Browsing Expired Domains

Every domain name registration has an expiration date. When the owner doesn’t renew, the domain eventually expires and becomes available again, often through an auction. Just like browsing marketplaces, browsing expired domain auctions is a great way to discover names you wouldn’t have come up with on your own.

Expiry dates are publicly available and there are various sites compiling lists of domain names that are about to expire. You can browse these to see if there are any relevant domains in there that you might like.

It’s one of the least direct ways to acquire domain names, because most of these domains won’t be relevant to you. But it’s also one of the cheapest ways to find valuable domains. Many of the valuable domain names I acquired were domain names that expired. I’ve listed various websites for this in the Resources chapter.

Why expired domains can be surprisingly cheap

This is where it gets interesting. The people browsing expired domain auctions are mostly domain name investors. They know what a domain is worth, but they’re looking to buy low and sell high. Every domain they buy needs to leave room for a profit margin, which limits what they’re willing to bid.

As an end user — someone who actually wants to use the domain — you don’t need that margin. If a domain is worth $500 to your business, you can bid $500. A domain investor looking at the same name might cap their bid at $200, hoping to flip it later. That difference gives you a real advantage in these auctions.

Domain investors need room for a profit margin; you don’t. As the end user, you can outbid them and still get a great deal.