If you’re looking to buy expired domains, you’re tapping into a valuable resource that can boost your online presence. Expired domains are websites that were once owned but have now become available for purchase.
They often come with existing traffic, backlinks, and SEO benefits, making them a great asset for building or improving websites.
Whether you’re aiming to drive more traffic, flip a domain for profit, or build a private blog network, buying expired domains can provide an efficient way to enhance your online strategy.
I have bought and sold over 100+ expired domains to date and have made quite a few bucks (quite a lot, actually! ) from it, and have compiled my years of experience in buying domains and building websites into this 3000+ word guide to help you make the best choice.
Stay glued to learn more about the do’s and don’ts while buying an expired domain!
Steps to buy an expired domain – In a nutshell
Below is a quick summary of the steps involved in buying expired domains and the platforms on which you can use the expired domain.
Keep scrolling further to learn the details of buying expired domains and more!
Steps to buy an expired Domain –
- Find and evaluate niche
- Check the domain’s availability
- Sign-up with a domain platform
- Place a bid/backorder
- Proxy bidding
- Completing the purchase and register
What is an expired Domain and how to find one?
An expired domain or an aged domain is a term used for a domain when:
- Someone doesn’t have auto-renewal turned on from the domain service.
- Forgot to renew the domain even after getting a grace period.
- Closing down of projects due to varying reasons.
- Owners using a domain as temporary for short-term projects.
These expired domains have a history with Google and authority due to their old content and the links built around it.
This situation creates an opportunity and provides a base for someone to build a website on. Think of it like this, someone needs to construct a building, and they choose to start the project on an existing framework rather than build it ground up.
Cycle Of An Expired Domain
A domain can be coined as expired one day after it expires. The email that you registered the domain from gets inactive and you will not receive any updates. I have explained below the stages that an expired domain goes through after it expires.
| Days after expiry | Period name | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| +1 | Expired | Enters the expiry stage |
| 30 to 45 days | Grace period | can be acquired without a penalty |
| 30 to 45 +30 days | Redemption period | Domain can be renewed but with an added penalty |
| +5 days | Pending deletion period | Days where the website’s data gets deleted and is made ready to be sold again |
*The expired domain’s life cycle depends on your chose domain platform
++The grace period and redemption periods differ as per TLD
Note: Once your domain is into the expiry period, there can be bids (backorders) that can be taken from an interested party to buy your expired domain immediately. However, the owner gets a priority first to renew their domain than new bidders.
Dropped Domain vs. Non-dropped Domain
I would like to share some key technical terms and the differences that you should know about an expired domain:
- Dropped Domain – A dropped domain is when the domain is not completely expired and can still be recovered during the grace period without a penalty. Once it is past the grace period, and into the redemption period, you can still recover your domain, but at a higher price.
- Non-dropped Domain – When the domain is live and well up and running for 1 – 10 years.
What happens to expired domains?
When a domain expires, and the owner does not claim it during the grace and redemption period, the platform removes the access and lists it for an auction or can even keep it to itself. As the grace period of a domain starts, people can still reach your website, but its services would effectively stop working.
Once the domain reaches its redemption period, it completely loses the ability for users to visit the page and enters the pending delete phase, where it becomes available to be sold.
Did You Know? As of 2023, there are 2 billion websites on the internet globally.
How to evaluate an expired Domain?
Now, to start with the process of finding the perfect expired domain, you can rely on any domain platform that offers key insights about the domain for free or at a fixed price. They usually provide – the current bid, number of bidders, website traffic, estimated value, and, of course, the domain name.
But to dive deep and dig out the real insights, I suggest you use an SEO tool and conduct a mini-audit of the website. This will give you a clear idea of the website’s past traffic, hikes and dips, the links that are built, and the content that has been performed.
Only the best SEO tools can give you the data in such depth – use this list of the best SEO tools to get yourself the unfair advantage. They give you all the necessary data about the backlinks, keyword research, analyzing the search traffic/volume, and more!
I use Semrush for my research anytime I want to analyze a website’s potential, but you can have your own pick!
How to buy an expired Domain (Step by Step Guide)
Coming to the main part of actually buying a domain, some parameters further need consideration after you’ve set your eye on a specific domain. I will share below the exact same approach that I used to pick an expired domain a few months back.
1. Find a niche
First things first, find out the niche that you would want to build a project on by using some of the premier SEO tools. This will help you focus on a smaller area and keep your time and research concise.
2. Check if the domain is available
Once you have finalized your niche, you can check if the domain names related to your niche and around the keyword you wish to target are available.
Note: This will not be a cakewalk and will test your patience to the limits. The idea that you’ve gotten can most probably be picked up by someone already!
While this is completely normal and has happened to me, too, you need to come up with creative names and ideas that can help you stand out while also staying relevant.
3. Sign up with a domain platform
Once you have found the target, you need to be signed up with the platform selling a particular domain. They usually charge a fee as per the winning bid or offer annual membership of their platform to be able to place a bid.
Some platforms like “Domain Hunter Gatherer” and “ExpiredDomains” offer free access – more on the platforms to use further in the article.
4. Place your bid or a backorder
If you’ve found your domain that is available, do not waste time and putting in a strong bid by analyzing the domain expiry date, the phase of the cycle that the domain is in, your earlier report on the domain, and your budget.
A backorder is basically a reservation that you can make for a domain that just hit it’s expiry date. You get an opportunity to snatch the domain the moment the owner fails to renew.
This however, does not guarantee you the domain and is dependent on the owner’s renewal and other bids. If there are more people interested, then this domain will go into a standard auction process.
5. Proxy Bidding
This is a service where the platforms can place a bid in your place. Once someone places a higher bid than you, the platform will place the least required increase in your bid to make you the highest bidder within the ceiling set by you.
6. Completing the purchase
Once you have won the auction, you can now complete the payment and the formalities necessary. The domain then will be transferred to your account in 7-14 days, making you the owner finally!
Registering an expired Domain
Once you become the owner, you should register the domain to your name. I would always advise you to stress more on this to avoid future conflicts with anyone claiming your domain (yes, this happens!)
Set up your domain on the domain name system and server, and you’ll be ready. Check out all the necessary deadlines and the expiration dates that you need to monitor and renew or use auto renewal option.
7 Best platforms to buy expired domains [Editor’s Choice]
To find an expired domain, you need to know about the platforms that sell these expired domains. You must have already heard of some of them; allow me to elaborate on them further for you.
1. Odys Global
This is one of the most sought-after platforms for aged and premium domains. Users can choose from their 1000+ carefully selected domains across 50+ industries.
They have an ever-growing inventory of filtered domain names and hold a variety of domain types including – aged domains, premium name domains, domains with websites, traffic domains and money-making domains
2. Flippa
This is one of the biggest online marketplaces to buy or sell domains and websites. You can go through top websites across E-commerce, content, SaaS, and other industries here.
They have expert advisors who suggest the must-buy domains and can assist you in making a decision to buy the expired domain you desire. You can find domains worth a few dollars to a few million dollars on this platform. The platform is user-friendly
3. GoDaddy
Another popular platform that you must have heard of is GoDaddy Auctions. They offer their annual membership at $4.99(without taxes), which allows you the opportunity to bid on the listed expired domains and also list your domains for sale if you wish.
They do not take any buyer fees but add up a year’s registration cost to the expired domain’s price should you end up buying it.
4. SEO.Domains
SEO.domains is one of the best platforms to find Top-level and niche specific Domains. They have sold around 29,200 domains since they have launched in 2014. The domains that are scouted by them are evaluated through top tools like Ahrefs, Majestic, Moz and an SEO professional.
You can get the domains 2 to 3 times cheaper than what you would normally pay at an auction for an expired domain and the best thing is here you don’t need to go thought any budding process but can be registered directly by paying the cost of the domain mentioned.
5. Namejets
Namejets with their partnerships can help you acquire expiring domain names before anyone else. You can go through a number of filters and find the domain of your needs with ease.
They offer a list of over 30 million domain names annually and helps you get the domain you need. Namejets help you set a maximum bid for your domain name prospect and can even proxy bid for you to ensure you get your desired domain.
6. DomainCoasters
This platform specifically offers SEO value expired domains. They help you choose your favorite domains across art, automotive, aviation, beauty, books, and many more such industries.
They help you gauge the authority, trust flow, and other important metrics that are beneficial while selecting an expired domain name.
7. DropCatch
If you want to Backorder the domains then DropCatch by NameBright is the best service out there. The catched domains in DropCatch goes to public auction. So, you can even bid on the domain even you dint backorder.
Remember when you buy a dropped domain it means the age of domain resets to Zero. You can check the same on Whois service.
Our Success with Expired Domains
We buy good number of expired domains every month for building money sites & for 301 redirections. Below are the few successful domains.
Note: We built this sites completely In-House. (We can’t share the URL’s at the moment)
1. Fitness Niche Expired Domain (Non-Dropped Domain)
2. Pet Niche Expired Domain (Non-Dropped Domain)
3. Entertainment Niche (Dropped Domain)
4. Education Niche Expired Domain (Dropped Domain)
What to do with an expired domain? [Benefits]
Once you have an expired domain in possession, you can use it for a number of purposes. You can recover the lost traffic and set the website running again by putting in some extra work. I’ll elaborate on more ways that you can use an expired domain.
1. Create a high-performing website
Using the old website data, you can craft new content and steer it in a profit-earning direction. I used the domain I acquired to create an affiliate website by following the guidelines of Authority Hacker and it helped me build a steady website and generate a steady side income.
If you’re not an expert website builder yet you can check out my review on the Authority Hacker and a way to get a discount.
2. Sell or Flip
I have seen people buying domains for pennies and watched them sell for thousands of dollars when the price and the demand are right. If you see a potential domain name that can pick up the demand in the future, you can follow the same approach to earn big bucks.
The other way to make money via an expired domain is – website flipping. It is one of the most popular ways to earn huge profits from building or buying websites. With the acquired domain the process is much quicker, find out how you can start with website flipping and earn maximum profit.
3. Building a PBN (Private Blog Network)
This is one of the ways to link back the expired domain’s link to your primary website to do better on the search engine. However, this practice should not be carried out without any expertise, as it may attract penalties if not done thoroughly.
I learned the art of building PBNs from the artist Matt Diggity himself when I took his course – The Affiliate Lab. It helped me up my SEO game and also the link-building strategies. You can check out what I liked and disliked about this course in the review I wrote on the Affiliate Lab.
Other benefits of an expired domain include
- Backlink profile of top-level domains that can be used to improve the search engine rankings.
- Capitalizing on the traffic of the old domain results in less time for the new website to pick up.
- The page authority that comes with the old expired domains can again be used to rank high on the search engine quickly. If the acquired domain also has a high DR, that’s an extra boost!
Drawbacks of buying expired domains
With the perks, there are some drawbacks attached to buying an expired domain too. Although they aren’t major and should not affect you if you follow the right approach to buying.
High competition
Like I mentioned earlier, the domain name that you want can be desired by others equally. There’s always a high competition for TLDs or trending domains, this can prove to be frustrating while finding an expired domain.
Bad site profile
If you have not evaluated the website well, there is a high chance that it may include spam links or a bad history that can negatively affect the traffic to your new website.
Limited choice
Since there is always high competition, there are very few options of domains available to choose from, and hence, it requires you to be creative to come up with unique domain names.
Bidding can turn expensive.
Since there is bidding that is involved, unnecessary bidding wars can inflate the price of the domain and can cost you way more than it should have.
Things to consider before buying an expired Domain
As per the example given initially, an expired domain can provide a framework for you to build your next website on. But the catch is that it should be relevant and not poles apart from the expired domain.
For instance, if you are buying an expired domain that is related to food, you have to work your way around and build it related to food itself and not related to finance. Here are all the critical things that should be on your checklist:
- Relevancy of the Niche – The niche of the domain is important and should be relevant to your project. A site with less DR, but relevant is much better than an irrelevant high DR domain.
- Domain Rating (DR) – The DR affects the way your new website will rank and also affects the price of the expired domain.
- Domain Age – The older the domain the higher the chances of it picking up on the search engines faster and hence holding more value. Use a WHOIS tool to verify the same.
- Google Index status – Check if the website has not faced any penalty in the past by Google. You can use the Google search console to find out more about this.
- Website traffic – Using SEO tools, you should check if the website has a traffic, which can help you understand the true value of the domain.
- Backlinks profile – You should check the website’s backlink profile and the quality of these links. This helps a lot with the SEO and needs to be verified thoroughly.
- Spam check the website – Check if the domain is involved in spam emails by spammers.
Note: Combining the above two points is also a factor; a higher DR with an irrelevant niche will not get you the traffic that a relevant niche expired domain with a lower DR can. It is really important to understand this equation before you invest your money in the auction.
Should you Buy an Expired Domain?
You should definitely buy an expired domain and not think twice after you are through this guide and know all the things necessary to make an informed decision. It is a great way to start up a website while leveraging the potential of a website and help it reach a stage of “what if could have been”
My top suggestion from my experience of buying expired domains is — to be patient. This is definitely the greatest advice I feel like I should have gotten when I initially started. Buying and scaling a website isn’t easy and scaling an expired one surely isn’t.
It will demand a lot of your time and effort, but once you are able to pull it off, all these struggles feel nothing. Let me know in the comments below if you have more to share about buying an expired domain.
