Why Premium Domain Names Keep Climbing in Value
When I started actively acquiring premium domains more than a decade ago, you could pick up a strong two-word .com for USD $10,000–$20,000. Today, the same quality name routinely sells for USD $50,000–$100,000, and in some cases much more. The upward shift isn’t just about inflation, it’s about scarcity, brand competition, and the maturing of the internet economy.
Scarcity is the Core Driver
There are only so many short, memorable, easy-to-spell domain names. Every year, more are taken permanently off the market as brands acquire and hold them for the long term. Unlike other digital assets, a domain name is unique: once it’s gone, it’s gone.
With more than 233.6 million .com domain names already registered, anyone who has searched for a domain knows the frustration, the best names are long gone. Even with hundreds of new gTLD extensions now available, .com remains the gold standard for credibility, global recognition, and resale value.
This scarcity, especially for short, brandable, and easy-to-remember names, creates a supply-and-demand imbalance unlike almost any other digital asset. As the online economy expands, competition for premium .com domains intensifies, driving prices higher, a trend that will continue as long as the internet remains the world’s primary marketplace.
Brand Protection Pressure
Global brands increasingly see domains not just as marketing assets but as defensive shields. Owning the exact match .com or relevant country-code extension is the most effective way to protect against phishing, cybersquatting, and brand confusion. The cost of not owning the right domain often far outweighs the purchase price.
The risks of not securing your matching .com, if you own the corresponding ccTLD or gTLD, go far beyond losing web traffic. If a third party controls the .com, they can create catch-all email addresses to intercept messages meant for you but sent to the .com domain in error. This could expose confidential information, customer data, and internal communications, creating significant legal, security, and reputational risks.
This, and other risks associated with not owning your .com, often leads to multiple businesses, sometimes in different industries, competing for the same .com domain, whether it matches a company name, acronym, or product name. The resulting competition drives up demand and further increases the value of these limited, high-value domains.
The Rise of Digital-First Startups
Startups today are launching with global ambitions from day one. Investors understand the value of a clean, brand-matching domain, and they’re willing to fund acquisitions early. This has pushed prices higher in competitive verticals like fintech, SaaS, gaming, and health.
Comparable Sales Show the Trend
Over the past few years, we’ve seen:
- Strong two-word
.coms that once sold for $15K now fetching $60K+. - Three and four letter .com domains consistently selling in the six to seven figure range.
- Country-code domains like
.io,.ai, and premium.com.auachieving record highs.
Even in smaller markets, we’re seeing consistent price growth, most recently in spaces such as .it and .vn
Some notable three to four letter .com’s that have sold in the past couple of years:
- icon.com sold for $12M USD
- gold.com sold for $8.5M USD
- fuse.com sold for $2.13M USD
- max.com sold for $1.8M USD
- hurt.com sold for $1.5M USD
- koko.com sold for $1M USD
- gld.com sold for $1M USD
- fair.com sold for $900K USD
- arch.com sold for $700K USD
- mine.com sold for $680k USD
Looking Ahead
Given the finite supply, rising competition, and the internet’s continuing shift toward a few dominant brand identities, I believe we’re still in the middle of the appreciation curve. For companies, the best time to secure your core domains was yesterday. The second-best time is today.
In domain acquisitions, waiting often costs far more than acting. The domains I passed on at $20K in 2014 are now $80K+ and that’s a lesson you only need to learn once.
About brandsec
brandsec is a team of highly experienced domain name management and online brand protection experts. We provide corporate domain name management and brand enforcement services, helping brands eliminate phishing platforms across the internet. Supporting some of the largest brands in the region, we offer innovative solutions to combat threats across multiple industries.
