Introducing QuietClose™: keeping a domain purchase private

Some domain purchases are better kept quiet. A company preparing a launch doesn't want its new name spotted before the announcement. A buyer assembling several names doesn't want the first price to raise the asking price on the rest. And some buyers simply prefer not to have what they paid show up in a public sales database.

Until now, marketplace buyers had no way to ask for that. Sale prices get reported, venues get credited, and the buyer's preference never enters the picture. Private deals often come with an NDA; marketplace deals almost never do.

QuietClose™ gives buyers on the Appraise.net Marketplace a simple way to ask for privacy, and gives sellers a clear commitment to honor it.

How it works for buyers

On a listing, next to the payment options, you'll see Keep this purchase private (QuietClose™). Tick it before you buy, and the seller commits not to disclose that sale: not to sales databases, not on social media, not in their own marketing.

There's nothing extra to sign and no fee. If you want an NDA on top, you're welcome to bring your own and agree it with the seller during negotiation.

How it works for sellers

Every seller is enrolled by default, so listings show the option without any setup. When a buyer selects QuietClose:

• The listing comes down quietly, with no Sold stamp.
• Your sale page and sale email tell you the sale is private.
• You commit not to report or publicize it.

Sales where the buyer doesn't ask stay public, and you may report them as usual. You can opt out on the seller dashboard by unticking Honor buyers' QuietClose requests, but we advise against it: your listings lose the option, and buyers who need privacy will pass them by. Opting out affects future sales only.

The commitment is meant to be kept. A violation forfeits the seller's listings and seller account.

What we do on our side

Appraise.net never reports third-party marketplace sales. The only sales we may make public are from our own inventory, and only when the buyer agrees.

What privacy can and can't cover

QuietClose keeps the price and the parties private. It can't hide the fact that a domain changed hands: registration and DNS changes are visible to anyone who watches for them. We'd rather say that plainly than promise more than anyone can deliver.

Why we built it

Public sales data is valuable, and most sales will stay public. But the buyers who most need discretion, often end users paying the highest prices, have had no way to ask for it. QuietClose fills that gap with a commitment sellers make up front and a marketplace that keeps its own side of it.

The full policy is in QuietClose: keeping a domain purchase private.