Service expands reach of domain sales listings — for a price.
NameMedia, parent company of domain aftermarket Afternic, sales channel BuyDomains, and parking services ActiveAudience and GoldKey, just launched a new service called ActiveExchange.
ActiveExchange allows domain name owners to list their domains for sale on multiple venues with little effort. It’s like a search engine submission service — but to domain listing services and with guaranteed listings.
The service costs $19.95 per year for unlimited domain listings plus a 20% commission on any sales. For this price your domains will be listed on BuyDomains, Afternic, and more than 55 resellers in North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.
Interestingly, Afternic competitor Sedo is one of the venues available with the service. Sedo has been winning registrar partnerships away from Afternic over the past year. Demand Media’s eNom platform is also part of the service.
Membership in ActiveExchange also provides a dedicated account manager. According to the sales copy for the service domains are parked with ActiveAudience until sold. It is unclear if using the parking service is required to participate, but it is likely optional.
Although the 20% commission may seem high compared to the standard 10% commission of Sedo and Afternic, NameMedia’s cut is much smaller. If a domain using ActiveExchange sells on Sedo then NameMedia has to pay a fee to Sedo.
Afternic’s membership page now offers three options: ActiveExchange, Buyer, and Standard. The buyer membership is $1 and appears unchanged. Standard membership is free and allows members to use the escrow service, order appraisals, watch domain listings, and become an affiliate. There is no longer a Sellers membership, which makes me think that just listing domains on Afternic may not be an option for future customers.
UPDATE: Afternic has confirmed that you may still offer domains for sale at 10%. You are given two options: Basic Promotion for 10% or Expanded Promotion for 20%. Expanded Promotion includes the added listing distribution and phone support/sales.
…and the fine print
“*Sales Commission is equal to 20% of the price for which your domain is sold with a minimum commission of $120.”
$120 minimum commision which is 20% of a $600 sale so no sense listing domains for less than $600