What is a domain name transfer agreement?
Buying a domain name from its current owner is simple when it goes well and hard to unwind when it does not: money is sent, and the domain never arrives, or arrives with a trademark complaint attached. A short written agreement makes clear who pays what, when the seller starts the transfer, what happens if it stalls, and what the seller is promising about the domain.
This template covers the domain and any extras sold with it (website content, logo, social accounts), the price, three payment options — through an escrow service, in full before the transfer, or in full after it — who pays escrow fees, a registrar-to-registrar transfer or a push within the same registrar, the seller's transfer steps, a long-stop date with a refund, the seller's promises about ownership and disputes, and what the seller stops doing once the domain has moved.
- Best for
- Private domain sales between businesses or individuals
- Signed by
- Seller (the current registrant) and buyer
- Payment
- Escrow, full payment before transfer, or full payment after transfer
- Length
- About 3 pages, initialled on every page
When to Use a domain name transfer agreement
- Buying a better .com for your brand from its current owner
- Selling a domain you no longer use to a business that wants it
- Selling a small website together with its domain, content and social handles
- Moving a domain between related businesses with a clear paper trail
- Recording a domain sale agreed through a broker or marketplace
What You Fill In
17 blanks, then the name and email of each person who signs: seller, buyer.
1 The parties
- Date of the agreement*
- Seller (company or person)*
- Seller address
- Buyer (company or person)*
- Buyer address
2 The domain
- Domain name*
- Current registrar
- Also included in the sale
3 Price and payment
- Currency*
- Price*
- How the price is paid* Through an escrow service · In full before the transfer starts · In full after the transfer completes
- Escrow service
- Escrow fees are paid by the Buyer · the Seller · the Buyer and the Seller equally
4 Transfer
- How the domain moves* to the Buyer's account at a registrar of its choice · by a push to the Buyer's account at the same registrar
- Seller starts the transfer within (days)*
- Deal can be called off if not transferred within (days)*
- Governing law*
5 Who signs
- Seller signature and date, job title, initials on every page · The current registrant — the person or company the domain is registered to.
- Buyer signature and date, job title, initials on every page
What the domain name transfer agreement Covers
- Sale of the domain name
- Price and payment
- Transfer
- The Seller's promises
- After the transfer
- General
Using the domain name transfer agreement, step by step
1 Name the domain and what comes with it
Enter the domain name exactly, and the current registrar if you know it. If the website content, logo or social accounts are included, list them — otherwise the agreement says only the domain itself is sold.
2 Choose how the price is paid
Escrow protects both sides: the buyer's money is held until the domain arrives. You can instead have the buyer pay before the transfer starts (safer for the seller) or after it completes (safer for the buyer). Say who pays the escrow fees.
3 Set the transfer timetable
Choose a registrar-to-registrar transfer (using the authorisation code) or a push to the buyer's account at the same registrar. Set how many days the seller has to start, and the long-stop period after which the buyer can call the deal off and get a refund.
4 Sign, then transfer
Both sides sign before any money moves. The seller unlocks the domain, removes privacy services that block transfers and approves the registrar's emails; the buyer accepts it into its account.
Tips Before You Send It
- Check the domain's registration history and search for trademarks that match it before you pay.
- Some registrars lock a domain for a period after a transfer or a change of owner details. Ask both registrars about this before choosing the transfer method.
- If the domain carries live email or a website, agree a short period where the seller keeps them running or points the DNS where the buyer asks.
- Renew the domain promptly after the transfer — once it arrives, renewal is the buyer's responsibility.
Sign It Online In Minutes
- Fill in the blanks. Names, dates and amounts go straight into the agreement — the preview shows exactly where.
- Name who signs. Tick “This is me” for your own part. VergeHR builds the PDF with every signature, date and initials box on the right line, and you can check or move anything before sending.
- Send it. Each signer gets a secure link and signs from any device — no account needed. The signed PDF, with an audit trail and a Certificate of Completion, is filed in Files and emailed to everyone.
Domain name transfer agreement: frequently asked questions
Should I use an escrow service to buy a domain?
For anything beyond a small amount, escrow is common because neither side has to trust the other first: the escrow service holds the payment and releases it when the buyer confirms control of the domain. The template supports escrow, or direct payment before or after the transfer.
What happens if the transfer never completes?
If the transfer has not completed within the long-stop period you set, for a reason that is not the buyer's fault, the buyer can end the agreement and any money paid is returned, or released back from escrow.
What does the seller promise?
That it is the registrant and can sell the domain, that no one else has rights in it, that as far as it knows there is no dispute or trademark claim about it, and that, as far as it knows, it has not been used for spam, malware or phishing. Otherwise the domain is sold as it is, with no promise about traffic or value.
Is a domain sale agreement signed online legally valid?
Electronic signatures are generally valid for ordinary commercial contracts like this in the US (ESIGN Act and UETA), the UK, the EU (eIDAS) and Canada. VergeHR keeps an audit trail and Certificate of Completion with the signed PDF.