Do You Ever Check On Your Domains After You Sell Them?

At the end of last year I made a couple of domain / site sales. Yesterday, I found myself browsing through the list of of domains that I sold and noticed one of them had expired. This happened to be one of the better names that I owned and although I shouldn’t care, since I no longer own the name I felt it was important to ping the new owner.

I decided to check on the domains because I am always curious what the new owners end up doing with them. I spend a great deal of time investing in domain names and one of the best feelings isn’t necessarily the money I have derived from selling the names. It is the mere fact that someone is spending the time and effort to unlock a specific domain name’s potential.

Hopefully the new owner of the name ends up seeing the email that I sent to them soon. I would hate for them to be faced with dropping a valuable domain name because they overlooked the expiration date of the name. For me, domain sales aren’t just an open and closed case. I tend to extend myself past the point of simply selling a domain name. I want those who have purchased names from me to know that they are buying from someone that they can really trust and will have their best interest. Even if this means checking on a few of the names and sending personal reminder emails.

Call me old fashion but I want everyone to succeed in this domain race, regardless if I am competing directly with them or not.

9 Comments

Eric February 13, 2013 at 12:19 am

I look in on names I’ve sold sometimes. When I first started out it used to disappoint me to see the names parked. I was happy the first time I saw a live website on a name that I’d sold.

More recently, I have a different reaction. Now it makes me wish I’d sold it for more.

Reply
- Jason Thompson February 13, 2013 at 10:54 am
  
  Eric,
  
  I can completely relate! “Now it makes me wish I’d sold it for more.”
  
  I had this reaction once, thinking that a startup company acquired one of my names. Then I checked back in a few weeks later and noticed it was being used for an adult affiliate site. After that I felt I sold it at the right price. Funny how things work out!
  
  Reply
AbdulBasit Makrani February 13, 2013 at 12:49 am

What a co-incident Jason. Just today I was checking a .CO domain I sold a year back or so and it’s currently redirecting to their main domain .com. Also I sold recently a .net domain which seems to be a developed site right now.

It’s always good to see the domain I sell is being developed most of the time.

Reply
- Jason Thompson February 13, 2013 at 6:09 pm
  
  Abdul,
  
  I agree there is something about a domain finding a real home. Btw, great minds thing alike!
  
  Reply
Joe February 13, 2013 at 1:28 am

Hi Jason. I always go and check domains I’ve sold primarily for two reasons:

- verifying if whois is updated
- visiting the new website

While the latter is mere curiosity (though it’s rewarding to see one of your domains has been turned into a profitable business), the former is certainly a priority. You wouldn’t want your name to be associated with a stranger’s project.

Reply
- Jason Thompson February 13, 2013 at 6:11 pm
  
  Joe, verifying if the whois is updated is something that I need to start doing. You bring up a great point there! It definitely is a priority and some projects you definitely don’t want associated with your name.
  
  Reply
  - Joe February 14, 2013 at 1:10 am
    
    I’ve just found out that a domain I sold a week ago on NamePros still contains my whois contact data and the buyer seems to have vanished (but he paid for it) now I need to contact the registrar.
    
    Reply
Net Octave February 13, 2013 at 8:41 am

Me too curious on what the new owner is upto. Sometimes you will be surprised on how the new owner decided to use the name. Something that I never even dreamed of.

Reply
- Jason Thompson February 13, 2013 at 6:13 pm
  
  Net Octave, being surprised is right. I’ve been surprised a few times with what a new owner does with a domain name that I’ve sold them. Sometimes I am even shocked, but that is another story.
  
  Reply