I get a fair amount of email from people asking me to broker domain names for them. I don’t generally broker domain names unless I absolutely know someone who would be interested, so I usually send the people to read my Domain Broker list instead.
I’ve found that more times than not, none of the brokers are willing to work with the people who request their services simply because the names are either low value or it’s unlikely they will sell for the domain owner’s expectations. Since a broker is paid on a commission, it doesn’t make any sense to spend 5-10+ hours searching for a buyer for a name that might yield them a couple hundred in commissions, if it even sells.
If you own domain names that can’t get representation from a top domain broker, I have two suggestions for you – one being more passive and the other being aggressive.
1) List them on Sedo and Afternic. Both sites get end user traffic and if a buyer is interested in buying a domain name pertaining to a specific topic, he or she will likely find them there. They do quite a bit of promotions, and if there’s an active buyer for your domain name, they will probably end up on either or both of those websites.
2) Contact potential buyers yourself. When you bought the name, you probably thought that it would be perfect for a specific type of company. Well, go out and search for that type of company. Email the site contacts and let them know you are selling your domain names. If you price them reasonably and they actually make sense, then maybe the company will buy them. You can use a service like Escrow.com to transact the deal.
If you buy some land in the Florida Everglades or in Arizona’s Sonora Desert and you decide to build a big home on it, you might actually be the only person who finds value there. Just because you bought and built it does not mean that someone else will want to buy it from you. If you get rejected by a domain broker, don’t take it personally. If you believe your domain names have value, there are at least two ways to get them sold.
