In general, domain investors will purchase two types of domains: domain which aren’t yet registered, and domain names to which other people have already laid claim on. Domains in the latter are considered to be on the domain name “aftermarket.” It’s easy to go out and register domains that no one has thought to register yet or have recently dropped. But what about buying those coveted aftermarket domains? These can be much harder to acquire. It often involves contacting the owners to see if they are willing to sell and then going through lots of negotiation. Overall, it’s a time-consuming process that rarely results in a purchase. Thankfully, there are some marketplaces that specialize in domainer-to-domainer sales. These marketplaces enable investors to buy domains from other investors at prices lower than what the sellers would want from an end-user. Here are three marketplaces where you can buy domains at wholesale prices with an eye to selling them to end users at higher prices.
Domain Name Wholesale Exchange – DNWE is a marketplace where domain investors offer their domain names to other investors at prices lower than they would sell them to end users. Sellers keep their domains listed at higher prices on end user marketplaces (such as Sedo or Afternic), but offer them at the lower price on DNWE. Domain owners can list their domains in both a curated and non-curated market. Domains in the curated market must pass DNWE’s review process; domains in the non-curated market don’t have listing criteria. Buyers are able to sort domain names based on registration date, domain extension, and several other parameters. They can also export a list of domains to a .csv file to run an analysis using third-party tools. Users can search the marketplace for new domains, and DNWE will also send alerts when domain names that meet a buyer’s criteria are listed in the curated marketplace. Instead of paying commissions, buyers and sellers pay a subscription fee to participate. Buyers also pay a small escrow fee when they buy domains. This means that domain investors can sell unlimited domains during a year and pay only a small participation fee rather than giving a large portion of sales to the marketplace each time they sell a name.
Squadhelp Wholesale Marketplace – Squadhelp is a crowdsourcing marketplace that helps companies pick company names and product names. A business explains what they or their product is about and the crowd suggests names. Domain owners can list their domains on Squadhelp in one of two ways. First, they can apply for a domain to be listed as a premium name that will get lots of exposure on the platform. Second, they can list domains without going through an approval process (but they get less exposure). Premium domains are listed at prices which might be appealing to an actual business that wants to use the name. But, it can take a long tie for the right end user to come along. That’s where Squadhelp’s wholesale marketplace comes into play. The wholesale market lets sellers set a wholesale price for their domains. This wholesale price is only shown to qualified domain investors. A domain investor can buy the domain at the wholesale price and then take over the seller’s premium listing, so they are assured that the domain can be sold as a premium domain on Squadhelp’s system, which is an added value to domain sellers on the site.
NamePros – NamePros is the biggest domain name forum and is full of investors who gather to discuss strategy, gawk over recent sales, and buy/sell domain names. The forum offers many sub-forums for selling different types of names, such as numeric, brandable, and traffic domains. Sellers can list their domains at fixed prices, by auction, or simply request offers. Since it’s a forum, it may seem a bit less structured than the other wholesale marketplaces. Buyers and sellers need to handle the transactions themselves rather than using a marketplace transaction system. But, it’s a great way to sell domains and doesn’t cost anything.
Buying domains on these wholesale markets can be lots of fun. It can also help you better understand which domains are selling and for what prices, which is helpful as you learn to become a better domain investor. Best of all, if you ever need to free up some cash, you can list your domains at wholesale prices on these platforms as well!
