How to Sell a Domain Name

05/10/2016 // Domaining // Rene Anthony

For one reason or another, sometimes businesses or domainers decide to part ways with their domain. Perhaps you’ve found the right buyer? Maybe the domain wasn’t generating the right leads for your business? Or possibly, that speculative purchase you took a risk on isn’t quite materializing and you want to cut your losses. Whatever the reason, selling your domain can be done several ways and is actually quite a straightforward process.

First of all, one can elect to sell their domain name through a registrar’s trading platform. This is a service Netfleet have offered for an extensive period of time and we’ve sold tens of thousands of domains to date. Owners can elect to sell their domain for a fixed price via our catalogue listing, which is effectively like placing an ad for your domain. Prospective buyers can make offers and negotiate with the advertiser, however, if no deal is reached the listing remains active. Conversely, there is also the option to list your domain through our daily auctions, either with or without a reserve price.

If the prospect of selling through a domain name platform does not appeal to you, there are alternatives. A registrant can elect to engage a domain name broker who will advertise the name on behalf of their client. This strategy is more suited to premium domains where the broker will target prospective customers. Said customers are often high-value domainers, or medium to large businesses who would directly benefit from owning the name.

The other option is to consider a private transaction. Private transactions may still take place through marketplaces like eBay. Funnily enough, the second highest selling Australian domain name, carinsurance.com.au, was actually auctioned through eBay. The result? It was sold for $250,000! Alternatively, private transactions may take place between two individuals. This is quite common among domainers where proactive investors either know what they’re looking for, or have an end user in mind before they purchase the domain. Parked domains often include references to private sales, while print marketing is also an option.

Regardless of the method chosen, both parties to the transaction will need to complete paperwork confirming the transfer of the domain name license. This paperwork is lodged with the nominated registrar who will vet the transaction with the auDA. As a result of the sale, the new registrant is granted a ‘new’ two year license to exclusively use the domain. The previous owner however, cannot claim any pro-rata value associated with the remaining length of their license.

That’s it for this occasion, stay tuned for our next educational article. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Best wishes,
The Netfleet Team

http://www.netfleet.com.au