What does a domain broker do?
Think of it like real estate. When you want to buy a specific property, you don’t cold-call the homeowner yourself. You hire an agent who knows the market, has relationships with other agents, and can negotiate without tipping your hand on how much you want it.
A domain broker works the same way. They identify who owns the domain, make confidential outreach on your behalf, negotiate price, and manage the transaction through a secure escrow process. The seller never knows who the buyer is until the deal is essentially done, which keeps the price from inflating the moment a well-funded company shows up asking questions.
How does a domain broker get paid?
ProBroker works on a success fee of 12.5% of the final sale price, with a $500 minimum on transactions of $2,000 or less. You pay nothing until the deal closes. No ongoing fees, no retainer while negotiations are in progress. The broker eats the time and outreach cost upfront, so the incentive is aligned: we only win when you win.
How do I acquire a domain name that’s already taken?
Acquiring a registered domain name requires identifying the owner, making confidential outreach, negotiating a price, and completing the transfer through a licensed escrow service. Most people underestimate how much can go wrong before a single conversation even starts.
The situation matters. A domain actively used by a business is a completely different negotiation than one sitting in a portfolio holder’s inventory or abandoned by someone who forgot they registered it years ago. Each has a different owner type, a different motivation level, and a different realistic price. Misreading which you’re dealing with costs you time and money before you’ve made a single offer.
Then there’s the outreach. WHOIS records are often privacy-protected. Finding the actual decision-maker takes real research. And once you find them, how you approach them matters as much as what you offer. The moment an owner figures out who the end buyer is, the price changes. Sometimes dramatically. A domain broker handles all of it: the research, the identity protection, the negotiation, and the escrow transfer.
How long does a domain acquisition take?
When the owner is responsive and motivated, a deal can close in two to six weeks from first contact to completed transfer. When there are multiple parties involved, corporate approvals required, or a seller who’s playing it slow, three to six months is realistic. Once both sides agree on terms, the actual escrow and transfer process takes three to seven business days at most registrars. The timeline is almost always determined by the seller, not the broker.
How much do premium domain names cost?
The range is wide. Premium .com domains go from a few thousand dollars to tens of millions, depending on length, keyword value, industry demand, and what comparable names have actually sold for. Short, generic one-word .coms like gate.com, hosting.com, and diamond.com transact in the six and seven-figure range. Two to three word keyword domains with strong commercial intent tend to sell between $10,000 and $250,000. The only way to get an accurate number on a specific domain is through someone who tracks real sales data, not just asking prices.
What makes a domain “premium”?
Short, memorable, ends in .com, easy to spell over the phone, no hyphens or numbers. Those are the basics. But brandability is just as important as the keywords. Bunny.com is valuable not because of search volume but because it sticks in your head and works across a dozen different industries. Age, traffic history, and backlinks can add value on top of that, but they’re secondary. If a domain fails the “say it out loud” test, none of those other factors save it.
How does domain escrow work?
Escrow protects both sides. The buyer puts funds into a licensed escrow account, the seller transfers the domain, and the money only releases once the buyer confirms they received it. Neither party can walk away with both the money and the domain. Services like Escrow.com handle this for most brokered deals. If a seller ever suggests skipping escrow and just wiring money directly, walk away. That’s how fraud happens.
Is the domain acquisition process confidential?
Yes, and that’s one of the main reasons people use a broker. When a broker reaches out, the seller doesn’t know who the end buyer is. That prevents the owner from running a Google search, finding your Series B announcement, and tripling their asking price. Initial contact is usually made through a generic acquisition inquiry with no buyer details attached. Your identity stays protected until the deal is essentially closed.
How do I sell a domain name I own?
You have a few options, and understanding the difference matters more than most sellers realize.
Marketplaces like Afternic, Sedo, and GoDaddy Premium Listings give your domain passive exposure to inbound buyers. You set a price, pay a listing fee or commission, and wait. For lower-value domains or names with obvious generic demand, that can work fine. But these platforms are built for volume. Your domain is one of millions. There’s no one picking up the phone on your behalf, and no one negotiating beyond a take-it-or-leave-it listed price.
A boutique broker works completely differently. Instead of waiting for a buyer to find your domain, a broker goes out and finds the buyer for you. That means researching which companies, brands, or investors have the strongest motivation to own your specific name, reaching out to them directly, and negotiating with real market context behind every conversation. The result is almost always a higher final price.
ProBroker manages the full sell-side process: valuation, buyer research, outreach, negotiation, and escrow coordination. You stay in the loop at every stage without having to run the deal yourself.
Are .com domains worth more than other TLDs like .io or .ai?
Yes, by a wide margin. .com has decades of user trust, dominates type-in traffic, and is still the default expectation for any business that wants to be taken seriously. .io and .ai have picked up real traction in the startup world, but they’re understood as the option you use when the .com wasn’t available. Every Fortune 500 company and most well-funded startups eventually come back for the .com. The price gap between a .com and its .io equivalent reflects exactly that demand.
What is ProBroker and who does Brooke Hernandez work with?
ProBroker is a premium domain brokerage led by Brooke Hernandez, with 15 years of experience in high-value acquisitions and sales. Brooke works with Fortune 500 companies, venture capital firms, and YC-backed startups that need to secure the right domain, usually one that’s already taken. Career transactions include day.ai, ollie.com, bunny.com, gate.com, hosting.com, diamond.com, mc.com, tn.com, presto.com, peepers.com, reversemortgages.com, anatomy.com, entry.com, and spill.com. ProBroker takes both buy-side and sell-side engagements.
How does ProBroker approach a domain acquisition?
Every engagement starts with research. Who owns it, how they’re using it, what comparable domains have sold for, and whether there are signs the owner might be motivated. From there, Brooke makes confidential outreach without disclosing who the buyer is. Negotiations happen directly, with the client kept informed at every stage. Once both parties agree on terms, ProBroker handles escrow and transfer from start to finish.
Can ProBroker acquire a domain if the owner doesn’t want to sell?
A broker can’t force a sale. But a lot of owners who seem uninterested just haven’t been approached the right way, or haven’t heard the right number. When a recognizable company cold-emails a domain owner directly, that inquiry often gets ignored or used as a floor for future negotiations. A professional broker’s inquiry lands differently. If someone is genuinely not selling at any price, Brooke will tell you that clearly rather than keep billing you for a deal that’s going nowhere.
What information do I need to start a domain acquisition with ProBroker?
Three things: the domain you want, a budget or budget range, and why you need it. That’s enough to get started. You don’t need to know who owns it, and you don’t need to have made any prior contact. In fact, if you haven’t reached out to the owner yet, that’s ideal. The more context you share about your use case, the better Brooke can frame the approach in a way that doesn’t tip your hand.
How do I know if I should use a domain broker or just contact the owner myself?
For almost any domain worth acquiring, use a broker. Direct buyer contact works against you in every way that matters: it reveals who you are, signals urgency, and tells the owner you’re willing to pay before a number has even been mentioned. By the time you get to a price, you’ve already negotiated against yourself.
The only scenario where handling it yourself makes sense is a low-stakes acquisition under $1,500 where the domain has minimal commercial value and the seller is clearly motivated. Anything above that, the broker’s commission is almost always covered by what they save you on the final price. Often by a significant margin.
If the domain matters to your business, your brand, or your competitive position, the risk of going direct isn’t worth it.
