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What happened to Dan.com? Shutdown and what’s next

A closed sign on a shop door

If you sold domains on Dan.com, your listings most likely live on Afternic now, and your lease-to-own deals moved to Afternic or GoDaddy. All pages were checked on 31 October 2026; Dan’s own newsroom is quoted from archived copies, because news.dan.com no longer resolves.

The short version: Dan.com became part of Afternic

Dan started “as a small company in Amsterdam in 2014”. Its September 2024 buyer email said “Dan.com joined the GoDaddy family in July 2022.” Domain Name Wire (DNW) later reported that “GoDaddy acquired Dan.com in 2022 for over $70 million.” GoDaddy already owned Afternic.

On 12 September 2024 Dan announced “a merger with Afternic after two years of planning” and said “we’re closing Dan.com for any new account sign ups.” Sales ended in October 2024. The platform stayed open for viewing data until 27 June 2025, when it was retired for good. A common mistake is to say Dan closed in October 2024: that is when trading stopped, not when the site shut.

A moving truck being loaded

Dan.com shutdown timeline

The dates below come from Dan’s archived announcement and FAQs, DNW and DomainInvesting. The last row is a redirect check run on 31 October 2026.

DateWhat happenedSource
July 2022GoDaddy acquires Dan.com (“over $70 million” per DNW)Dan buyer email via DomainInvesting; DNW, 18 Jun 2025
17 Jul 2024Afternic Custom Lander replaces the Dan.com landerDNW, 17 Jul 2024
12 Sep 2024Merger with Afternic announced; new sign-ups closedDan.com announcement (archived); DNW, 12 Sep 2024
18 Sep 2024Migration Center opens: self-migrate, auto-migrate (30 days) or opt outDNW, 18 Sep 2024
15 Oct 2024Deadline for buyer payments on Dan.com deals; sales endDan seller and buyer FAQs (archived); DNW, 2025
From 4 Nov 2024Lease-to-own contracts move (buyers to GoDaddy, sellers to Afternic)Dan buyer and seller FAQs (archived)
18 Jun 2025Closure date announcedDan.com on X via DomainInvesting; DNW
27 Jun 2025Dan.com retired; logins and data downloads endDNW, 18 Jun 2025
31 Oct 2026dan.com and dan.com/login 301-redirect to afternic.comRedirect check, 31 Oct 2026

The lander came first: DNW reported in July 2024 that “Domains currently pointing to the Dan.com lander will automatically point to the Custom Lander.” The account move followed in September.

When the end date was set, Dan posted on X: “As we close our doors on June 27 2025, we want to say thank you for sharing this journey with us”. DNW warned that former users “can still log into Dan to view their data. That goes away on June 27.”

A login screen on a laptop

What happened to listings, landers, lease-to-own and logins

Listings

According to Dan’s seller FAQ, migration carried over “Active domain listings”, “Buy it Now prices” and “Make Offer minimums”. Names already on Afternic were not copied twice. Sellers who opted out were told their listings would be deleted “with no more sales occurring through Dan.com.” The move was not smooth for everyone: DNW’s Andrew Allemann wrote that his Afternic account “now has listings for domains I no longer own”.

Landers and nameservers

Domains on ns1.dan.com and ns2.dan.com were switched to Afternic’s Custom Lander. Dan’s FAQ said those nameservers “will still resolve to the Custom Lander”, while suggesting “switching to ns1.afternic.com and ns2.afternic.com for smoother long-term management.” They still count today. Afternic’s help page on fees and commissions lists dan.com among the nameservers that qualify for its discounted commission, alongside afternic.com, undeveloped.com and others.

A calendar with a date circled

Lease-to-own contracts

For sellers, a migrated deal was “treated as new by Afternic”: the months-completed counter reset to zero and the term shrank to match payments already made. Dan’s example: “a transaction that completed 10 of 20 monthly installments at Dan.com will display as 0 of 10 at Afternic”. Where Afternic did not support the extension, or the seller opted out, “Dan.com will continue to pay out Lease to Own installments.”

Buyers had three choices: migrate to GoDaddy, pay off the balance by “converting the remaining monthly payments into one lump sum”, or cancel, in which case the name went back to the seller. Buyers who did nothing and kept paying had their contract “transferred to GoDaddy on or after your November payment due date”, with “a new GoDaddy account to manage the domain name and future payments” and the same payment date. Buyers did not lose their payments in the move; only those who cancelled or missed the November 2024 payment forfeited. How these deals work in general is in domain lease to own.

Payouts, parking and your own leads

Sellers had to “enter new payout information” at Afternic, and CashParking users had to “resubmit your Domain Registrant information through Afternic”. Dan’s Import Your Own Lead tool was replaced by Afternic’s Custom Checkout Link. Dan said it had already built “Lease to Own, Custom Checkout Link, Custom Lander, and Ownership Verification” into Afternic, and “More recently, this includes invoicing and Make Offer”.

A signpost pointing a new way

Logins

Dan.com logins ended on 27 June 2025. On 31 October 2026, dan.com, www.dan.com, dan.com/login and dan.com/users/login all returned a 301 redirect to Afternic’s home page, as did every other dan.com path tested. Former sellers sign in at Afternic. Former lease-to-own buyers who migrated manage payments in the GoDaddy account Dan created for them.

Dan.com featureWhere it went
Listings (Buy It Now prices, offer minimums)Migrated to Afternic (deleted if the seller opted out)
Dan lander / ns1.dan.comAfternic Custom Lander; dan.com nameservers still supported
Lease to own (seller)Afternic; months counter reset, remaining term carried over
Lease to own (buyer)GoDaddy account; same payment date
Import Your Own LeadAfternic Custom Checkout Link
Login / dashboardGone since 27 Jun 2025; dan.com redirects to Afternic

Where former Dan.com sellers can list now

Afternic is the official successor. Its help pages describe lease to own, the Custom Lander, the Custom Checkout Link and make-offer sales, and its Transaction Assurance FAQ mentions “A Dan.com-style messaging system for better transparency”. Afternic lease to own needs a Buy Now price “between $495 USD and $5,000,000 USD”. For how its commission compares with Sedo’s, see Afternic vs Sedo.

Other venues, from their own pages:

  • Atom lists names as “Buy It Now”, “Make Offer” or “Request Price” and offers payment plans and renting.
  • Sedo says “Domain offers come in three types: buy-it-now, auction or negotiation” (checked 27 October 2026; sedo.com was unavailable on 31 October).
  • Spaceship SellerHub lets you “List domains and name your price”, with a 10% seller commission (checked 27 October 2026).
  • SERPHeroes is built for aged and expired-style domains bought by SEOs. Listing is free, and when a domain sells SERPHeroes keeps a flat 10% commission, taken through Escrow.com. It is smaller than GoDaddy Auctions or Sedo.

Which venue suits which name is covered in the best domain marketplace and where to sell domain names. Setting up a listing well, wherever you put it, is in how to list a domain for sale.

A person reading email on a phone

One practical check: a name still on dan.com nameservers lands on Afternic’s Custom Lander. If you opted out or now sell elsewhere, change the nameservers so buyers reach the venue you actually use.

Documents being packed into a box

Frequently asked questions

Is Dan.com still working?

No. Sales stopped in October 2024 and the platform was retired on 27 June 2025. Every dan.com address now redirects to Afternic.

How do I use the dan.com login now?

You cannot. There is no Dan.com login page; dan.com/login redirects to Afternic’s home page. Former sellers sign in at Afternic, and migrated lease-to-own buyers use the GoDaddy account Dan created for them.

What is the link between Dan.com and GoDaddy?

GoDaddy bought Dan.com in July 2022 (for “over $70 million”, per DNW) and merged it into Afternic, which GoDaddy also owns. Migrated buyer lease-to-own contracts went to GoDaddy.

Do dan.com nameservers still work?

Yes, as of 31 October 2026. They resolve to Afternic’s Custom Lander, and Afternic still lists dan.com among its supported nameservers.

The takeaway Dan.com is gone and Afternic is its successor, but you are free to list anywhere. If your names are aged or expired-style domains that SEOs buy, you can list your domain on SERPHeroes for free, one at a time or as a bulk upload, or browse aged domains to see how listings look.