Preview: Lease to Own in GoDaddy Search

Recently, Afternic announced the launch of a long-awaited Lease to Own feature. Lease to Own, which allows buyers to pay over time, provides domain sellers with the opportunity to create a recurring revenue stream from their domain names.

With buyers now able to purchase Lease to Own-enabled Afternic domains, attention turns to the benefits of the marketplace’s Lease to Own feature.

One of the most discussed perks of Afternic’s Lease to Own rollout, aside from its availability to Afternic’s brokers and the ability to display it on Afternic’s Dan.com lander, is the integration into GoDaddy.

GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain name registrar, will display a Lease to Own option to those that search for your domain name at GoDaddy.com; if you enabled Lease to Own for your domain name at Afternic and it carries a Buy Now price between $495 and $100,000.

Thanks to GoDaddy’s brand recognition and trusted name, it is one of the Internet’s top venues for domain name purchases and registrations, and this new option is expected to be ground-breaking for both buyers and sellers.

For sellers, the lower monthly advertised price brings the benefit of recurring revenue from a domain name sale alongside a potentially higher average sell-through rate.

As this feature begins to roll out, we’re providing a preview of how Lease to Own will initially appear in GoDaddy’s search.

A Lease to Own Option

Regular visitors to GoDaddy will be familiar with the search functionality. If you search for a domain name, it will either tell you that the domain name is available to register or it has already been taken.

If it’s an aftermarket domain listed for sale via Afternic with a Buy Now price, the potential buyer will be shown an option to purchase that domain, signaled by a “Buy It Now” or a “Get It” button.

In this first iteration of Lease to Own’s integration at GoDaddy, potential buyers will start to see a “Lease to Own” button next to the traditional outright purchase option for Afternic-listed, Lease to Own-enabled domains.

Lease to Own, a term commonly used across dozens of industries, is presented as an alternative to GoDaddy customers searching for eligible domain names.

Clicking the Button

Once a potential buyer clicks that new “Lease to Own” button at GoDaddy, a window containing more information about Lease to Own and the ability to customize their installments appears.

The team is constantly experimenting with layouts and designs to achieve the best sell-through rate. Currently, customers can use the on-screen slider to find a price that matches their budget. In this case, a customer could pay $107 per month for 8 months rather than an $849 outright purchase. A motivated buyer on a restricted budget will be able to pay for the domain over time while having the ability to use the domain almost immediately.

For sellers, this integration at GoDaddy is expected to positively impact sell-through rates and provide a regular income from their domain name, something that many domain sellers strive to achieve.

Since joining GoDaddy in 2022, Dan.com has brought impressive technology, capabilities, and expertise for Lease to Own. That’s why initially, GoDaddy will partner with Dan.com to manage the checkout process for Lease to Own.

When Does This Integration Launch?

Afternic sellers that have enabled Lease to Own can now display the Lease to Own option to visitors through the Dan.com landing page option at Afternic (learn how). Lead Center brokers will also be able to offer Lease to Own for enabled domain names in circumstances when a potential buyer cannot reach your domain’s asking price.

The team has also begun rolling out the first iteration of Lease to Own onto GoDaddy’s search traffic. With millions of people visiting GoDaddy, and many of them using GoDaddy search, successfully deploying the Lease to Own option for GoDaddy’s search traffic will take time, with an expected completion date by September. To begin with, a percentage of search traffic will be presented with Lease to Own options. This will be increased until it hits 100%.

Are You Enabled?

Afternic sellers can now enable Lease to Own, and here are 5 steps you can take to capitalize on Lease to Own.

1. Check and update Buy Now prices
   • Lease to Own will work based on your current Buy Now prices between $495 and $100,000, so ensure that you have accurate Buy Now prices listed for your domain names within your Afternic portfolio.
2. Switch on “Lease to Own” for your existing domains
   • On your Afternic portfolio page, you’ll notice a new “Lease to Own” column. Enable Lease to Own for individual domains by clicking the “Off” link and following the instructions. Bulk updates can be done by selecting multiple domain names and clicking on the “Pricing” toolbar in the footer. Up to 500 domain names can be enabled at a time.
3. Activate the Dan.com Lander option
   • Switch your landing pages to the “Dan.com Lander” option to display your Lease to Own price to your domain’s visitors. Use the “Bulk Lander Update” button to update landing pages in bulk, or use the “Sale Lander” column to adjust domains individually.
4. Enable Lease to Own for future domains
   • There’s a new tab on your Afternic account settings area. From here, you can enable Lease to Own by default for all domain names that you add to Afternic in the future if those domains carry a Buy Now price between $495 and $100,000.
5. Select your default sale lander
   • On the same page, you can also select your preferred default sale lander for new domain names. The Dan.com lander option will display your Lease to Own price alongside your Buy Now price.

If you have a portfolio of 10,000 domains or more, please email partnersales@afternic.com, and the team will be able to work with you to enable Lease to Own on your domain names.