How to Sell More Domains
How to increase your domain sales velocity - better listings, systematic outreach, and smarter portfolio decisions.
Why most domains don't sell
The average domain investor sells 1–3% of their portfolio per year. That means 97% of domains sit unsold. The reasons are usually the same: wrong domains, wrong price, or not enough exposure.
Improving your sell-through rate requires addressing all three. Here's how.
Listing optimization
- Set a buy-it-now price on everything: "Make offer" listings convert at a fraction of the rate of priced listings. Buyers don't like uncertainty. Price everything.
- List on multiple platforms: Afternic, Sedo, and Dan.com simultaneously. More exposure means more buyers. Most platforms allow this.
- Enable fast transfer: On Afternic, enabling Fast Transfer means buyers can complete the purchase instantly. Friction kills sales.
- Use a for-sale landing page: Point your domain's DNS to a landing page that shows it's for sale. Type-in visitors are warm leads.
- Write a short description: On platforms that allow it, add a brief description of who the domain is for. "Perfect for a fintech startup or payment company" helps buyers self-identify.
Outreach at scale
Passive listings work, but active outreach sells domains faster and at higher prices. Building a repeatable system beats doing one-off outreach every time.
Build a target list
For each domain, identify 5–10 companies that would benefit from owning it. Use Google, LinkedIn, and Crunchbase. Companies using the .net or .org version of your .com are prime targets.
Write a short template
Keep it to 3–4 sentences. State what you have, why it's relevant to them, and your asking price. No long pitches.
Find the right contact
Reach the CEO, CMO, or brand manager - not a generic info@ address. LinkedIn is useful for finding the right person.
Follow up once
One follow-up after 5–7 days is appropriate. After that, move on. Persistent follow-ups damage your reputation.
Track everything
Use a spreadsheet to track who you've contacted, when, and what response you got. This prevents duplicate outreach and helps you refine your approach.
Pricing strategies
- Price to sell, not to hold: A domain priced at $5,000 that sells in 6 months beats one priced at $10,000 that sits for 5 years.
- Use NameBio data: Check what comparable domains have actually sold for. Price at or slightly above the median for similar names.
- Periodic price reviews: Review your portfolio pricing every 6 months. Drop prices on domains that haven't attracted any interest.
- Tiered pricing: Your best domains can be priced higher. Your weaker domains should be priced to move quickly and free up capital.
Portfolio optimization
Selling more domains also means buying better domains. A portfolio of 20 high-quality names will outsell a portfolio of 200 mediocre ones.
- Drop the dead weight: Domains that haven't attracted any interest after 2–3 years are probably not going to sell. Drop them and reinvest in better names.
- Focus on buyer demand: Buy domains in niches where you know companies are actively spending money. Tech, finance, health, and legal are consistent performers.
- Shorter is better: Short domains sell faster and for more money. If you're choosing between a 6-letter and a 12-letter domain, the shorter one wins almost every time.
Ready to put this into practice?
Use our free tools to research, value, and find domains.