Several premium domains sold for big numbers during the the first ever live adult domain auction held on the closing day of the Internext conference, bringing in nearly $2 million in sales.
Sites that nabbed big bucks included the top draw, SheMale.com, which sold for $525,000; BDSM.com, $295,000; Opportunity.com, $150,000; InterracialSex.com, $150,000; HandJob.com, $90,000; KinkySex.com, $88,500; TeenModels.com, $80,000; GayPride.com, $60,000; Censored.com, $58,000; WeirdSex.com, $58,750; XXXCams.com, $30,000; Behind.com, $13,000; AmateurPictures.com, $12,000; and HotLips.com going for $12,000.
Presented by Internext and Moniker, the lively event stretched on for more than three hours. With fewer than 300 domains available for auction, auctioneer Joel Langbaum kept things rolling, rattling off bids from participants and cracking jokes about domains like CockSuckingWhore.com ("They must know my ex-wife") and Dickhead.com ("My ex-wife's husband's site"). Several sites were sold to bidders who'd submitted their maximum bids via email or other avenues.
In one telling development, scarce interest in sites with the less-trafficked dot-mobi URL led to the pulling of those domains from the auction roster.
Overall, 89 out of 295 sites were purchased, generating a grand total of $1,999,150.
After the public auction closed at just past 6:30 p.m. (the silent auction will stay open for another week), many webmasters and event organizers expressed their pleasure with the event's success.
"I think it went great," Moniker's Monte Cahn told AVNOnline.com. "It was a first-time event for the adult industry, just to give a litmus test. It took three times as long in the mainstream world to get to a $2-million sale. To have it happen on the first time in the adult industry is very important for the industry, and it validates the importance of domain names."
Meanwhile, Legendary Lars said that he was happy with his purchase of the highly coveted BDSM.com domain name.
"We own Alt.com, and it was just a good fit for the niche that we service, so we'll be using it for more content in that niche," he said, noting that he's also acquired Restraint.com, Cuff.com, NakedFriends.com, NudeFriends.com, Bondage.net, SexualFantasy.com, and OnlineSexDating.com.
Lars also confessed his surprise with the increase in reserve bids for several domains. "I was surprised that the price of domains has gone up so much, especially two- and three-word-combination domains. I'm going to go home and take a look at my list and see what I can sell.
"I'm sure it was successful for Moniker," he continued. "I guess people got what they wanted. It was successful for me; I got what I wanted."
Meanwhile, AVN Online's publisher, Farley Cahen, touted the event as an unmitigated success. "We're extremely excited about this groundbreaking adult domain auction—the first of its kind," he stated. "We are excited and looking forward to bringing the next adult domain auction to the summer Internext conference in August at the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Fla. We feel this new and exciting addition to Internext will continue to help grow the Internext show and make it stand out as the premier webmaster event worldwide."
