Request The Domain Name You Want

The Domain Buyer Requests section has been a feature of NamePros for many years. That section of the site provides an opportunity for investors looking to increase their holdings in a certain niche to see what is available from other NamePros members, or to try to find inventory for a particular end-user request.

As in any online system, some requests seem more reasonable than others. I decided to, with an open mind, read every single open Domain Buyer Request, and do a little analysis. Here is what I found.

The Study

On Dec. 4, 2024, I spent a number of hours reading all requests in full, and made notes for each on the extension (TLD), type of domain name, low price per domain name, high price per domain name, and the number of feedback reviews for the requester. In a few cases the upper price per domain name was not entirely clear, and in more cases the lower cost.

Many buyer requests cover several types of name within one request thread. For those, I separated out each requested type of domain name. I looked at 101 currently active domain requests the day I did the analysis, although the number of requesting posts was somewhat fewer.

Keep in mind that this is an analysis of a single point in time. Some of the features of the requests may not hold next month.

Findings

Here are observations, some of which surprised me:

• The lower price per domain name ranged from $1 to $100,000, with a median of $250.
• The upper price ranged from $2 to $1,000,000, with a mean of $28,300 and a median of $1500.
• Strong majority are seeking .com (more on extensions in next section).
• Most are looking for a specific structure of name, like a dictionary word or 4L (four-letter) domain name.
• 4L .com are particularly sought. Within that, many specified a CVCV structure in particular, that is Consonant-Vowel-Consonant-Vowel, such as ‘mega’.
• In many cases the requester indicated excluded letters, indicating that they were seeking Western and/or Chinese Premium combinations.
• Very few indicated they were looking for a name for a particular end user.
• Only a few were looking for names in specific niches. Yes, there were a few looking for certain suffix/prefix, someone was looking for names with ‘agent’, someone else wanted an Italian-sounding name, someone wants names about cats, someone looking for short names that end with two specific letters, there is a request for robot names, and so on. A few were quite specific, such as a name for an Arabic classified website. I expected more requests for names within particular niches or with certain keywords.
• Relatively few were looking specifically for parking names, although one was looking for a portfolio of such names, and another requester was looking for names with strong SEO potential.
• Total number of sought names varied, and was not always clear, but most seemed to just be seeking a few names.
• Those requesting names ranged from very new members with 0 feedback, to highly experienced sellers. Over the 101 requests, the average feedback score was 159. That is skewed by some high-feedback members, the highest being 1184, but a number of other requests came from those with 500+ NamePros trade reviews. Still, the median number of trade reviews was 21.
• Only a few mentioned domain age, with many more indicating the number of registered TLDs as a requirement.
• A number indicated requirements on payment process, e.g. Escrow.com, or on registrar.

Mainly .COM

Most requesters, 68.3%, are interested in .com, as the graph below indicates.

Breakdown by extension for the 101 buyer requests. Note that ‘any’ means being open to any or many possible extensions, while ‘other’ means a specific TLD was requested, but one not in the chart separately.​

I was somewhat surprised that so few were searching for .io, and not as many for .ai as I would have expected.

The TLDs represented by ‘other’ in the chart were .cn, .com.au, .gg, .us, .vc and .xyz, each with a single request the day I checked.

In general, national country code names seemed to be seldom sought.

Liquid Names Sought

Most of the requests were for names that investors view as liquid, in particular one-word or short .com names, or strong single words in extensions like .ai, .io, .net or .com.

The breakdown for .com requests shown in the chart below.

For .com requests only, the type of name requested. 5N means five number, 4L is four letter, 1W is single dictionary word, 3C means three character names, and so on. For most other TLDs, only dictionary words are requested. In this chart, ‘any’ means buyer openness to a variety of name types, while ‘other’ means a specified type not represented by the main categories here.​

Only a few requests were for multi-word or brandable-type names.

If Making a Buyer Request

If you are making a buyer request, make sure that you have followed the rules – here is link to the Domain Names Wanted Guide. Note in particular that you need to give a specific price or price range.

While many of the possible items in the request are optional, specifying things such as extension, payment terms, niche or sector, number of TLDs registered in term, etc. can save you time from reading responses that are not of interest.

Members will be hesitant to respond to a request for a high-value name from someone with zero trade reviews. So you might want to first do some successful buying or selling of lower-priced domain names, or simply be active in the community, to build a reputation.

Responding to a Buyer Request

Before making your first response, carefully read what is requested, and only suggest names that completely meet that. If it requests single word, it means a word that is in the dictionary, not a made-up term or creative spelling. If it asks for .com, even if you think you have a great name in .io or some new extension, that does not meet the criteria. If it says to send prices, don’t send a suggested name without prices.

Respond via a direct message. Only send one DM, unless the buyer has sent one back. No reply means they are not interested.

Read the the Domain Names Wanted Guide here.

For both buyers and sellers, after a successful transaction leave trade reviews.

Even if you don’t directly use buyer requests, seeing what other investors are requesting may help inform investing decisions.

Here, once more, is the link to the Domain Buyer Requests section of NamePros.

I welcome comments below on your experience, as a buyer or a seller, in using the buyer request section.