Sell a Domain Name via Trade Organization Email Blast

If you own a “category killer” domain name, chances are good that there’s one or more trade organizations that represent companies and people that “do” what your domain name means or sell the product that is your domain name. Many of these organizations offer email blasts for advertisers, and this could be a good way to sell a domain name.

I exchanged emails with one trade organization yesterday, which has somewhere around 25,000 member email addresses. The group is willing to do an advertising email blast to its membership for $3,000, and it also offers to feature the advertiser in its monthly bulletin at no additional cost.

While spending $3,000 to sell a domain name is a LOT of money and something I wouldn’t do unless absolutely confident in selling it, putting the name in front of 25,000 prospects is a huge opportunity, especially if the name encompasses an entire industry. I don’t know if each email address is associated with separate companies or if some companies have many members in the organization, but that’s a lot of potential buyers.

There are a few things you might want to ask before moving forward with something like this:

  • Email open rates
  • # of individual companies represented in the email list
  • References from previous advertisers to request feedback
  • Discount off the rack rate

You might want to ask about is whether the organization would do the email blast for free in exchange for a percentage of the sale if you sell the domain name. If you sell a $50,000 domain name, they could make $5,000 with a 10% commission vs. $3,000 for the email blast cost. Of course, it costs you more in the end if you sell the name, but you don’t have to pay the money up front. You can also factor the commission into your asking price.

One other thing you might want to do is ask the trade group if they will write the email to its members so it has more authority than if you were to write the pitch yourself. Having a trade organization’s CEO telling its members that your domain name is a great deal will be more  authoritative  than your doing it yourself.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

10 COMMENTS

  1. That is very creative and something I also never thought of. You can also try to possibly find a Yahoo Group (or similar) type of community and those types of groups usually allow you to send an email blast for free.

  2. In any trade org only the most active 20% matter, but most also don’t have 25k members.

    5k active prospects, mailed by a system they should mostly read for less than a buck each? Easy call.

    Price isn’t important tbh, $3k is commission on a $20k sale, I’m assuming this sale would be of a much higher value.

  3. @ Samit

    I agree… the issue for me (and why I didn’t do it) is that $3k is sunk whether the name is sold or not. I’d rather pay $5k on a sale when the money is in my account than $3k without a guarantee.

  4. All will want to be paid upfront my bet
    I’ve looked into this with some products in another business a while back
    Another angle may be getting an ad or plug in their monthly newsletter they normally send out to their member base
    Many will read these thoroughly since they make it a routine/habit of theirs

  5. @ John

    I tend to agree with you, but if they agree that the name is a high 5 or low 6 figure name, they might be willing to take a chance or do some cash + a % back end. All depends on the organization and domain name.

  6. I usually just look up the Industry Trade Shows and attend when they come to my area. I live in South Florida so there are a lot of conventions and trade shows going on. Sometimes they are free and sometimes you have to pay to get in. But the important thing is that you are in a venue with people who operate businesses in the niche/category in which the Domain name you own belongs. Once i get in the venue i just walk the floor and visit the booths and talk to the vendors and just say “hey by the way i own xyz.com, how would that help your sales/business”. I dont always sell names this way but i have sols enough to let me know it works. Sometimes I even end up getting affiliate deals this way when they dont wanna buy the nane but they want me to post their links/ads.

    Bottom line: Just use google and look for the trade shows that are relevant to the names you own. See when/if they are coming to your area and just go. Sometimes business is best done face to face.

  7. I always wanted to try this but never got around to it trying it.

    I dont have the type of value in name like a 50k but I would be more incline to offer a fee if the domain is sold through there. Vs laying out the cash upfront without any guarantees.

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