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opinion Would You Trade a Social Media Username for a Domain?

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Social media usernames and domain names have more in common than you might think. The right username, just like the right domain name, can bring you traffic, improve your brand and attract attention from potential buyers or advertisers. Many companies have gone out of their way to try and acquire the right social media username.

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According to the New York Post, Chase Giunta was offered $20,000 to sell his Twitter username @chase. Elsewhere, a Twitter user with the handle @N has been offered as high as $50,000 to sell their name. But would you trade a social media username for a domain name?

Yesterday, a NamePros discussion was started by @JagG, after they noticed that the Twitter account @American is offering to trade a domain name in exchange for ownership of the @American Twitter username. According to the tweet, the owner of @American is looking for a “high level domain name”, which is clarified in a subsequent tweet as being a “2-3 letter or dictionary domain name”. The extension isn’t defined, but I assume that it’s meant to be .COM.

Two-letter .COM’s have routinely sold for over $1 million a piece, while three-letter .COM’s are firmly valued in the five figure range as a wholesale price. I don’t see that @American is worth anywhere near the value of a two or three letter domain, but I find it to be an interesting proposal, and something that could work in certain situations. For me, that would be a three or four figure domain name that is exchanged for a popular social media username that I could make money from in some way.

Twitter, along with most social media companies, has specific terms of service, stating that usernames cannot be bought or sold. Twitter’s terms state:

“Attempts to sell, buy, or solicit other forms of payment in exchange for usernames are also violations and may result in permanent account suspension.”

However, sales and trades do happen. I have never seen a domain name traded for a social media username, but I have read reports of account owners being paid a consultancy fee in exchange for their social media username. In one famous instance that was reported by the Guardian, the State of Israel paid a six figure sum for the Twitter name @Israel.

So, would you trade a social media username for a domain name? In certain circumstances, I would say yes. For me, the social media username would have to be a very popular term, and the username would have to already have a significant amount of followers, which would allow me to monetise the social media handle in some way.

It would be a serious risk to exchange a domain name for a social media username, since you are never the owner of the username. No matter how popular your social media account becomes, you never have full control of the username, and it could be suspended or taken away in an instant. In that regard, a domain name is far safer.

Aside from trading domain names for social media handles, exact match usernames can be used to successfully close a domain name sale, which I shared on the NamePros Blog in 2015.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Very interesting post! Thanks!!
 
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Well that should be easy, especially for a domainer. The trickier part is when they want to text you a confirmation code. I wonder how many times you can use the same phone# for x handles...

Not many i dont thibkits more than 3 by phone and 3 by email its 2, 3 or 4 - i cant remember now its been a while but i have a few decent gmail addys
 
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i thought about this some time back
When i bought profilelawyer.co.uk
because their will be complications during any negotiations of buying and or renting or the sponsoring of social media usernames email adfesses whicb are effectively a persons online profile

Then there is the problem of whk owns the content previously posted on the particular social media username / profile will affect previous social interactions posted from that username that affect 3dd party conversations and copyright matters which is why someone who is made an offer to sell or rent or sponsor their social media profile nay just pass the matter over profilelawyers etc

But suffice to say the username @American if it ever was to change hands for a domain name would be worth a NN.com or good LL.com as a bare minimum as it will only increase in value

Single character and double character fb usernames will be highly sought after in.the near future
as no one could ever imagined when registering single and double character fb usernames that the website they were registering them on would eventually have close to 2 billion users
 
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Yes I'd definitely sell it for $20K or $50K.. Can you imagine how many 4 letter domain you can buy with that money? :woot:
 
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I would if I had the matching domain to go with it and also if it was worth it to me.
 
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I have one generic twitter handle that I signed up for over 7 years ago after I reg'd the name in a ccTLD. I dropped the name the following year, but still have the twitter account which to my surprise had followers without me writing any tweets! Twitter users tag the username often, and use the hashtag everyday.

There are 3 verified accounts using the term in their account name, and so many others with the name + numbers, underscores, etc.
 
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I was happy with the username I managed to get when Twitter first launched.. Three letters (my initials) - lpw.

I suppose I would part with it if the price was right or trade for valuable domains :)
 
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I was happy with the username I managed to get when Twitter first launched.. Three letters (my initials) - lpw.

I suppose I would part with it if the price was right or trade for valuable domains :)

You signed up for a three letter username in May 2011?
 
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Twitter would be the only SM platform I would consider for a handle/domain trade.

You signed up for a three letter username in May 2011?
Odd, eh? Maybe 3 letter handles not being monitered for availability? Don't see how you even possibly mnoiter them, it would have to be manual lookup.
Even odder, twitter handle "ipw" says joined 2014--What the??
 
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Odd, eh? Maybe 3 letter handles not being monitered for availability? Don't see how you even possibly mnoiter them, it would have to be manual lookup.
Even odder, twitter handle "ipw" says joined 2014--What the??


Odd indeed. I remember years ago reading on another forum/site about people getting handles that were taken but inactive and the email address may not have been verified/legit... then Twitter would close the account and release the username. That has now changed.

Now however, after Twitter clamped down on accounts used for terrorism, could've been Oct 2016, they closed several accounts which were past a certain age, inactive and no email verification... funny enough, they closed accounts of 3 and 4 letter handles which I was wanted. Then I noticed they changed the minimum length of the username to 5 letters, and they also mention on their site that closed account usernames are no longer available to be used.

Btw, you could monitor them in bulk... but that strategy wouldn't work anymore these days with the changes they made last year.
 
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I was informed a 2 letter .com company recently bought the 2 letter twitter equivalent for 6 figures. The social media companies can be a pain in the ass in getting the right handles into the right hands.
 
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wow, I have never really thought about it. But what you say makes perfect since if only I thought about it many years ago!
 
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Poker.com uses the twitter username @Poker_com
 
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America.com uses the twitter username @america_com
 
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The problem with this is that you need tons of email addresses, but it does work. I've sold names to developers that have appreciated the social media handles and probably paid on top for them.
Nope, the real problem is getting a new, separate phone number to authenticate each account/media handle (at least where Facebook is concerned).
 
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Looks like @LosAngeles_com is available
 
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Can this be done with Snapchat?
 
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Very interesting angle indeed...

Would be interesting to see how this plays out...

I can see a spike in people creating multiple Twitter accounts now for marketable keyword usernames...with the intention to sell them.. :)
 
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Very interesting angle indeed...

Would be interesting to see how this plays out...

I can see a spike in people creating multiple Twitter accounts now for marketable keyword usernames...with the intention to sell them.. :)

Yes but how do you offer them for sale?
 
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Yes but how do you offer them for sale?

I guess by simply adding: "This Handle is for sale- Direct Message me for details" in the about section or something like that
 
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I guess by simply adding: "This Handle is for sale- Direct Message me for details" in the about section or something like that

But offering for sale violates Twitter ToS.

I guess you could say "I'm looking for a better name - dm me if you can offer an exchange".
 
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Like I said in the other thread I have some I don't want, I would even give them away - I just think posting that I am giving it/them away might result in cancellation.
 
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In some circles, twitter and fbook are considered to have peaked and on the downward slide.
I'm not really into social media so salt grains and heck if I know who the new ascendants are...

Of course some say the same about dot internet. (com, net, et al)
 
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