How to Buy a Domain Name for Your Startup

Publishied 3/7/2016, updated 4/11/2021

Oftentimes, we're asked "how do I go about purchasing a domain name if someone else owns it?" Or, "what determines the price or value of a domain name?"

Also, the infamous "someone else owns myname.com, how can I get it?"

Here's my answer to those questions, as well as a few helpful tips.  But first, let's clarify the two types of domain names that you're considering purchasing.
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1.  A brand new, never registered domain (known as hand-registered domains in the industry).

To purchase domains, I prefer Epik, as they have the best combination of pricing and features.  Other popular registrars like GoDaddy just don't cut it for domain investors that need more reliable DNS service. 

Pro Tip:  Use instantdomainsearch.com to save time before purchasing.

2.  A previously owned domain.  There's basically two ways to do this.

-Directly from the owner

If someone already owns it, you can find out who (unless they have privacy protected) by typing whois.domaintools.com/handshakin.com, just replace handshakin.com with the domain name and extension you're trying to buy.  Good luck negotiating with them-- you'll need it!

Pro Tip:  Use escrow.com for a secure transaction if you're negotiating 1-on-1 with the owner/seller without a registrar. 

-Directly from the company

Many companies (including mine) now invest in domain names as appreciating digital assets.  Although, we make our money from selling leads on our 120+ websites, we have only developed about 20% of the domains that we own. We're geared around flipping domain names as our primary source of revenue, but it's common for us to buy domain names to plan to develop later, only to realize that it might be better to sell it.

This could be for many reasons:
-An offer much higher than what we bought the domain for.
-We notice the domain is too similar to another online brand, in which case that brand should own it.
-We receive emails to the domain name that we beliece were intended for someone else or another company.  We always do our best to reach out to let others know about this issue before we develop a site.

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We want to protect assets that may be of value to us in the future, and typically aren't open to selling our domains, as they are worth much more when it's an income generating web asset (domains + website + phone number + monthly leads).

Pro Tip:  ​Estibot.com is a domain valuation website.  It is being adopted quickly in the domain industry although is still new and not always very accurate.

If you liked this article, inquire about our 120+ real estate websites to see if we have customers calling for a quote from your real estate company in a small US city.