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Friday, August 15, 2008

Domain Name Sales Indicate Continuing Value of Internet Real Estate

Three domain names were sold for over $1 million in 2008, including one whose sale price was nearly $10 million according to DN Journal, the Domain Industry News Magazine. The journal listed a total of 57 six- and seven-figure domain name sales through August 10 of this year. The complete top 100 sales list for 2008 can be viewed at http://www.dnjournal.com/ytd-sales-charts.htm.

I have two domain names for sale at sedo.com ( http://www.sedo.com/), one of the largest and most prestigious international domain brokers, which sells approximately 19,000 domains per month. These domain names — http://www.kingdomofcats.com/ and http://www.wizardsandgenies.com/ — are designed to capitalize on two of the hottest niche markets today.

According to the U.S Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook (2007) published by the American Veterinary Medical Association, cats are now the most popular pets. There were more than 82 million pet cats and 72 million pet dogs in the United States in 2006, with nearly half of pet owners, or 49.7%, considering their pets to be family members.

As a result of the large number of cat owners in the US alone, the website http://www.kingdomofcats.com/ can be used to showcase a wide variety of goods and services pertaining to cats, such as veterinary services, health and wellness products, medications, food, treats, toys, litter and litter boxes, clothing and accessories, print and e- books, cat care, and carpet and upholstery cleaners and deodorizers.

The domain http://www.wizardsandgenies.com/ can also be used as an ecommerce site. It can easily profit from the current popularity of wizards attributable to the Harry Potter series whose worldwide sales topped 400 million (www.thebookseller.com). The wizard frenzy will probably continue for the foreseeable future with the scheduled release in December of JK Rowling’s The Tales of the Beedle the Bard and a new Harry Potter movie in July 2009. The website could also be used for the sale of games, fiction and nonfiction books, magic related items, costumes, Halloween products, artwork, and other similar products.

US retail ecommerce sales, adjusted for seasonal variations, for the second quarter of 2008 were estimated at $34.6 billion, an increase of 2.9 percent over the first quarter of 2008 (US Census Bureau). I believe that ecommerce is a win-win situation. Online websites are convenient for the consumer and allow the retailer to do business 24/7.

For further information about www.kingdomofcats.com or http://www.wizardsandgenies.com/ contact Norma Wolpin of Strawberry Tiger at 954-829-6266.