First Tier Top-Level Domain Names: .COM domain names
Second Tier Top-Level Domains: .NET, .ORG, ccTLDs and other open, unrestricted gTLDs
Third Tier Top-Level Domains: everything that's left--restricted, branded, closed, etc.--TLDs
A check with RegistrarStats and a review of Domain Name Sales reports confirms the above--you can't argue with the market consensus as to valuations and sales!
And so, unfortunately, we have to endure for several months more, the now boring, mundane release of countless additional new gTLDs still to come (yawn), second tier and third tier. Here's an example of a new third tier TLD:
The 'Land Rush' Has Begun: Register Your .nyc Domain | Gale A. Brewer - Manhattan Borough President: "... All registrants are required to have a physical street address in New York City (with no P.O. boxes permitted)... By October 7, if nobody else has requested the same address, it's yours. If there are multiple requests for the same address, an auction will be held to determine who will own it. A successful domain name registered during Land rush will cost $30 plus $20 for each year it registers the name... We don't want the .nyc portal to become a corporate playground; it should enable local organizations and businesses to have a presence online. The bodega, the corner pizza place, the 24-hour locksmith, the family-run shoe repair service -- that's what this is about..." --great, every corner pizza joint in New York City needs its own .nyc domain name (even if it costs more than double what you would pay to register a dot COM domain name)--such a deal!