For domain investors and entrepreneurs, it can be frustrating to come across a company that owns a valuable domain name that isn’t being used, but the company won’t consider selling it. It might seem like a missed opportunity for the company to sell an unused valuable asset, but there are reasons behind this.
Here are some of the most common factors that explain why some companies simply won’t sell a domain name regardless of the offer or buyer’s interest:
Outstanding Trademarks – One of the biggest roadblocks is trademark ownership. If a company has an active trademark related to the domain name, selling it could create legal complications or weaken their brand protection. Even if they’re not using the domain name, they may be keeping it as a defensive asset to prevent infringement or future conflict with other brands using the mark.
Domain name connections to products/services – Domain names are often tied to a company’s product line, platform, or internal systems. A domain name might be used for redirects, testing, internal tools, email, or web portals that aren’t public facing. In some cases, the domain name may have been used in the past and has residual SEO value or existing links that the company doesn’t want to lose or cause confusion.
Legal review – Larger companies may require multiple levels of legal review before selling its intellectual property. The legal review process can take time, be costly, and is not really worth the effort for a non-core asset that won’t drive significant revenue. If there’s a chance the sale could cause future legal issues, many companies would rather air on the side of caution and simply avoid selling a domain name. In addition, some companies outsource their legal process, and it can be expensive for an outside law firm to undertake the necessary reviews.
Marketing review – Domain names may need to pass an internal marketing team review before they are sold. A domain name that seems dormant to outsiders might be earmarked for future use, part of a rebranding plan, or tied to past advertising campaigns. The marketing team may be hesitant to give it up, particularly since there won’t be a benefit to them.
Promotions/Advertising/Marketing with the domain name – Even if a domain name is no longer actively used, companies may have invested heavily in past advertising campaigns, printed materials, or social media that featured the domain name. Selling the domain name may create customer confusion or diminish past marketing efforts. It would also prevent the company from using the domain name at a later date.
Domain name sales may be substantial, but even low large deals by domain name aftermarket standards may not be enough to move the needle for a company to undertake the effort of selling a domain name. Further, the IT or legal team that would lead the effort to close a deal don’t usually have a P&L to manage, so there’s little incentive for them to move a deal forward.
I’ve been stymied numerous times when I’ve tried to buy a domain name from a larger corporation. Sometimes, I’ve gotten lucky and had a counterparty that was helpful in closing a deal. More often than not, larger corporations aren’t super willing to sell a domain name.
Stale email addresses and security.
Why Some Companies Won’t Sell a Domain Name…..
Why should they sell??
Cheaper just to keep them then to deal with people like you….
All it takes is just $10 a year to save the headaches
Don’t forget to listen to the bullshitwebsites song
Important SEO Issue with Afternic Landers – Worth Investigating?
Hi Elliot,
I hope you’re doing well.
I wanted to bring to your attention a serious issue I’ve discovered regarding Afternic landers and their visibility on Google. After testing a large number of domains, I’ve found that the vast majority—possibly over 90%—of domains using Afternic landers are not indexed by Google at all. As you can imagine, this significantly affects their visibility and, by extension, sales potential.
What’s particularly interesting is that most domain investors (many of whom have noticed a general decline in sales) don’t seem to realize this lack of indexing might be a key reason. I even noticed that SaintWool.com, a domain Afternic uses in its own promotional materials, isn’t indexed by Google.
In contrast, domains using Sedo’s landers seem to index properly. I’ve compared the two, documented the results with screenshots, and the difference is clear.
I know you use Afternic landers yourself, so this might be something worth testing on your end. If you confirm the issue, I think it would make for a very valuable article—especially considering how many in the domain community rely on Afternic for lead generation and sales.
If you’re using Afternic nameservers, try checking how many of your domains are actually indexed by Google. You can do this with a simple search query like:
site:YourDomain.com
For example:
site:SaintWool.com
Thanks for all the helpful content you share with the domain industry—I thought you’d be the perfect person to dig deeper into this and potentially raise awareness.
Best regards,
Another obvious reason but not mentioned is that domain investors want to buy it for $200 and sell it for $50,000.
Okay… I’ll be a bit more fair: they might want to buy a more valuable domain for $100,000 and then sell if for $1 million plus.
In other words, they won’t sell to lowballers. And yes, domain investors ARE lowballers. Sorry if that truth is a bit painful.