Selling Domain Names on Multiple Platforms

There are a number of websites that allow domain investors to list their domain names for sale. This morning, someone asked me about selling domain names on multiple platforms.

It is possible to list domain names for sale on more than one platform at the same time. I think many people do this to optimize their chances of selling a domain name. Afternic and Sedo both have end user reach via registrar partners.

I do not like to list domain names for sale on more than one platform though. I am too concerned about accidentally selling a name to different people on different platforms at the same time, putting me in a difficult predicament where I can not fulfill both deals. In addition, having listings on multiple platforms means I need to keep prices updated and listings accurate in more than one place.

If someone wants to list on more than one platform, that is permissible but they need to be diligent about updating listings. It is important to remove sold or expired listings. One option for people listing on multiple platforms is to have BIN prices on one platform but make offer listings on the other. This would give added exposure with the risk of a double sale or selling a domain name the person no longer owns.

Even though I have most of my names listed for sale via Afternic, the majority of my sales are closed privately. Most people still inquire after visiting the landing page or clicking the “for sale” link on a parked page. For me, the landing page is an important marketing tool to sell my domain names.

I have somewhere around 1,000 domain names in my portfolio. Depending on the size of other portfolios as well as the diligence of the owner and/or the management tools they use, it may be more or less feasible to list on multiple platforms. For me thigh, having BIN prices on one platform works best.

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

13 COMMENTS

  1. That’s a great tip to have them BIN on lander then offer. I have all my domains on landers, plus dedo, afternic, and the registrar if applicable, and I experiment with others like Bido from time to time, and just recently started listed on dan.com – I think I’ll take your advise! Thanks

  2. Most my domains are set on Afternic. Recently added to Sedo as well. Most sales come through Afternic, not inquiry page, for me. But I have a lot of cheap names.

    • I would probably increase sales volume on Afternic if I lowered prices, but I keep the prices a bit high because it’s getting so expensive to replace them.

  3. Right now I’m in the same boat as you. All my names are at Afternic – have thought about adding to Sedo as well for years…but managing names across multiple marketplaces feels like more work than it’s worth.

    I’m less concerned about the same name selling at two different places on the same day – I feel like the chances of that happening are probably very small.

    • I agree that it is small, but there are probably names that “pop” because of something happening in the news. Would kind of suck to not be able to re-price when a name gets “hot” for some reason – and suck even more if it sold to two different buyers.

  4. I would list in Afternic and Sedo… and just about every other place if you want to sell the name. The more listings you have the more chances you have to find the right buyer. I’d just make sure that you have the same price listed, though.

    • why do you think it’s important to have the same price listed?

      here’s my thoughts on that – I don’t always have the same price because of some sites charge commission, but if bought through my landing page then it’s 0 commission, depending on the payment method. Plus, I think an enduser is most likely to find my site via the landing page or typing it in at godaddy, both places I typically make higher because in that scenario the end user has a strong desire for that domain name. Those are just my thoughts – i’ve heard arguments on both sides of the isle, I just don’t understand why it’s important to have the same price at all places.

      • Yeah – two sides to that argument. The other side is that different prices are justified due to different commission rates.
        My current approach to to keep prices the same, realizing that my net profit will differ based on where it sells. I keep XLS with prices on each platform, so not difficult to manage. It takes a bit of time, but only when I change/add prices, which isn’t ALL that often.

  5. Although there are negative things about brandable sites such as BrandBucket, at least you don’t have to manage the listing several places since they require exclusivity…

  6. If a domain is listed with Sedo MLS Premium or Afternic FastTrack, then isn’t it available on lots of other registrars? If so, you don’t need to list them elsewhere, or am I missing something?

  7. I recently sold a domain name on two sites around the same time. It has been listed there so long I forgot about it. What do I do now?I already transferred to the first offer. It was the lower of the two. I don’t care about the extra money. It’s more about not honoring the second sale that bothers me.

    • Tell the new owner that there is an offer on the domain name. You can either broker the deal or give the details to the new owner & explain to the new buyer what occurred & what you can do for them to get in touch with the new owner to see if the name is for sale or not. It happens. Good luck.

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