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Daily Domainer (2 unread)

February 28, 2009
4:07
Toys.com sells for $5.1 million in heated domain auction
» ‎ Daily Domainer
Toys ‘R’ Us is the lucky winner of Toys.com. The domain was bought by the toy store chain in a heated phone auction that took place earlier today at the final bid of $5.1 million. DirectNavigation blogged live from the auction here.

According to Domain Name Wire, the following bidders participated in the auction:
- 1-800-Diapers
- Toys ‘R’ Us via Eagle, LLC
- National A-1
- Schilling Aviation Corp (Frank Schilling)
- Socha APA David William Socha
- Faculty Lounge Partners
February 26, 2009
21:13
LLL.com Domains Reach New Low
» ‎ Daily Domainer

The following no-reserve domain auctions just ended on Sedo's most recent Greatdomains auction:

KXV.com – $3,000
KFQ.com – $3,000
KQH.com – $3,000
KBQ.com – $3,100
SJQ.com – $3,300
JXV.com – $3,600

SOL.com attracted 13 bids, the highest being 15,500 euros, but the reserve was not met. COP.com attracted 3 bids, the highest being $20,500, but the reserve was not met either.

According to 3character.com, the lowest observed LLL.com sale during January had been for $4,200.

In my opinion it's a big mistake to list valuable domains on Sedo without reserve. The LLL.com domains shown above would have probably sold for 20% to 30% more on domain forums, without having to pay any commission to Sedo.

Also, with Greatdomains auctions there are dozens of domain auctions ending at the very same minute, so it's difficult for those trying to strike a bargain to keep track of last-minute developments.
February 05, 2009
17:33
Security Alert from Sedo
» ‎ Daily Domainer

Sedo just sent out the following security alert:

We have been informed that due to a security problem at one of our competitors a list of their customer data including plaintext passwords is currently circulating on the web including relevant hacker forums.

Our Security and Compliance Team has found several of our own customers matching the publicly available list. Due to the seriousness of this matter combined with the possibility that you might be using the same login data/password at more than one parking company, we strongly suggest you to change your password at Sedo.

Sedo uses cryptographically unbreakable ciphertext for password checks and does not store your password in plaintext. This, and a variety of other security measures, ensures that your Sedo account is always safe from third parties.

We generally recommend to always use different login IDs for different sites and never hand out login IDs to any third party.

Should you have any further questions or needs, your dedicated account manager is looking forward to help.

Kind regards,

Your Sedo Security and Compliance Team

They are referring to NameDrive, which, as Domain Name Wire reported yesterday, had less than 1% of their client accounts hacked recently.

Many domainers use the same passwords at different sites, including registrars, parking companies, forums and email providers. If just one of these accounts gets hacked, all your other accounts are at risk if the password is the same! This is especially true if a site stores your passwords in plaintext. However, depending on the quality of a password, hackers might be able to recover it even if it is encrypted.

Sedo has had its share of security challenges in the past, so it is very nice to see that they are alerting their customers to this common risk.

Permalink for 'Daily_Domainer/2009/02/05/Fly.com_sells_for__1.76_million'

3:25

Fly.com sells for $1.76 million

» ‎ Daily Domainer

DNJournal's latest Top 20 chart of domain sales prices is shown below.

Fly.com leads the list with an amazing $1,760,000 sale. The domain was brokered by Sedo and bought by TravelZoo, a publicly listed company. TravelZoo plans to use the domain to launch a travel search engine later this month.

Brian Clark, senior vice president and general manager at Travelzoo, said:

"We are delighted to acquire fly.com for our new offering. The name is a perfect match for Travelzoo's renowned approach: simple, fun, and world class. Where others see doom and gloom we see opportunities to serve travelers and advertisers with innovative approaches to finding the best values in travel."

This sale, in combination with YP.com selling for $3,850,000, as well as several other high ticket sales that remained unreported, will serve as a timely reminder to owners of premium domains not to sell their domains too low. (December's $300,000 sale of SC.com to Standard Chartered Bank comes to mind.)

Other noteworthy sales include:

Roulette.it for $30,000 (the domain is still in escrow, but it was probably bought by a casino or casino affiliate)
Fired.com for $20,600 (seems a bit much; it's a catchy term but what are they going to use it for?)
Miami.us for $15,000 (looks like a steal, even for a .us domain)
Ergo-Direct.com for $12,000 (this domain was bought by German company ERGO Versicherungsgruppe AG, which already owns and uses Ergo.com, but not ErgoDirect.com)
WirelessHeadphones.com for $9,000 (the domain was sold to a domainer and the price seems just right)

Top Domain Sales Jan 19 – Feb 1, 2009

Fly.com	$1,760,000
Flashcards.com	$40,200
Parierenligne.fr	$39,000
Roulette.it	$30,000
NoHotel.comk	$30,000
NoHotels.com	$30,000
Yog.com	$29,500
SexyLadies.com	$29,420
Dachshund.com	$25,350
AltMedicine.com	$25,200
TaxAccountant.com	$25,000
Courier.net	$25,000
CorporateEvents.com	$25,000
RTTV.com	$22,500
Couriers.com	$21,600
Fired.com	$20,600
EasyWeb.com	$20,500
CheapUsedCars.com	$20,500
Sonata.com	$20,013
FXPro.co.uk	$18,200

← January 2009 (2 items)

The Domain Industry News » Daily Domainer » February 2009

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Daily Domainer (2 unread)

Toys.com sells for $5.1 million in heated domain auction

LLL.com Domains Reach New Low

Security Alert from Sedo

Fly.com sells for $1.76 million