How to Sell a Domain Name: Pricing, Listing, and Getting Paid Safely

You own a domain you're not using — or one that's worth more to someone else than to you. Selling it is simpler than most people expect, but a few decisions make a real difference to how fast it sells and how much of the price you keep. This guide walks through the whole process: pricing, choosing where to list, handling offers, and getting paid safely.

Step 1: Decide what it's worth

Every sale starts with a number, and the most common mistake is picking it on gut feel. Domain prices follow a handful of factors — length, keywords, the extension, brandability, and the domain's history — and comparable sales of similar names are what buyers actually negotiate from. Our guide to what makes a domain valuable covers each factor in detail.

For a quick starting point, our free domain appraisal tool gives you a minimum value in seconds, no sign-up needed. Treat it as a floor, not a ceiling: an automated number can't see that your name is exactly what a funded startup in your niche is looking for.

A few pricing principles that hold up in practice:

• Price for the buyer who wants it most, not the average buyer. Domains sell one at a time, to one person. The right buyer will pay well for the right name.
• Leave room to negotiate if you accept offers. Buyers expect to make one. Our article on making an offer on a domain shows how serious buyers approach it from the other side of the table.
• Know your net. Decide what you want to receive, then work back through the marketplace's commission to the list price. More on fees below.

Step 2: Choose how to sell

There are three ways to sell a domain, and they suit different sellers.

List it on a marketplace. You set the price, the marketplace brings buyers and handles payment and transfer. This is the right choice for most sellers, and it's where the fee differences between marketplaces matter most.

Sell it directly. If someone contacts you about your domain, you can negotiate one-to-one. Just don't do the transaction one-to-one: insist on escrow, so neither side has to send money or the domain first on trust.

Sell to a buyer who purchases domains outright. Some companies, CNM.com included, will make you a direct offer. It's usually below what the right end buyer would pay, but it's fast and certain. On CNM.com you can request an offer and we'll come back within one business day, with no obligation.

Step 3: Compare what the marketplaces really charge

Seller commissions vary more than most people realize, and on a four-figure sale the difference is real money. Per each marketplace's published rates (checked October 2026):

• Afternic: 15% if your domain points at Afternic's nameservers, 25% if it doesn't, with a $15 minimum.
• Sedo: 10–20%, depending on how the sale happens.
• Atom: 7.5% on standard listings, 15–30% on curated premium listings.
• CNM.com: a flat 9% on every sale. Buy Now, offer, or payment plan, your nameservers or ours, the rate is the same.

On CNM.com, the 9% commission is the only thing that comes out of the sale price. Payment processing is included in it, not charged on top, and listing is free with no minimum commission. On a $2,000 sale, you receive $1,820.

Most sellers list on more than one marketplace, and that's fine. Nothing about domain listings is exclusive. Our full marketplace fee comparison has the detail and sources. If you used to sell on Dan.com, which closed in June 2025, our guide to Dan.com alternatives covers where its sellers went.

Step 4: List it and prove you own it

On CNM.com, listing is free: add your domain, set a price, and choose whether to accept offers. Before a listing can be purchased, we verify that you control the domain with a registrar and DNS check. Until it passes, buyers can still make offers but can't check out.

That verification is a feature, not a hurdle. Buyers increasingly know that some marketplaces list domains without the owner's knowledge, a problem we wrote about in "I did not authorize them to sell my domain." A verified listing is one a buyer can trust, and trust is what turns a visit into a sale.

Point your domain at your listing. The strongest signal you can give a buyer is that typing your domain into a browser lands on its sales page. It proves the listing is real, and it turns the type-in traffic your domain already gets into potential buyers.

Step 5: Watch the interest, and handle offers

Once you're listed, you shouldn't have to guess whether anyone is looking. Every CNM.com listing shows its bot-filtered view count on the page itself, and you can connect your own Google Analytics to watch visits in real time. Our post on whether your listing actually gets visits explains how to read those numbers, and what to change when views don't turn into offers.

When an offer comes in, you can accept it, decline it, or counter. A low first offer isn't an insult. It's an opening, and many good sales start below asking.

Step 6: Transfer through escrow and get paid

This is where a marketplace earns its commission. On CNM.com the order is always the same: the buyer's payment is secured first, then you deliver the domain to escrow, then you're paid. You have 7 days to deliver after a sale, and nobody has to trust anybody.

• Buy Now sales: you're paid once the buyer's payment is captured and the domain is confirmed in escrow.
• Payment plan sales: buyers can spread the price over 2–12 months at 0% interest, which widens your pool of buyers. You're paid progressively, as each installment is captured.
• Escrow.com sales: on purchases of $1,000 or more, buyers can pay through Escrow.com, and your payout follows once Escrow.com releases the funds.

Payouts go out by bank wire, PayPal, or Stripe, whichever you choose in your account settings.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Letting the domain expire mid-sale. Check the renewal date before you list. A domain weeks from expiry is harder to sell and riskier to transfer.
• Transferring before you're paid. Never move a domain to a buyer's account on a promise. Escrow exists so you don't have to.
• Leaving stale listings behind. An old, cheap listing on a site you've forgotten undercuts the price you're asking today. Remove listings you no longer stand behind.
• Ignoring the fine print on fees. A marketplace's headline commission can rise with your nameserver choice, the sales channel, or a minimum fee. Do the math on your net before you list.

Ready to sell?

List your domain on CNM.com for free, with a flat 9% commission only when it sells, verified listings buyers can trust, and escrow on every sale. Prefer a quick, certain sale? Request a direct offer from the same page. And if you have questions along the way, the FAQ and our support team are here to help.