This post was originally published on July 24, 2017, and was updated on July 14, 2022.
When most people think about the price of a domain, somewhere in the range of $15 usually pops up. But often, domain names sell for much more than that.
The average price of a domain name sold in the secondary market — buying a domain from someone who already owns it — is in the thousands of dollars.
It is not unusual to see public domain sales reported weekly in the tens or hundreds of thousands, and often enough there will be domain sales reported in the millions. You can check out dnjournal.com for weekly domain sales reporting, as well as annual historical sales reports. 2022 is off to a strong start, with the domain unlock.com selling at $1,228,200. It’s always good to use this report to see current sales and trends.
Nailing down the most expensive domain names isn’t easy — most of the parties involved often try to keep that information private. There are various reasons for this practice, ranging from wanting to keep their competition in the dark to not wanting others to know how much they’re willing to spend on a domain in the future.
It’s a pretty common assertion that the vast majority of high-value domain sales are done with some sort of non-disclosure agreement in place. Luckily for us, enough sales are public, so we can still have a good idea of the domain market and its health over the years.
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The number one spot
The most expensive domain name ever sold has come to light — at $872 million. Yes, you read that right. Cars.com was valued at $872 million (we get that number from reading the SEC filing, courtesy of the parent company, Gannet Co., Inc.).
While many people don’t report the sale of their domains publicly, top lists vary. But as a whole, most people are in agreement with most of the highest sales reported for domain names.
Editor’s note: Want to capture the coveted number one spot in domain name sales? You’ll need to make sure your domains are worth their weight. With GoDaddy Domain Appraisals, you can get the most accurate and comprehensive domain pricing estimates available. We use an exclusive algorithm that relies on both machine learning and real market sales data to estimate domain values.
As the world’s largest domain registrar we can help make domain investing accessible as well as profitable for everyone.
25 most expensive domain names publicly reported
Here are the 25 most expensive domain names publicly reported.
- CarInsurance.com — $49.7 million
- Insurance.com — $35.6 million
- VacationRentals.com — $35 million
- PrivateJet.com — $30.18 million
- Voice.com — $30 million
- Internet.com — $18 million
- 360.com — $17 million
- Insure.com — $16 million
- Fund.com — £9.99 million
- Sex.com — $14 million*
- Sex.com — $13 million
- Hotels.com — $11 million
- p*rn.com — $9.5 million
- Shoes.com — $9 million
- p*rno.com — $8.8 million
- Fb.com — $8.5 million
- We.com — $8 million
- Business.com — $7.5 million
- Diamond.com — $7.5 million
- Beer.com — $7 million
- Z.com — $6.8 million
- iCloud.com — $6 million
- Israel.com — $5.8 million
- Casino.com — $5.5 million
- Slots.com — $5.5 million
Please note that we've added five domain names to the list since we originally published this post in 2017.
* The sex.com domain name sold twice — Once in 2005 for $14 million and again in 2010 for $13 million.
What is your domain name worth?
Now that you know what domain names can potentially sell for, I bet you’re wondering what your domain name is worth. You can use GoDaddy Domain Appraisal to get a domain valuation.
If you are thinking about buying a domain name and selling it for more money, GoDaddy Auctions is a great place to find domains that might have good resale value. As with any other purchase, it’s always best to start slow and do your homework before spending your hard earned money and time looking for the next big domain sale. If you want some domain ideas to get started from scratch, try the domain name generator. You never know what kind of domain names will come up.
Start your search today.
Stacey Hartman contributed to this article.
Read more about domain flipping, tips on how to make money with domains.
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