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How to Sell Unused Domains Quickly

You ended up with a bunch of domain names after a site acquisition, or company merge. I've covered how to consolidate domain management, here is something else you will face. How do you quickly sell off unused domains for a profit?

You could attempt to sell the domains yourself using advertisements in publications, or letters to prospective buyers. That will work, but if you want maximum results, then use a domain listing service.

Domain listing services give you higher visibility, in front of domain buyers and investors around the world. That means, access to a larger pool of pre-qualified buyers.

Some services provide a dedicated sales executive to help you manage offers and negotiate on your behalf with interested buyers. Important points to consider when listing your domains:

1. Price your domain competitively! More than 80% of domains sell between the $500 and $5,000 price range. Below are a few tips on how to price your domain:
   • Review recent industry sales on DNJournal, see what other domains in your industry sell for
   • Get an appraisal from Afternic, SeDo, or an independent appraiser. Domains with REAL appraisals sell 10 times faster than non-appraised domains
   • Determine a sales strategy for your domain. Decide how fast you want to sell and price accordingly!
   • If you are including a website in the transfer, then review revenue for the last 12 months and factor that into price
2. Price your domain as soon as you list! Most services require you price your domain upon listing, or within 24-48 hours after being assigned a sales executive. Failure to do so may cause the lead to be deleted from our system, resulting in a lost opportunity.
3. Make certain buyers can reach you! It is important that you always use an active email address on record, preferably through the auction system from your listing provider. Working through the proxy provided helps protect your interest (and sometime identity.)
4. Respond promptly to request, tell the truth but not too much. Some inquirers will be fishing for niche information to use in their business rather than to purchase a domain.

There are two great places to sell domains, Afternic and Sedo. You can even make a little money off the domain with parking before selling your domain.

The key is to turn over your domain quickly rather than just let it expire. However, even if you are going to let domains expire, I would still recommend selling them off. Getting something for your domain is better than nothing, as long as you cover fees.

Very often these same services sell expired domains. Even if you get back half your initial investment, you'll save another Internet marketer time (and possibly create a business relationship for later.) In another message I'll share other things you can do with idle domain names to increase revenue of your business web site.

© 2008 B2B Website Profits, All rights reserved.

Justin Hitt is the director of Hitt Publishing Direct, who helps Internet marketers get the domains they want and create profitable business websites. For details visit http://HittPublishingDirect.com/

Posted by Justin Hitt on May 17, 2009 11:16 AM | Permalink

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