The market splits in two. Most ended auctions draw no bidder, and of those that do sell, the largest group closes at $1 through GoDaddy's closeout tier. Among competitive sales (closes above $1), the median was $98 and the average was $322. The gap between those two figures is the tail at work: a small number of high closes, up to a $53,000 top sale, pull the mean well above the typical outcome.
The headline is volume without demand. Of 2,241,065 auctions that ended in the window, 39,067 received at least one bid, and 841,061 are live right now. For a buyer, the practical reading is that supply is not the constraint. The work is in filtering.
The quality screen points the same way. Of 1,176,494 enriched domains, 22,829 were labeled clean against 3,786 labeled toxic. The bulk, 1,073,726, landed in caution, which means most candidates need a manual look rather than a quick yes or no.
Key takeaways
- In competitive auctions (>$1 closes), the median domain sale price is $98 and the average is $322 (trailing 28 days); counting $1 closeout pickups, the all-sales median is $1.
- Only 1.7% of ended domain auctions receive any bid at all (~560,266 auctions end per week).
- Among 1,176,494 enriched auction domains classified from available evidence, 1.9% were labeled clean and 0.3% were labeled toxic.
- The top sale of the period closed at $53,000.
How much do domains sell for?
The $2–$10 bucket is thin next to both the $1 tier and the $11–$100 bucket. One possible explanation is that once two bidders engage, prices tend to clear past single digits, but this table does not measure bidder counts. Any figure quoted as a 'typical' price should state whether it is the competitive median or the all-sales median.
- In competitive auctions (sales that closed above $1), the median winning price over the last 28 days was $98, the average was $322, the 90th percentile was $660, and the top close was $53,000.
- Counting EVERY sale, the median collapses to $1 — because 23,557 of 38,929 sales (60.5%) are $1 closeout pickups, GoDaddy's clearance tier for auctions nobody bid on. Any "average domain price" figure that ignores this split is misleading.
| Price band | Sales (28 days) | Share of sales |
|---|---|---|
| $1 | 23,557 | 60.5% |
| $2 – $10 | 935 | 2.4% |
| $11 – $100 | 6,909 | 17.7% |
| $101 – $1,000 | 6,571 | 16.9% |
| $1,001 – $10,000 | 925 | 2.4% |
| Over $10,000 | 32 | 0.1% |
What percentage of domain auctions end in a sale?
The sell-through count (auctions with at least one bid) is slightly higher than the number of sales in the price distribution, and $1 closeouts are described as auctions nobody bid on. Readers should check how the two definitions line up before treating the bid rate as a rate of competitive demand. The share with genuine bidding competition may be narrower than the headline rate.
- Of 2,241,065 auctions that ended in the last 28 days (~560,266/week), 39,067 received at least one bid — a 1.7% sell-through rate. The overwhelming majority of expiring domains attract no bidder at all.
- 841,061 auctions are live right now.
How many expired domains are spam?
The classified pool is roughly half the number of auctions that ended in the window, so these labels describe enriched domains, not every expiring name. With caution as the dominant outcome, a label alone rarely settles a purchase. Pulling the referring-domain anchors and archive snapshots yourself is the step that separates a usable caution domain from a risky one.
- CatchSEO's AI has classified 1,176,494 enriched auction domains using available backlink, archive, and traffic evidence. 22,829 (1.9%) were labeled clean; this is a screening result, not independent verification or a guarantee.
- 1,073,726 (91.3%) were labeled caution and 3,786 (0.3%) were labeled toxic after the classifier evaluated signals such as pharma/casino anchors and PBN patterns.
What kinds of domains are at auction?
Every category shows a $1 median price and a median DR between 1 and 3, so at the median, category does not differentiate price or authority. Any pricing differences between niches would sit in the upper tail, which this table does not break out. Buyers comparing niches should filter to closes above $1 within a category rather than rely on these medians.
| Category | Domains | Share | Median DR | Median price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Services | 209,456 | 22.8% | 2 | $1 |
| Generic / Brandable | 113,816 | 12.4% | 1 | $1 |
| Tech & Software | 87,676 | 9.6% | 3 | $1 |
| Health & Medical | 80,237 | 8.7% | 2 | $1 |
| Fashion & Beauty | 71,103 | 7.7% | 2 | $1 |
| Food & Drink | 63,194 | 6.9% | 2 | $1 |
| Entertainment & Media | 62,065 | 6.8% | 2 | $1 |
| Home & Garden | 61,304 | 6.7% | 1 | $1 |
| Finance & Insurance | 47,803 | 5.2% | 2 | $1 |
| Travel & Tourism | 45,523 | 5.0% | 2 | $1 |
| Real Estate | 42,974 | 4.7% | 1 | $1 |
| Sports & Fitness | 32,416 | 3.5% | 2 | $1 |
Takeaway
Before bidding on any name, start with its classifier label and treat it as a screening signal, not a verdict. Next, review the domain's backlink anchors for pharma, casino, or network patterns. Then check archive snapshots for prior use that conflicts with your plans. Finally, compare your target against recent above-$1 closes in the same category. If those checks raise questions, the large share of auctions ending with no bid means passing on a name carries little cost.
Methodology & data notes
These statistics are computed directly from CatchSEO's auction database: 2,241,065 auctions that ended in the trailing 28 days (last refreshed November 2–8, 2026), plus the full corpus of 1,176,494 AI-classified domains and 841,061 live auctions.
"Sold" means an auction ended with at least one bid; prices are final listed auction prices in USD. Spam-risk labels come from CatchSEO's AI classification pass over the available evidence bundle (backlink anchors, Wayback archive history, and traffic). They are screening signals, not guarantees or predictions of search-engine treatment. Every figure on this page is computed from the database and refreshed every week.
For the period-by-period picture, read the Domain Auction Report for November 2–8, 2026. Search live domain auctions, use the expired-domain resource center, or follow the expired-domain spam-checking guide.
Review the CatchSEO research methodology, browse the expired-domain resource center, search live domain auctions, or continue with the expired-domain guides.
Data snapshot 2026-11-09. Figures are computed directly from CatchSEO's auction database.