What Should I do with my old Domain Names? and how to sell them?

Like anyone who owns a few domain names I don't always get around to ever using them all, I sometimes never get around to the stage of building or publishing a website for a certain domain name I own.

 

For some reason or another you have these domain names you will never use, maybe it's because when you bought the name mywebcamkareokee.com you didn't realize that there were already three other sites like this out there providing the service that the name suggests (What was I thinking?).

 

Any way I have had more than a few domain names in my time that I never used and if I didn't use them I would just let them expire.

 

So what do I with my old domain names?

 

The answer in my opinion is "Sell Them", do it sell your unused domain name and don't let it expire unsold, get your money back at least for what you bought your name for, I would spend up to $200.00 some years on what I thought were brilliant domain names. I own the domain http://www.surftube.com.au/ and have never used it, I was going to build an awesome surfing video sharing site for the Australian market, but between family and other projects I don't think I'll ever build it. Now, I think that SurfTube.com.au is a catchy yet strong domain name for a surfing content related site, especially when there's over 2 million surfers in Australia. So when it was about to expire I thought to my self don't wast this name, sell it!

 

How do I sell my unused domain name or names?

 

After surfing the net for a few days (pardon the pun) I found out there's plenty of ways out there to sell your name, also there are allot of free or cheap ways to do this.

 

So this is how I'm promoting my domain name:

below centre: Logo I created for my domain using Gimp .

1. Create an example website with the content intended for the name your selling, also add a sales pitch in your content with plenty of text, to get the search engines interested. So for my website http://www.surftube.com.au/ I added some embedded surf videos with descriptions, a weather report widget, and some surfing images from flickr, also I created a logo that gives the site a bit of branding. I think doing this gives potential buyers a feeling that they aren't just buying a name but that they're buying a website, that has a premium domain name with branding potential.
2. List your domain name for sale on the internet with a 'domain name sales site' or a 'domain name broker', I listed my domain name for free with Domainmarketplace.com.au. Doing this gives you exposure, also real domain buyers troll these sites looking for catchy domain names to compliment there already existing business or website they are creating.
3. ebay, you can auction your name off, it's done all the time, but be careful you don't run to many auctions or the fees can get out of hand. Only do this option if you have a premium domain name that is catchy enough to cover the auction fees and then some.
4. Blogging sites, social sites, video sites. Get the message out there however you can.
5. Old school. Get back to the basics like typing up a generic letter with a sales pitch and price you want to sell for, then post or email the letter to ten, twenty or hundred of the biggest companies in your country that are with in an industry that's related to your domain. So for myself who owns surftube.com.au I would be sending letters to the biggest hitters in the surf industry, like Billabong etc. Hey it's worth a try what have you got to loose? except a little time and couple of stamps.

This list could go on for ever........there's a hundred things you could do if your keen.

Below is a list of places you can sell your domain name:

1.  Domainmarketplace.com.au
2. www.netfleet.com.au
3. www.sedo.com

*NOTE: Just remember according to Australian Law you can't on sell a .AU domain name unless it has been registered for six months or more (does not apply to registrations that have been renewed or previously transferred). SOURCE: http://www.melbourneit.com.au.

So good luck if your selling your domain and please leave a comment with other ways you might sell your domain.