Where to sell a domain

[mbabuskov]

Hi,

I have a domain name that I do not wish to use anymore (I re-branded the site about a year ago), so I'm exploring whether I could earn some money selling it. The domain/site is two years old.

Is there some market for such domains/sites?

Thanks.

[edited by: Webwork at 12:39 pm (utc) on Jun 29, 2011]
[edit reason] T.M.I. -> Charter prohibits "questions" that are likely to serve as solicitations [/edit]

[KJBweb]

It depends on the domain name itself I suppose, though also the type and reputation around the company/service it used to represent will also affect its value.

With the recent algorithm updates, I doubt PR alone would get you high up the listings.

[Webwork]

There are 100s of websites where you can list a website for sale (forums, free classifieds, online marketplaces, etc.).

I think most well qualified buyers would be interested in the unique quality of the site's infrastructure (code, graphics, etc.), the unique quality of the content, and the quality and authenticity/durability of the inbound links. Pagerank, in the absence of at least 2 out of the 3 factors I mentioned, is "vaporware": the product of purchased links, homepage toolbar PR only (no internal high PR pages), etc.

The market for quality is very small, as it's pricey. The market for junk is vast and everywhere. If you have a quality site I'm fairly certain the inquiries will "come to you", especially if there is any indication on the site itself that you are looking to . . move on.

[mbabuskov]

I really do not want to sell the website contents. As I wrote I moved it to another domain about a year ago.

My question is Where to sell a domain, not Where to sell a website. If you believe I cannot just sell a domain than say so, but please don't change my question because answers I will get would be useless. Thanks.

[edited by: Webwork at 12:48 pm (utc) on Jun 29, 2011]
[edit reason] See comment above [/edit]

[Webwork]

If your question is really about selling "a domain" then you needn't discuss PR, links or anything other than the domain name itself. When you first posted you specifically mentioned the "site's" PR. Domains don't have PR. So it appears you think the value is in the "site attributes".

There are 100s of places to sell domains and sites, but most sites and domains don't sell, or they sell for a trifle, because they're junk and market if flooded with junk. If Sedo, which lists millions of domains, sells 1% of their inventory in a year they consider that a success - and no wonder why: they don't bear the costs of the inventory. Any store that only turns over 1% of its inventory in a year quickly would go bankrupt.

Good domains sell themselves. You can list them all over the place but that won't sell the site/domain.

To find places search for "sell domain", "domain aftermarket", "domain forum", "websites for sale", "sell website", etc. You will, as I've stated, find 100s of places to sell, but as I've stated it's a "What else you got?" world. You appear to think the value isn't in the domain but in the domain associated PR so find places where people buy sites with PR, traffic from domains that have links, etc. - NOT JUST DOMAINS.

[mbabuskov]

As you wrote: good domains sell themselves. What makes you think my domain is not good? What if I wanted to sell something like webmaster.com or a similar domain name? Would I be able to do so without having a website behind it? I think I would.

As you wrote, there are 100s of places where I could offer it, and this is the reason I started this thread to get some recommendation. I have never sold a domain name and do not want to get screwed in some way, so I'm investigating what are reliable websites/services that do this. I was hoping that some people who are experienced in domain name selling might be here and help. So far only you have given me Sedo, which seems like a good place to start, so thank you for that.

P.S. It seems to me that you are overdoing the "forum protection" here a little bit and thus preventing and useful information exchange. Or is this forum really a place where you're only meant to talk "in the sleeve" without any real facts being exchanged?

P.P.S. Sorry for my English, I'm not a native speaker, so maybe some words do not represent my thoughts exactly.

[Webwork]

One man's "useful information" is another man's "marketing material" - which is why we don't permit specific domains, website stats, etc. When you - or anyone else - starts a thread with a title such as "Where to sell PR# Domain" that's as good as any advertisement. Ergo, the edits.

So far as getting "screwed in some way" isn't that nothing more than "getting paid"? So you don't transfer anything until you are certain "the money is in the bank". Use Escrow.com if you want something as close as you can get to certainty.

So far as ~safe places - nowhere is "safe". It always gets down to individuals who are out to defraud and that can happen anywhere, including Sedo. In fact, the better the scammer the harder it is to tell. Plenty of deals have been initiated but never consumated at ALL the "best/~safest" venues. Why? Probably because the buyer didn't actually have the money or never really intended to deliver the money. So, use Escrow.com. Forget "is this a safe venue" and use a well respected and proven escrow service = Escrow.com.

Your English is pretty good, as is your intelligence in my estimation. The Domain Forum Charter is written in pretty plain English. It makes it fairly clear what we do and why. Whinging/lamenting about "forum protection" - when there are literally 100s of other venues where "real facts" can be posted in detail - is superfluous.

Where to sell? Afternic and Sedo are the big venues, but there your domain will sit with the 10 million other domains, unless there's something real and inherently special about the domain itself.

You want to sell a domain "for its PR" then try "all the other forums" - ALL of them - but use Escrow.com to secure your payment.

This is as good an answer as you will get anywhere, from anyone. Blunt. Concise. Direct. Accurate. Pretty well informed advice IMHO. Advice you can take it to the bank.

When you get down to "doing business" that's as good as it gets in my book.

[mbabuskov]

Excellent, that's is what I was looking for, especially about the escrow service. Thanks.