Sedo in the first quarter of 2011: .CO domains increase in popularity
Sedo, a leading online auction site for secondary domains, has announced its results for the first quarter of 2011, releasing its reportQ1 2011 Domain Market Study.
It presents a study of the domain market and highlights trends in the domain industry, particularly the secondary domain market. During the first quarter of 2011, Sedo brokered 10,600 domain names, with a total transaction value of $21 million.
Average sales prices across all top-level domains (TLDs) were higher than in previous quarters. For the first time, .CO domains ranked among the top sellers, with a two-percent market share. This demonstrates the growing popularity of this domain as the only alternative to .COM domains.
The overall number of sales remains constant. The projected decline of several points compared to the previous quarter is due to the record sale of Sex.com for $13 million in Q4 2010. The first quarter also saw changes in the list of the most active TLDs, such as the debut of the .CO domain. For the first time, this domain extension entered the list of the most popular domain extensions traded on Sedo.
High-profile sales like the $30,000 sale of music.co highlight the growing popularity of .CO domains and the significant opportunities they offer entrepreneurs and businesses to expand their brands online.
Sedo's Q1 2011 report also includes the following points:
• The .COM domain extension continues to be the most popular TLD, accounting for 51% of all TLD sales in the first quarter. The .NET domain is a distant second with 7% of the market share.
• Continues to demonstrate its investment potential, with the average price of .COM domains up 9% compared to the first quarter of 2010.
• .DE domains remain the most frequently sold ccTLD names. The .DE domain zone ranks second in Sedo's transactions, with a share of 18%, among the company's most sold TLDs. It is ahead of such gTLDs as .NET (7%), .CO.UK (6%), .EU (5%) and .ORG (4%).
• Quarter-over-quarter transaction volume shows an increase in the number of domains being sold
• Sales growth for the quarter met expectations and remained relatively stable with expected trends, with the exception of record numbers in Q4 2010 due to a few transactions such as the sale of sex.com and Poker.org.
• The top sellers in the US included: gamesforgirls.com ($500,000), action.com ($270,000) and shield.com ($190,000).
