Buying Domains through Domain Name Auctions

Transferring a domain from seller to buyer

Most domain name auction sites will provide a safe way to transfer a purchased domain name from the seller to the buyer through an escrow process.

Escrow process for purchasing a domain name

1. You should send the money for the purchase of the domain to the escrow service. Do not send the money directly to the seller. If the escrow service is provided by the auction site themselves, then the escrow fees will be included in the selling price of the domain, and will be deducted before being dispursed to the seller. If the buyer and seller agree to use a different escrow service, then the fees can be paid by either party, or split between them. The escrow service provided by Afternic is a good one to use because the escrow fees are only 1.5% to each party if they are split between buyer and seller.
2. Once the escrow service has cleared your payment, they will authorize the seller to transfer the domain. There are two ways that this can be accomplished:
   • the seller provides an account and password for the control panel on the current registrar's web site
   • the buyer initiates a request to transfer the domain to an account they have at their own registrar
   Do not mark the escrow transaction as complete until you are sure that the transfer has been completed (see below).

If the seller provides an account with the current registrar

1. The seller should provide you with the URL to the registrar's web site, the username for the account, and the password. Enter the URL into your web browser, and log into the account with the given username and password.
2. First, change the information for all of the contacts associated with the domain to your own contact information. If the seller had already made the changes, make sure the information is correct, especially the e-mail address. If the e-mail address is not yours, then whoever that address belongs to may be able to retrieve the account password and access the domain.
3. After the changes to the contact information have gone through, update the password on the account.
4. Once the seller no longer knows the password on the account and cannot retrieve it through a "lost password" form you can now mark the transfer as complete to finish the escrow transation.
5. If you want, you can transfer the domain to your own registrar by continuing to follow the procedure below.

Transferring the domain to your own registrar

1. If you don't have any other domain names registered, sign up for a free account at one of the accredited registrars or an affiliate such as A to Z Domains. Since you will need to pay to extend the term of the domain and prices range from under US$10 to as much as US$30 per year, you may want to check out the prices before signing up.
2. Verify that the contact information on the domain has already been changed, especially the e-mail address for the administrative contact. This is where the confirmation of the transfer will be sent. The contact information can be verified using a WhoIs Query.
3. Verify that the domain is not "locked" to protect it from being transferred. The WhoIs Query should show that the domain status is ACTIVE. If the status is REGISTRAR LOCK, then the domain must be unlocked before you will be able to transfer it.
4. For any of the generic top-level domains (gTLDs), you will need an authorization code from the previous registrar. In some cases, the seller (or you yourself if you have access to the account) can get this through the current registrar's control panel.
5. Initiate the transfer through the new registrar's control panel.
6. Watch for e-mail(s) being sent to the administrative contact. If the e-mail indicates that the transfer needs to be confirmed, use the link and other information provided to approve the transfer.
7. Once the domain has been successfully transferred, make sure it gets locked at the new registrar to protect it from being transferred away by someone else.

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Last updated Sunday November 19, 2006