It's not easy finding information on AuctionDrop Inc after 2008, even when we search through the Google News archives.
AuctionDrop one of the rising stars in the eBay Drop-off business in the early 2000s that had raised millions of dollars has ended up on the domain name aftermarket. The domain name AuctionDrop.com expired on March 1, 2010 and is pending renewal or deletion. It’s up for bidding right now at NameJet with a backorder due date of April 5, 2010.
The company struggled to survive early on, and after getting millions in venture capital, the business switched from standalone stores to partnering with UPS in an effort to sustain its business.
The demise of the website remains a mystery to us. And the fact the domain name wasn’t renewed by anyone involved in its operations in the past, is even more of a more mystery.
Another five-figure dating domain name has sold in 2010. DatingSecrets.com sold for $25,000 on Sedo Great Domains. With the sale of DatingSecrets.com, 2010 has seen a strong start for domains related to dating.
Other top sales in 2010 include Singlesdating.com which sold for $16,722 and Dating.org which sold for $22,500 (still our pick for BEST BUY of 2010).
Both of those names are parked.
There is a web site online for DatingSecrets.com, but that’s the previous owner’s site that’s been online for years. Currently the registrant information is marked as Sedo Transfer Service. Once the name switches hands, the new owner is likely to replace the current website, and assuming they want to keep the URL indexed in Google, they will likely avoid Parking the name.
DatingSecrets.com currently ranks at the top of Page 2 in Google Search Results. DatingAdviceSecrets.com, the web site that ranks near the top of Page 1 in Google for the keywords “dating secrets” gets as many as 25,000 unique visitors per month according to Compete. It’s built on WordPress and has very little content, but tons of comments by visitors.
It’s not every day you see great domains expire. But it does seem like it’s happening more and more often, with the latest domain UPC.com which expired on March 1, 2010 heading to auction on NameJet.
Unit Parts Company (UPC), originally registered the name in 1995 and 10 years later, Unit Parts Company and its assets was acquired by Remy International. Unit Parts was a major supplier to the automotive aftermarket and had net sales of approximately $150 million in 2004 before selling to Remy in 2005.
Do you think UPC.com is a valuable name?
Apparently, Remy International didn’t think so and didn’t think enough of the name to renew it. While that might not obviously be the reason, anything is possible when it comes to end users of domain names.
The keyword UPC has an Exact Global Monthly Search Volume of 823,000. It’s Valuate.com appraisal sits at $442,000. UPC also stands for Universal Product Code, a barcode system that is used throughout the United States and Canada for tracking items in stores.
At the time of this story, UPC.com has over 100 bids with a current high pre-bid of $8,000 (the highest pre-bid of any name on NameJet right now). The name heads to auction on April 5, 2010.
Being the first .com ever registered on March 15th, 1985 is a milestone in an industry that has churned out more millionaires than most can imagine, leveling the playing field for many in verticals ranging from dating to collectibles, to literally any type of business and hobby.
Aron Meystedt and XF.com made news in 2009, when Symbolics.com which belonged to a computer manufacturer, changed owners.
In 25 years of being registered, the domain never expired and it has never changed owners.
That is, until late 2009 when the acquisition by XF investments made news all over the internet and in the mainstream media.
If you visit Sybmolics.com today, a countdown clock appears at the top of web site. The latest blog entry was written on March 1st, 2010 and discusses one of Aron’s other ventures TrafficEstimate.com which was relaunched.
What’s in store for the Anniversary?
Whatever is in store for Symbolics.com in less than a day, Aron has promised a Big 25th Anniversary.
News has been trickling out by a variety of news sources celebrating the 25 year anniversary, but not much news has been put out by Aron in the last couple weeks. If you’re anxiously awaiting the anniversary, you have have less than 24 hours to go.
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO TODAY, the Internet opened the door to business, and the world changed. Previously reserved for its academic and government users, the national computer network issued the first commercial domain name, symbolics.com, to a now-defunct computer company
Monday will see the 25th anniversary of the registration of the domain name Symbolics.com. Granted, it’s not particularly catchy, and to this day it’s renowned for nothing other than being the first. But it unwittingly became the eldest brother of a phenomenon that profoundly changed the world.
It’s not clear exactly what prompted a Massachussetts software company to contact the US Department of Defence – which was, at that time, responsible for administering the internet – and ask for it.
It certainly couldn’t have had any idea of the revolution that was to come – indeed, the world wide web was still more than five years away, and the internet was merely a network of computers used primarily for research purposes.
But Symbolics.com predated every other domain that we now type every day to shop, communicate, learn, entertain ourselves – even find partners
Years ago, I asked Marc Andreessen, creator of the first web browser, what surprised him most about the dot-com forces he helped unleash. “eBay,” he said without hesitation. “Who knew there was that much crap in people’s garages to sell?”
Personally, I’m a little more amazed at a site like Belch.com, “the largest collection of digitally recorded belches on the Net.” But maybe that’s just me.
It’s pretty mind-blowing that the dot-com domain is 25 years old. On March 15, 1985, a Cambridge, Mass., computer maker called Symbolics registered symbolics.com: the very first dot-com site. (That company, in its original form, died in the mid-1990s, and symbolics.com is now an odd blog about web sites.)
Are the names priced too high or is it just plain lack of interest among buyers? Just 7 domains have bids out of more than 500 names and the total amount bid so far is just over $4,000.
Why the lack of interest?
The auction that includes names like ScreenSavers.com and Troops.com has placed high reserves on the domains. Interested in the domain: TVBroadcasts.com? It’ll cost you at least $25,000 to meet the reserve set by the seller. In fact, the auction which has tons of sports domains to choose from like ProFootball.com, BasketballPlayers.com and more – has drawn bids mostly to its 4-character domains listed for sale: nowz.com, npia.com, and nyam.com.
The problem seems to not be a lack of interest to SnapNames.com, but a lack of interest for domains with high reserves. The website gets well over 60,000 unique visitors per month and its names are plastered all over the internet especially among domain blogs through their affiliate program. We would venture to say that many of these domains listed in their March Showcase auction could probably do better if the reserves were lowered.
Whether buyers have a fear of spending or whether sellers have a fear of selling – this is one auction that doesn’t appear to be faring too well.
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