Domain Broker Fees: Commission, Upfront Cost and What Brokers Charge
Every fee is a percentage of a number you have not set yet. Price the name against real sold comps first, free and without an account.
Every estimate shows its work: the comparable sales and the signal breakdown it was built from, then the names like it you can buy right now.
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Automated estimate for informational purposes only. Not financial or investment advice, and not a guarantee of sale price.
Everything this estimate is built on is on this card. An account is for selling: your names on the seller board, each with its own sales page.
The short answer
Domain brokers charge 10 to 20 percent of the completed sale, and 15 percent is the figure you will see most often. Marketplace commissions published in 2026 run wider than that, from 7.5 percent at the low end to 30 percent at the high end. Sell side listings almost never cost anything upfront. Buy side brokerage is where upfront money appears, either as a non refundable service fee of roughly $70 to $120 or as a minimum commission of $1,000 to $5,000.
The percentage is not what decides your bill on a smaller deal. The minimum is. A broker quoting 15 percent with a $5,000 floor costs more than one charging $119.99 plus 20 percent on every purchase below about $24,400, which is the opposite of what most comparisons tell you. Below, every published rate we could verify, the arithmetic at four real deal sizes, and the point where each structure starts to win.
Atom, VPN.com and Escrow.com rates read from their own published fee pages this month. GoDaddy, Sedo and Flippa figures are given as ranges because those pages block automated access and current sources disagree
Selling a name
What every major venue takes when your domain sells
These are commissions on a completed sale. None of these venues charges to list a standard domain, so the number below is the whole cost of selling there unless you buy a promotion product on top.
| Venue | Seller commission | Minimum | How solid is the figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atom, standard listing | 7.5% | None published | Read from Atom's own sell page, September 2026 |
| Domainsdealer | 12% Investor, 8% Pro Broker, from 5% negotiated | None | Our own published rate |
| Sedo, fixed price | 10% | Not published | Widely reported. Sedo's price list has blocked us for many months |
| Namecheap Market | 10% reported | Not published | Secondary sources only |
| Sedo, offers and auctions | 15% | Not published | Widely reported |
| Atom Plus | 15% | None published | Read from Atom's own sell page, September 2026 |
| Afternic, on its nameservers | 15% | $15 | Published rate, effective 1 February 2023 |
| MediaOptions | 15% | $1,000 | Read from its own broker page. Exclusive mandate required |
| Sedo via SedoMLS | 20% | Not published | Widely reported |
| Afternic, other nameservers | 25% | $15 | Published rate, effective 1 February 2023 |
| GoDaddy Auctions | 15% to 25% reported | about $15 | Reported. GoDaddy blocks automated access to the schedule |
| Atom Premium | 30% under $4,999, 25% to $49,999, 20% to $74,999, 15% above $75,000 | None published | Read from Atom's own sell page, September 2026 |
Flippa sits outside this table on purpose. Its success fee is reported at 10 percent below $50,000 and around 5 percent above $100,000, but its listing fee is quoted anywhere from about $29 to about $999 by different current sources and its pricing page is unreachable to us. We would rather leave a gap than publish a number we cannot stand behind, and Flippa is built for websites and businesses rather than bare domain names in any case.
The cheapest ten minutes in the table
The 15 versus 25 percent decision most sellers never make
The single largest avoidable fee in domain selling is not a broker's rate. It is the Afternic nameserver rule. Since 1 February 2023, Afternic charges 15 percent when your domain points at Afternic, Dan or Uniregistry nameservers, and 25 percent when it points anywhere else. Pointing them costs nothing and takes a few minutes in your registrar control panel.
On a $40,000 sale that is a $4,000 difference for a settings change. Sellers miss it constantly, usually because the name is parked somewhere earning a little advertising revenue, and that revenue has collapsed anyway: Google confirmed that parked domains stop being an ad surface in the Search Partner Network on 10 February 2026. If you were holding non Afternic nameservers to protect parking income, that reason has expired. The full working is on domain selling fees.
Buying a name that is not for sale
Buy side brokerage is the only place upfront money appears
If the name already carries an asking price, you do not need any of this. Buy side brokerage exists for names whose owners have never offered them, where somebody has to find the owner, make the approach and negotiate without handing over your identity.
| Service | Upfront | Commission | Cost if the owner refuses |
|---|---|---|---|
| GoDaddy Domain Broker | $99.99 to $119.99, non refundable | 20% | You lose the upfront fee. Engagement runs about 30 days |
| VPN.com | Nothing | 15%, $5,000 minimum, higher on complex deals | Nothing owed |
| DomainAgents | $19.95 to $29.95 per offer, reported | about 15% | You lose the per offer fee. Minimum offer reported at $199 |
| Buying a listed name | Nothing | Nothing. The seller pays the venue | Nothing |
The GoDaddy figure is a range on purpose. Three numbers are in circulation right now, $69.99, $99.99 and $119.99, because the price has moved more than once and reviews were not updated. GoDaddy blocks automated access to its own pricing page, so we could not settle it from the primary source. Read the total in checkout before confirming, and see the GoDaddy domain broker service for the full mechanics.
The arithmetic nobody runs
A minimum commission beats a percentage as the thing that decides your bill
Comparisons of buy side brokers almost always stop at the percentage and conclude that commission only is cheaper because it has no upfront fee. Put the minimum back in and the conclusion reverses across the whole small end of the market.
| Purchase price | $119.99 upfront plus 20% | 15% with a $5,000 minimum | Which costs less |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000 | $519.99 | $5,000 | Upfront fee model, by $4,480 |
| $10,000 | $2,119.99 | $5,000 | Upfront fee model, by $2,880 |
| $24,400 | $5,000 | $5,000 | The crossover. Identical |
| $50,000 | $10,119.99 | $7,500 | Commission only, by $2,620 |
| $100,000 | $20,119.99 | $15,000 | Commission only, by $5,120 |
The crossover sits near $24,400. Two cautions: it uses $119.99, the highest of the three GoDaddy figures in circulation, so a lower upfront fee pushes the crossover up. And VPN.com's own FAQ says its rate can run from 15 percent to 35 percent or more on smaller or more complex deals, which pushes it up again. Treat $24,400 as the shape of the answer, not a precise threshold, and get both quotes in writing.
The costs that are not commission
Escrow is a separate bill, and most articles quote a rate that no longer exists
Escrow.com moved to a tiered schedule effective 31 May 2024. The 0.89 percent domain rate that a large share of competing guides still quote has been retired. These are the current standard rates, read from the fee calculator.
| Transaction value | Standard rate | Minimum |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $5,000 | 2.6% | $50 |
| $5,000 to $50,000 | 2.4% | $130 |
| $50,000 to $200,000 | 1.9% | $1,200 |
| $200,000 to $500,000 | 1.5% | $3,800 |
| $500,000 to $1,000,000 | 1.2% | $7,500 |
| $1,000,000 to $3,000,000 | 1.0% | $12,000 |
Concierge is exactly double
Escrow.com's concierge service runs at twice the standard rate at every tier. On a deal that is simply a domain transfer between two cooperative parties, the standard service does the same job.
Card payments carry a surcharge
A 3.05 percent payment processing surcharge applies to card and PayPal funding under $5,000. On a small deal that surcharge can exceed the escrow fee itself, so wire instead where you can.
Transfer and renewal
A transfer adds a year to the remaining term, so you pay one registry year on top. A same registrar push is instant and free, which is worth asking for before agreeing to a transfer.
Choosing without overpaying
When a broker fee is worth paying, and when it is buying you nothing
Worth paying
- The name has never been listed and the owner has to be found and persuaded.
- Your identity would move the price, because you are a funded company with an obvious need.
- The deal is large enough that a negotiator saving 10 percent of the price more than covers the fee.
- The seller is overseas, the structure is complicated, or the paperwork needs someone who has done it before.
Not worth paying
- The name already shows a public asking price. You are paying someone to read a listing.
- The purchase is under about $5,000, where the fee or minimum swamps any saving.
- You are told commission only is always cheaper without being told the minimum.
- The broker wants a long exclusive mandate on a name you have not appraised yet.
The order matters more than the venue. Appraise the name against real sold comps first, because every fee on this page is a percentage of a number you have not agreed yet, and a broker cannot protect a ceiling you have not set. Then decide whether the name needs an approach at all. If you are buying, our domain acquisition service handles the outreach; if you are selling, compare venues on where to sell domain names before you commit to anyone's exclusivity.
Our interest, stated plainly
We charge commission too, so read this page with that in mind
Domainsdealer is a domain marketplace. We take 12 percent on the Investor plan, 8 percent on Pro Broker, and as low as 5 percent negotiated on large portfolios, charged only when a name sells. That puts us in the same table as the venues above, and it is why the table shows our rate in the same column rather than in a box of its own.
Two more disclosures. Every figure here is either read from the vendor's own published page this month, or explicitly marked as reported where the vendor blocks automated access and current sources disagree. We have left Flippa's listing fee and Sedo's full schedule as gaps rather than guess. And the crossover arithmetic above works against a straightforward pitch for our own service, since it shows a case where a competitor's upfront fee model is the cheaper one. We would rather publish the number that survives checking. Full rates are on our pricing page.
Questions people ask
Domain broker fees, answered
How much do domain brokers charge?
Most domain brokers charge 10 to 20 percent of the completed sale price, and the commonest published figure is 15 percent. Buy side brokers sometimes add a non refundable upfront fee, typically between $70 and $120, or set a minimum commission of $1,000 to $5,000. The percentage is the headline, but on a small deal the minimum decides what you actually pay.
Do domain brokers charge an upfront fee?
Sell side brokers and marketplaces almost never do. You list at no cost and pay a commission only when the name sells. Buy side brokerage is the exception: GoDaddy charges a non refundable service fee reported between $99.99 and $119.99 before any work starts, and it is not returned if the owner refuses to sell.
What commission do domain marketplaces take?
Published rates in 2026 run from about 7.5 percent to 30 percent. Atom charges 7.5 percent on a standard listing. Sedo charges 10 percent on a fixed price sale. Afternic charges 15 percent if your name uses its nameservers and 25 percent if it does not. Atom Premium reaches 30 percent on sales under $4,999.
Are domain brokers worth it?
A broker earns the fee when the name is not listed for sale, when the owner is hard to reach, or when your identity would move the price. On a name that already carries a public asking price, a broker is usually paying for work the marketplace has already done. Below roughly $5,000 the commission rarely pays for itself.
How much does the GoDaddy domain broker service cost?
GoDaddy charges a non refundable upfront service fee plus 20 percent of the negotiated purchase price, with an engagement capped at about 30 days. The upfront figure is reported at $69.99, $99.99 and $119.99 by different current sources. GoDaddy blocks automated access to that page, so we publish the range rather than pick one.
Is a commission only broker always cheaper than one charging an upfront fee?
No, and this is the most common mistake in the comparison. Commission only brokers often set a minimum. Against GoDaddy at $119.99 plus 20 percent, a 15 percent broker with a $5,000 minimum is more expensive on every deal below about $24,400. Above that the commission only structure wins and the gap widens.
Who pays the domain broker fee, the buyer or the seller?
Whoever hired the broker. A sell side broker is paid out of the seller proceeds, so the commission comes off the top of what the seller receives. A buy side broker is paid by the buyer on top of the purchase price. In a deal with brokers on both sides, each party pays its own, and neither fee is shared.
Does the escrow fee come on top of the broker commission?
Yes. Escrow is a separate service and a separate bill. Escrow.com charges 2.6 percent up to $5,000 with a $50 minimum, falling to 2.4 percent between $5,000 and $50,000 and 1.9 percent above that. Many brokers pass this to the buyer, but it is negotiable and worth settling in writing before closing.
Can you negotiate domain broker fees?
Published marketplace commissions are fixed, but individual brokerage mandates are routinely negotiated, particularly above six figures where the percentage is real money. What moves most often is the rate on the portion above a threshold, exclusivity length, and whether an upfront fee is credited against the commission on success.
What is a minimum commission and why does it matter?
A minimum is a floor the broker charges regardless of the sale price, because a $6,000 deal takes nearly as much work as a $60,000 one. MediaOptions publishes a $1,000 minimum and VPN.com a $5,000 minimum. On small transactions the minimum, not the percentage, is the number that decides your cost.
Why does Afternic charge 15 percent to some sellers and 25 percent to others?
The rate depends on where the name points. Since 1 February 2023 Afternic charges 15 percent when the domain uses Afternic, Dan or Uniregistry nameservers, and 25 percent when it does not. Pointing the nameservers is free and takes a few minutes, so this is the largest avoidable fee decision most sellers never make.
Do I need a broker to sell a domain name?
For most names, no. A marketplace listing reaches the same buyer pool at a published commission and costs nothing to place. A sell side broker earns the fee on names valuable enough to justify direct outreach to a shortlist of end user buyers, which is generally a five or six figure name rather than a four figure one.
What does Domainsdealer charge?
There is no upfront listing fee and commission is charged only when a name sells. The rate is 12 percent on the Investor plan and 8 percent on Pro Broker, with negotiated rates as low as 5 percent for large portfolios, so the percentage falls as your book grows rather than rising with it.
Keep reading
Domain selling fees
What you keep at $2,500, $20,000 and $100,000 on every major venue.
Domain broker service
What a broker does, and the names where the outreach genuinely pays.
GoDaddy domain broker service
The upfront fee, the 30 day window and whether it is worth it.
Domain escrow
Current tiered rates and how to close without either side taking a risk.
Know the number before you agree to a percentage.
Appraise the name against real sold comps, free and without an account. Then decide what a broker is actually worth.