How Much Does a Domain Name Cost?

Will the domain of your dreams cost ten dollars or ten million?
Asking the question ‘how much does a domain name cost?’ is like asking ‘how long is a piece of string?’. In 1999 business.com sold for $7.5 million. In 2008 fund.com sold for almost 10 million. Now that hundreds of new web address endings have been released for sale in the Internet, the price of web addresses has become even more varied, with prices ranging from less than $10 to millions. So who and what determines the price tags in the first place?
Trying to understand how individual domains are priced is quite tricky. Part of the cost is determined when web address endings are born. The new web address endings that have been released onto the Internet recently have not just been plucked randomly out of the dictionary. Various organisations and groups have applied to the domain name governing body, ICANN, to own them and offer them for sale through world wide registrars. This application process could have cost anything up to $180,000. The reason for this is differing legal fees and admin fees involved in the application and even things like subsequent marketing campaigns.
Once a domain goes on sale to the public, the subject matter that the domain refers to plays a part in determining its market price. For example, .diamonds is one of the most premium domains on sale at the moment. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out why.
As with all products, demand also plays a role in determining the cost of domain names once it’s on general sale. A .epic would obviously be more popular than .boring, so web addresses ending in the former would have a fatter price tag.
Finally, there’s the old adage ‘sex sells’. Sex-related websites have always sold for big bucks. This year, sex.xxx sold as a part of a $5 million deal between ICM Registry and Barron Innovations. In fact, sex.com is thought to be the most expensive web address ever sold – it rang through the tills at $13million back in 2010.
Fortunately, web addresses sell for as little as $10 for a year with Midphase. To find your non bank-breaking web address visit the website.