This calculator takes your acquisition price, your annual renewal, the years you have held the domain, the years you expect to keep holding it, and the marketplace commission you will pay. It returns two numbers: the gross sale price that returns your money, and the gross sale price that delivers a target return on top.
The arithmetic is simple. Total cost is acquisition plus renewals across the full holding period. Because commission is charged on the gross sale price, the break-even price is that total grossed up by the commission rate — at 15%, you divide by 0.85, not multiply by 1.15. A domain that has cost you $150 all-in needs about $177 gross to come out level at 15%, and about $214 at 30%.
That number is almost always too low to be useful, and understanding why is the point of this page.
The model underneath: Bob Hawkes on minimum profitable price
The most-cited public treatment of this question is Bob Hawkes's NamePros article "The Minimum Domain Price for Profitability," published 19 October 2023. Its stated assumptions are a renewal of about $10 a year for .com escalating 3% annually, a 4% interest rate standing in for the opportunity cost of capital, a 6% profit target as the risk premium for the work and risk involved, a 15% commission, and sell-through rate as a variable input run at 1%, 3% and 5%.
The structural move is the one that matters. Hawkes does not price a single domain against its own costs. He prices it against the portfolio, because at a low sell-through rate the names that sell must carry the names that do not. The model multiplies total acquisition and carrying cost by 100 divided by the sell-through rate to get the required net proceeds, then grosses that up by the commission. In his own framing, if only 3% of a portfolio sells in a year, matching those odds requires "a return of about $16,667 on each name that sells."
Representative outputs he publishes: a hand-registered .com at a 1% sell-through rate needs a minimum retail price of roughly $1,150 to $2,140, depending on whether you have carried it for one year or ten. A $500 premium acquisition at 3% needs roughly $5,000 to $5,500. A $25 acquisition sold through an outbound model at 5% needs roughly $500. He also notes that required minimums stabilise after two or three years — the first couple of renewals dominate, and each additional year moves the number less.
Report that honestly and it comes with a caveat: these are one analyst's assumptions, not an industry standard. The 4% interest and 6% profit split is a judgement call, and a different discount rate materially changes the output. The structure of the model is the durable part. The specific dollar figures are illustrative.
Sell-through rate dominates everything else
Change the commission from 15% to 25% and the break-even price moves by a few percent. Change the sell-through rate from 3% to 1% and it triples. Every other input in this calculator is a rounding error by comparison.
What is a realistic rate? In "Are We Misleading New Domainers About Their Chances of Success?" (NamePros, 25 November 2025), Sully writes that many experienced investors "would be perfectly happy with a portfolio sell-through rate in the 1%–2% range annually on reasonably priced names," describes a full year with zero sales from a fifty-domain portfolio as "completely normal," calls 200 solid names producing one or two sales a year "pretty typical," and reports personally going eight months without a sale while holding around 300 names.
Older NameBio-derived analysis by Hawkes, from November 2019 and now seven years old, put the apparent industry-wide rate at 0.476% across all extensions and 0.601% for .com, with an estimated actual rate near 3.0% for .com after adjusting for under-reporting — an adjustment that rests on the author's own estimate that NameBio captures roughly 20% of real sales. The same analysis found sell-through by price band: 1.45% between $100 and $5,000, 0.10% between $5,000 and $10,000, 0.07% between $10,000 and $50,000, and 0.04% above $50,000. Higher asking prices mean lower probability. That trade-off is real and the calculator cannot resolve it for you.
Andrew Allemann's 2020 Namecheap piece uses 1.0% as a typical baseline for large portfolios and shows the leverage plainly: at 1.0% and a $3,000 average sale price, a thousand-name portfolio grosses $30,000 a year; at 1.5%, the same portfolio grosses $45,000.
Why a hand-registered .com has to clear four figures
Put the two halves together. The rational renewal test is that expected value must beat cost: probability of sale multiplied by realistic net sale price must exceed renewal plus privacy plus capital cost. At a 1% sell-through rate and a renewal near $11, that requires a realistic net sale price above roughly $1,100. That is the same conclusion Hawkes's model reaches from the other direction, and it is why serious investors do not list hand-registrations at $200. If you do not honestly believe a name would fetch four figures, the next renewal is negative expected value — and the correct response is to sell it cheaply or drop it, not to renew out of habit.
Choosing a commission figure
The published spread across the industry is wide enough to matter. Afternic charges 15% on Buy It Now sales with GoDaddy Aftermarket nameservers on its Basic plan, 20% on Boost, 25% parked elsewhere on Basic and 30% parked elsewhere on Boost, with a $15 minimum (Afternic seller terms). Sedo publishes 10% for Buy Now and parked-domain sales, 15% for other marketplace sales and auctions, and 20% for SedoMLS network sales, plus a separate 3% transfer service fee (Sedo price list). Atom.com publishes 7.5% on its non-exclusive Standard tier. Spaceship SellerHub moved to 10% on 11 February 2026, with checkout and self-serve links remaining at 5%. Sav.com advertises 4%. On a private sale with no marketplace at all, Escrow.com charges 2.6% below $5,000 with a $50 minimum.
What this calculator does not tell you
It does not tell you what the domain is worth. It computes a floor from your own costs and your own assumptions; whether any buyer will pay that floor is a separate question that no formula answers. It does not know your real sell-through rate — you supply it, and most owners supply one that is too high. It does not model minimum commissions, escrow fees, Sedo's transfer surcharge, taxes, or the possibility that you never sell at all, which is the single most likely outcome for any individual name. And a break-even price you cannot achieve is not a price. It is a signal that the name should not have been registered.
Frequently asked questions
What is a break-even sale price?
The gross sale price at which you recover acquisition plus every renewal you have paid, after the marketplace takes its cut. Because commission comes off the gross, you gross the cost up rather than adding the percentage: at 15% commission a $150 total cost needs about $177 gross, and at 30% about $214. It is a floor derived from your own spending, not a valuation.
Why is the profitable price so much higher than break-even?
Because most domains never sell. Bob Hawkes's model prices each name against the portfolio: total cost is multiplied by 100 divided by the sell-through rate, then grossed up for commission, so the sellers carry the non-sellers. At a 3% rate he calculates a required return of about $16,667 on each name that sells (NamePros, October 2023). Break-even ignores that entirely.
What sell-through rate should I enter?
If you have real portfolio history, use your own — it is the only figure that matters. If you do not, 1–2% annually is what experienced investors describe as a good rate on reasonably priced names (NamePros, November 2025). Older NameBio-derived analysis put the apparent industry rate near 0.5% and an estimated actual rate near 2.4–3.0%. Treat all of these as estimates; there is no audited industry figure.
Why does the required price barely move after year three?
Because acquisition cost and the first two renewals dominate the total, and each later renewal adds proportionally less. Hawkes observes the same effect in his model: minimum profitable prices stabilise after two to three years. The practical implication is that holding an already-old name one more year costs little — which is exactly why the decision to keep renewing gets made lazily.
Why does a hand-registered .com need a four-figure price?
Run the renewal test. Renew only if the annual probability of sale multiplied by a realistic net sale price beats the annual carrying cost. At a 1% sell-through rate and a renewal near $11, that means you need to believe the name would net over roughly $1,100. Hawkes's model reaches the same place from the other side, producing a minimum retail price of roughly $1,150 to $2,140 for a hand-registered .com at 1%.
Should I raise my prices to hit the number?
Only where the name supports it. Sell-through falls sharply as price rises: NameBio-derived analysis found 1.45% in the $100–$5,000 band against 0.04% above $50,000 (NamePros, 2019). Pricing a weak name at the level the model demands does not make it profitable; it makes it unsold. The honest use of the output is as a filter on what you register in the first place.