When we stumbled upon Milk.com, we were mystified. It appears to be someone’s personal website. But memorable domain names can be worth a million dollars or more. So, why is someone using this valuable internet real estate to post their resume and favorite recipes?
Back in the internet’s early days, it was easy to get a domain name. They were cheap or even free. The first people to grab them may now be holding onto assets that can sell for millions of dollars. These potential profits have attracted a unique breed of investor who buys and sells domain names, gambling on the value of everyday words.
On our latest show: What is a domain really worth? And we ask the owner of milk.com why he’s not selling — and if there’s a price that might change his mind.
Planet Money is writing a book! Sign up for updates about pre-sale special gifts and for book tour events.
Listen free: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
This episode was hosted by Alex Mayyasi and Jeff Guo. It was produced by Willa Rubin and edited by Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and engineered by James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money‘s executive producer.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-
We buy a lot of Christmas trees (Update)
*Note: This episode originally ran in 2020* ‘Tis the season for Americans to head out in droves and bring home a freshly-cut Christmas tree. But decorative evergreens don’t just magically show up on corner lots,…
-
Dollarizing Argentina
Argentina has been on a decades-long search for economic stability, but it always seems to be out of reach. High inflation has been plaguing the country and just surpassed 160% a year. Over the past…
-
How to be better at hybrid work, according to research
The research keeps coming in on remote work. New evidence suggests working from home, at least full-time, may not be as productive as we once thought. Economist Jose Maria Barrero and his co-authors have reviewed…
-
What econ says in the shadows
Economics Job Market Rumors is a website that’s half a job information Wiki, where people post about what’s going on inside economics departments, and half a discussion forum, where anyone with an internet connection can…
-
Why ’90s ads are unforgettable
Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s __________. The best part of waking up, is _______ in your cup! Got ____? If you can identify these brands based on tagline alone, it’s possible you… are…
-
The U.S. economy’s biggest superpower, explained
What if you could borrow money on the cheap and use it to pay for just about anything? The U.S. government can, and does, with U.S. Treasuries. But the market for Treasuries might be more…
-
Why do doctors still use pagers?
Remember pagers? They were huge in the 80s — these little devices that could receive short messages. Sir Mix-A-Lot even had a song about them! But then cell phones came along, and pagers more or…
-
Two food and drink indicators
Today on the show, we have two episodes from our daily podcast, The Indicator, about things we spend a lot of time thinking about this time of year: food and drink. First up, we explore…
-
Why are we so bummed about the economy?
Would you say that you and your family are better off or worse off, financially, than you were a year ago? Do you think in 12 months we’ll have good times, financially, or bad? Generally…
-
So you want to sell marijuana across state lines
In the state of Oregon, there is a glut of grass. A wealth of weed. A crisis of chronic. And, jokes aside, it’s a real problem for people who work in the cannabis industry like…