Why buying a taken domain is hard on your own
Most good names are already registered. Some sit unused, some point to a parked page, and some run a small business that might sell for the right number. The owner is often hidden behind a privacy service, so the first job is finding a way to reach them at all.
Then comes the price. Write first as a known company and the asking price often jumps. Write with a low offer and the owner may never reply. Write with no idea of the market and you may agree to far more than the name is worth.
A typical broker solves part of this, but charges 10 to 20 percent of the sale price and often an up-front fee per domain. On a 10,000 USD name that is 1,500 to 2,000 USD in fees, often plus roughly 65 to 100 USD before any work starts. The Buy Agent does the same groundwork on a flat plan, and you keep control of every number.
How the Buy Agent works, step by step
The agent follows the same path for every name, and every step shows up in the deal room so you can see what happened and why.
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01
It checks the status of the name
The agent reads the registry record through RDAP and WHOIS, looks at DNS, opens the live site and any for-sale lander, and checks public marketplace listings for a buy-now price. If the name is listed for a fixed price, you see that first, since a listing can be faster than a negotiation.
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02
It finds a public way to reach the owner
Contact details come only from public sources: the registry record (including privacy proxy forwarding addresses), the site itself, the for-sale lander and public listings. The agent does not log in behind walls, does not fill registrar contact forms by script and does not solve CAPTCHAs.
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03
It prices the name from comparable sales
The agent pulls public sales of similar names and weighs length, words, extension and how the name is used today. You get a fair value range with each comparable sale listed, plus a proposed opening offer and a walk-away price. Read more about how this works in domain appraisal.
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04
You approve the band
Before a single email goes out, you set three numbers: the opening offer, the step size for counter-offers and your ceiling. That band is the only space the agent may move in.
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05
It writes and sends the outreach
The first email goes from your connected work mailbox under the DomainAgent buyer identity. It introduces DomainAgent as acting for a client, so your name and your company stay private. Each email carries a clear sender identity and a one-click opt-out.
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06
It reads replies and handles counters
When the owner answers, the agent reads the reply, sorts out questions from real counter-offers and answers inside your band. If the owner asks for more than your ceiling, the agent says so politely and does not chase higher. Our guide to domain negotiation explains the tactics it uses.
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07
You click to make it binding
No offer becomes binding and no acceptance goes out without your approval click in the app. Amber "awaiting your approval" buttons appear in the deal room, and every click is logged with the time.
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08
Escrow and transfer
Once terms are agreed, the deal goes to a licensed escrow partner. You pay escrow, the seller moves the domain, you confirm, and escrow releases the funds. DomainAgent never holds your money. The agent tracks the auth code, the unlock and the registrar transfer until the name is yours.
What you control
The agent works on its own between your decisions, but the decisions stay with you.
| You set | What it means for the agent |
|---|---|
| Opening offer | The first number the owner sees |
| Step size | How far it may move on each counter-offer |
| Ceiling | The highest price it may ever propose |
| Follow-up sequence | How many polite follow-ups before it stops |
| Approval | Your click before anything binding |
You can pause a deal, change the band, or close the conversation at any time from the deal room. If the owner never replies or says no, the agent stops after the sequence you chose and suggests similar names or other extensions.
What the Buy Agent never does
- It never offers a cent above the ceiling you approved.
- It never makes an offer binding or accepts terms without your click.
- It never claims to be a human. It introduces itself as DomainAgent acting for a client.
- It never shares your name or company unless you decide to reveal them.
- It never holds funds. Payment moves only through a licensed escrow partner.
- It never scrapes contact data from behind logins or solves CAPTCHAs.
- It never writes again to anyone who used the opt-out link, on any account.
The full list of rails lives on the page about how the agent stays inside the rules.
Standing mandates for buyers with a wish list
Sometimes you do not have one name in mind but a type of name. A standing mandate is a plain English instruction such as "Find me 100 category defining B2B SaaS .com domains under 5,000 USD". The agent keeps working on it, checks candidates, contacts owners within your plan limits and only brings you deals that meet the criteria.
You still approve every binding offer. A mandate saves you the hours of hunting, not the final say. Investor includes 1 standing mandate, Pro 5, Portfolio 20 and Agency 50.
Which plan limits apply to buying
Each plan counts usage across the billing period. Closing or deleting a deal does not return quota.
| Limit per billing period | Investor | Pro | Portfolio | Agency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deal checks (status, value, comps, opening offer) | 300 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 30,000 |
| Active negotiations at once | 5 | 25 | 100 | 250 |
| New owner contacts per month | 50 | 300 | 1,500 | 5,000 |
| Outreach and reply emails per month | 150 | 1,000 | 5,000 | 15,000 |
| Standing mandates | 1 | 5 | 20 | 50 |
Billed yearly, Investor costs 49 USD a month and Pro costs 149 USD a month. You see a prompt to upgrade when you reach 80 percent of any limit, and nothing on any plan is unlimited. Compare all four plans on the pricing page.
A short walkthrough
Say you run a small software company and want the exact .com of your product name. It is registered, with a parked page and no price shown.
You enter the name and a ceiling of 12,000 USD. The agent finds the registry record behind a privacy proxy, sees no buy-now listing, and pulls comparable sales that point to a fair range of 6,000 to 9,000 USD. It proposes an opening offer of 3,500 USD and a walk-away of 9,000 USD, and you agree to a step size of 750 USD.
The first email goes out from your mailbox as DomainAgent acting for a client. Four days later the owner replies asking for 15,000 USD. The agent answers inside the band and the owner comes down twice. At 8,250 USD an amber button appears. You click it, escrow opens, and the agent watches the transfer through to your registrar.
On Pro billed yearly, that whole year costs 1,788 USD and can run up to 25 negotiations at the same time. A typical 15 to 20 percent broker commission on the same purchase would come to about 1,240 to 1,650 USD for this single name.