There is no fixed price for a registered domain. It's whatever a willing seller and a willing buyer agree. The same name can change hands for very different amounts depending on who asks, and how. These are the factors that decide it.
What drives the price
- Extension: .com remains the most valuable for most businesses. Country codes and new extensions are usually cheaper.
- Length and clarity: short, easy-to-spell, easy-to-say names cost more.
- Keyword demand: an exact-match name for a commercial search term ("payroll", "insurance") is priced by the value of that market.
- The owner: an investor prices it as stock; an operating business prices in the cost of rebranding; an individual may simply want a fair amount for something they no longer use.
- Who's asking: a funded company revealed in the first email almost always pays more. Anonymity is worth real money.
What you should budget for besides the price
- Escrow fees (usually a small percentage of the price).
- The transfer and first-year renewal at your registrar.
- Your time, or an acquisition specialist's fee.
How to avoid overpaying
Research before you reach out: who the owner is, how long they've held it, what similar names have sold for, and whether they've sold before. Then let them name a price first. Our acquisition service does this research up front, so you know whether a name is realistic before negotiations start.
Questions
Who decides the price of a registered domain?
The owner sets the asking price, but the final price is negotiated. Research, timing and anonymity have a big influence on it.
Do I have to pay if the purchase doesn't go through?
Not for the domain itself. With escrow, you only pay for the domain when the transfer completes.
More guides
- How to buy a domain name that's already taken
- How to find out who owns a domain, even when WHOIS is private
- Exact-match domains and SEO: do they still help you rank?
- Domain broker vs. doing it yourself
- How to approach a domain owner to buy their domain
- Domain escrow explained: how to pay for a domain safely
- How to upgrade from .io or .ai to the .com
- How to buy a domain from a private owner
- What to do when a domain owner won't reply
- How to buy a domain anonymously
- How to hire a domain broker to buy a domain