I’ve been getting used to the domain auction platform 4.cn over the last month. As a former trader I realize the value of having a marketplace in a foreign market that trades the same products that we have here but at different prices. It can lead to some arbitrage if you do it right.
What I like about 4.cn is two things. One, there is actually a barrier to entry. To buy you are going to either need to wire money or have money in the account from domain sales. They only take paypal in amounts under $1000 and that’s not going to cover any big purchases. This morning was a perfect example of why the average person probably won’t mess with 4.cn. I purchased two domains 3289.com and 3065.com and needed to get money to fund the account in 3 days. My wife worked at my bank for 15 years and asked her to ask one of her former coworkers to wire some money for me. My wife asked me the name of the bank and the routing info, etc. When I told her it was a Chinese bank account she replied “seriously, what bank do you need the money sent to” Nothing more comfortable than sending thousands of dollars to a Chinese bank you’ve never worked with before. But there is one reason I do and that’s the reason number two. Liquidity and availability
They sell more more number domains than anywhere in the world. You have a name to sell, this is the place you are going to move it and get the most for it. I am all over the web looking for NNNN.coms and it’s hard to find any numbers without the number 4 in it elsewhere. And that’s a perfect lead in to the going rates of 4N domains.
Undoubtedly prices will stray from this guideline but overall this is what you’re going to pay for the average name in these category
Any NNNN.com with a 4 in it will go for around $500-600
A repeating 4 will get you an extra hundred dollars
Any Number without a four in it will fetch $1000 plus at 4.n. After that it really depend on a few things that take the price higher
Repeating number domains almost always cross the $1500 mark
Even number ie 5600.com fetch big dollars and numbers that start with 0 that don’t fair well in the rest of the world seem to hit $1000 regularly at 4.cn
Numbers that are easy to type like my domains 4769.com (damn 4 ruins it though) and 3289.com go for more money
Again these numbers are generalizations and names can go up dramatically from these points if someone really wants that number.
I’m recording all NNNN.com sales as well and will put out a recent sales report if anyone wants one. I also feel that these prices go up from here. If you don’t, send me an email with your NNNN.com and your price as I have a few more names to acquire.
Why does the presence of a 4 in the domain decrease the value?
“Why does the presence of a 4 in the domain decrease the value?”
Troy,
Chinese like things in even numbers except for the # 4.
In Mandarin and some other Chinese dialects the
# 4 sounds like the Chinese word for “dead”.
The # 8 on the other hand is loved since it sounds like the Chinese word for “getting rich”.
Shane,
The prices you are quoting are basically domainer to domainer sales.
And, I believe your range is on the low side.
If you quoted those prices on the different forums, they would sell very quickly.
As we know, forum sales are lowball selling.
We are seeing less and less availability on the traditional sales/auction
platform. (Sedo, Afternic, Latonas, Snapnames, etc)
Sales published on DNJ in the past couple weeks –
1123,com $ 4,450.
1958,com $ 2,250.
What has happened over the past couple years is that some/many are purchased
by the passive domain ‘collector’. And, less and less being offered by the flippers.
Furthermore, more and more of the chinese domainers are selling to chinese
non domainers and the transactions are NOT disclosed/announced.
Which means less and less are available on the open market.
If they are re-offered to the aftermarket, it is at a very high price.
I noticed on 4,cn (mostly domainer to domainer sales) the following transactions
over the past 2 weeks –
0622,com $1,300.
3061,com $ 840.
3065,com $ 990.
3067,com $ 844.
3289,com $1,036.
4692,com $ 555.
4712,com $ 570.
4850,com $ 646.
5031,com $ 886.
5478,com $1,021.
6284,com $ 646.
6903,com $ 871.
7095,com $1,022.
7397,com $1,006.
7648,com $ 646.
7864,com $ 525.
7944,com $ 646.
8402,com $ 511.
9240,com $ 619.
9498,com $1,396.
9719,com $1,066.
9793,com $1,381.
I also noticed in the past couple weeks that bidding on 4,cn has been sluggish.
Bidding patterns on 4,cn are cyclical.
Thanks the the comment. All good points. Looks like I’ve gotten some good deals this last week then
Shane You seeing any higher value points in domains that are “year” style like 1921.com etc
Also, I’d like a copy of the sales info if you’d share it.
@adam
Yes I do see some higher prices in numbers that are dates from recent civilization. Of course the near future numbers are going for much much higher. 2030 for instance. I’ll make sure you get the first mailing.