How to Sell a Domain Name: The Basics

You have a domain name that you think has some value and you're looking to sell. How would you go about doing so? Selling a domain is definitely a lot more difficult and time consuming compared to buying a domain. You have to figure out how much your domain is worth, find a buyer, handle payment, and transfer ownership. Here are basic tips to selling a domain name:

Assess the Value

You want to make sure you get what your domain is worth. There are a few things you can do to price your domain name.

• Get a professional appraisal.
• Browse domain marketplaces and get a feel for what's selling at what price. Dynadot's domain marketplace, Afternic, and Sedo are great places to start.
• Browse domain name forums and ask other users for their opinion. Many of these types of forums have appraisal sections just for this. Namepros.com and dnforum.com have active communities that can be helpful.
• Do searches of keywords related to your domains and get a feel for what advertisers are paying for PPC ads. There are various tools online to do this.
• Use Google's keyword tool to get a feel of the kind of traffic your site is getting for keywords related to your domain.
   

Finding a Buyer

Before the .com bubble burst, you could sit back and wait for buyers to come to you if you owned a good domain name. These days you need to be much more pro-active when it comes to finding a buyer.

• If your domain is hosted with us, list it in our domain marketplace.
• Use a listing service from a reputable domain marketplace. The advantage here is that they may have marketing channels that'll help make your domain more visible to potential buyers.
• Browse the above mentioned domain focused forums to find users that may be potentially interested. Many of these types of sites also have a "want" section where they list domains they want to acquire. You may already have something they want in your portfolio.
   

Using a Domain Broker

You can simplify the entire process by using a domain broker. An experienced domain broker will be able to appraise your domain, find a suitable buyer, receive top dollar, and make sure the transfer process goes smoothly. The downside of course is that you will have to share profits.

For more information, visit our domain investing guide!