If you are looking for a laptop on eBay, you can narrow your results by selecting Computers & Networking. Then appears a sub-category named Other Hardware & Services where you will find ... domain names for sale! Some eBayers dare to specify domain shipping costs.
Domain auctions on eBay concern by far .com domain names (93%). Domains for sale are frequently related to porn industry (bestdamnpornstars.com) and often exploit events (US primaries and caucuses 2008, ClintonObamaIn2008.com).
Moreover, a lot of domain names are infringing rights: celebrities are targeted (angelinajolie.name, britneyspearstears.com) and trademarks are cybersquatted (yahoo.is, WiiiTV.com, googlevideosonline.com), including ironically eBay brands (paypal4less.com, ebayandyahoo.info, ebaybuyitsellit.com).
Results for 'Domain names' category on ebay.com (10/01/08):| .com | 3220 |
| .net | 65 |
| .org | 17 |
| other | 160 |
| total | 3462 |
Domain bids start from $0.01 (opete.com) up to million dollars and some domain names are sold by package. Below a few examples of bids:
| voter2008.com, uspresidentialprimaries.com | $1,125,000.00 |
| GoogleNetBox.com | $1,500,000.00 |
| reallybig.com, reallybig.net | $2,000,000.00 |
| BusinessWorld.com | $20,999,000.00 |
| erotik.com / .de / .info | $2,500,000.00 |
| pizza.us | $50,000.00 |
Thus the leading auction platform seems to attract not only good counterfeiters, but also cybersquatters...