
Engage.com – $803,025
In second place was the sale of another single-word .COM, Engage.com. The name was sold by Kate Buckley of Buckley Media on behalf of Spark Networks USA, a company that owns several high profile dating websites.
The domain was acquired by Koober Investments Ltd and is now displaying a customer engagement solution called Engage.
NAS.com – $720,000
Announced in September, the sale of NAS.com took the number one sale of the year title away from previous incumbent OA.com before it was displaced by Bullish.com. The domain was acquired by an unknown Chinese buyer.
As of writing, the domain does not resolve. At $720,000, you could assume that this was an end-user purchase, so we’re likely to see something happening with the name in 2021.
OA.com – $609,068
This two-letter .COM sold at Sedo in February to an unknown buyer. This type of name holds both a high wholesale and retail valuation, meaning that this could have been an investor or end-user purchase.
As with NAS.com, OA.com doesn’t resolve. The domain has moved a couple of times this year though, firstly moving from Key Systems to NameCheap in March, then from NameCheap to Google Domains in September. Could this name have sold again this year?
151.com – $415,000
Brokered by James Booth, the 151.com domain represents the largest publicly-disclosed, three-number .COM sale of the last three years. The domain now forwards to a Chinese gambling website branded as Sands 151.com but resolving to the domain 1513322.com.
Ingles.com – $400,000
In October, GoDaddy released their first domain sales figures in 5 years. The top-selling name from that first list is Ingles.com at $400,000. The domain was acquired by Curiosity Media, the owners of the popular SpanishDict.com.
According to the information I received from the CEO of Curiosity Media, Ingles.com will be made into an English learning platform for Spanish speakers. For now, the name just redirects to SpanishDict.com.
BoatsForSale.com – $396,769
This three-word .COM domain was acquired by OneWater Marine as an expansion of its digital platform, according to a press release from the company. The acquisition price was absent from the press release, but an SEC filing disclosed the purchase price of $396,769.
The name may have been acquired for development, but OneWater Marine has failed to do anything with the domain to date, with the domain hosting a GoDaddy parking page.
Palace.com – $306,000
Another sale brokered by James Booth is that of Palace.com for $306,000. At the time of the acquisition, James revealed that the name was acquired by a casino. In mid-late 2020, I noticed that the name held a for sale notice with a $500,000 asking price – signifying that the name was again up for sale.
Now, that has disappeared, with the name currently still being offered for sale, although we’re no closer to knowing who actually owns the name.
Kick.com – $276,077
RightOfTheDot announced the sale of Kick.com in June 2020 for a precise $276,077. Despite several months passing, the buyer of Kick.com still remains a mystery. The name is under WHOIS privacy protection at Network Solutions, and resolves to a default Network Solutions page.
Results.com – $264,000
The early domain sales leader of 2020 was Results.com, sold in early January for $264,000. The name was acquired by a new Berlin-based company that branded itself as Results.com.
The aim is to bring transparency to the software market by offering expert reviews of service providers. The Results.com website is up and running.