What we do
Domain Name Brokerage
In a domain negotiation, the most valuable information in the room is usually who is asking and why. Brokerage exists largely to control that.
Domain name brokerage is representation in a domain transaction — acting for a seller to reach the right buyers, or for a buyer to approach an owner without revealing who is behind the enquiry. Ferguson Media Group brokers on both sides, handling valuation discussion, buyer or owner research, the initial approach, negotiation and the mechanics of transfer. Discretion is the point of it rather than a courtesy.
Why discretion is the whole business
Consider what happens when a well-known company writes directly to a domain owner asking to buy. The owner now knows three things: a funded business wants this name, it wants it enough to make contact, and it has a reason it has not disclosed. The asking price adjusts accordingly, and it does not adjust downwards.
The same asymmetry runs the other way. An owner who signals urgency — a business winding down, a portfolio being liquidated, a renewal deadline approaching — has handed the buyer the negotiation.
A broker sits between the two so that neither side learns what the other would rather they did not. That is not gamesmanship. It is the reason both parties can reach a price that reflects the asset rather than the circumstances of whoever moved first.
Selling a domain
The work of selling a domain is mostly the work of finding the small number of parties for whom it is genuinely worth something, and reaching them without appearing desperate.
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Valuation discussion
An honest view of what the domain might realistically achieve, and why, with the comparable evidence that supports it. Where a name is worth less than the owner hopes, that is said early rather than discovered after six months of silence.
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Positioning
How the domain is described, what it is presented as being for, and which of its qualities matter to which kind of buyer.
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Buyer research
Identifying the organisations for whom this name would solve a real problem — companies in the category, businesses currently trading under a weaker name, and those expanding into the market the domain describes.
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Approach
Contact made where it is appropriate and welcome, in a form that opens a conversation rather than triggering a defensive response.
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Negotiation
Conducted at arm's length, with the owner's position and motivation kept confidential throughout.
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Transaction
Guidance through escrow, transfer and the practical steps of moving a domain safely between registrars and owners.
Buying a domain
Acquiring a domain someone else owns is a different problem: the asset is not for sale, the owner may be difficult to identify, and the approach itself changes the price.
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Discreet acquisition
The enquiry is made on behalf of an undisclosed party. The owner learns that there is interest, not who is interested or what it is for.
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Owner identification
Establishing who genuinely controls the domain, which privacy services and stale registration records frequently obscure.
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Initial approach
A first contact designed to establish whether the owner would consider a sale at all, before any figure is discussed.
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Negotiation
Working towards a price that reflects the domain rather than the buyer's evident enthusiasm for it.
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Transaction assistance
Escrow, transfer and verification, so that money and domain move in the right order.
Valuation, honestly
Every brokerage conversation involves a number, and the number is where most of the trouble starts.
A valuation is an opinion supported by evidence: what comparable names have sold for, how many plausible buyers exist, how the category is trading, and how liquid the asset is. It is not a price, because a price requires a buyer who agrees.
We give that opinion as a range with the reasoning attached, including the parts you may not want to hear. An inflated valuation wins the instruction and then wastes a year.
Common questions
What does a domain broker actually do?
A domain broker represents one side of a domain transaction: researching who the counterparty should be, making the approach, conducting the negotiation without revealing their client's identity or motivation, and guiding the transfer safely. The broker's main contribution is controlling what information reaches the other side, and when.
Would you act for both the buyer and the seller?
No. Representing both sides of a negotiation means serving neither properly, because the two positions are in direct opposition on the only question that matters. Ferguson Media Group acts for one party in any given transaction.
What does brokerage cost?
Fee structures are agreed for each engagement rather than published, because the work varies enormously — an acquisition requiring owner identification across several jurisdictions is not the same job as introducing a well-priced name to a known buyer. Terms are agreed in writing before any approach is made.
Is my domain worth using a broker for?
Below a certain value, brokerage costs more than it adds, and an owner is better served by a marketplace listing and patience. Where a domain is genuinely commercial, and particularly where the likely buyers are few and identifiable, representation usually pays for itself in the negotiation alone.