How do you sell a domain name, and where?

You sell a domain name by confirming that you control it and are free to transfer it, setting an asking price and a private floor, putting the name in front of buyers through one or more of five channels, agreeing the terms in writing, and handing the name over against payment. The five channels are a for-sale landing page on the name itself, a marketplace listing, an auction, a broker and direct outreach to likely buyers, and what separates them is who finds the buyer and what share of the price that work costs you.

The commission rates used in the calculations below are illustrative assumptions, chosen to show the mechanics. Real rates differ from one marketplace, auction venue and broker to the next and change over time, so replace them with the terms you are actually quoted.

What are the steps of a domain sale, in order?

A domain sale runs through seven steps: confirm you can sell, set the price, choose the channel, answer enquiries, agree terms in writing, hand over against payment, and close the file.

Can you actually sell this domain name?

You can sell a domain name when you are the registrant on record, you control the registrar account and its contact email, the registration is not about to lapse, no lock prevents the move, and the name does not trade on someone else's trademark.

Start with control. The registrant on record is the person or company the registrar recognises as holding the name, and it is not always the person who paid for it: names are often registered by a web agency, a former employee or a business partner. If the registrant is a company, check who has authority to sell its assets. If the name is held jointly, every co-owner has to agree to the sale and to how the price is divided.

Then check timing. A name close to its expiry date should be renewed before you list it, because a buyer will not commit to a name that may lapse during the handover, and a lapsed name can be lost altogether. Transfer locks matter too. ICANN's Transfer Policy has long allowed a registrar to refuse a move to another registrar when it is requested within 60 days of the name's creation date or within 60 days of a previous transfer, and has required a 60-day lock after a change of registrant unless the registrant opted out beforehand where the registrar offered that choice. A revision shortening these periods has been proposed, and country-code extensions follow their own registries' rules, so ask your registrar which lock applies to your name today. A locked name can still be sold: the buyer either takes it in an account at the same registrar or agrees to wait.

The last check is the one sellers skip. A generic word or phrase is yours to sell, but a name that matches or imitates a brand is exposed to a complaint under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, the procedure ICANN requires for generic extensions and that WIPO, among other providers, administers.

If a name sits in that territory, take advice from a trademark lawyer before any outreach. This is general information, not legal advice.

How do you set an asking price and a floor?

Set two numbers before listing: the asking price buyers see, and a floor, which is the lowest amount you will accept after the channel's costs. The asking price is a marketing decision; the floor is a decision about your own finances, and it is the only one that should stop a negotiation.

Valuation is a subject of its own. For the purpose of selling, what matters is that the price is consistent: the same name shown at two prices on two channels invites the buyer to take the lower one and doubt the rest.

You then choose how the price is displayed. A fixed price lets a buyer complete the purchase at once, which suits lower-priced names where speed closes deals. A make-offer listing keeps the ceiling open but starts a negotiation, which costs time and loses buyers who wanted a number. A minimum offer filters out the lowest bids while keeping room above.

Express the floor as a net figure. A floor of $20,000 in hand is a different asking price on a channel that takes a fifth of the sale than on one that takes almost nothing, as the calculations further down show.

Where can you sell a domain name?

A domain name can be sold through five channels: a for-sale landing page, a marketplace listing, an auction, a broker, or direct outreach to likely buyers. They differ on who brings the buyer, how the channel is paid, and how much of your own time the sale takes.

The channels are not exclusive by nature. A name can carry a landing page, sit on one or two marketplaces and still be offered directly, provided the terms of each allow it. Two things restrict the mix: a marketplace or broker that asks for exclusivity, and an auction, which normally requires the name to be withdrawn from sale elsewhere while bidding is open. Read those clauses before combining channels, because a sale made on one channel while another holds an exclusive can leave you owing two commissions.

When does a for-sale landing page do the job?

A for-sale landing page works when buyers already arrive at the name on their own, by typing it into a browser to see whether it is taken. For that buyer the page is the entire sales process: it says the name is available, gives a price or an offer form, and tells them how the purchase is completed.

The page is the cheapest channel and the one that leaves you most in control. You can build it yourself, use a paid page service that adds an offer form, or let a marketplace host the page, in which case the marketplace usually charges a commission when a sale comes through it.

A workable page states that the name is for sale, gives the price or minimum offer, offers a short enquiry form, and says how payment and transfer are handled. Keep it free of advertising and unrelated content, which on a name resembling a trademark can count against the holder in a dispute.

The limit of the page is reach. It only meets buyers who thought of that exact name, so a name that receives no visits will wait a long time on a landing page alone.

What does a marketplace listing add, and what does it cost?

A marketplace listing adds reach and a managed transaction: your name appears in the marketplace's own search and, on the larger ones, in the search results of partner registrars, at the moment a customer looks for a name. In exchange, the marketplace takes a commission on the sale price.

That distribution is what the commission buys. For fixed-price names, some networks can complete the transfer automatically when the name sits at a participating registrar, so the sale happens without your involvement. The marketplace also runs the payment and the handover, which removes the question of who moves first.

The costs are the commission and some loss of flexibility. Rates can vary within one marketplace according to where the buyer came from, with a higher rate for a network sale than for a sale through a page you pointed at the marketplace yourself. Check five points in the terms before listing: the commission for each sale route, any minimum commission on low-priced sales, whether listings must be exclusive, how long payouts take after the transfer, and in which currencies and to which countries the marketplace pays.

When is an auction the right channel?

An auction is the right channel when several buyers are likely to want the same name and you prefer a sale on a known date to a wait of unknown length. Competition sets the price, which helps when bidders are plentiful and works against you when they are not.

Formats range from timed online auctions of listed names to curated live sales with a catalogue selected in advance; expired-name auctions are mostly a buying channel.

The reserve price is the key setting. The reserve is the confidential minimum below which the name does not sell; a no-reserve auction attracts more bidders and accepts any outcome. Set the reserve at or above your net floor after the venue's commission, and ask whether a submission or listing fee is due even if the name fails to sell.

Auctions favour names with broad appeal to investors and resellers: short names, single dictionary words, popular categories. A name whose value lies with one end user rarely finds that buyer in a bidding room.

When is a broker worth the commission?

A broker is worth the commission when the likely buyers are companies you cannot easily reach or negotiate with, and the name is valuable enough to justify weeks of outbound work. The broker identifies the decision-makers, makes the approach, runs the negotiation and coordinates the closing, and is normally paid a percentage of the price on success.

What you buy is access and distance. A broker can reach a marketing director or a founder without revealing who owns the name or how keen the owner is to sell.

Before signing a mandate, read four clauses: whether it is exclusive and for how long, the commission rate and what amount it is calculated on, any retainer or expense charge, and the tail period, meaning the time after the mandate ends during which a sale to a buyer the broker introduced still earns the commission. How that commission is then paid out of the sale is a question for the written agreement, covered below.

Does direct outreach to buyers work?

Direct outreach works when the name has a short, identifiable list of businesses that would gain from owning it, and it costs your time instead of a commission. It is the channel with the lowest cash cost and the lowest response rate, so it rewards a narrow, well-researched list over a wide one.

Build the list from who would use the name tomorrow: companies trading under a longer or hyphenated version of the same words, companies holding the same name in another extension, businesses advertising on the exact phrase, and newly funded firms in the category.

A first message that works is short and written to a named person. It contains four elements:

• one sentence saying you own the name and are offering it for sale;
• one sentence on why it fits that company specifically;
• the price, or an invitation to make an offer by a given date;
• your name and a way to verify that you control the name, such as a for-sale page on the name itself.

Keep to the rules on commercial email that apply where you and the recipient are, which generally require an honest sender identity, an accurate subject line and a way to refuse further messages. Send one message and at most one follow-up. And return to the trademark check before writing to any company whose brand the name resembles: an unsolicited offer to a trademark owner is precisely the conduct the dispute policy describes.

How much do you keep on each channel?

On one illustrative $24,000 sale, the seller keeps between $19,200 and $23,760 depending on the channel, a gap of $4,560 that comes entirely from commission. The table below applies one assumed rate to each channel so the structure of the costs can be compared; the rates are assumptions, not quotes.

The assumptions are a 20% commission for a marketplace network sale, 9% for a sale through a page hosted by the marketplace, 15% plus a $40 listing fee at auction, 15% for a broker, a $96 yearly subscription for a self-run landing page, and a handover service costing 1% of the price, or $240, wherever the channel does not run the transaction itself and the seller bears that fee.

Read alone, the table flatters the cheap channels, because it assumes every channel finds a buyer at the same price and counts none of your hours. The useful question is what each channel has to achieve to earn its cost.

What price must each channel reach to leave you the same amount?

To leave the seller the same $23,760 as a direct sale at $24,000, a channel charging an assumed 20% must sell the name for $29,700, and a broker at 15% plus a 1% handover fee must reach $28,286. The break-even price is the net target plus any fixed fee, divided by one minus the channel's percentage costs.

The chart turns commission into a test you can apply. A broker at these rates has to obtain about 18% more than you would on your own, and the marketplace network about 24% more, before you are better off in cash. For a name whose buyers are unknown to you, or sit inside large companies that do not answer cold email, the comparison is not $28,286 against $24,000 but $28,286 against no sale, and the commission is the price of the sale existing.

The same arithmetic applies to your floor. If the lowest amount you will accept in hand is $20,000, the lowest price you can agree is about $20,202 on a direct sale with the 1% fee and $25,000 through the 20% channel.

How should you handle an enquiry?

Handle an enquiry by replying within a day, confirming what you can about the person asking, quoting the same price you show everywhere else, and keeping the whole exchange in writing. Most enquiries lead nowhere, and a short, consistent process lets you treat every one seriously without spending an hour on each.

A first reply needs three things: confirmation that the name is available, the price or a request for the buyer's offer, and how a purchase would be completed.

Offers below your floor deserve a brief, polite answer with your number, not silence, since some of them return months later. Once a price is accepted by message, stop marketing the name, withdraw other listings, and move straight to written terms.

What should the written agreement say?

A written agreement for a domain sale should state the exact name, the parties, the price and currency, who pays each fee, how and by when the name is handed over, and what the sale includes. For a low-priced name bought through a marketplace, the marketplace's own terms do this job; for a negotiated sale, a short purchase agreement of one or two pages signed by both sides is standard.

The terms worth writing down are these:

• the name, spelled exactly, and any related names sold with it;
• the legal identity of the seller and of the buyer, which may differ from the person who negotiated;
• the price, the currency, and whether any tax is included or added;
• who pays the handover or escrow fee, and any broker's commission;
• the handover method: an account change at the same registrar, or a move to the buyer's registrar;
• the deadline for payment and for transfer, and what happens if either is missed;
• what is excluded, typically any website, content, email accounts and trademarks, unless listed;
• a statement by the seller that it holds the name and knows of no dispute over it.

Where the price is shared, the agreement should also say who receives what: a broker's commission, a co-owner's part, a referrer's fee. Those shares can be paid by the seller after receiving the full amount, or divided at the moment the buyer pays. Shaka is a payment router built for the second case: each party's share is set as a percentage of the deal and can be signed by each recipient before the buyer pays, the buyer pays once, and every party is paid their share at the same moment in one transaction, without Shaka holding the funds. It divides a payment among up to 20 recipients; it is not an escrow service and does not hold money pending the transfer of the name.

How does the handover work once terms are agreed?

Once terms are agreed, the handover follows the sequence written in the agreement: the buyer pays, or places the payment with the party running the transaction, the seller moves the name, and the payment is released or confirmed. A marketplace or an escrow service can run that sequence for both sides, which is the usual choice between parties who do not know each other.

There are two ways to move the name. An account change, often called a push, moves it to the buyer's account at the same registrar and is usually completed quickly. A transfer to another registrar requires unlocking the name and giving the buyer the authorisation code; under the version of ICANN's Transfer Policy described above, the current registrar has five calendar days to respond to the request, after which the transfer is approved by default.

Afterwards, keep the agreement, the payment record and the registrar's confirmation together, remove every listing and landing page, and record the proceeds for tax purposes. How a domain sale is taxed depends on the country and on whether the name was held as a business asset or stock in trade, so that question belongs with your accountant.

How long does a sale take, and what do you do while waiting?

A domain sale can take a day or several years, because it depends on one buyer needing that exact name. Planning for a long wait is part of selling: the name has to stay renewed, findable and consistently priced for as long as it is on offer.

The cost of waiting is the renewal fee, which is small for one name and material for a portfolio. On an assumed $15 a year, a portfolio of 40 names costs $600 a year to hold, or $3,000 over five years, which is about 13% of the $23,760 kept from the one direct sale in the example. Sellers who hold many names review them at each renewal and let the weakest lapse.

While you wait, three habits keep the sale possible. Keep the registrar account's contact email working and monitored, since enquiries and transfer notices go there. Keep prices identical across the landing page and every listing, and update them all on the same day. And revisit the channel once a year: a name that has drawn no enquiry may need a lower price, an auction with a realistic reserve, or a broker's opinion on whether a buyer exists at the figure you have in mind.