Here is a little tip and trick that I use for different services to get a "behind the scenes" look at domain name transactions. Today I will talk about the process I use to monitor domain names that are selling at Sedo.com before many people even know about them selling!
What you will need
A DomainTools.com paid membership (specifically: Registrant Alert)
Knowledge of "email" addresses used by specific companies or services
The paid membership that I use at DomainTools.com provides me with 3 "free" registrant alerts that I can follow. (In order to track something, you will first need to obtain the email address of what you wish to track.) You can add on 5 more for $9.95 a month as well but it also depends on the package you have at DT.
How it works
DomainTools.com is the only service that I am aware of that tracks "email addresses" in whois contact information and you can obtain information on domain names based on email addresses. Most companies use the same email address when they register/purchase a domain name, so when you have a "Registrant Alert" set for a specific email address and a new domain is registered, transferred in or out… you get an email about it alerting you. You can also view "history" records in your DT account for email addresses of your registrant alerts.
How to do it
For this example, I am going to use Sedo.com and the email address "transferservice@sedo.com" . OK, why this email address? Since I have used Sedo to sell domain names and I have general knowledge of what takes place when a domain name sells at Sedo, that is the email address used when a domain name sells and is transferred in.
From my knowledge, every domain name that sells at Sedo, has to be transferred into that account and that is the email address used.
By having a "Registrant Alert" set up for that email address, it easily allows me to track what is being transferred into and out (away) from that email address! Sneaky!!!
Once a domain sells and is paid for at Sedo, the seller will transfer the domain name to Sedo for the brokerage part of the transaction. Once this transfer takes place, the email "transferservice@sedo.com" is used in whois. DT notices this change and notifies you via email daily (or when there are changes) of what is positive (came in) and what is negative (what went away from that email address). Here is a screenshot of the email alert:

What to use the info for
If you write a blog like me, this can be "fresh news".
If you are a company that is smart and keeping an eye on what your competitors are doing, you can sneak at there domain registrations.
Investing and sales. Seeing a domain sell, may be similar to one you own. If you own the .com and you see the .net just sold, you have an advantage!
You can really use this data for unlimited things, because your mind is limitless to what angles you look at this kind of data.
How to find email addresses
Again, this is really going to be up to you and your creative mind! What do you want to track etc.
The best way to start, is to do a whois lookup for a domain name that you already know a specific company or service owns. Lets say BarackObama.com, which is owned by the President. Upon doing the whois lookup, you will notice that the "email search" in the whois data is "admin@barackobama.com" . If you wish to track what domain names the President is registering/buying, then you would set a registrant alert for "admin@barackobama.com". Anything that is registered, transferred in or out of that email address will be displayed in your daily registrant alert emails from DT.
Lets say you own Kimberly Clark and you want to keep an eye on what P&G is doing domain wise. Doing a whois look up for PG.com, you would see the email address "piregistrar.im@pg.com". This will allow you to track PG’s domains!
A little limited
With whois privacy, it can limit registrant alert, because email addresses are not displayed when privacy is used. People get sneaky, so if they use an email address that is not as common as the one you think they are using, you will miss those domains. So clearly there are ways around the registrant alert, but not all companies are smart enough to even know about registrant alert, or have the idea that people could track the domains they are buying or selling based on the email address used at the registrar they use!
Final thoughts
Registrant Alert from DomainTools.com is a very powerful tool and can be a huge time saver. The uses are limitless! Case in point, most people wouldn’t think of following the Sedo email address, but creative minds would! There are many email addresses that I follow that would put a smile on your face but I can’t share them all.
I hope this gets your mind thinking! It isn’t a paid post from DomainTools but it would be nice if they gave me a little love! LOL I really enjoy DomainTools and I know I couldn’t do what I do without it!
Let me know if you have any questions, suggestions or if you liked the article. I enjoy comments as it tells me that people are reading and enjoying what I share. If you didn’t like the article, I want to know that as well.
Looking for other ways to spy on company domains? Checkout my DNS method of spying! It’s free just like this article was.

