Sedo is where domain names get bought and sold when the one you want is already taken. It has run continuously since 2001, it is owned by the publicly traded German group United Internet, and it handles the awkward middle of a domain deal: negotiation, payment, and getting the name safely into the buyer's account. Listing costs nothing. The catch is that Sedo gets paid on the way out, and its commission is not one number. Depending on how your domain sells, you will pay 10%, 15%, or 20% of the sale price, and one category of domain extension carries a $200 minimum fee. Here is how the platform works and how to land on the cheapest side of that spread.
Every good domain is taken. That is not pessimism, it is arithmetic. Anything short, obvious and pronounceable in a popular extension was registered years ago, often by someone who has no plans for it beyond selling it to you. The aftermarket exists because of that gap, and Sedo is one of the oldest and largest places it happens.
Sedo stands for Search Engine for Domain Offers, which tells you how long it has been around. The company operates from Cologne, Germany, runs seven regional websites covering Germany, the US, UK, France, Spain, Portugal and China, and is part of United Internet, a listed company rather than a startup that might vanish with your escrow money.
What follows is a practical walk through both sides of the platform: how selling actually works, what each route costs, what buyers pay, and the fee details that catch people out. The commission structure is the important part, so let's start there.
What Sedo actually is
Sedo is a marketplace and brokerage for domains that already have owners. You cannot register a brand new name there the way you would at a registrar. What you can do is find a taken name, make an offer, and have the ownership move to you once the money clears.
It plays three roles at once, and they are worth separating.
First, a marketplace. Sellers list domains at a fixed Buy Now price, invite offers, or run auctions. Buyers search, negotiate or bid. Listings are also pushed out through the SedoMLS partner network, which surfaces them at registrars and parking providers, so a buyer can encounter your domain without ever visiting Sedo.
Second, a transaction service. This is the unglamorous part that matters most. Sedo's Transfer Service holds the payment, confirms the domain has actually moved, and releases funds. Buying a five-figure domain from a stranger by bank transfer and hope is how people lose money, and this is the alternative.
Third, a brokerage. If you want a specific domain that is not for sale, or you own something valuable and want it marketed properly, Sedo's brokers negotiate on your behalf for a success fee.
Sedo does not sell domains. It sells trust between two strangers who each suspect the other of trying it on.
Alongside those, the platform offers domain parking, so an undeveloped name earns a little ad revenue while it waits, and paid appraisals drawing on a large historical sales database. Neither is the reason to be there, but both are useful.
The commission structure, explained properly
Most reviews say Sedo charges "around 15%" and move on. That is the middle rate, not the whole picture. Sedo's commission is decided by how your domain sells, and the spread between the cheapest and dearest route is double.
A Buy Now or Buy Now plus Best Offer listing, sold directly on the Sedo marketplace, where the domain is parked with Sedo using either the ads page or the sales landing page.
Sold on the Sedo marketplace from a Make Offer listing or an auction. Also applies to a Buy Now listing that is not parked with Sedo or using the sales lander.
Sold or auctioned to a buyer who came through the SedoMLS network, the partner distribution that puts your listing in front of a much wider audience.
Read that table twice if you list domains for a living, because there is a decision hidden in it. Parking with Sedo and setting a fixed price is a third cheaper than the standard rate. On a $10,000 sale that is $500 you keep. The trade-off is that you give up your own landing page and the Make Offer negotiation that sometimes lands above your asking price.
The 20% MLS rate is not a penalty, though it feels like one. It is the price of distribution you cannot buy yourself: a buyer typing your domain into a registrar's search box, seeing it is taken, and being shown your price on the spot. Plenty of sellers happily pay it for sales that would otherwise never have happened.
Sedo splits domain extensions into two categories, and the difference is significant. Category I, which covers .com, .net, .org, .io, .ai, .co, .de, .uk and the large majority of extensions, carries no minimum fee, with a minimum sale price of 20 USD/EUR/GBP.
Category II is mostly country-code extensions such as .br, .ru, .hk, .sg, .pt, .gr, .ro, .il and .id. These carry a minimum fee of 200 USD/EUR (140 GBP) and a minimum sale price of 220 USD/EUR. If you hold ccTLDs, check which category applies before pricing anything, because on a modest sale that minimum is the entire fee. All quoted fees exclude VAT.
Services and features that matter
Free listings, three sale formats
List unlimited domains at no cost with a Buy Now price, a Make Offer invitation, or an auction. You only pay when something sells.
Transfer Service
Sedo holds the buyer's payment, verifies the domain has moved, then releases funds. Free on marketplace sales, 3% on deals agreed elsewhere.
SedoMLS distribution
Listings are promoted automatically through partner registrars and platforms, reaching buyers who never visit Sedo. Sales this way cost 20%.
Auctions, free or paid
Push to Auction converts an incoming offer into an auction for free, using that bid as the reserve. A Direct Auction can be started anytime for a $59 setup fee.
Brokerage both ways
Brokers will chase a domain you want, or market one you own, for 15% on success. Buyers pay a one-time $69 fee to start.
Appraisals and parking
A tailored expert appraisal costs $99 one-off, drawing on Sedo's historical sales data. Parking earns modest ad revenue on names you are not using.
Buying the name is the cheap part. Making it earn is the work. Once a domain is yours you will need somewhere to put it, whether that is a managed host like the one in our Cloudways review or a straightforward provider from our Hosting.com review, and a page worth landing on, which is where the templates in our Leadpages review help. If you would rather hand the whole build to someone, an agency like MarkSurge handles design, development and marketing together.
Who uses Sedo, and how
Four groups, with genuinely different needs and very different experiences of the platform.
Businesses buying the name they should have registered years ago
You have a brand, a launch date, and someone else owns the matching .com. Sedo is where you find out their price and complete the deal without wiring money to a stranger. Brokerage is worth the $69 if you want to negotiate anonymously, since a visible company name tends to raise the asking price.
Domain investors moving inventory
Free listings and MLS distribution make Sedo a default channel for portfolios. Investors optimise the commission deliberately, parking with a Buy Now price for the 10% rate on names they are happy to sell instantly, and keeping negotiation open on names they think are underpriced.
Founders and side-project builders
Someone with an idea and a shortlist of names, most of them taken. Sedo turns a dead end into a price. Plenty of names sit in the low hundreds, which is often cheaper than compromising on a worse name you will pay for in marketing forever.
Anyone selling one domain, once
You registered something years ago, never used it, and someone has enquired. Sedo's Transfer Service handles a one-off deal for 3% if the agreement was reached elsewhere, which is far safer than improvising the handover yourself.
Domain hunting goes badly when you improvise in the search box. Note every candidate, the extensions you would accept, and your real ceiling per name before you start making offers, because in a negotiation the number you decided calmly is the only one worth trusting. A plain scratchpad is enough, and RytePad's roundup of the best online notepads covers good options.
Sedo's full fee list for 2026
Sedo publishes its prices, which is more than some competitors manage. Here is everything in one place. Sellers pay commission on success; the extras below are optional.
Buyers, meanwhile, mostly pay nothing. Purchase at a fixed price, through negotiation or at auction, pay by wire transfer, and the domain price is the whole cost, with the Transfer Service included. Card, PayPal, Klarna and Alipay require the express transfer, which adds 3%, so wire transfer is the cheapest way to pay for anything substantial.
If you have been in active negotiation with someone over a domain listed on Sedo, the marketplace commission still applies even if the two of you agree a deal privately afterwards. Taking the conversation off-platform to dodge the fee does not work, and Sedo reserves a handling fee of twice the minimum commission where it judges a user acted with intent to avoid payment.
Fees also change. Everything above reflects Sedo's published price list at the time of writing, so confirm the current schedule in your account before you price a domain.
Pros and cons
👍 What we liked
- Trading since 2001 and backed by listed parent United Internet
- Free to list, with no upfront or subscription cost to sellers
- Transfer Service protects both sides and is free on marketplace deals
- A genuine 10% commission route if you park and set a Buy Now price
- SedoMLS distribution reaches buyers at registrars, not just on Sedo
- No minimum fee on .com and the large majority of extensions
- Buyers pay nothing extra when paying by wire transfer
- Brokerage, appraisals and auctions all available in one account
👎 What to watch
- 20% on SedoMLS sales is steep next to flat-rate rivals
- Category II extensions carry a $200 minimum fee, brutal on small sales
- The 10% rate requires parking with Sedo, so you give up your own lander
- Commission still applies if you close a negotiated deal off-platform
- Card, PayPal and Klarna payments add a 3% express transfer fee
- Fees exclude VAT, which EU sellers may owe on top
- Parking revenue across the industry is a fraction of its former self
- Interface and flows feel dated compared with newer marketplaces
Should you use Sedo?
Use Sedo if…
- You want a domain that is already registered by someone else
- You are selling and want international reach without paying to list
- You need a trusted escrow-style handover for a high-value deal
- You hold Category I extensions where no minimum fee applies
- You would rather negotiate anonymously through a broker
Look elsewhere if…
- You just want to register a brand new, unregistered name
- You are selling cheap Category II ccTLDs, where the minimum bites
- You want one flat commission with no routing complexity
- Your plan depends on parking income as a real revenue line
- You need a modern, fast interface more than reach and trust
Worth saying plainly: for registering a name nobody owns, a normal registrar is cheaper and simpler, and Sedo is the wrong tool. Its value only appears once the name you want already belongs to somebody.
Find out what that taken domain costs
Sedo has been matching domain buyers and sellers since 2001, with free listings, an included transfer service on marketplace deals, and brokers who will negotiate on your behalf. Searching and listing cost nothing.
Free to list · commission only on success · transfer service included on Sedo sales
Frequently asked questions
Between 10% and 20% of the gross sale price, depending on the route. You pay 10% if the domain is parked with Sedo and sells from a Buy Now listing directly on the marketplace. You pay 15% for a Make Offer or auction sale, or for a Buy Now listing that is not parked with Sedo. You pay 20% if the buyer came through the SedoMLS partner network.
On top of the percentage there may be a minimum fee. Category I extensions, including .com and most others, have none. Category II extensions, mainly country codes, carry a minimum of 200 USD/EUR. All fees exclude VAT.
Yes. Sedo has operated continuously since 2001 from Cologne, Germany, and is part of United Internet, a publicly traded company. That longevity and ownership matter in a market where trust is the actual product.
Its Transfer Service is the practical protection: Sedo holds the buyer's payment, confirms the domain has genuinely transferred, and only then releases the money. One real caution unrelated to Sedo itself is impersonation. Scammers send fake Sedo offer emails, so verify anything unexpected by logging into your account directly rather than clicking through.
No. Listing is free, there is no subscription, and you can list as many domains as you like. Sedo only earns when a domain sells, which is why it suits investors testing prices across a portfolio.
Optional extras do cost money: a Direct Auction setup is $59, a Homepage Showcase is $39 for 30 days, a Category Showcase starts at $9, and an individual appraisal is $99. None are required to sell.
Not if you pay by wire transfer. You pay the agreed domain price and nothing more, and the Transfer Service that protects the handover is included at no charge.
Two situations add cost. Paying by credit card, PayPal, Klarna, Cartes Bancaires or Alipay requires the express transfer, which adds 3%. And using Sedo's brokerage to hunt down a domain that is not listed costs a one-time $69 plus 15% of the eventual purchase price.
Park the domain with Sedo, activate either the ads page or the sales landing page, and list it with a fixed Buy Now price. If it then sells directly on the Sedo marketplace, the commission is 10% rather than 15%.
The trade-off is real, though. You give up your own landing page, and a fixed price forecloses the negotiation that occasionally beats your asking figure. Many sellers use the 10% route for names they are content to sell instantly and keep Make Offer on the ones they think are underpriced.
Yes, that is what the Transfer Service is for. Sedo handles payment and the ownership handover on deals arranged off-platform for 3% of the gross sale price, with a minimum of 60 USD/EUR for Category I extensions and 200 USD/EUR for Category II. The fee can be split between buyer and seller on request.
Important exception: if the domain was listed on Sedo and you had already been negotiating with that buyer there, the full marketplace commission still applies. You cannot move a live negotiation off-platform to reduce the fee.
The verdict
Sedo's strength is not features, it is standing. Twenty-five years of continuous trading, a publicly listed parent, seven regional marketplaces and a transfer process that both sides can rely on add up to something newer platforms cannot manufacture. When the transaction is a five-figure transfer between strangers in different countries, that is worth paying for.
Sellers get free listings and distribution they could not replicate alone. Buyers get a route to names that are otherwise simply unavailable, with no added cost on a wire transfer. Brokerage covers the awkward cases where the owner has not even listed.
The fee structure is the thing to be clear-eyed about. It is published and fair, but it is not simple, and the difference between the routes is money. The 10% parked Buy Now path is a third cheaper than the standard rate, and the 20% MLS rate is double it. If you hold Category II country extensions, the $200 minimum can consume a modest sale entirely, and EU sellers should remember VAT sits on top.
Know which category your extensions fall into, decide deliberately between a fixed price and open negotiation, and keep deals on-platform once they start there. Do that and Sedo remains one of the most dependable places in the domain aftermarket.