Find, value and resell expiring domain names
Every day thousands of domain names drop because their owners didn't renew. A few are short, brandable names a new business would happily pay for. Score a drop list with a script, throw out anything near a trade mark, value the survivors from real past sales, buy at registration price and list them where buyers look. It's a slow, patient portfolio game, and the maths shows exactly how slow.
- A valuation method from real comparable sales, and how to list on Afternic and Sedo
- Portfolio maths: buy costs, renewals, sell-through, commission and profit per hour
- Python 3.9 or newer. New to the terminal? Terminal survival kit
- A registrar account with two-factor authentication, and free accounts on the list and marketplace sites (you create these yourself)
- A starting budget you can afford to tie up for years: even £200 is enough to learn
- Patience. Most names never sell, and the ones that do can take years
How domain flipping really works
Understand the business model before spending a pound: it's a portfolio, not a quick flip.
A new bakery, app or consultancy needs a name, and the .com they want is takenIf you own a short, memorable name that fits them, they'll pay hundreds or thousands to buy it rather than settle for a clumsy alternative. Domain investors hold portfolios of such names, list them for sale everywhere at once, and wait for the right buyer to search.
Where the names come fromexpiring and dropped domains. Businesses close, projects get abandoned, owners forget to renew. The good ones are contested, but a careful eye still finds two-word brandables in niches others ignore, at registration price or a small backorder fee.
Where AI and code helpscanning hundreds of names a day by hand is slow and boring. The kit's script scores every name on length, pronounceability, real words, extension and brand-term risk in seconds, so you only read the top few. An AI chat gives a strict second opinion on the shortlist. Your judgement and the trade mark checks decide.
Careful- What it takes. Patience measured in years: investors commonly plan on selling only a small percentage of a portfolio each year, so most of your names will sit unsold for a long time.
- Money you can tie up: you pay renewals every year whether names sell or not.
- Strict discipline on trade marks: never buy a name that contains or imitates a brand.
- A few hours a week scanning lists, checking and listing.
- Who this suits: you enjoy words, names and branding, you like research, and you're happy to build something slowly alongside other work.
The kitread the kit overview or download everything: the scout script, a practice list, the buying and valuing playbook, the portfolio calculator and listing scripts.