Transferring Your Domain Name

A number of members asked me how to go about transferring domain names over to the new buyer.  This is a surprisingly simple process - although domains cannot be transferred from one buyer to another for two months from the registration date.  This is rarely a problem because you can provide your buyer with the use of the domain name at any time you want and then complete the transfer when that 2-month period has expired.

A domain name is merely a signpost for the internet.  Once you have registered your domain you need to tell it where the website is hosted.  To do this you need to "change the domain's name server" which your domain registrars will let you do easily (it's in the 'manage domains' section of GoDaddy). 

If you wish to sell your domain then you can easily change the name server so that it points to your buyers website at any time.  They will have immediate use of your domain even before you change the registration information.  If in the future the buyer doesn't make payment to you, then you can change the name servers back, and he will lose the use of the domain.

I have only transferred domains using GoDaddy registrars.  To do so you should have registered the domain through GoDaddy already.

   1. Log in to your Account Manager.
   2. From the Domain Names menu, click Manage Domains.
   3. Select the check box for the domain you want to sell, and then click Change Account.
   4. In the right pane, type the new registrants information.
   5. Click Save Changes.


GoDaddy have an excellent help section on their site which addresses all the questions you might have.  They are also available by telephone and have a very efficient customer service department. 


All Domain Transfer Questions are Answered here on GoDaddy's Website.


If you have registered your domain with a different registrars you should contact them to learn about what needs to be done.


In the lucky instance where you sell your domain for a high price, you might want to take a look at an escrow service such as Escrow.com.  This is a secure service for both yourself and the buyer to ensure that neither person can steal from the other.

Advanced Hints, Tips and Advice

If you are considering making money reselling domain names then there are a few more techniques which will make your efforts much more productive.

• Download and Install Expired Domain Names Pro for $39.99.  This program is an excellent tool for hunting through expired domains.  It has some very useful time-saving features which I strongly suggest using. 
  
  
  
• You may waste a lot of time testing your results in Google.  Instead of doing that you could locate a list of ticker symbols online for international stock markets and add it to your search with Expired Domain Names Pro.  If you do this you can be certain that every domain you find available could be sold to a stockmarket -listed company. 
  
  
  
• Periodically I import other lists into Expired Domain Names Pro.  I assume that lists of countries, towns and cities will have been searched for before so I try to use lists which change over time.  I've worked with lists of current pop-stars, infamous criminals, politicians etc. as there's a greater chance of finding something new here.  
  
  
  
• My tutorial above deals with buying and selling 4-digit domains but there's really no need to limit yourself.  The strategy I've mentioned has so far worked well for me but once in a while I decide to buy other domain names too.  I'll detail this another time.
  
  
  
• Try to find more than one possible buyer for the domain before you buy it.  If you could let two businesses compete for the domain you may get a good price from it.
  
  

	Recommended Resources:  How I Sell My Domain Names (E-Book)  $37 This e-book comes with a risk-free 60-day guarantee if it does not help you.  It expands a lot on how this tutorial works and provides much more detailed advice and ideas.  Here's an idea as to what the course includes:  Launch the proven 25 step-by-step strategy in selling domain names  Gain insider access to the private resources of domain pros for free  Make your domain names irresistible and valuable to potential buyers. Learn how to make contact easily with interested buyers Find out for sure if your domain name is valuable or not. You will certainly find valuable information in this e-book and, as it is again guaranteed for 60 days, you should have a read of it and if it does not at least pay for itself within one or two months, request a refund. Click here to read more about "How I Sell My Domains"

• Register with SEDO (for free).  This is the largest domain marketplace online.  This makes buyers aware that you have the domain and that you are considering selling it.  Look into 'parking' your domain with them so that if people visit your website they will see a "This Site is for Sale" page.  SEDO is also a good site to learn about what prices similar domains are being sold for and which ones are being ignored.
  
  
  
• Try not to get excited and buy too many domains at once.  To begin with I suggest buying no more than 10 domains.  You might be delighted with the domains you've found but you may find that other people are just not interested in buying them.  If you can buy 10 domains and sell just one for $100 (should be reasonably simple) then you have 9 domains that have effectively paid for themselves.  Any more domains you sell can be sold for pure profit.   Any domains you fail to sell after 12 months will either be lost, or will cost you a further 12 month registration fee.
  
  
  
• It is not possible to transfer a domain name to a new registrar for about 90 days.  Make sure that anybody interested in buying the domain is aware of this although there is nothing stopping them from using the domain immediately.
  
  
  
• Consider auctioning your domains on EBay and on SEDO's auctions.  The listing fees are minimal and you only need to sell when you get the right price.
  
  
  
• Unless you have good reason to, try to start with .com domains only.  These are considered more valuable than .biz, .org and other domains.
  
  
  
• If you really feel your domain is valuable consider paying for an appraisal to get an idea of how much you could sell it for. SEDO offers this service for about $30 per domain.  Domain appraisals aren't especially credible because really a domain is only ever worth what somebody might pay for it but an appraisal might give you an ideas about how much a similar domain has sold for in the past.
  
  
  
• You can make passive income from your unsold domains by 'parking' then.  SEDO will do this for free.  Parking is when you create a 1-page website on the domain which has some adverts on it.  If anybody visits these pages and clicks on an advert you will make money.
  
  
• Don't expect immediate or 100% success.  Many people will not be interested in buying the web domain from you.  I currently have about 60 domains which I'm holding for sale.  I'm not in any particular hurry to sell them though as I've covered most of my registration fees by selling just one of them so far.
  
  
  
• I register each domain for 1 year only.  I'd love to sell them immediately but I'm in no great hurry.  If after 10 months or so I've not found a buyer then as long as I get rid of it for $8.50 or more I can't really lose out. 
  
  
  
• If you are familiar with hosting websites then it may be a good idea to put a temporary website on your for-sale domains.  If you can get it listed in Google and you can bring visitors to the site then you'll be able to sell it for more money. 

That's It For This Week.  Good Luck With It