Almost 1 year on from the Technology themed NYC Premium Domain Auctions, the Travel and Tourism themed NYC Premium Domain Auctions were completed and the results show that awareness of .NYC still has some room to climb.

Firstly, there was the news that BroadwayTickets.nyc was snapped up before the auction began for the price of $25,000 by Broadway League Inc (Broadway.org). This sale wasn’t publicized and if it had happened a month before the travel auctions maybe there would have been an effect on the final auction prices.

Below are the final results from the travel and tourism themed auction:

Domain Name	Price	Sale Type	Sale Venue	Date Registered
boattour.nyc	$555	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018
broadwaytickets.nyc	$25,000	Negotiated Pre-Travel Auction	Sedo	May 8, 2018
concierge.nyc	$750	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018
flights.nyc	$500	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018
guides.nyc	$500	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018
limos.nyc	$1,050	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018
museum.nyc	$560	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018
reservation.nyc	$500	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018
see.nyc	$2,051	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018
shows.nyc	$5,511	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018
showtickets.nyc	$910	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018
shuttle.nyc	$750	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018
theaters.nyc	$1,055	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018
ticketbroker.nyc	$500	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018
tour.nyc	$1,514	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018
visiting.nyc	$810	Neustar Auction: Travel (#4)	Sedo	May 10, 2018

*Full disclosure: I picked up Limos.nyc and Flights.nyc and I was in the shows.nyc auction until about $3,000 and dropped out 🙁

Some other domains in the auction didn’t receive a bid:

Domain	Status
boutiquehotels.nyc	Reserve $500 – no bids
bustour.nyc	Reserve $500 – no bids
carrental.nyc	Reserve $500 – no bids
citytours.nyc	Reserve $500 – no bids
getaways.nyc	Reserve $500 – no bids
hotelguide.nyc	Reserve $500 – no bids
lodging.nyc	Reserve $500 – no bids
pedicabs.nyc	Reserve $500 – no bids
sightsee.nyc	Reserve $500 – no bids

So how do we make meaning of the auction results, the sale of BroadwayTickets.nyc pre-auction and the handful of names that didn’t receive a bid?

It’s possible that had BroadwayTickets.nyc not been sold at a premium, pre-auction that it would have sold for less. Possibly $10,000 or even closer to the final auction price of shows.nyc – we’ll never know. This doesn’t mean that it was a mistake for the buyer who wanted to guarantee they secured a great name for their business. As we’ve seen in the past shop.nyc sold for $33,500 in the fashion themed domain in March 2017 and anyone waiting for the auction risks that their ideal name jumps in value.

This is a more typical end-user sale where the domain is now with a perfect organization who will develop it, use it and generate a return on their investment. The more sales at these higher values and the more domains developed and in use by businesses all add value to the NYC domainspace further attracting new registrants. The sale of BroadwayTickets.nyc is good news for the new owner as well as Neustar and the City of New York. It’s also good news for NYC domain investors and other registrants of NYC domains who benefit with each incremental registration, premium sale and developed NYC website.

As for the actual auction, there is the possibility that the removal of BroadwayTickets.nyc from the auction took away some of the sparkle! Perhaps BroadwayTickets.nyc selling at $25,000 (or even $15,000) in the auction would have been a stronger signal than a pre-auction sale.

As the tables illustrate above, shows.nyc at $5,511 was the auction’s top sale with see.nyc and tour.nyc a distant second and third at around $2,000 and $1,500 respectively. A handful of domains followed at $1,000 and some with a single uncontested bid of $500 (the reserve price). As shown there are also a handful of domains that didn’t receive a bid.

So what does this all mean?

Reflecting on the domains in the auction, I’m not sure who the likely/expected individuals/businesses were to compete and push the values much higher. I don’t necessarily think they are bad names – many of them are decent – but for domain auctions to push prices to ridiculously high levels we need the following:

• Heavy marketing across all media for the auction event
• Multiple end users who had knowledge of and interest in the auction
• Domain names that excited investors – names that investors see an inherent value that makes the domain an appreciating asset to be sold in future to other investors or end users

My belief, as I’ve mentioned before is that the nexus requirements for .NYC which limit the registration of NYC domains to people who live or work in NYC, have seriously reduced the pool of domain investors, hence removing a significant factor in high domain auction prices.

One other question is that do high auction prices = domainspace success?

I don’t think so. NYC has limited itself purposefully with ~$30 renewal fees and the nexus requirement all with the plan of having people who buy the domains actually use them. So if the new owner of BoatTour.nyc for $550 is indeed a local business who develops and uses the domain, then that is a success. In fact, in terms of Neustar’s and the City of New York’s objective that would be a greater success than a $5,000 sale to a domain investor.

While I realize that as an investor in hundreds of NYC domains I must lower my head a little in the face of Neustar and the city’s objective – it has become incredibly difficult to avoid snapping up domains to later flip or possibly develop – there are just so many names that are great value. I know this because of the names that I’ve been selling and the trends in the market. One benefit to the domainspace is that many NYC domain investors do outreach to contact endusers and are often educating businesses and moving these domains to companies and individuals who will use them.

As mentioned in my March, February and January Monthly Reviews – one word premium generics (especially calls to action e.g. Pray.nyc) are amazing investments that can often be picked up for $20 and sold for $x,xxx. I will write about a few personal sales in a future article but putting together my personal experience of these purchases and sales along with the travel and tourism premium domain auction results shows that the results weren’t surprising.

NYC domain sales above $15,000 surprise me – and that isn’t a bad thing. For domain investors, its a great thing. For business and individuals who are the end users of an ideal NYC domain name, this is also a great thing. The NYC domainspace is developing nicely and there are opportunities for those who are ready.