Marketplace

These are the terms of every lease-to-own purchase on the Appraise.net Marketplace. The seller accepts them when they enable lease-to-own on a listing; the buyer accepts them when they start a lease. Version 2026-09-26.

1. What a lease-to-own is

The buyer pays the agreed total for the domain in installments: an optional down payment today, then a fixed monthly amount for the agreed number of months. The seller remains the registrant and owner of the domain until the final payment. Ownership transfers to the buyer only when every payment has been made.

2. Payments

• The down payment, if any, is charged when the lease starts. Monthly installments are charged automatically to the buyer's card, the first one month after the start.
• The buyer may change the card behind the lease at any time from their lease page.
• The buyer may pay off the remaining balance at any time in one payment, by card or with Bitcoin. That ends the lease early and starts the transfer.
• The seller receives each payment as it arrives, minus the Marketplace commission of 4%, except where section 6 (custody) applies.

3. Using the domain during the lease

While payments are current the buyer may use the domain. The buyer names the nameservers they want, the seller sets them at the registrar, and the Marketplace verifies the change. The registrar account, the registration and all rights in the domain stay with the seller until the lease is complete. The buyer acquires no ownership interest in the domain by using it.

4. A missed payment

A missed installment forfeits the lease. When a charge fails, the buyer is notified at once and has 3 weekdays, to the end of that day, to make the payment, by updating the card so the charge can be retried or by paying off the balance. The seller is notified at the same time and may extend that deadline, by up to 14 days per extension, or end the lease immediately.

If the payment has not been made when the deadline passes, the lease ends automatically: no further charges are made, the listing returns to the market, and any nameservers the buyer was using are restored to the Marketplace. Installments already paid are retained by the seller as consideration for the buyer's use of the domain during the lease; they are not refunded and are not credited toward any later purchase.

5. The end of the lease

When the final installment clears, or the buyer pays off the balance, the deal becomes a transfer. The seller must push the domain to the buyer's registrar account or submit its transfer authorization code within 5 days. The buyer confirms receipt on their lease page; if the buyer does not respond within 7 days of the transfer starting, the sale completes automatically. If the seller does not start the transfer within 7 days, the Marketplace steps in on the buyer's behalf.

6. Custody (sellers other than the Marketplace)

When the seller is an independent seller, the domain is placed in a Marketplace-held registrar account for the life of the lease, by push or by transfer code, before the seller's payouts are released. The seller remains the beneficial owner: on forfeiture the domain is returned to the seller; on completion the Marketplace delivers it to the buyer. Payouts collected before custody is confirmed are held and released together once it is.

7. Ending a lease by choice

• The buyer may end the lease at any time by stopping payment; section 4 then applies.
• The seller may end the lease only as provided in section 4, or by agreement with the buyer in the deal thread.
• Either side may open a dispute from their lease or sale page; the Marketplace decides it on the payment record, the registration snapshots it keeps, and the thread history.

8. Fees, refunds and taxes

• The Marketplace commission is 4% of each payment, borne by the seller.
• No Marketplace fee is charged to the buyer on lease payments. A card processing fee may apply to the payoff payment as shown before paying.
• Lease payments are not refundable except where the Marketplace ends a lease because the seller cannot deliver the domain, in which case all payments are refunded to the buyer.
• Each party is responsible for their own taxes.

9. Acceptance and changes

By enabling lease-to-own on a listing the seller agrees to offer the domain on these terms. By starting a lease the buyer agrees to these terms for that domain. Acceptance is recorded with the date and version. The Marketplace may revise these terms; a revision applies to leases started after it, and both sides are asked to accept the revised version before their next lease. This is version 2026-09-26.