You finally came up with a domain name perfectly suited for your business. You enter the domain name into our domain checker, only to find out it's already registered by someone else.
This might be disappointing at first, but it doesn't have to mean the domain name is not available for purchase. The domain name could be 'parked', either because the owner wants to use it later or sell it to whoever wants it.
In this article we'll show you what your options are when a domain name you want is already registered by someone else.
Visit the domain name in your browser
The easiest way to find out if a registered domain name is available for purchase, is by visiting the domain name in your browser. Does the domain name show a placeholder or 'under construction' page? Then your chances for obtaining the domain name just increased.
Your chances are even higher when the domain name shows a 'for sale' page. In that case you can contact the owner or administrator directly by clicking the 'for sale' link or banner on the page.
Check the WHOIS data
If visiting the domain name doesn't provide any useful information, checking the WHOIS data may offer the solution. In most cases, the WHOIS data of a domain name contains contact information on the owner or administrator.
Use the links below to request the WHOIS data for most domain extensions:
- Icann.org (for gTLD's, such as .COM, .ORG and .INFO)
- Eurid.eu (for .EU domain names)
- Nominet.uk (for all types of .UK domain names)
If you can't request the WHOIS data of your domain extension with the links mentioned above, perform a search query using your domain extension + 'WHOIS' in a search engine. The first search result will most likely show the WHOIS page for your domain extension. Use the contact information in the WHOIS data to reach out to the owner or administrator of the domain name.
Approach the registrar
If the WHOIS data doesn't provide an email address or other useful information to contact the owner or administrator, try approaching the registrar. The registrar is the company where the domain name was registered.
Use the corresponding email address or visit the registrar's website in order to contact them. Mention that you're interested in said domain name and ask if they could contact the owner or administrator for you.
If the registrar turns out to be TransIP, please send a message to support@transip.nl or use the 'Contact' button in your control panel. Mention that you're interested in the domain name and attach a message for the owner or administrator, which we can forward for you.
Securing the transfer
After both sides reach an agreement, you can start the transfer of the domain name. To run as little risk as possible with the transferring payment for a domain name, we recommend using an escrow service. This is an intermediary company that enables a safe domain transfer, with the certainty that the funds will only be transfered to the seller if the transfer is successful. A well known international escrow website is Escrow.com.
You can perform a domain transfer an authorization code. This code is also known as an authcode, EPP code or transfer code. After you have received the authorization code from the owner you can transfer the domain name. Read the article 'Transferring your domain name to TransIP' for more information.
Please note: After you have transferred the domain name to your account with the autorisationcode, we highly recommend changing the registrant details to your own (company) name.
The reason this is important is because the registrant of a domain name in the contact details has the legal right to the domain name. Read the article 'Changing the registrant (owner) of your domain name' for more information.
In this article we explained what your options are when a domain name you want is already registered.
Should you have any questions left regarding this article, do not hesitate to contact our support department. You can reach them via the ‘Contact Us’ button at the bottom of this page.