When the commercial internet opened to the public in the mid-1990s, domain names were initially treated as little more than technical addresses. Most were registered for free or for a nominal fee, and the idea that they could one day carry substantial market value was not widely understood. Yet between 1995 and 2000, a secondary market for domain names began to emerge, laying the foundation for the multi-billion-dollar industry we know today.
From Technical Addresses to Digital Assets
Before 1995, registering a domain was largely an administrative task overseen by Network Solutions under a U.S. government contract. In 1995, Network Solutions began charging $100 for a two-year registration, introducing the first real costs — and sparking the realization that scarcity and branding potential might give domain names intrinsic value.
Entrepreneurs quickly recognized that memorable, generic, or brandable names could become valuable “digital real estate.” By the late 1990s, speculative registrations were accelerating, often referred to as domain warehousing or cybersquatting at the time.
The First Notable Sales
The first wave of domain sales in the secondary market was modest by today’s standards but groundbreaking for its time:
1995 – Internet.com was purchased for $100,000, one of the first six-figure domain deals ever reported.
1997 – Business.com was sold for $150,000 to entrepreneur Marc Ostrofsky, who later resold it in 1999 for an astonishing $7.5 million.
1998 – AltaVista.com was bought by Compaq for $3.3 million, signaling that corporations were willing to pay serious money to secure their digital identity.
1999 – Wine.com changed hands for $2.9 million, reflecting the value of category-defining domains in consumer industries.
2000 – Loans.com was acquired by Bank of America for $3 million, marking the entry of the financial sector into strategic domain acquisitions.
These transactions shocked the business world. The notion that a single word ending in .com could carry a multimillion-dollar valuation was both controversial and visionary.
The Dot-Com Boom and Domain Speculation
By 1998–2000, during the height of the dot-com boom, domain names were increasingly viewed as speculative assets. Investors and entrepreneurs rushed to register as many generic terms as possible, betting on their resale value.
This frenzy also fueled the debate over legitimacy: Were domains truly valuable assets, or just digital land grabs? The notable sales of the late 1990s answered that question. Companies recognized that premium domains provided instant credibility, direct traffic, and brand dominance — advantages worth millions in a rapidly expanding online economy.
Legacy of the Early Market
The period between 1995 and 2000 established several enduring truths:
Premium generic domains (e.g., Loans.com, Business.com, Wine.com) would always command a premium.
Corporations would pay handsomely for category-defining digital assets.
The secondary domain market was no longer a niche experiment but a legitimate market in its own right.
This formative era paved the way for the larger record-breaking deals of the 2000s and beyond, proving that domains are not just addresses — they are enduring, strategic assets in the digital economy.
Takeaway for Today’s Investors
Understanding the origins of the secondary market provides perspective: while valuations and extensions have evolved, the underlying principle remains unchanged — scarcity, memorability, and strategic advantage make the right domain name a uniquely powerful digital asset.
Interested in what happened next? Read the follow-up:
👉 The Years of 2000 to 2010 in the Secondary Domain Market
