I had 3 different people contact me today about selling domain names in bulk and also asking about domain name brokers. So I thought I would dig around and come up with some domain name brokers and my suggestions and thoughts about selling domain names in bulk.
The vast majority of domain name brokers look mainly for "gems" to broker. Why? Because crappy domain names are just that and not worth the leg work that it takes to sell them! Every domain name is different and potential buyers may be found for a domain but it will be hard to find a broker to take on so/so domains for a couple hundred bucks.
As always, quality domain names sell and you will likely have no problem finding a broker to find the right buyer but don’t expect to have XYZcompanyNameProduct.info brokered.
Sometimes using a domain name broker is a very wise idea! They have targeted domain name buyers and they also have a general idea of prices they will pay! Contacts (buyers) are key for domain name brokers and that is something you can’t just get over night! Consider that, commission rate, contact details etc when picking a domain broker.
Here are some trusted domain name brokers that I would consider using:
MonikerBrokerage.com Moniker has a long list of domain name buyers with its past live auctions and customer database. They offer buying and selling services, so use the tabs on the site. Moniker is a very trusted domain name service with in-house escrow and domain name registrars as well as the popular domain name auction service SnapNames.com
RobSequin.com Rob is a trusted person in the domain name industry. I have never spoke to or worked with Rob myself but I am aware of him and know he is a trusted domain name broker.
Sedo.com is one of the largest domain name brokers in the industry. Sedo does have dedicated brokers but its main service is a brokerage service / market place. Listing domain names are free and buyers do search based on keywords, traffic and other factors.
Latonas.com Rick Latona offers domain brokerage by selling domains in auction on Latonas.com, in Live auction events at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
URLBrokers.co.uk Andy Kelly brokers some very nice domain names, so he should be somebody to consider if you are looking for a domain name broker.
DifferentInvestments.com Justin Godfrey has sold some great domain names! He is also a domain name buyer so you may find a buyer in him or though his selective brokerage service.
DomainConsultant.com Another very trusted service! They are a collection of domain name professionals, which includes brokerage. They are currently brokering DomainName.com
It never hurts submitting domain names to a broker because you never know what their buyer contacts are looking for but if you are looking to offload non-premium domain names, it may be hard to find a broker to sell them for you. If this is the case, I would suggest listing your domain names with Sedo.com, Afternic.com, SnapNames.com, or GoDaddy.com! On domain name forums like NamePros.com or DNF.com almost always have buyers, eBay is another spot and consider Flippa.com as well.
Selling domain names in bulk
Being honest and from what I have seen in the past. Bulk domain name sellers are looking to dump the junk and include a small amount of OK domain names to get a little interest in the lot. For a buyer, this often leads into buying a large amount of junk to get the one, two or handful of domains they really wanted. For a seller, this can be an easy way to dump the junk and may seem to be the easiest way but buyers of bulk domain name lots are hard to come by.
The reason for this is because domain names are often registered at vast amounts of registrars when you buy domains in bulk. The transfer process and simply keeping up with all the domains can become a pain.
I can understand why people like to sell in bulk, because it is easy to clean up your portfolio, you need the money etc. but If you are selling in bulk, you still need to put in some work.
I would suggest if you wish to sell in bulk, use an auction platform. This would include an open style site that you can add a great deal of info that bidders can easily see. eBay, Flippa, Latonas may be the 3 best places to do this. Domain forums are another good place but most buyers will want to pick out domains they like and not want the whole lot!
Be sure to include ANY stats with domain names that have traffic, age, links, parking revenue, sites etc. Including expire dates and domain registrars for each domain I think is important.
Promote the lot! Domain forums, advertising on domain blogs, adwords, social networking sites etc!
Each bulk lot is different but the vast majority of ones I have ever seen include so many crappy domains that I wouldn’t even consider bidding. This may be a hint to break down your bulk lot into a couple bulk lots. Getting bids is important but smaller bulk lots may appeal to more bidders than one huge lot! You may want to group similar domains, domains with traffic, keywords and so on.
Pricing any domain name is pretty hard but then put them in a lot…. very hard!
I personally wouldn’t buy a domain lot with 100+ domains in it. I likely wouldn’t with 50+ . Nor would I sell a lot with that many. Why? Even if you are listing "goodies" they can often get lost in the mix. Just because you think one specific domain is "good" it doesn’t always pay to highlight that domain by bolding it, because a buyer may not like that domain but others.
The bottom line is, buying or selling domain names in bulk is risky. You see a lot more sellers of bulk lots than buyers. A bulk lot of 10 domains is totally different than 100, so each situation is a bit different and needs to be considered.
Selling Bulk Is Not Always The Best! You may also consider putting up a one page style website offering the domain name for sale. You can list the domain name for free on Sedo.com and use a buy it now style button and link it to the sales page on sedo which allows an offer or buy it now. You can also simply put up a contact type page on the domain as a website. I often find that a domain buyer will visit the domain name first to see what they find. If they land on a dead page, parking page with no way to contact you, they simply might not know the domain is for sale. Give some personal attention to some of your domains and you may be surprised.
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Rob Sequin
Jamie,
Thank you very much for the kind words. I have been in the business since 1998 and have done my share of buying, selling and brokering.
I will say that I’ve gotten to the point where I simply delete several emails a day from people asking me to evaluate or sell crappy domains.
These emails are from speculators who probably know they should let the domains drop but ask a broker to work their magic to help them sell their crappy lot.
So, some words of advice to domain owners looking to sell their domains.
1. Go ahead and send an email to domain brokers but don’t be discouraged if you don’t get a reply. If you don’t get a reply, it’s a kind way of saying either “I can’t help you” or “Let your domains drop”.
2. Try selling to end users. I posted my selling to end users process at my website. Invest some time to see if an end user would be interested. Be realistic with your pricing.
3. Try to get them in an auction but again, don’t be surprised if you don’t hear back from the auction company.
4. Drop them or be patient. If you just hand regged a hundred domains last year, you’ll have to wait at least a couple years to any of them to have any potential value. If you hand regged a domain in the past couple years, it is worth less than $500 at the most and that’s if you’re lucky. Be patient because you’ll get the best price when a potential buyer contacts you.
THEN a broker can help you get the most money for your domain due to their experience with negotiations.
Most brokers will be happy to work with you for a small fee/commission after you have been contacted.
Jamie Zoch
Thank you for stopping by Rob and adding in the extra great advice!
Mike F
Excellent piece Jamie
Steve Jones
Thanks for the broker list Jaime.
Regarding bulk sales, there’s a couple ways to look at it – there are people that have a bunch of domains and will ONLY sell the whole lot of them, which is what you were talking about and for the most part I’d agree with your assessment.
Then there are sellers whose goal is to sell in volume but they do both individual sales of names and give good discounts for bulk purchases. That’s what I do and I think is the right way to do bulk deals, at least for domains that are worth anything. If it’s just crap left over from say bulk purchase of traffic domains that no longer have traffic (and we all know traffic names are usually utter junk without the traffic), then I could see someone doing only bulk since the WHOLE LOT is junk, but even still, I think buyers appreciate choice vs. all or nothing. Almost every time I see a whole bulk like what you describe listed somewhere, I see at least 1 person asking “would you consider selling any of them individually?” and of course if you respond to them, they expect to get the best name in the bulk for bulk price divided by # of names because they think to the seller it’s just part of the bulk, lol.
In general I think the more that domain sellers show similarity to sellers of “real world” goods, the more mainstream it’ll get. So I basically do retail and wholesale prices with discounts for bulk wholesale deals and it seems to work pretty well.
-Steve
Jamie Zoch
Thank you for the insight Steve. For sure another way of looking at bulk sales.