

Ask HN: Where is the best place to sell a domain name - pelle

I'm trying to raise some working capital selling a couple of domain names (talk.org and tiqt.com).<p>Any HN'ers have experiences selling domains at auction sites? The domain name world just has such a bad smell for me as an outsider and is probably ripe for innovation.<p>But where is the best place to sell? Sedo, Afternic, SnapNames, Godaddy or any others I have missed?<p>Experiences? Pitfalls?
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chris123
Hey Pelle,

You might also check out forums, such as <http://domainstate.com> and
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=98>.

Also, <http://dnjournal.com> is worth a look, and possibly contact the guy who
writes that, Ron Jackson, and the other guy, Richard Meyer.

Funny you should mention domain names today. Just a minute ago I thinking
about them seriously, one of my names specifically,
<http://StudentLoanConsulting.com>. I know it's long, three words, yada, yada,
yada, but after reading this NYT article: ""New Plan Ties Reduced College Loan
Payments to Income": <http://bit.ly/lc4Ev> and looking at some of those Dept.
of Education websites and calculators it seemed like, damn, people are gonna
need help figuring this shit out.

Anyway, check out those sites I mentioned.

Here's another interesting domain-name related article from today: "GoDaddy
Files Patent for Method of Selling Equity in Domain Names":
<http://bit.ly/JGO4n>

-@chrisco

PS: Here's the listing I just made on dnforum:
[http://www.domainstate.com/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=1...](http://www.domainstate.com/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=100924)

~~~
pelle
So are those forum listings actually worth doing? I'm probably going to list
with sedo, so I could just add a link to sedo from the forum?

I saw the Godaddy patent news. They beat me to it, I was thinking of something
like that myself. It will be interesting to see what they do with it.

~~~
chris123
Good question on the forum listings, I don't know. The DomainState Forum is
free, however, so the cost is just a few minutes of time.

RE GoDaddy patent thing. Yes, interesting. Can they get a patent on that? I
guess maybe if the process is new, unique, non-obvious, etc. They have a
Premium Domain name feature on their site, which let's owners of domain names
offer them for sale through GoDaddy, but the commission is real high. If you
go that route, GoDaddy promotes the name when someone searches for it or a
similar name.

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jacquesm
moniker ?

Pitfalls ? Yes, you could get a lot less than what you need.

The best way to sell a domain is to have someone that wants it when you have
it, an auction is only successful if there are multiple people that want it so
it is better to go for the auctions that are well published and that have sold
domains like yours for good money in the past.

Another thing to watch out for, make sure you use an escrow service that has a
good reputation or a tame lawyer to handle the transaction if it is a lot of
money. The fees will be small relative to the amount and you'll be sure to
receive the money.

The procedure is:

Buyer places money in 3rd party account of escrow holder (someone both you and
the buyer trust).

Seller receives notification from escrow holder.

Seller transfers domain to buyer.

Upon being presented with proof the escrow holder releases the funds to the
seller.

There are minor variations on this but in general that's how it goes.

Another things to watch out for: Never ever use an escrow service that a
potential buyer comes up with, there are plenty of cases out there where the
buyer was in cahoots with the escrow service. Better no deal than a bad deal.

~~~
pelle
I did notice that most of the auctions are pretty dead on the various sites. I
guess being part of one of their auction events is the only way of coming out
ahead with an auction.

I hear you on the escrows. Seems like very good advice.

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serkan
The best place to sell domain names online, in my opinion, is
http:/sell.your.name

The website is designed for only domain name auctions and the best part is for
a limited of time, there is no listing fee and no final value fee.

They are doing very secure domain name transfers between buyer and seller with
their subsidiary http:/register.your.name

I would give it a chance at least list my domain name up for auction there.
They know what they are doing. 7/24 email support is great.

I have tried all major domain auction websites but they are all looking to
earn more. http:/sell.your.name is the cheapest one besides it is the most
secure one.

You also have the option to sell your domain name without having to park your
domain name. You can also park if you like.

Best .

~~~
il
Well, you don't look like a shill at all.

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bgnm2000
I've sold domains for $1K+ on Sedo - I liked their service a lot

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hellweaver666
There's some real hardcore domainers online at www.acorndomains.co.uk they
have their own for sale section. You may get some action there...

