Was the $25k sale of Screensaver.com a great deal or a waste of money?

Yesterday the two-word .COM ScreenSaver.com sold for $25,099 on popular domain name marketplace NameJet. I’ll be honest, when I first saw this I thought, “wow, that’s a steal of a deal for such a solid domain.” Then I took a minute to think about it. Who uses screensavers?

When I first started using computers back in the mid-90’s screensavers were a must, if you didn’t use them you’d burn some stupid image or line of text onto your screen, forever. Growing up in Berkeley, the home of Berkeley Systems I was naturally a fan of After Dark.

after-dark-windows

Okay, so this software box might not ring a bell…but I can tell you that the image below will instantly ring a bell.

flying-toasters

Yes – the flying toasters. For some reason these flying toasters with toast to match took the screensaver world by storm. I had it on both Macs and PCs for years and you probably did too. CRT screens needed screensavers, it was a real thing, a genuine need.

Then came the LCD screen and the need for a screensaver disappeared. This is one of those cases where a domain name actually loses value over time. At the same time I’m sure some people still use screensavers, I’m not sure there’s a market for people actually paying for them but I’m sure some people want to see something besides a black screen on their monitor, right?

So my question is, did the buyer of Screensaver.com get a steal of a deal or is $25k a waste of money since there really is no money to be made with screensavers any more? What do you think? Comment and let your voice be heard!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton