Turning your Unused Domains into Cash

Reviewing your domain name portfolio can be like taking a walk down memory lane.

Remember when you had a great business idea and registered that cool domain for it?

We collect domain names for a lot of reasons, and we don’t always put them to use. In this article, we offer some fun examples for why people register domains without an immediate business need for them—and what you can do if you happen to have a handful of unused domains kicking around in your account.

Reasons Why People Register Domains

Here are some reasons why people might register a domain without a plan for it. 

• The 2 am registration – There’s a joke in the domain name business that the oddest domains are registered at 2 am. After a night hanging out with friends, everyone comes up with “the greatest business ideas ever!” and registers a domain name for it.
  
  The next morning they wake up and wonder what the heck they were thinking. Uber for dogs? That might not work after all.

• The post-shower registration – Many people do their best brainstorming in the shower. You come up with a great idea and pick up your phone the second you get out of the shower to register the domain for it. And then you get busy with your regular business and forget all about it.

• The political gaffe domain – A politician says or does something funny and it’s all the news cycle can talk about for 24 hours. Covfefe, anyone? It can seem like a great idea to register the corresponding domain name, but the 24-hour news cycle lasts… 24 hours. Meme-related domains can last a bit longer.

• The trendy keyword domain – Have you registered a domain with a new or trending term that didn’t last long? I have. Sometimes these trends don’t work out, and you don’t end up using your domain.

Turning Your Domain Portfolio into Cash

Registering domains that you never end up using doesn’t mean you’re a full-blown domain investor, but you could still be holding onto something that’s worth money.

There’s an old saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” And so it goes with domain names.

You aren’t using that domain name you thought of during a Monday morning shower, but someone else might want it. 

How You Can Sell Your Domains

Namecheap has made it easier to sell these domains thanks to a partnership with Afternic. Afternic is a domain name sales platform that lists your domains on many different websites. People searching for available domains see domains listed through Afternic and can buy them.

Namecheap is now part of Afternic’s Fast Transfer network. That means you can sell domains in your Namecheap account on the widest network of websites. When you sell a domain, it will automatically be transferred and Afternic will send you payment for the domain.

To participate, sign up for an account at Afternic. When you list a domain with a fixed price on Afternic and the domain is registered at Namecheap, we’ll send you an email asking you to opt-in to Fast Transfer. Click the link and you’re on your way to selling your domains.