In all the years I’ve invested in domain names there has always been one type of domain that was my favorite – CVCV.com domains! CVCV is actually an acronym for the term consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel. Basically, this type of term in the English language almost always creates a pronounceable word. Vowels are A,E,I,O,U while consonants are every other letter (except Y which can sometimes be used as a vowel). That means words like LAVA or POPE would be called a “CVCV.com” in the domaining world. I love four letter domains and I’ve watched the market go up and down on them for several years now. I can remember when there were four letter domains (also referred to as LLLL.com) available for hand registration, and I can also remember when the minimum for any LLLL.com was in the $200-$250 range.
The thing with LLLL.com domains is that many of them are a combination of unpopular letters that nobody will ever type in. That means their value is (and most likely always will be) limited. Not with CVCV-type names, however. These have withstood the test of time for a while now and many of them continue to sell for big bucks. The limited number of four letter combinations already gives LLLL.com domains some value, and none of them will ever be free for hand registration again. However, CVCV.com type domains get an extra boost in value because there are even a smaller number of possible CVCV combinations and many of these tend to be pronounceable as mentioned above. Below I’m going to list and discuss some of the biggest CVCV.com domain sales and why I think they were great deals!
Wine.com – According the NameBio, this is the highest reported CVCV.com domain sale. Wine.com sold for 3,300,000 USD on 09/01/2003 via private sale. No doubt this is a great sale and well worth the money if the buyer had a solid game plan in mind. The domain is currently developed and offers the ability to buy wine online. Copyright shows Wine.com, LLC so this company appears to have branded themselves around the domain. I’d say this was a great deal for both the buyer and seller. It’s been several years since the sale took place, so I’d guess the seller has already made their investment back and then some!
Vivo.com – This would be the second highest reported sale at 2,100,000 USD on 2016-09-02. Vivo Global makes cell phones and obviously had a purpose behind buying this domain. It was completed via a private sale and appears to once again be in use by a company that knows what they’re doing. The sale was only completed a few years ago, but $2 Million dollars doesn’t seem like much for a company like Vivo. Once again, I would say this was a fair deal for both the buyer and seller. Not sure how many other opportunities the seller would have had to get 5 figures for such a name!
Kiwi.com – When most people think of Kiwi fruit probably comes to mind. That’s not what you’ll find if you visit the domain, though. Kiwi is the 5th highest reported CVCV.com sale and took place on 2016-03-13 via Uniregistry. It sold for 800,000 USD and has now been developed into a travel site where visitors can purchase airline tickets, car rentals, hotel reservations and more. It’s a competitive industry with other sites like Trivago and Expedia offering similar services, but this company was able to take a great domain (that’s also memorable) and brand it into a service that can be extremely profitable. Another great sale for both parties if you ask me!
Logo.com – What web designer wouldn’t want this domain? It sold for 500,000 USD via Sedo on 2010-11-04 and is tied for the 10th highest selling CVCV.com according to NameBio. The domain is now developed and offer a logo generator tool. Another memorable domain and the development behind it fits the name perfectly. I’m not sure how much they charge to use all of the logo makers capabilities, but I’m sure this company will eventually make their $500K back. As the internet grows a domain like this will only grow in value along with it. They could probably sell this domain anytime in the future and get their investment back. Another fabulous sale that both the buyer and seller should be happy about!
