.DE

.de is Germany's extension, run by DENIC in Frankfurt, with more than 17 million registrations. In Germany it's the default. A German business with a .com and no .de looks like a foreign company.

It works differently from .com in ways that trip up investors. DENIC doesn't publish an expiration date, because the registration is a rolling contract between you and your registrar rather than a fixed term with the registry. And there's no redemption period. When a registrar deletes a .de, it goes into a brief transit state and is then available for anyone to register, usually within a day. The drop-catching game on .de is measured in seconds.

It's a healthy aftermarket, with Sedo's German roots giving it good coverage, but the buyer pool is German-speaking and the prices reflect that.