The year 2021 was a momentous year for the domain name industry. Still in the midst of a global pandemic, domain names became even more important, and the aftermarket reflected that. Here, I’m looking at the top .com domain sales of 2021 to see what they are used for now.
This data comes from DNJournal’s “Top 100 Reported Sales for 2021” chart.
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Hippo.com – $3.3 million
This sale actually closed in 2020, but it was added to the 2021 chart after investor George Kirikos spotted the details of the sale in an SEC filing. This $3.3 million domain name was acquired by Hippo Insurance, a publicly-traded insurance company founded in 2015. Hippo.com hosts the company’s main website and was a direct upgrade from its previous domain, MyHippo.com.
Christmas.com – $3.15 million
Another sale that was completed in 2020, but only charted in 2021 was Christmas.com for $3.15 million. The sale closed after the purchaser exercised a purchase option that was part of a four-year lease agreement. The Christmas.com deal saw the domain acquired by Gordon Companies, a family-owned retailer from New York. Christmas.com hosts a marketplace filled with Christmas items, unsurprisingly.
Floor.com – $3.144 million
The concept of a floor price has been synonymous with NFT and cryptocurrency projects in recent years, so it’s a surprise to see a rug company acquiring the Floor.com domain name. Yes, Floor.com sells rugs. The name was acquired by Unique Loom, a large manufacturer and retailer of rugs. The company also owns and operates Rugs.com. Floor.com currently hosts a Shopify store selling rugs.
Marketing.com – $2.5 million
Marketing.com, a category-defining domain name, sold for $2.5 million in 2021. The name was purchased by ColorArt LLC, a print and marketing provider. Just after the sale, ColorArt’s managing director informed me that Marketing.com will host the company’s ordering portal technology. As of writing, Marketing.com hosts a new marketing services brand.
Forge.com – $2.202 million
Forge.com was acquired by Forge Global, Inc., which provides commodities and securities brokerage services. The purchase of Forge.com was an upgrade from the company’s previous ForgeGlobal.com domain. As of publishing, Forge.com redirects to ForgeGlobal.com, but it’s likely that the company will transition to Forge.com at some point. Sale discovered by George Kirikos.
AFS.com – $2 million
Domain investor Andy Booth facilitated the sale of AFS.com, a name that he used to own. The domain was acquired for $2 million by Accenture, a multinational professional services company with reported revenues of $44.33 billion in 2020. AFS is an acronym of Accenture Federal Services, a private consulting company under the Accenture banner. At the moment, AFS.com doesn’t resolve.
NFT.com – $2 million
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have set the digital world alight in the past year, making many people extremely rich in the process. Owning the category-defining NFT.com brings plenty of attention and prestige with it. Last year, Media Options‘ CEO Andrew Rosener announced the sale of NFT.com, and later in the year, it was revealed that the domain sold for $2 million. The name was acquired by Immutable Holdings Inc., and currently holds a page with an overview of the NFT.com team. Sale discovered by George Kirikos.
Angel.com – $2 million
After being in the hands of Genesys Telecommunications Inc. since 2013, the company opted to sell in 2021, employing Sedo to find a buyer. Senior broker Dave Evanson found a buyer willing to pay $2 million for the domain. That buyer was Angel Studios, a crowd-funded content creation and streaming platform. The company now uses the name to host a website dedicated to its streaming app.
IS.com – $1.95 million
IS.com is one of a number of two-letter domains that sold in 2021. Some of those sales weren’t charted thanks either to payment plans or undisclosed sales figures, but DNJournal did chart IS.com in the top ten sales of 2021, selling for $1.95 million. The name was acquired by ironSource, a global software company that is based in Israel. The company went public in 2021 via a merger with a SPAC. The domain is used to host ironSource’s main website. Sale discovered by George Kirikos.
Exodus.com – $1.945 million
As with many high-value sales, this one was discovered by George Kirikos while reviewing some SEC filings. Exodus.com was acquired by Exodus, a cryptocurrency wallet provider. It was a direct upgrade from Exodus.io. Exodus.com now hosts the company’s main website.