Selling domains on Godaddy is something I’ve been quite interested in recently. As someone who buys domain names as frequently as eggs and milk, I realized in early 2022 that I had stacked up over 200 URLs.
Most of these were not being used at all, so once I started doing the math on how much I was paying yearly to just keep these names, I started looking into the details of what selling domains on Godaddy would actually entail and how I could get started as a new side hustle.
I’ll admit this isn’t my area of expertise. But like with most things, I’d love to share with you how I did it and at least provide a little insight in case you’re searching for information regarding domain flipping and selling domains on Godaddy in particular.
Getting Started Selling Domains On GoDaddy
Okay, let’s start with some general information since this will ultimately allow us to move the conversation along more smoothly once we understand the building blocks.
What Is Domain Flipping & How Do I Do It?
Domain flipping in its simplest form is buying a domain name for a low price and then turning around and selling the exact domain (without any additional changes, website creation, or brand building) for a higher price.
The ultimate goal is to buy low and sell high. Similar to retail arbitrage, this is the basic idea behind why most people are interested in selling domains. There is money to be made if you act quickly to grab good domains and hold them for some time (sometimes not that long) and then offer them for sale to future buyers for an increased cost.
The secret here is that domains are unique. Only one person can own a specific URL. So if someone wants one of the ones you have, you can sell it (flip it) to make a profit!
Where Should I Buy My Domain Names?
I buy all my domains on Godaddy.com and I love their customer service as well as the easy user experience on their website. You can easily search for new domains right on their main homepage and you’ll be able to see instantly if the name you’re searching for is available as well as some alternatives if what you’re searching for isn’t available.
All my domains are collected inside my account and I can sort, forward, transfer, and use them however I see fit. And even though I don’t use Godaddy for hosting any of my WordPress websites (I use SiteGround which I also love) they really are the only place I would purchase domains from directly.
Good Names For Selling Domains On GoDaddy
If you’re going to ultimately be selling domains on Godaddy and you know this from the start the most important thing to do is the choose good domain names to purchase. For me, this wasn’t something I planned, but more so fell into as a result of focusing on a niche I was very familiar with and buying names that had meaning.
9 Steps To Choose ‘sale-worthy’ Domain Names
- Choose a niche to focus on.
- Make a list of topics or subcategories inside your chosen niche
- Brainstorm ideas for each topic.
- What information would I look for under this topic?
- What are some catchy phrases?
- What are the trending hashtags?
- Do some keyword research on each topic.
- Search GoDaddy for combinations of the keywords and topic ideas you’ve listed.
- Narrow your ideas to short domain-worthy URLs
- Type the URL out into your search bar. Make sure it’s easy to type.
- Avoid double letters and commonly misspelled words
- Always shoot for .com listings without hyphens if you can help it.
Now that we’ve covered some of the basics, let’s get to the good stuff!
2 Easy Ways of Selling Domains On GoDaddy
If you’re interested in selling domains, Godaddy is the perfect place to start and end your search. There are 2 easy ways that I’ve learned and they are so simple and easy to set up, you can literally get started in just a few minutes with just a few clicks.
Selling Domains on GoDaddy’s List for Sale
Anyone who owns domains on GoDaddy can easily list them for sale with a few clicks of a button using GoDaddy’s List For Sale feature with Afternic.
List for Sale allows you to make some cash off of unwanted or extra domains you have in your account by listing them for sale on popular partner sites. With the List For Sale feature, your domains will show for sale, for the price you set, on over 100 reseller and register websites.
This is a great option if you don’t have a specific buyer in mind or anyone knocking down your door with interest in specific URLs. I easily listed all the domains I don’t plan to use anymore using this feature and it was easy.
For me, I’ll leave the domains up as long as their registration is active, and others that I want to hold on to in hopes of making a larger sale and actually flipping the domain- I’ve listed them and will hold them until they sell.
How Selling Domains on GoDaddy List For Sale Works!
- First, make sure you’re logged into your GoDaddy account.
- Click on Products. Scroll down to view your domains and click View all domains.
- Check the boxes beside all the domains you intend to list for sale.
- Once you’ve selected all the domains you want to list, click the link for List For Sale in the bottom menu bar.
- A new screen lists the one above will be shown and all you need to do is click Get Started.
- Enter the necessary details (like your listing prices) and decide if you want to use the optional feature to set up a ‘For Sale’ landing page on your domain. (Personally, I think this is a great option!)
- Click Publish.
- Next, you’ll just need to select if you have an Afternic account already (where you can just sign in) or if you don’t, they will create one for you.
- Congrats! Your domains have been submitted for listing and you’ll be able to manage them easily through your account under the Buy & Sell (Domain Listing Service) tab.
- Lastly, you’ll want to complete your profile on Afternic so that if/when your domains sell they will know where to send the money without any type of processing delays!
So after you list your domain using the List For Sale feature, there’s really nothing else you need to do. They will be listed on the sites for sale and hopefully reach the right buyer! If someone does end up being interested in your domains, a representative from Afternic will reach out to you to help with negotiations and move the process of selling your domains along smoothly.
Is there a fee for selling domains on GoDaddy’s List For Sale Service?
The short answer is no. There are no listing fees for placing your domains up for sale on GoDaddy, but they do take a commission on your sales.
If you get an interested buyer for one of your domains listed, a pre-set commission rate will be deducted before the final payment is made to you.
- Domain sale price is $0 to $5000 — Commission rate: 20% ($15 minimum)
- Domain sale price is $5,001 to $25,000 — Commission rate: $1,000 plus 15% of the amount over $5k
- Domain sale price is $25,000 and over — Commission rate: $4,000 plus 10% of the amount over $25k
I think it’s pretty fair given the lack of listing fees.
Now, let’s move on to the 2nd way to easily sell domains on GoDaddy and the way I made my very first domain flipping dollars! 
Selling Domains on GoDaddy Directly To the Buyer
In this situation, you have a domain or two that you’d like to sell and you know someone who would like to purchase it. That could be someone you know personally, a business owner, an entrepreneur, or even a customer/subscriber.
For me, it was a fellow entrepreneur and a past co-host from one of my events. I had a bunch of domains I bought years ago and just had never found the time to use them as I had initially planned to. She had a business and target audience that was in line with about 8 of them which were pretty awesome domains in my opinion (and hers as well) so I asked her if she wanted to buy them.
I set up an invoice in Quickbooks (which is where I do my bookkeeping) and sent it over. We agreed on the purchase price, she paid the invoice the sale was done.
Transfer Your Domains
From there, all that I needed to do was transfer the domains into her name (or in this case her GoDaddy account). GoDaddy allows you to transfer domains from one account to another easily, as long as the domain is eligible. Eligible domains include those which are not within 1 day of their expiration date, currently expired, already pending a transfer, or are pending a contact update.
To do this all I really needed was the buyer’s GoDaddy account email address. The form only has a few questions and all you needed was the email address and really to know if you wanted to keep the contact information for the domains the sale or not, which I didn’t.
So she provided the email address that her account was set up in and I used the easy online transfer form to send her over the domains. I didn’t have any connected products or websites to any of the domains, so I wasn’t worried about these things not transferring with the URL. But I did learn that any DNS setting would transfer with the domain, but again this wasn’t really a concern for this transaction.
How To Transfer Domains to a New GoDaddy Account
- First, make sure you’re logged into your GoDaddy account.
- Click on Products. Scroll down to view your domains and click view all domains.
- Check the boxes beside all the domains you intend to list for sale.
- Once you’ve selected all the domains you want to list, click the […] in the bottom menu bar which will reveal more options.
- Choose Transfer To Account
- A new screen list the one above will be shown for you to enter the buyer’s email, confirm their email, and then select if you want to copy the current contact information from your account.
- Once you filled in the information, click Send Transfer Request.
After your domain transfer has been submitted, the recipient will have about a week to accept the transfer into their account. If your domain had the Domain Protect Plan you’ll also have to verify your identity, but other than that- you’re done!
It’s Almost Too Easy
I know I couldn’t believe how easy it was to get started with selling domains! On GoDaddy, everything is always so easy and straightforward forward and if I ever get hung up, their customer service is always on point. So I hoped this process would be the same and it was.
Go ahead and give it a try!
List your extra domains for sale or start a little side hustle flipping domains and let me know how it turns out!
Selling Domains On GoDaddy
If you enjoyed this post on selling domains on GoDaddy, then I think you might also enjoy these posts on entrepreneurship and side hustling as well.
