What’s in a name? If that name just happens to end in .com, perhaps quite a lot, at least in terms of the name’s value. Some of the recent domain names that have changed hands have sold for as high as several million dollars. That’s a hefty haul for something that you can’t even look at or hold, but is also testament to the changing face of the business world, with companies increasingly relying on an Internet presence in order to be successful.
The Name Says It All
The most popular, and most valuable, domain names are largely 
those that are short, catchy words that are generic enough to fit in a variety of situations and to describe the products or services offered by the most successful businesses. Companies want website addresses that are easy for people to remember and to access, so those names that meet this criteria are in highest demand. In addition, the .com suffix is preferable, and more difficult to get, than any of the alternate options, such as .net or any of the different country addresses. But according to one expert, as many as 97 percent of all of the words in Webster’s dictionary are already taken in the .com combination, so registering a single-word new name will be close to impossible now. As a result, if what you want is gone, you may just have to be willing to part with lots of cash, when and if the existing domain’s owner is willing to part with it (of course for a generous profit).
Top 10 List
If you were smart enough – and lucky enough -- to register a great domain name when the Internet craze first began, you may have a small, or even large, fortune to fall back on should you decide to sell. Just keep in mind that the name is considered as separate from the business or website content that the name represents. When you add both of these separate values together, that’s usually what drives the prices up. Those website businesses that generate large amounts of revenue are obviously the most valuable, bringing the fair market value up quite a bit from a similar name that has not experienced such success. Here are some of the top domain name sales that have occurred over the past 10 or more years. Just remember that there are also lots of domain names worth as much or even more that are not included here because to date they have not been put up for sale. In addition, it is worth noting many investors like to keep their business dealings private, especially when they are on such a large scale, so there are only limited details available about many of these sales.