The numeric domain name 509.com sold for $106,000 on Monday at Sedo, TLD Investors reported. The amount could be considered quite significant, had it not been for one circumstance. Three years ago, the same domain changed hands for almost three times that amount, $295,000. Moreover, the buyer was apparently the same Chinese registrant that has now parted with their asset (their data is hidden by the privacy settings).
As to the reasons that prompted the owner to sell 509.com clearly at a loss, it is anybody’s guess. It is well known that numeric domain names are especially popular in China because in the Chinese tradition, each number has its own meaning and a combination of numbers can carry information that is instantly readable by the Chinese audience. Some observers believe the dramatic price drop of 509.com is a sign that the Chinese domain boom has finally passed.
