Price of domain names

Yesterday, I read in the blog of Carlos Blanco the ranking of most expensive domains in history:

    * Sex.com - $14 M (Jan 2006)

    * Games.com - $10.7 M (Mar 2006)

    * Fund.com - $9.99 M (Mar 2008)

    * Porn.com - $9-9.5 M (Mar 2007)

    * Business.com - $7.5 M (Nov 1999)

    * Diamond.com - $7.5 M (May 2006)

    * Beer.com - $7 M  (2004)

    * Casino.com - $5.5 M (Oct 2003)

    * Toys.com - $5.1 M (Mar 2009)

    * Korea.com - $5 M (Jan. 2000)

    * AsSeenOnTV.com - $5 M (Jan 2000)

    * SEO.com - $5 M (2007)

    * FreePorn.com - $4 M (Feb 2008)

    * YP.com - $3.85 M (Jan 2009)

    * WorldWideWeb.com - $3.5 M (1996)

    * Shop.com - $3.5 M (Nov 2003)

    * Wine.com - $3.3 M (Sep 1999, 2001)

    * AltaVista.com - $3.25 M (Jul 1999)

    * Software.com - $3,2 M

    * CreditCheck.com - $3 M (Jun 2007)

    * Vodka.com - $3 M (Dec 2006)

    * Loans.com - $3 M (Jan 2000)

    * eShow.com - $3 M

    * Wines.com - $2.9 M 

    * CreditCards.com - $2.75 M (Jul 2004)

    * Pizza.com - $2.6 M (Apr 2008)

    * Tom.com - $2.5 M (Feb 2000)

    * Dontnology.com - $2.5 M (2000)

    * Autos.com - $2.2 M (Dec 1999)

    * Coupons.com - $2.2 M (Dec 1999)

    * Computer.com - $2.2 M (Oct 2007)

    * England.com - $2 M (2000)

    * Express.com - $2 M (Dec 1999)

    * Celebrities.com - $2 M (1999)

    * Telephone.com - $2 M

    * Express.com - $2 M

    * Savings.com - $1.9 M (Mar 2000)

    * Seniors.com - $1.8 M (Jul 2007)

    * Fly.com - $1.8 M (Jan 2009)

    * Mortgage.com - $1.8 M

    * DataRecovery.com - $1.66 M

    * Branson.com - $1.6 M

    * SolarEnergy.com - $1.6 M

    * Tandberg.com - $1.5 M (Feb 2007)

    * Cameras.com - $1.5 M (Oct 2006)

    * Deposit.com - $1.5 M (Mar 2000)

    * MarketingToday.com - $1.5 M (Nov 1999)

    * VIP.com - $1,4 M (Sep 2005)

    * Men.com - $1.32 M (Dec 2003)

    * Vista.com - $1.25 (Nov 2007)

    * Feedback.com - $1.23 M (Feb 2000)

    * Phone.com - $1.2 M

    * Find.com - $1.2 M

    * Scores.com - $1.18 M (Jun 2007)

    * Kredit.de - $1.17 M

    * Chinese.com - $1.1 M (Jul 2007)

    * Mercury.com - $1.1 M (Mar 2004)

    * Bingo.com - $1.1 M (2000)

    * Cruises.co.uk - $1.1 M (2008)

    * Rock.com - $1,03 M (1999)

    * WallStreet.com - $1.03 M (Apr 1999)

    * Fish.com - $1.02 M  (Jul 2005)

    * Invest.com - $1,01 M (2008)

    * Vibrators.com - $1 M (2008)

    * CyberWorks.com - $1 M (Aug 2000, also includes CyberWorks.net)

    * If.com - $1 M (2000)

    * Britain.com - $1 M

    * Sky.com - $1 M (Jan 2000)

    * Topix.com - $1 M (Mar 2007)

    * iPhone.com - $1 M (2007)

    * WhiteHouseCrisis.com $1 M

    * eFlowers.com $1 M

    * Beauty.cc $1 M

    * Guy.com $1 M (Nov 2007)

I recently had to buy 2 premium domain names: Pixable.com and Evidente.com for which we paid a considerable amount of money after a long negotiation. I have also tried to buy other premium domain names recently, such as Blahblahblah and blablabla, or flipar and flipart. I am also the owner of other domain names like inakiberenguer.com, babalah.com, picsable.com, facebookprint.com, GoodMorningMIT.com, textrovertido.com or LocalDelicatessen.com which were still available at the time of buying them. 

Domain names are investments similar to real estate for companies. They increase the visibility of the company, their value increase over time, they build credibility, and they are easy to visit and remember their location.