Namecheap Marketplace for Domain Sellers

I recently noticed that the Namecheap (NC) Marketplace (NCM) now allow BIN as low as $1 (used to be $5, the maximum remains at $1000).  I have found the NCM a good place to sell value domains at low prices, and this change makes it even more flexible in trying to get a few dollars for domains about to expire (or otherwise). I thought this might be a good time to explain the main features, and to give some tips for domain name sellers.

Main Points:

For those unfamiliar with the NC Marketplace;

1. The NCM is only for domains registered with NC.
2. Listing process on NCM is easy (can list price, term, categories, text description). To list a domain log into your account, select Domain List and then Manage (for the domain you want to list).  Then scroll to near the bottom, and click on the Sell Domain. Fill in the information, and your domain is up and for sale immediately.
3. They charge 10% commission with no minimum or other charges.
4. NC act as effective escrow on NCM transactions, taking buyer payment, then automatically transferring the name and changing contact information (purchaser must have NC account but they are free).
5. NC essentially push the domain to new owner, so there is not an automatic need to add a year registration.
6. You accumulate funds in your account, which you can transfer in any amount to be used to purchase NC domains (or I presume other services like web hosting).  If you want to withdraw them to your PayPal as money, need to have $100 minimum. Although NC do not add any fees for a PayPal payout, depending on your country, PayPal may add 0.5 to 2.0% fees on the money transfer.
7. Purchasers can buy you domain by putting it in the NC cart and use any of their standard payment options that include credit cards, Paypal and Bitcoin (as well as others).
8. You do NOT need to wait for the 60 day ICANN period, since the sale is essentially a push to the new owner.
9. It is not an auction site - you set a BIN price and the purchaser has only that option.  Also, there is no direct route for potential purchasers to interact with you.
10. When you click on the name of a domain name for sale on NCM it will show you both the day the current for sale listing expires, and the expiration date for the registration of the domain name.  Don't confuse the two!

    I have both bought and sold domains there, and have found the process smooth and fast (longest wait was a few hours). I have found NC support very responsive, when it is needed.

Search Notes:

One important point to note is that in general domains registered on the NC Marketplace do NOT show up in the general NC domain search (the one used for hand registrations).  To see listings on the NC marketplace you need to go to Domains tab, and then down to Marketplace.  The search is slow though.  You can turn off options by price or category on the left but response is slow. 

     Some names on NCM DO show up in the general NC search.  I have not figured out which ones get there, but I think that the name must be listed for some small multiple (or more) of registration cost for that extension, and be listed, and not expired for an extended period.  If anyone knows more precisely, please add in comments.

Tips:

A few tips for those selling domain names through the NCM:

• Although you can list up to 5 categories for each domain (e.g. technology, business, advertising, computers, etc.), only the first two alphabetically get listed beside the domain name.
• You can re-list a domain name that has not sold.  I sometimes use longer periods (simpler), but I sometimes use the shorter duration listing and re-list, since many of the sales seem to come when the domain listing is about to end when the name will be near the top of their list.
• I find that to be very successful you need your own website or social media presence to post to your listings.  People will in general not find your domains through the NCM.
• I find some who list on NCM do not realize how easy it is to have a single link which always shows your updated NCM listings.  Simply find one of your listings, then click on your username (in blue on left - mine is fundybob), and then get the URL from that page.  As an example, here is mine:  https://www.namecheap.com/store/domains/marketplace/buy-domains?seller=fundybob 
• If desired, you can also link to any particular domain name.  To do that find the domain name in NCM, then copy the URL.  Note that when the listing period expires and you re-list you will need to change the link.  An example: https://www.namecheap.com/store/domains/marketplace/listing/56000093
• You can use that along with a DNS redirect to make the NCM listing a landing page. For example, if you click the link expertise.space you will see this set up for one of my domain names.  One advantage of using NCM as your lander, is that the potential purchaser is immediately in an environment where they can instantly purchase the domain name and implement it with a hosting package.
• I use both types of links on my website.  On my main page https://NamesThat.win/ (see second line of icons), I link to all my NCM listings, while on the following page you will see links to individual NCM entries (these I need to update by hand). https://namesthat.win/domains.html
• While you can't change a price once the domain name is listed, you can delete it and then re-list it right away, so that is how to edit the NCM price if you made a mistake or have second thoughts. To delete your listing, log in to NC, go to Domain List, select the name, then click on Manage.  At the bottom right, where it tells you it is for sale, click on Cancel and enter your password again.   

Final Thoughts

     The NCM can be one option to easily and inexpensively sell domain names.  Because there is no minimum commission, it is particularly good for low cost domain names (I recently sold one for just $2.00 there, and the commission charged was only $0.20).  While most of my buyers seem to first find my domain names through my website (or social media, perhaps), many prefer to purchase them through NCM.  

     One big advantage of the NCM in my opinion is that NC generally have cost competitive renewal rates for most  extensions, and also excellent value in shared web hosting.  The new Stellar Plus shared hosting with unlimited domains and storage is an especially good deal. Therefore, if your end user has plans to use the domain they are buying to set up a first website, it is fast and easy.  The new owner can literally have their website up the day they purchase the domain from you.  

     While other registrar marketplaces exist and are great (Namesilo comes to mind), I like NCM a lot.  If you decide to list there, I wish you all the best.

Happy Domain Investing,

Bob

ps While I won't be able to edit this one, I am planning to post a version that I will update on my blog at this link: https://agreatnameforyou.blogspot.ca/

pps Disclosure:  I have no association with NC, other than as a user and an affiliate account, and was not compensated or encouraged to create this post. 

Purchase Choices SSL Secure

Efty Market SSL Secure

Over at NamesThat.win we have made some changes to give you more peace of mind in purchasing domains from us.  While we provide information on our domain names at our website that itself is not yet SSL (e.g. see our complete list alphabetically here, or consult our thematic catalog of domain names here), when it is time to make an offer or purchase it directly we forward you to one of the marketplaces. Now all of those purchase options are fully SSL secure.

Our Efty Marketplace is now updated so any transactions (offers or purchasers) there are SSL secure.  The other options were already  SSL secure. Therefore, whether you choose to purchase one of our domain names from Afternic, our Efty Marketplace, the Namecheap Marketplace, or from our listings on Undeveloped, the process will be secure and you can have peace of mind that any information that you provide is secure. 

The Choice is Yours

Note that when we multiply list across platforms, we only list a buy it now price at one of the sites (to prevent any chance simultaneous purchase). Purchase price on different marketplaces is the same. If you would prefer to do the purchase through a different marketplace than the one implemented with a buy it now price, just let us know and we will see if it is possible to move the listing. If you plan to purchase, or have, web hosting through Namecheap, for example, it makes sense to purchase the domain and have it transferred to your account there. 

Note that it is not always possible for us to move a domain name BIN listing to your preferred site.  For example, if we are offering the domain name at a very low price, the commission structure at Afternic make it unfeasible for us to move the listing there.  If the domain name is not registered at Namecheap, then we can't move it to their Marketplace (we may be able to do so by adding a year or more of registration, although that would influence the price we can offer the domain name at). In general we can offer any domain name at Efty or Undeveloped, even it if it is not currently there.

Making an Inquiry

Although you can make an inquiry about any domain name on this form, including making an offer, we suggest if you want to make an offer it is better to do so through the secure Efty marketplace listing (almost all of our domains are listed there under Make Offer). The reason for this is because your inquiry form at NamesThat.win is not SSL protected, but all of our linked sites are fully SSL secure.

Guide to Namecheap Marketplace

In this posting we walk you through purchasing domain names on the Namecheap Marketplace.  This is a great place to find some good domain names at reasonable prices, and to transfer them with a minimum of hassle in a risk free environment.  The folks at Namecheap handle the payment and transfer process, making the process safe and you are sure you get the domain name.  Note that the Namecheap Marketplace does not have a process for making lower offers, so the price is the one you see.

How do I find one?

Head over to to the Namecheap Marketplace.  To make it easy we made a link with just our Namecheap Marketplace listings.  If you click the Buy Now button on the top right of the listings, and it will order them from the lowest price, so you can see at a glance what is available.

How long are they registered?

When you purchase a domain name on the Namecheap Marketplace (or most other ways) the remaining period that the name is registered goes with it. Therefore it is important to know how the current registration period.  If you click on the domain name, it will show that information (don't confuse the amount of time the domain is listed on the Marketplace with the time the domain is registered for).

Do I just own it until then?

The way domain names work is that you own (or perhaps lease is a better term) the domain name while it is currently registered to you.  But you also own the right to renew the domain name, so you can keep it as many years as you want as long as you annually pay the renewal rate.  So by purchasing a domain name you are purchasing the rights to own it forever, if you want.

Namecheap have a great article on how to renew domain names here. If wondering which registrar offers the best rates for renewing or transferring a domain name, the folks at TLD List have a great service where you just enter the top level domain (such as .me) and they show you the best rates currently available.

How do I buy on the Namecheap Marketplace?

The process is simple and protects both parties. Here is how it works.

• Go to the Namecheap Marketplace and find the domain name(s) you want.
• Click on the domain name and add it to your cart.
• When finished, select Checkout.  If you do not already have an account with them you will be prompted to make one (creating a Namecheap account is free, and you only need one for both new registrations and Marketplace purchases).
• Select your payment method.  The options include credit cards, PayPal, Dwolla, account funds (if you already have money on deposit with them) and Bitcoin. Pay for the domain purchase.
• Confirm your order, and any other details like your contact information for the domain registration.
• Namecheap will automatically move the domain from our name to your registration name and details. Congratulations on your new (to you) domain name!

Why are only some of your domains on the Namecheap Marketplace?

We offer several choices in most of our domain names, including Undeveloped.com and our Efty Marketplace (at www.frugal.bid).  You can also complete a contact form to start a discussion on our main website at NamesThat.win. We also have a selection of our domain names on Afternic. If you want to see everything that we have, arranged alphabetically, including a link to where that domain name is for sale go to this page.

We only offer a domain name with a buy it now price on one market to prevent any possibility of two people buying the same name simultaneously.  For this reason, if a name is listed on the Namecheap Marketplace it will be "Make an offer" on any other markets.  If we get an offer we plan to accept we take down our listing with the price prior to confirming acceptance, so no chance that two people buy the same name.

We can only offer on the Namecheap Marketplace those names that are registered at Namecheap, and where the price is in the range from $5 to $5000.  If you prefer to purchase a name on the Namecheap Marketplace that we don't have listed there send us a note and we will see if we can take it off the other listings and list it there.

Are these extensions valid?

Any domain extension can be used to host a website. For example, our main website is at www.NamesThat.win - you can check it out as an example. Obviously some are more popular than others.  For the new domain TLDs (top level domains), you can see current statistics here. For example, at the time I am writing this just over one million .win domain names have been registered, and well over two million .top and more than 500,000 site domain names. Strictly speaking .co and .me are country code TLDs, although they are widely used for company names and personal names respectively, and those country codes are open to anyone to registrar.

Can I resell it?

Yes, of course.  If you continue to hold it at Namecheap you can resell it on the Namecheap Marketplace right away, or according to ICANN restrictions if you want to transfer it to another registrar you normally need to wait 60 days after the last change in ownership. You can also choose to sell it from many different other marketplaces.

Final Questions

If you are new to domain names, you may find our FAQs at this link helpful. You can also use the contact form on that site if you want to get in touch with us directly.