What is my domain worth?
How domain names are valued: the factors that matter, comparable sales, wholesale vs end-user prices, why automated appraisals vary, and how to price a name to sell.
A domain is worth what someone will pay for it. That sounds unhelpful, but it's the key to valuing names: there's no fixed price list, only buyers. Here's how domain investors actually estimate value.
The honest answer
Most registered domains are worth little more than their registration fee. A small share are worth hundreds or thousands of dollars, and a tiny fraction are worth more. The difference comes down to who might want the name, and how much it would help them.
What drives value
- Ending. .com names sell for much more than the same word on most other endings, because they're what people trust and type.
- Length. Shorter is generally better. One-word and two-letter or three-letter .com names are scarce and valuable.
- Real words with commercial meaning. Mortgage, insurance or solar attract buyers who make money from those words. A made-up word has to work hard as a brand to be worth much.
- Number of possible buyers. A name that suits thousands of businesses is easier to sell than one that suits a single company.
- Easy to say and spell. Names that pass the radio test are worth more.
- Age and history. An older name with a clean history can help a little. A past spam site or legal trouble hurts.
- Traffic. Real type-in visitors can add value, though it's rarely the main factor today.
Comparable sales
The most reliable way to value a name is to find similar names that actually sold. NameBio has a large free database of public domain sales you can search by keyword, ending and length. Look for names with the same ending, a similar length and a similar kind of word.
Asking prices aren't sales. A marketplace listing at $25,000 only shows what the owner hopes for. Many listed names never sell at those prices.
Wholesale vs end-user
There are two very different prices for the same name:
- Wholesale (investor) price: what another domain investor will pay, usually quickly. Often a small fraction of the end-user price.
- End-user (retail) price: what a business that wants the name for its own brand will pay. Much higher, but buyers are rare and sales can take years.
When someone says a name is "worth $5,000", ask which price they mean.
Automated appraisals
Free appraisal tools, such as GoDaddy's and Estibot, give an instant estimate from patterns in past sales. They're a useful starting point, but treat them with caution: different tools often disagree a lot, and none of them knows whether a buyer exists today. Use them alongside comparable sales, not instead of them.
How to price a name to sell
- Find 5 to 10 comparable sales and note the range.
- Decide whether you're aiming at investors (faster, lower) or end users (slower, higher).
- List the name on the big marketplaces, such as Afternic, Sedo and Atom, with a clear price. Many buyers won't make offers on names without one.
- Add a simple "for sale" landing page on the domain itself.
- Remember renewal costs. A name you hold for five years costs five renewals, so price with that in mind.
Want to check who owns similar names, or when they expire? Use the WHOIS lookup.