How to Buy a Domain from Someone Else

One of the key components of your brand identity is the domain name you use. However, as you’ve no doubt discovered, it’s hard to find good domain names these days. Many times, there’s someone who owns the domain you want but isn’t using it. They’re squatting on it and hoping to sell it to you.

Most squatters will have a process they follow to sell you the domain. If you’re dealing with someone who doesn’t do this frequently, there’s more risk and consequently more caution should be taken.

In this post, we’ll cover how you buy a domain from a private party.

How to Inquire About a Domain

You can look up who owns a domain by using your registrar’s WHOIS service or using a site like WhoIs.com. This will tell you who owns the domain right now.  You want to look for the Administrative Contact email address.

The email you send is short and to the point:

“I’m interested in blah.com. Is it for sale?”

What the owner of the domain is then going to do is look you up online and see who you are. If you’ve been talking about model airplanes for the last three months straight, and you’re looking to buy modelairplanes.com, the owner is going to ask for more money.

Consequently, it is frequently best to have someone you know inquire on your behalf who has no ties to your idea at all. Give a friend the admin email and ask them to handle the negotiation on your behalf. You give them the words, they communicate with the current owner. This can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

How It Works

Before we talk about how you handle the actual transaction, let’s review what has to happen with the domain itself. Here are the steps to transfer ownership of a domain:

  • The owner of the domain has to unlock the domain at their registrar (Namecheap, Register.com, GoDaddy, etc.)
  • The owner issues you an authorization code (often called an EPP code) to transfer the domain to your registrar
  • You go to your registrar and initiate a transfer using the code provided by the owner
  • The two registrars manage the actual transfer
  • Once you receive the domain, you lock it at your registrar
  • You update the contact information for the domain

How to Handle the Transaction

There are a couple of paths here based on your level of trust of the other party. The big decision is whether or not you will use escrow or not. My general rule of thumb is anything over $500 I typically use escrow unless I can verify the other party through some other means.

If you don’t use an escrow service, generally you should pay half up front and half when the domain is fully transferred. Send half the money when the domain is unlocked. The other party has demonstrated good faith by unlocking the domain, so you demonstrate good faith by sending part of the money. Send the rest of the money after you’ve received the domain and locked it on your registrar.

If you use an escrow service (I recommend Escrow.com), you pay the purchase price plus a transaction fee to the escrow service, and then they will hold the cash until you verify receipt of the domain. You can negotiate who pays the fee as a part of transfer. You generally either split it or the buyer pays the fee.

Just Remember

Buying a domain from another private party can be intimidating. You might feel like you’re being held hostage at times. How dare this person squat on a domain that I want! However, it’s an open market and you have to pay to play.

  • If you’ve talked about the idea publicly, have a friend with an unrelated email address ask about the domain on your behalf
  • Keep the communication short and to the point, and know what you’re willing to pay before you start
  • If the price is over $500 (or whatever amount you’re not ok to lose), use an escrow service like Escrow.com

Happy buying!