How to Sell Your Domain Name: Easy Tips for Getting it Done
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“How and where can I sell a domain name?” you wonder.
Well, there was a time when buying and selling domain names was a very big business.
In the very early Wild West days of the Internet, finding premium domain name options that would be worth a lot of money in the future was much easier, if you knew where to look and knew the best place to sell your domain name.
While domain flipping isn't dead by a long shot, things have changed.
The idea of making great money buying and selling domain names without having to actually build websites, learn affiliate marketing, or build online businesses can be tempting.
However, being a domain flipper is a tough way to make passive income because it requires a lot of leg work.
Even as a side hustle, domain selling requires a lot of work, research, and a little bit of luck in making good money.
A major factor that helps determine whether you succeed or fail will be figuring out the best place to sell your domain name for your specific situation.
In this blog, I'll show you the best domain marketplace sites to sell your domain name, and provide you with easy steps to follow when selling your domain.
Contents
Sell Your Domain Name by Receiving Direct Offers
One of the easiest ways to get paid for a domain name you're not using is to receive a direct offer.
Receiving a direct offer happens when a potential buyer gets an idea for the perfect domain name for their website…and then finds out someone else owns it.
There is one crucial step to this: you can't have privacy on your WHOIS information. If you do, they have no way of contacting you.
Many people don't like having their contact information public, but you must keep your email address public so a potential buyer can contact you: the domain owner!
This is where anyone looking to buy your domain name will be able to find information to contact you and see what the asking price is.
There are a few things to keep in mind if you are receiving a direct offer:
- Always get a written contract
- Always accept payment before transferring the domain
- If you get a weird feeling about this, don't do the deal
The written contract is what stops PayPal, Stripe, or a bank from refunding your earnings, leaving you without pay and without the domain name.
This is just good business, anyway. You need to be covered legally.
The next is to confirm payment. This shouldn't be a tripping point. You don't get to take something out of a store before paying for it.
You pay, then you get the item. Same transaction setup here. You get the money into your account and then release the domain name.
If you're not tech-savvy, get someone you trust to help the transfer. This isn't hard at all in most cases, but it can vary a bit depending on who you bought the domain name from.
Once you receive payment, get the ball rolling to make the domain transfer as quickly as possible.
This is a two to four-step process in most cases, so be sure to follow through so everyone is happy at the end.
6 Marketplaces to Sell Domain Names
If you're not dealing with a large number of potential buyers knocking on your door, then it's time to look at your next best option: the domain market.
These are places that are actually designed for the buying and selling domain names.
If you're looking to sell domain names, this is often the best option for turning a domain name into cash. This is where you can find a prospective buyer and every kind of domain broker.
GoDaddy Auction
A GoDaddy Auction site is one of the best domain marketplaces where you can buy or sell your domain name.
Listing domains for auction allows them to be open up for bidding but you are allowed to set a minimum price, as well.
Some of the benefits of going through GoDaddy are:
- They're one of the most popular domain registrars, meaning you can do your domain registration through them
- The name recognition of their Auction services
- Their bidder verification process to help protect everyone in the transaction and minimize fraud
- Their famous customer support team backing them up if anything does go wrong
You may also have the ability to list a domain name as a “Premium Domain Name.” These are domain names where the listing fee is obvious.
Ninety-nine percent of the time, any name falling under this umbrella was likely bought by a company or domaineer years ago, but sometimes one slips through.
High prices can set for these with the option of being open for negotiation on the price.
If you go this route, keep in mind that the specialists at GoDaddy will have a say in determining the domain's value of your domain as it gets listed and goes up for sale (learn more in our guide to GoDaddy domain appraisals).
To participate in GoDaddy Auctions you do need to buy a membership, which is $4.99 a year.
Sedo
Sedo is one of the most popular domain marketplaces for selling domain names you're not using.
The Sedo domain marketplace really emphasizes the selling domain names and giving domain sellers as many options as possible (you may be interested to learn more in our Sedo vs Flippa comparison).
You can do the selling via an online marketplace auction, direct auction, and direct offers. Or, if you have a high value domain, you can even consider their broker services.
This versatility means you have plenty of options.
Domain sellers seem to like how Sedo allows them to set up a domain for auction as soon as a potential buyer posts in the “Make Offer” section.
The domain can be sold for that price or the seller can choose to put it up for auction with that offered price as the minimum bid.
This opens up the possibility of getting into a bidding war to get a higher price for your domain.
Flippa
Flippa is known for selling a wide number of online properties. Selling online businesses, long-established websites, and even selling domain names.
Buyers can split up their search by price, age, domain extension, or ending time.
While this is a positive buying feature, it also helps sellers by encouraging a large number of potential buyers who like these tools to use Flippa over other sites.
Because of the large number of already established domains or created sites, it can be a bit more difficult to stick out. Especially if your domain names aren't overly special.
However, with the large traffic numbers and reputation for selling online assets, there's no denying Flippa's place as a potential best option for selling any domain names you have sitting around.
Afternic
Afternic is one of the top marketplaces to make a .
They are a domain marketplace focusing on making the buying and selling experience as smooth as possible.
Especially for selling premium domains and new domain listings.
This is a site that has a lot of action going on and does a great job of rotating which domains are on the landing page of the site.
Afternic is free to join and they do a great job of making sure listings on their site are also picked up by other sites and forums that sell domain names.
This allows them to throw a wide net. Their sales page brags of the “highest average sale” in the industry — but this would be hard to prove.
However, Afternic is considered to be the world's largest domain marketplace and the free listing is a great bonus.
NameCheap Marketplace
NameCheap is giving GoDaddy a run for its money.
They are set up to sell a wide variety of new online services. Because of this, they don't always jump into your mind as a great place to sell an owned domain name.
However, that write-off would be a major mistake!
The NameCheap Marketplace is a great option for selling a domain name, because you can group many together by category and price.
This makes it much easier to find niche-specific names, which are often the domain names still available that have a high demand.
The NameCheap Marketplace's reputation continues to grow as a fantastic option for both buyers and sellers.
As this reputation grows, the results you get from selling domain names on this platform will only continue to grow.
eBay Marketplace
Everyone is familiar with eBay. However, many are surprised to learn that eBay is a very good place to sell your domain names.
The domain name services of the eBay marketplace is another option for you to list your domain as a seller.
In fact, many domain owners looking to find an interested buyer for their domains list them for sale on eBay.
Minimum bids are allowed, and while this option isn't solely focused on a domain sale, it is a place where you can get some interesting attention from buyers looking for a deal.
Online Domain Forums
Aside from the major domain marketplaces, there are a couple of forums that have sections known for domain buying and selling.
These would be the NamePros Forums and the DNForum.
These can both also be excellent options when it comes to finding a motivated buyer for domain names that you want to sell for a profit.
NamePros Forums
NamePros Forums are all about the domain names. Millions of people come here to buy and sell domains.
You can find discussions on every topic under the sun related to domain names.
There are sections for buying and selling domains, as well as getting appraisals.
You tend to have a large group of smart buyers here, but if you have a domain name that really does have a lot to offer then you are likely to find some serious buyers right there.
DNForum
The top four forums in the Marketplace in DNForum are:
- “Offers Wanted”
- “Fixed Price”
- “ccTLD and gTLD”
- “Domains and Services Wanted”
In other words, there is absolutely no shortage of domain buyers at this location.
This is a great place to learn about domains in detail and get more confidence before selling to a knowledgeable audience.
Beware of New TLD Promises
Every time new TLD extensions are released, there tends to be a feeding frenzy of buying new domain names.
TLD refers to the back part of the web address like .com, .net, or .org.
While there are often going to be some winners with every new batch, many people drastically overestimate how much a new TLD domain's worth will actually be worth.
This is a case of since there are so many different extensions now, they're really worth less and less. After so much time, the .com is the gold standard with some sites cutting out a .net or .org reputation.
Although even those last two are far less common now than they were even ten or fifteen years ago.
Most people don't care about owning a domain name of their brand with .xyz or .increasinglyobscurelocation.
Unless you have dibs on a really unusual one that you know there might be interest in, it's best to stay away from these. There's way more hype with these than there is actual value to follow up.
Why Domain Value Tools Are Wrong
The worst tools out there are the “domain value tools.”
These estimate the domain valuation of your domain name using keywords and some equation that never gets released to the public.
These are generally offered from anyone who sells domain names like GoDaddy.
The trouble is these tools are almost always completely wrong.
For one thing, you'll find that even ridiculous domain names will often be evaluated by these tools as being worth several hundred dollars.
This brings up a really interesting common-sense question...
If all these domain names you're buying are worth hundreds of dollars, why are they all available for $15 a year? Or less, depending on the sale price.
A domain name is worth what someone will pay for it. Period.
These companies have a financial interest in claiming high values, but it's like the old baseball card guides that said all “common” cards were worth a nickel.
Except that no one ever wanted the common cards, so in reality, they weren't worth anything.
Don't trust these tools at all. They don't even work for general guidance.
Sell Your Domain Name: 7 Easy Steps for Success
The process of selling your domain name is going to go through several pretty basic and standard steps.
Sometimes a marketplace acting as escrow will handle this. But sometimes you need to handle these directly.
That being said, the steps don't change no matter what platforms you use.
Step 1: Decide to Sell
This is sort of an obvious one, but it is the starting point. Look at what domain names you want to sell.
Also, consider which ones in your domain portfolio you might be able to sell.
Step 2: Choose a Marketplace
Sometimes listing at one place means your domain auction will be listed at other places, as well.
Other options want the auction listing to only be there.
You need to decide where you want your domain to be auctioned or listed. You might end up choosing multiple areas, which often can be an effective way to get the most eyes on your sale.
Step 3: Set a Price
This can be a tough spot. You want a realistic price but you don't want to undersell yourself, either.
Domain value tools tend to be useless however if the site offers free appraisal from actual people that might be worth a look.
Step 4: Create the Best Possible Listing
This is crucial. Point out what makes your domain name stand out. Point out any history the name has that might help.
Set up your domain name for success using whatever tools at your disposal depending on where you list this. Have at least a basic graphic to catch the eye.
Step 5: Have a Safe Payment Setup (Escrow Service)
Make sure you are protected. That means having the payment setup so it can't be pulled from you after the transfer.
Most of these platforms will serve as an escrow service for the protection of both parties. This is generally the ideal solution.
Step 6: Make the Sale
Once an interested party purchases the domain there usually isn't an extra step, but sometimes you will need to approve of the price.
If you're being made a counter-offer to the list price this might be a necessary step.
Step 7: Transfer the Domain
Transferring domain ownership is always the last step. Payment should be in escrow or in hand before you even start the transfer process.
Then pay attention to the process. This is simple but it often involves a little bit of back and forth before it is finished.
Then once this is done enjoy your money!
Conclusion
There is still plenty of potential when it comes to making money selling domain names.
That being said, make sure you set realistic expectations. Selling domain names can be an interesting side hustle. If you are looking to quickly buy and sell domain names, check out our flipping domains article.
In some rare cases, there are big paydays left.
Learn the ins and outs of how domain investing works, get some experience, and before long you'll develop an expert's eyes for which domain names have serious potential and which ones do not!
If you are interested in flipping websites, we've also got an article on that subject as well.
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