Finding the best places to sell domain names is an essential step in your domain investing career. And in this day and age, it seems as though there are an endless amount of possible places to list your domains for sale, and that can be daunting if you are just starting out.
I have spent countless hours researching, testing, and trying out different places to sell my domain names. I have narrowed it down to this list of best places to sell domains names. But first I want to cover all the different types of domain name listings you can have (and should have):
- Offer/Counter Offer listing: The offer/counter offer listing is perhaps my favorite way to list a domain name for sale on a platform. The offer/counter offer format creates a listing that will only allow potential buyers the ability to make you an offer. And better yet? You get to set a minimum offer amount, so you will never waste your time with low ball offers. This type of listing is my preferred method as it doesn’t pose the threat of double selling your domain name by having it listed as a buy now simultaneously on multiple platforms.
- Offer/Counter Offer/Buy Now listing: Similar to the offer/counter offer listing, except here you also have the option to add a buy it now button to reel in those impulse buyers.
- Buy Now Only: Buy now only is a great feature and it allows you to tap into the psyche of the impulsive buyers. I have “fallen” for this many times! It creates a listing with only a buy now button. Make sure that you place only ONE buy now listing for your domain name. If you list it on multiple marketplaces with a buy now, and they both sell (yes, that can happen) you can be in a lot of trouble, get your account banned or worse, get sued.
- Landing Page/Parking Page: If you haven’t setup a landing page for your domain name, you need to do this as soon as possible. If someone types your domain name into their browser and the domain name has a landing page, you will make a good impression. Ensure that you have a proper contact form, an excellent logo, and you can even add a listing description. If you impress them enough, they will reach out to you and attempt to negotiate a deal to acquire the domain name. There are also Parking Pages, which are similar, except they allow you to monetize your traffic by way of CPC advertising.
- Forum Listing: A lot of transactions take place every day on domain name forums, and it would be foolish not to have at least one thread listing your domain name for sale. Again, you do not want to limit yourself to one place, the more eyes that fall on your listings, the more potential to sell the domain name.
- Auctions: This one is straight forward as auctions are the best way to sell your domain name quickly. Assuming you are brave enough to list it at no-reserve (which out-perform reserve auctions) then you are guaranteed a domain sale. When all else fails or if you need to liquidate your domain name, put it up at auction.
- Brokerage: Much like the inbound brokerage listings that I offer, some brokers will allow you to list your domain name with them on a non-exclusive agreement. And if an inquiry comes in through their site, they handle the sale for you. This form of listing will allow you another outlet to garner interest for your domain names.
Best Places to Sell Domain Names
Marketplaces
Did you know that most people only list their domain names on one or two marketplaces? Why would you limit yourself like that? What if the perfect buyer for your domain name is browsing a marketplace, and your domain name isn’t on it? The more places your domain name is listed, the more eyes will come across the domain name, and more opportunities to make a sale will occur. The following marketplaces are a must when it comes to listing your domain names for sale. There are more marketplaces than I have displayed here. However, these are the ones that I’ve had the most experience with and the ones that have worked best for me. I have listed them in alphabetical order:
Afternic
Afternic is dubbed as one of the largest domain marketplaces on the web. Once you have listed your domain with Afternic, will gain worldwide distribution to over 100+ resellers. With fast transfer capabilities and over 75 million qualified domain searches each month, it would be foolish not to have your domain names listed for sale on their network. As of this post, Afternic offers the following ways to list your domain names for sale:
- Offer/Counter Offer
- Offer/Counter Offer/Buy Now
- Buy Now Only
- Parking Pages
BrandBucket
BrandBucket offers you one way to list your domain names, but don’t let that fool you, their market does very well. They have a unique approach to domain name listings. It is quite an exclusive marketplace (which is a great thing) as they require that your domain name goes through an approval process before becoming an active listing.
The best part about BrandBucket is that they do all the work for you. They have logo designers create logos for your listing that make them pop, professional writers that write short but useful listing descriptions, and they even price the domain names for you. It is truly hands off, as they do it all for you. The “only” caveat is that listings cost $10 (peanuts), and you can only have your domain name listed at BrandBucket. Aside from that, if you have some brand-worthy domain names, this is the marketplace for you.
Flippa
Flippa offers a multitude of listing options. From their lively domain auctions with one-of-a-kind listing description capabilities to their new landing pages and domain portfolio manager, you can find just about every way to sell your domain names on their platform. Having catapulted my career from the use of their marketplace, I have to say, I am their biggest fan. As of this post, Flippa offers the following ways to list your domain names for sale:
- Offer/Counter Offer
- Offer/Counter Offer/Buy Now
- Buy Now Only
- Landing Pages
- Auctions
GoDaddy
GoDaddy offers a variety of ways to list your domain names. From their premium domain name listings to their 7-day auctions, you can find just about every way to sell your domain names on their platform. They require a $4.99/year auction membership, but that is peanuts compared to all the names you can sell (and buy) with your membership. As of this post, GoDaddy offers the following ways to list your domain names for sale:
- Offer/Counter Offer
- Offer/Counter Offer/Buy Now
- Buy Now Only
- Parking Pages
- Auctions
NameJet
NameJet offers only one way to sell your domain name, at auction. Do not let that fool you though, their marketplace is very powerful. From their pre-release auction marketplace along with a drop-catching system, they are one of the top places to sell your domain names at auction. As a frequent buyer of domain names on NameJet, I can tell you that the sellers get a significant amount of action on their listings.
Sedo
Sedo offers plentiful ways to sell your domain names. From their parking pages to their daily auctions. They also have a very large user base, and a lot of sales happen every single day on Sedo. It is one of my favorite marketplaces to list my domain names, and having just recently sold some on their platform, I am very impressed! As of this post, Sedo offers the following ways to list your domain names for sale:
- Offer/Counter Offer
- Buy Now Only
- Parking Pages
- Auctions
NamePros Forum
There is only a handful of forums in the domain name industry, and only one of them stands out, NamePros. They are the largest domain industry forum in the entire business. There is a lively community, and there are many different sections of the site that you can list your domain name for sale. As of this thread, these are the available sections on NamePros that you can sell your domain:
- Top Domains
- Domain Auctions
- Fixed Price
- Make an Offer
- Liquid Domains
- Numeric Domains
- Traffic Domains
- Bargain Bin
- Creative: Finance, Lease, Trade
- New Generic Top Level Domains
- Country Code Top Level Domains
- Internationalized Domain Names
As you can probably tell, there is no shortage of places on NamePros that you can list your domain name. Having sold numerous domain name through their forum, and on top of everything else the site offers, I am a fan.
Landing Pages/Parking Pages
There are numerous companies offerings landing and parking pages. Personally, I’m not too familiar with parking pages outside of the fact that some people make a living from parking revenue alone! So if you have a big portfolio that garners a lot of quality traffic, parking pages may be the way to go for you. I don’t use them. I use instead landing pages. That does not mean parking pages are a bad thing, quite the opposite, this is just my personal preference. Landing pages offer you a unique way to present your domain name for sale. You can create an infinite amount of designs, color schemes, patterns, whatever you can think of to make the landing page pop. Being that I don’t use parking pages and don’t know enough of about them (if you do, feel free to fill us all in by leaving a comment here) I will stick to what I know, landing pages.
DNPages
As of this post, DNPages is under development. I have personally had a chance to look through the backend of their system, along with testing out their landing pages. I have to say, it’s a unique approach to landing pages! I’ve very excited to see the full product when it launches.
DomainNameSales
DomainNameSales is an efficient domain name management system. I’ve had the pleasure of using their system and making sales through their platform on numerous occasions. I am a fan. They also offer you the ability to have their in-house domain brokers field all of your inquiries! On top of all the features you get access to by utilizing their system, they are definitely on the top of my list for landing pages. As of this post, they offer the following ways to sell your domain names:
- Landing Pages
- Parking Pages
- Inbound Domain Name Brokerage
Efty
Efty is a great domain name management system. They offer a very in-depth, and forward thinking approach to domain management. On top of the numerous features you get, you also gain access to their landing page system. They are definitely at the top of the list for management systems that you need to check out. The landing pages are just a big bonus to the great features you already get!
Domain Name Brokers
Domain name brokers are by far one of the best ways to sell your domain names. It’s what they do day in and day out. If your car broke down, would you let your cousin who only works on cars once a year attempt to fix it? Or would you hire a professional mechanic that works on cars every day? Now apply that to domain name brokers!
There are numerous, phenomenal domain name brokers in the industry. Here is a list of all of the domain name brokers/brokerages that I have personally worked with (if you have any more brokers that you have personally worked with, please add to this list in the comments section here):
In alphabetical order:
Andrew Rosener | MediaOptions.com
David Clements | Brannans.com
Domain Holdings | DomainHoldings.com
John Daly | NameConnect.com
Ryan Colby | OutcomeBrokerage.com
And of course, what kind of writer would I be without the infamous shameless plug of my own domain name brokerage service.
In Summary
As I have mentioned, this post is strictly my personal, unbiased opinion of the services that I have had a personal experience using. There are numerous different paths you can take; these are merely my recommendations. My advice to you is to explore every possible form of selling your domain names so that you too can gain your experience. Everyone has their preferences, but as a whole, your domain name has to be visible for it to be sold. Sitting around waiting for someone to contact you from your Whois information is not optimal. From there, you can learn what works best for you!
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