Given concerns related to the economic upheaval resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, many have speculated on whether domain sales have decreased or increased. In this article, I look at domain name sales data for the first six months of 2020, comparing it to the same period in 2019.
Across all extensions, I found that the number of sales was up 10.9% in 2020, although the average price and overall sales volume were both down substantially. That difference is largely explained by the $30 million
Both
There was strong growth in country code extensions as a whole, with about 50.0% increase in number sold, although average prices were down somewhat.
Average prices remain significantly higher in country code and new extension domain names compared to legacy extensions. Sales numbers for new extensions were down about 10.8%.
Results
I used the NameBio database (sales of $100 and above) to compare domain sales in the first half of 2020 to the same period in 2019.
The data for this study came from the NameBio database, and does not include all domain name sales. While there are not many substantial reporting changes between early 2019 and 2020, the impact of which venues report to NameBio is important to keep in mind. For example, catched.com data only started appearing in late 2019.
As domain sales are added, or deleted for a variety of reasons, sometimes well after the date of the sale, the precise numbers will vary depending on when you access NameBio. The 2020 data were accessed July 1, 2020. It is likely that the actual numbers for the six month period will be slightly higher, due to reporting delay for some sales. The 2019 data was accessed just after July 1, 2019, so the conditions were similar for comparison of the two years (except for
It is important to keep in mind that NameBio reported sales are a mix of wholesale and retail transactions. This mix is particularly troublesome for average prices, where one is computing an average from two different populations.
The obvious conclusions may not always be the real ones. For example, if the number of sales in an extension go up, it might mean that there is increasing interest in the extension. However, it alternately could be a reflection of lagging interest, resulting in some investors liquidating holdings in the extension.
Average prices can be particularly misleading. Domain investors acquiring more domain names in an extension, resulting in a higher ratio of wholesale to retail transactions, may drive down the average price, even though the extension is in fact doing well.
Keep in mind the impact of a large sale on the data. The $30 million sale of
Don't overlook that for some of the extensions the actual number of sales is small and therefore carries considerable statistical fluctuation. For example,
While it is valuable to compare recent results to the same calendar months in the preceding year, it is also important to look at longer term trends. In earlier analyses I looked at sales volume and average price trends over a four year period.
So what changes are happening in the domain market in 2020 from your perspective? Please share in the comments section.
Sincere thanks to Michael Sumner of NameBio for the amazing domain sales resource used for this analysis.
Across all extensions, I found that the number of sales was up 10.9% in 2020, although the average price and overall sales volume were both down substantially. That difference is largely explained by the $30 million
voice.com
sale in 2019, however.Both
.net
and .org
showed stronger growth in number of domain names sold than .com
. Both also had strong increases in sales dollar volume, while volume was down significantly in .com
.There was strong growth in country code extensions as a whole, with about 50.0% increase in number sold, although average prices were down somewhat.
Average prices remain significantly higher in country code and new extension domain names compared to legacy extensions. Sales numbers for new extensions were down about 10.8%.
Results
I used the NameBio database (sales of $100 and above) to compare domain sales in the first half of 2020 to the same period in 2019.
- All Extensions
During the first 6 months of 2020, there were about 59,000 NameBio-reported sales across all extensions, compared to 53,200 in the same months of 2019. That represents an increase of 10.9% in number of sales. However, the average price was down by 39.5%, and the total sales dollar volume was down 32.9%. Most of the difference can be attributed to the $30 millionvoice.com
sale in 2019. .com
There were about 50,000.com
sales in the first half of 2020, compared to 46,000 in the same period of 2019. This represents an increase of 8.7%. However, dollar sales volume in.com
decreased by 39.9%. Nevertheless, most domain sales remain in.com
, 86.5% of all sales in the first six months of 2019, and 84.7% of all sales in 2020. The sales dollar volume represented by.com
decreased from 88.5% in 2019 to 79.3% in 2020..net
.
The strength of the.net
numbers surprised me. The number of sales in.net
is up 22.6%, with 1785 sales during the first 6 months of 2020. The average price was also up, now $885. The sales dollar volume was up 47.8%, to about $1.58 million in.net
sales during the first six months of 2020..org
Sales in.org
were up 10.6%, to 2933 sales in the first half of 2020. The average price in the extension was also up, to $929, a 10.1% increase. The sales volume in.org
increased by 21.8% in 2020. The lifting of the price cap, and the now abandoned proposal to change registry ownership, have not seemed to lessen interest in the extension..info
Sales in the.info
extension were up, from 123 sales in the first half of 2019, to 187 sales in 2020. Average prices were down, however, to $425, resulting in an.info
sales volume decrease of 17.9%.- All country codes
Taken as a whole, the country code extensions are doing very well in 2020. The number of sales increased by 50%, to 3578. Although average prices were down by 16.8%, when compared to the first half of 2019, the $1600 average price in 2020 is substantially higher than for any of the major legacy extensions. Sales volume in country code extensions was $5.7 million for the six month period in 2020, an increase of 24.8% compared to the first half of 2019. - All new extensions
There were 452 new extension domain sales in the first half of 2020. This represented a decrease of 10.8% from the same period in 2019. The average price was $2772 for new extension sales in 2020. During the first half of 2020 the new extension sales volume was about $1.25 million. .ai
The number of sales in.ai
were up slightly in 2020, to 793, while the average price was up substantially, from $531 in 2019 to $788 in 2020..app
Aftermarket sales in.app
continue to pick up, increasing from 28 sales in the first half of 2019, to 45 sales in the same months of 2020. The average price of an.app
sale in 2020 was $6363, up more than 80% from the first half of 2019. The sales volume in.app
has more than doubled in 2020. To put the $286,300.app
sales volume into perspective, it represents more than 80% of the.co
sales volume for the same period..cc
Sales in the.cc
extension continue to grow, with about 12.8% more sales and 88.1% more dollar volume in 2020. The average price of a.cc
sale was a healthy $1449..co
While the average.co
price was $1471 in 2020, that is down from the first half of 2019. The number of sales in.co
was up substantially in 2020, about 46.9%..co.uk
The.co.uk
extension saw a slight increase in number of domain names sold, to 75 in the first half of 2020, and a substantial increase in average sales price, now $5766. There were an additional 25 sales in.uk
during the first six months of 2020..de
Germany’s country code continues to be one of the stronger performers. Although down slightly, at a $4708 average price,.de
remains one of the higher average sales prices. The number of sales in the extension were up 25.1% in 2020..gg
Although interest in.gg
as a gaming extension is growing, there were still only 76 sales in the first half of 2020. The average price dropped substantially, though, to only $406 in 2020..io
The.io
extension is popular among startups. The extension saw nearly a doubling of reported sales in 2020, to 635, although average prices were down in 2020 to $775..ly
The.ly
domain extension is popular for domain name hacks. Although there were fewer than 100 sales in.ly
during the reporting period, the number of sales were up 11.7%, when compared to 2019. However, average prices were down by 12.6%..me
In last year’s analysis, I commented on the strong performance of the.me
extension during the first half of 2019. That continued in 2020 in terms of number of sales, with 157 sales in the first half of 2020 compared to 85 during the same period of 2019. The average price has dropped substantially from last year, however, to $692..tv
While.tv
extension sales are down slightly in number, 81 in 2020 versus 121 sales during the first half of 2019, the average price is almost constant at $1236..us
The.us
domain extension had essentially no change. There were exactly the same number of sales, 86, in each six-month period. The average price, $867 in 2020, was just 2% less than the same period in 2019.
The data for this study came from the NameBio database, and does not include all domain name sales. While there are not many substantial reporting changes between early 2019 and 2020, the impact of which venues report to NameBio is important to keep in mind. For example, catched.com data only started appearing in late 2019.
As domain sales are added, or deleted for a variety of reasons, sometimes well after the date of the sale, the precise numbers will vary depending on when you access NameBio. The 2020 data were accessed July 1, 2020. It is likely that the actual numbers for the six month period will be slightly higher, due to reporting delay for some sales. The 2019 data was accessed just after July 1, 2019, so the conditions were similar for comparison of the two years (except for
.app
, .gg
and .co.uk
extensions that were not included in the 2019 article).It is important to keep in mind that NameBio reported sales are a mix of wholesale and retail transactions. This mix is particularly troublesome for average prices, where one is computing an average from two different populations.
The obvious conclusions may not always be the real ones. For example, if the number of sales in an extension go up, it might mean that there is increasing interest in the extension. However, it alternately could be a reflection of lagging interest, resulting in some investors liquidating holdings in the extension.
Average prices can be particularly misleading. Domain investors acquiring more domain names in an extension, resulting in a higher ratio of wholesale to retail transactions, may drive down the average price, even though the extension is in fact doing well.
Keep in mind the impact of a large sale on the data. The $30 million sale of
voice.com
in 2019 plays havoc with trying to compare average prices and sales volumes. If we excluded that one sale from the first half of 2019 it would decrease the average price by about $600 in .com
, and about $508 in overall sales for the six month period.Don't overlook that for some of the extensions the actual number of sales is small and therefore carries considerable statistical fluctuation. For example,
.gg
had a massive increase, but that was from just 6 sales in the first half of 2019 to 76 sales in the same period of 2020.While it is valuable to compare recent results to the same calendar months in the preceding year, it is also important to look at longer term trends. In earlier analyses I looked at sales volume and average price trends over a four year period.
So what changes are happening in the domain market in 2020 from your perspective? Please share in the comments section.
Sincere thanks to Michael Sumner of NameBio for the amazing domain sales resource used for this analysis.
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