Domain Name Auction Sites

There are a number of aftermarket auction sites where some domain names may be purchased from their current owners.

Making an offer to purchase a specific domain name

If you are looking for a specific domain name, the best way to determine if it might be for sale is simply to try to visit the web site at that domain. If the domain is for sale, there is a good chance there will be a link at the top of the page which takes you to the listing for that domain, wherever it may be.

If the domain name is not listed for sale, you can try to make an unsolicited offer on the domain. This is a special option provided by only a few of the aftermarket auction sites, such as Afternic.

Searching for domain names that are for sale

There are a couple of good sites to search for domains that may be for sale:

Afternic

The Afternic site is very easy to use, but also has advanced search capabilities. Seaching for domain names is free, but there is a $1 per year for name buyers. It is also the best site for selling domain names.

There used to be three other pretty decent domain name auction sites, but NameWinner has discontinued their auctions and the other two have discontinued their affiliate programs.

"Backordering" a specific domain name

If the domain name that you are intersted in is not listed for sale, another option is to monitor it and/or backorder it. With monitoring, you will be notified whenever the status of the domain name changes, such as if the domain name goes past its expiration date, or into "pending delete" status. With a backorder, a registrar will attempt to acquire the domain name if it ever gets released.

Some places where you can place a request to monitor or backorder domain names include:

A to Z Domains

To go to the page where domain names can be backordered, click on the link that says "Domain Monitoring / Backordering".