When you go to buy or sell a name, it’s important to know how much similar names have sold for. Good appraisals take these comps into consideration, but you can do this legwork yourself with two great websites that catalog domain sales data and put it all in an easily searchable database. The two sites are DNSalePrice.com and NameBio.com.

Both of them do pretty similar things, letting you select and sort on things like keyword, TLD, date and price. There are some differences, but the main functionality is pretty much the same. But, the little differences will steer you to one or the other as your primary program. For example, I prefer the interface of NameBio.com, the many extra options and the average price display for your selections. But, I found that both sites did not include some sales that the other sites included.
NameBio.com only receives sales feeds from verified sources like domain auction houses and brokers, not forums and unverified private sales, to insure accuracy. This is good to know, but a lot of business goes on privately and in forums, so you might still find the extra sales in DNSalePrice.com useful–just keep in mind some may or may not be accurate. I do know that several of my private sales showed up on DNSalePrice.com and the price was accurate. Regardless, it’s best to check both sites if you are doing serious research.

Here is an example of the differences, when looking up .cc sales for the last 6 months:

NameBio.com

RingTones.cc….5,000
Pool.cc….2,006
Flx.cc….1,000
Attorney.cc….1,000

DNSalePrices.com

Software.cc….12,500
Cash.cc….5,500
Fund.cc….4,000
Program….2,500
Lease.cc….2,500
Pool.cc….2,006
Ad.cc….1,750 (my purchase, accurate)
Bet.cc….1,500
Flex.cc….1,200
Attorney.cc….1,000 (my purchase, accurate)
Robotics.cc….1,000 (my purchase, accurate)
Tofu.cc….1,000 (my sale, accurate)

So, next time you think about spending $20-50 for a professional appraisal, try these sites first. They can provide valuable insight, providing you with negotiating ammo for whether you are buying or selling.