This post weighs whether it pays: how often names sell, what a sale is worth and what holding them costs. For how the process works, start with domain investing for beginners. All prices and commissions below were checked 29 October 2026, and they change.
The honest answer: most domains never sell
Can you sell domain names for profit? Some people do. But most domains never sell, and the ones that do have to pay for all the ones that don’t. That is why “is domain investing profitable” has no general yes.
Supply is part of the problem. The DNIB Quarterly Report Q3 2026, published via Verisign’s Domain Name Industry Brief, says the quarter “closed with 411.6 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains”. As of 30 September 2026 there were 169.8 million .com names and 12.6 million .net names. Any name you buy to resell competes with an enormous amount of inventory.
How often domains actually sell
The number that decides whether you can buy and sell domain names for profit is the sell-through rate. Andrew Allemann defined it on the Namecheap Blog in 2020: “The sell-through rate is the percentage of your portfolio that you sell in a year. Someone with 1,000 domains and a sell-through rate of 1% sells 10 domains per year.” He added that this “might seem like a small number but it’s a typical sell-through rate for a domain investor that holds a large portfolio of domains.”
Here is what named sources have said. None of these figures is audited.
| Source (year) | Sell-through figure, exact wording |
|---|---|
| Andrew Allemann, Namecheap Blog (2019) | “about 1%-1.5% of domains per year” for “a well-optimized, fairly-priced portfolio” |
| Andrew Allemann, Namecheap Blog (2020) | 1% is “a typical sell-through rate” for a large portfolio |
| Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire (2024) | “a sell-through rate of 1-2% is considered solid” |
| Andrew Allemann, Domain Name Wire (2014) | “rates of 1%-3% reported from large portfolio holders” |
| DomainSherpa (2017) | “most domain name investors agree that a 2-3 percent sell-through rate is typical” |
Taken together, these sources put a normal year at roughly 1% to 3%. Put the other way round, about 97 to 99 of every 100 names do not sell in a given year. Allemann’s 2014 Domain Name Wire piece shows what that means over time: “If you sell 2% of your portfolio each year, it would take about 35 years to sell just half your portfolio, and over 75 years to sell 80% of your portfolio, even at a constant 2% rate.”
Outliers exist. DomainSherpa’s 2017 interview with Mark Levine covered a small .io portfolio with a 23% sell-through rate, which the site itself called “unbelievable” against a 2–3% norm. Afternic’s 2024 TLD rundown (published February 2025) said .ai had the highest sell-through among its top ten extensions by units sold, but gave no percentage and warned: “These results should not be taken as an indicator of success for all .ai domains.”
What a typical sale is worth
Headline sales distort the picture. DNJournal’s year-to-date charts (through 18 October 2026) list AI.com at $70,000,000 and Club.com at $10,000,000, and say “It now takes a minimum of $100,000 to qualify for” the all-extension Top 100. Those are exceptions, not what a normal name fetches. They are collected in top domain sales of 2026.
A better guide is a median. Writing in March 2026 on the InterNetX/Sedo Global Domain Report 2026, Domain Name Wire reported: “Sedo’s median price overall was $818. .Com had a $595 median price.” Half of Sedo’s sales were below those figures.
The break-even arithmetic
Now put sales next to costs. At Porkbun, a .com renews at $11.08 a year; Namecheap’s one-year .com renewal is $18.48. Sale commissions vary: Afternic’s standard rate is “30% ($15 minimum)”, Sedo charges 10%, 15% or 20% depending on listing type, and Namecheap Market takes “a flat commission of 10%” on Buy Now sales. Renewal pricing is covered in more depth in domain renewal price.
The table below is a worked example, not a forecast: 100 .com names held for one year, at a 1% sell-through rate (the low end of the sourced range), with prices checked 29 October 2026.
| Worked example: 100 .com names, one year | Figure |
|---|---|
| Renewals at Porkbun ($11.08 each) | $1,108 |
| Renewals at Namecheap, one-year rate ($18.48 each) | $1,848 |
| Sales at 1% sell-through | 1 |
| Gross sale needed to cover Porkbun renewals after 30% commission (Afternic standard) | $1,582.86 |
| Gross sale needed after 15% commission (Sedo) | $1,303.53 |
| Gross sale needed to cover Namecheap renewals after 30% commission | $2,640.00 |
| Sedo median sale ($818), net of 15% commission | $695.30 |
The last row is the uncomfortable one. A median-priced Sedo sale, after a 15% commission, leaves $695.30, which does not cover one year of renewals on 100 .com names even at Porkbun’s rate. And this sum ignores what you paid for the names in the first place. Over five years, those same renewals add up to $5,540, with prices held flat (the .com wholesale fee is due to rise on 1 November 2026).
Scale does not change the ratio. With 1,000 names at 1%, Allemann’s example gives 10 sales a year, and renewals at $11.08 come to $11,080, so each sale must net at least $1,108 just to cover renewals.
Allemann’s 2019 model on the Namecheap Blog adds the time dimension. An investor buying 25 names a month at an average of $100, paying about $10 a year in renewals, selling 1.5% a year at an average of $2,500, would take “nearly four years” to start getting paid each month, and the venture would “continue to run a deficit … until they’ve invested for over 7 years.” Raise the average sale to $3,500 and the model turns “cashflow positive each month starting around month 30.”
When it can be worth it, and when it isn’t
Domain investing has a chance of paying when you buy cheaply relative to what an end user would pay, keep renewals low, price realistically and hold for years. Allemann’s 2020 example shows how sensitive the result is: at an average sale of $3,000, moving from 1.0% to 1.5% sell-through takes gross sales from $30,000 to $45,000 a year on 1,000 names.
It is unlikely to be worth it if you need income soon, if you are buying many speculative names at full registration price, or if you hold extensions with high renewals. At Porkbun, .ai renews at $82.70 and .io at $51.80, so every unsold name costs several times what a .com does. An appraisal is not a sale either, as domain appraisal accuracy explains. Our free Domain Worth Calculator maps a name to a value band, factor by factor; it is not a market appraisal.
If you already hold names, the work becomes cutting the ones that will not sell before they renew, and pricing the rest; that is the subject of domain portfolio management. Venues and their terms are compared in where to sell domain names.
One limit: every sell-through figure here is self-reported, and your own rate could be higher or lower. Treat the numbers as a reason to test small and drop names quickly, not as a promise either way.
Frequently asked questions
Is domain investing profitable?
For some, but there is no typical return to quote. Published sell-through rates of about 1% to 3% a year (Allemann 2014–2024, DomainSherpa 2017) mean most names never sell.
What is a good sell-through rate?
Allemann wrote on Domain Name Wire in 2024 that “a sell-through rate of 1-2% is considered solid” for passive portfolios. DomainSherpa in 2017 called 2–3% typical.
Can you sell domain names for profit as a beginner?
Possibly, but start small. With one sale a year from 100 .com names, that sale needs to gross about $1,583 after a 30% commission just to cover Porkbun renewals (worked example, prices checked 29 October 2026).
Are big sales like AI.com typical?
No. Domain Name Wire (March 2026), reporting the InterNetX/Sedo Global Domain Report 2026, gave Sedo’s median sale as $818 overall and $595 for .com.
The takeaway Domain investing is worth it only if your sales cover every unsold name’s renewals, and published rates suggest most names never sell. Run the numbers before you buy. If you hold a name worth selling, you can list your domain on SERPHeroes: listing is free, and a flat 10% commission applies only when it sells.
