Digital River legacy auction remains hot, DirectResponse.com sold for $252,500

Recently, the old domain name DirectResponse.com, which once belonged to the e-commerce software company Digital River, was sold at a high price of $252,500 in the DropCatch platform auction, which once again attracted industry attention. This result not only highlights the value of old English combination domain names, but also reflects the turmoil in the domain name market caused by Digital River's bankruptcy and liquidation.

DirectResponse.com was registered in 1995 and is a typical two-word combination domain name. It literally translates to "direct response" and is extremely versatile and has commercial potential in many industries such as marketing, e-commerce, and data analysis.

In the early years, the domain name was held by Digital River for many years and used for its business. As Digital River filed for bankruptcy in early 2025 and liquidated its assets one after another, many of its high-quality domain names flowed into the market due to non-renewal, becoming the focus of competition for registration platforms such as DropCatch.

The auction has now been completed. When you visit DirectResponse.com, the page shows "directresponse.com is coming soon", indicating that the buyer may be preparing for subsequent activation plans. Considering the high price and market adaptability of the domain name, it is possible that it will be used to build a new brand or be acquired by a large terminal.

At the same time, another digital asset, Software.net, also appeared on the DropCatch platform for the same reason and attracted widespread attention. The domain name was registered as early as 1994 and is one of Digital River's earliest online assets. The bid has approached $50,000 and is expected to exceed six figures. Well-known investor Braden Pollock (LegalBrand.com) is considered to be one of the active participants in the auction.

It is worth noting that this batch of domain names lost by Digital River have the following common characteristics: early registration time, high-quality keywords, wide market application, and are easily accepted by terminals. This also explains why they can still be sold at high prices under DropCatch's fierce registration mechanism.

Judging from the transaction results of DirectResponse.com, old domain names are still the focus of market attention. Especially in the context of corporate bankruptcy or brand integration, a large number of legacy digital assets may continue to flow into the secondary market, providing investors with a new window of opportunity.