The domain auction market remains heavily bifurcated, with the vast majority of inventory failing to attract a single bid. While a $337,500 top sale proves that high-value assets still command significant capital, the sheer volume of $1 closeouts suggests that most expiring inventory is effectively worthless to the broader market.
Investors should note that the barrier to entry for competitive bidding is low, but the risk profile is high. With nearly three-quarters of classified domains showing toxic footprints, the primary challenge for buyers this week is filtering out liability-heavy assets before they reach the auction block.
Key takeaways
- In competitive auctions (>$1 closes), the median domain sale price is $65 and the average is $325 (trailing 28 days); counting $1 closeout pickups, the all-sales median is $1.
- Only 1.6% of ended domain auctions receive any bid at all (~443,490 auctions end per week).
- Just 3.1% of 17,127 AI-classified expired domains have a clean backlink history — 72.7% are outright toxic.
- The top sale of the period closed at $337,500.
How much do domains sell for?
The massive gap between the $1 median and the $325 average indicates that the market is driven by a tiny fraction of high-quality assets rather than broad-based demand.
- In competitive auctions (sales that closed above $1), the median winning price over the last 28 days was $65, the average was $325, the 90th percentile was $565, and the top close was $337,500.
- Counting EVERY sale, the median collapses to $1 — because 19,243 of 28,532 sales (67.4%) are $1 closeout pickups, GoDaddy's clearance tier for auctions nobody bid on. Any "average domain price" figure that ignores this split is misleading.
| Winning price | Sales (28 days) | Share of sales |
|---|---|---|
| $1 | 19,243 | ███████░░░ 67.4% |
| $2 – $10 | 1,271 | ░░░░░░░░░░ 4.5% |
| $11 – $100 | 4,146 | █░░░░░░░░░ 14.5% |
| $101 – $1,000 | 3,359 | █░░░░░░░░░ 11.8% |
| $1,001 – $10,000 | 495 | ░░░░░░░░░░ 1.7% |
| Over $10,000 | 18 | ░░░░░░░░░░ 0.1% |
What percentage of domain auctions end in a sale?
A 1.6% sell-through rate confirms that the auction platform functions primarily as a liquidation channel for low-value inventory rather than a high-velocity marketplace.
- Of 1,773,960 auctions that ended in the last 28 days (~443,490/week), 28,550 received at least one bid — a 1.6% sell-through rate. The overwhelming majority of expiring domains attract no bidder at all.
- 549,742 auctions are live right now.
How many expired domains are spam?
The 72.7% toxicity rate suggests that automated scraping and bulk bidding are dangerous strategies; manual vetting is the only way to avoid purchasing a domain that will trigger search engine penalties.
- CatchSEO's AI has classified 17,127 enriched auction domains from their complete backlink, archive, and traffic evidence. Only 525 (3.1%) have a verifiably clean history.
- 4,144 (24.2%) carry caution flags and 12,458 (72.7%) show outright toxic signals — pharma/casino anchors, PBN patterns, and other footprints that make a domain an SEO liability.
What kinds of domains are at auction?
The uniform $1 median price across all categories suggests that domain utility is currently secondary to the underlying backlink profile in determining auction success.
| Category | Domains | Share | Median price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Services | 4,406 | ███░░░░░░░ 31.1% | $1 |
| Generic / Brandable | 1,438 | █░░░░░░░░░ 10.1% | $1 |
| Health & Medical | 1,270 | █░░░░░░░░░ 9.0% | $1 |
| Tech & Software | 1,253 | █░░░░░░░░░ 8.8% | $1 |
| Entertainment & Media | 932 | █░░░░░░░░░ 6.6% | $1 |
| Home & Garden | 908 | █░░░░░░░░░ 6.4% | $1 |
| Food & Drink | 870 | █░░░░░░░░░ 6.1% | $1 |
| Fashion & Beauty | 859 | █░░░░░░░░░ 6.1% | $1 |
| Finance & Insurance | 702 | ░░░░░░░░░░ 4.9% | $1 |
| Real Estate | 621 | ░░░░░░░░░░ 4.4% | $1 |
| Travel & Tourism | 511 | ░░░░░░░░░░ 3.6% | $1 |
| Sports & Fitness | 413 | ░░░░░░░░░░ 2.9% | $1 |
Takeaway
Focus your capital on the top 3% of domains that pass rigorous backlink audits. Given the high toxicity rates, treat any domain without a verified, clean history as a liability rather than an asset.
Methodology & data notes
These statistics are computed directly from CatchSEO's auction database: 1,773,960 auctions that ended in the trailing 28 days (refreshed weekly — last refresh 2026 · Week 29), plus the full corpus of 17,127 AI-classified domains and 549,742 live auctions.
"Sold" means an auction ended with at least one bid; prices are final listed auction prices in USD. Spam/quality verdicts come from CatchSEO's AI classification pass, which reads each domain's complete evidence bundle (backlink anchors, Wayback archive history, traffic). Every figure on this page is computed from the database; the narrative is AI-assisted and reviewed before publication.
For the week-by-week picture, see the weekly Domain Auction Report. Explore the live inventory with the auction filters, including clean-history domains.
Generated by gemini-3.1-flash-lite · data snapshot 2026-07-19 · prompt v3. Figures are computed directly from CatchSEO's auction database; the narrative around them is AI-written and reviewed before publication.