Below is another look at a few recent domain flips and flops, with recent data courtesy of DN Journal and historical data from NameBio.
Flips
- Matinee.com – Sold recently for $7,750 at Flippa vs $6,500 last month at NameJet. This was a quick one and a thin one…..interesting to see an acquisition on NameJet and then an immediate flip on Flippa. If the seller paid 10% commissions, they made a few hundred bucks, but if they paid 15% commissions (I see Ali Zandi was the Flippa broker), they only made about $100.
- Impressionen.com – Sold recently for $3,990 at Sedo, vs $532 in 2007 at Sedo. An upgrade from the .de, which is where their acquisition is redirected. A German language retail site, with a screenshot below.
- MegaUpull.com – Sold recently for $2,568 at Sedo, vs $532 last year at GoDaddy. The domain forwards to PullAPart.com, a used auto parts site.
- GoPlay.com – Sold recently for $32,500 via Domain Name Sales, vs $26,300 in 2008 at NameJet. A gaming site, with a screenshot below. “GoPlay, the best mobile game video community, is a social network for mobile game players to share their game videos and make friends who have the same interest with them.”
Flops
- 98372.com – Sold recently for $166 at NameJet, vs $225 three months ago at GoDaddy. This isn’t a big loss in gross dollars, but on a percentage basis, it’s over 35%. Factor in the value of the seller’s time, and it gets even uglier. 5N’s are rising in value quickly, but you still have to buy them at the right price.
Note: I didn’t do an exhaustive search of the ownership history of each domain. There are likely cases where there were multiple owners between the sales prices I list.
You can find past Flips and Flops posts here.
From looking at these scenarios the margins are very thing compared to holding cost, and limited market for such terms, that is a lot of work to make $100 on matinee.com, basically everyone got rich off that deal except the seller, aka namejet, flippa, and the broker.
Even goplay to sit on $27,000 for 7 years is a pretty risky play.
Trent, thanks for the comment.
I agree with you that (a) GoPlay.com and Matinee.com are thin, and (b) the service providers made much more money off Matinee.com than the domainer. However, the other two at 4x-6x (after commissions) are solid returns.
Keep in mind that this is a small sample set each week, too. If we look back at last week as another example, all five listed are attractive returns.
http://domainshane.com/domain-flips-flops-pjt-com-pkw-net-fid-org-trashcompactors-com/