There are a lot of domains out there that are good, but can’t stand on their own two feet. These are often names that sell in the $xx-$xxx range. When I see a domain that obviously isn’t worth a lot but has potential, I often recommend the owner develop it.

You might wonder if this ruins the point of domaining in the first place. Domain investors sell names, not sites, right? Wrong. Just like one might paint and furnish a new home to make it look more attractive to buyers, setting up a site on a domain can prove its worth to buyers.

The site in question does not have to be a niche leader, but should provide useful information, look good, and receive a decent amount of traffic. But most importantly, they should market the name and prove to the buyer that it has useful applications.

Continue reading: Develop a domain to increase its value

Afilias has announced the winners of its new .INFO Awards. Coming in first place is thueringen.info, a travel portal for the Thuringia region of Germany. The owner of the site won a cash prize of $7,500.

In second place is GPS-Tour.info and in third is Turkel.info. Each site won $5,000 and $3,000 respectively.

The contest winners were determined by a user vote. Afilias started the contest as a way to demonstrate the usefulness of the .info extension. From a marketing perspective, the award is good way to get the word out about the extension, but I still think .info has a long way to go in proving its reliability and viability to the general public.

Continue reading: German site thueringen.info wins .INFO Award

A group of investors just bought AreaRugs.com for a whopping £249,423 ($405,000 USD). They will use the domain to create an online store specializing in– you guessed it– area rugs.

Justifying the purchase, Lee Weber, Head of Marketing at the newly created AreaRugs.com, Inc said:

It is very rare to have the opportunity to buy a premium ‘.com’ domain name in a proven online consumer category. In economic times like this you have to think outside the box for ways to get the most out of money and our investors feel that we should have no problem getting a decent, if not exceptional, return out of this investment.

Given not only the current economic situation, but also the tough housing market, AreaRugs.com is taking quite a gamble. In my opinion the name is worth far less than $405,000. The seller is lucky he found an end-user willing to pay so much for it.

Source | The Domains
Photo | Flickr

Continue reading: AreaRugs.com sells for $405,000

Out of toilet paper? Forget to buy dish soap? Don’t worry, Alice.com has you covered.

After buying the domain for £152,434 ($250,000 USD) in 2008, entrepreneurs Brian Wiegand and Mark McGuire recently launched the site, which sells consumables such as toothpaste and shampoo most Internet retail outlets won’t sell.

The name comes from the family housekeeper in The Brady Bunch, a famous American television show from the 1970s. The site is meant to perform a similar role as the TV Alice, making sure you always have the daily essentials at hand. As Brian Wiegand put it:

We know that you need toilet paper, shampoo and toothpaste, and we know that you will run out. We help manage it so you never run out.

Alice.com lets you find the best price on more than 6,000 products and ships them to your door free. It also provides access to a range of coupons and has a loyalty program. Prices average about 20% below the competition. Right now the site is in beta with a public launch on the way.

I’m curious to see how successful the site is. Six figures may seem a bit high for a domain, but the purchase of Alice.com by the entrepreneurs is part of a growing trend to register non-generic names. They found the right name for their brand and were willing to pay for it. It’s an investment I think will pay off in the long run.

Source | Chicago Tribune

Continue reading: Alice.com does the shopping for you