Things to Check Before Buying a Domain: 6 Pre-Purchase Checks

Why 20 minutes of checks beats 10x the cleanup cost

Bottom line first: almost every "problem domain" can be spotted with 20 minutes of checks before you pay. Discover it after payment, and unwinding the deal costs at least 10 times more.

Buying a domain is one of the most information-asymmetric transactions online: the seller knows the domain's full history, while the buyer often sees only a nice name and a price tag. Here are 6 things to check before buying a domain — we recommend going through every one of them before each purchase, especially for domains bought at auction or from the aftermarket.

Check 1: Site history — what was this domain used for?

Pull the domain's historical snapshots (Wayback footprint tools, such as Aiyucha's website-history checker, can do this in bulk) and review what the site looked like over the years. Look for three things: whether past industries were clean (gambling, adult, and phishing histories are the worst offenders), whether past content is relevant to your plans, and whether there are long gaps in the snapshots (gaps can mean the domain was parked or penalized).

Red flags: a gray-area past, or snapshot content that does not line up with the current WHOIS creation date.

Check 2: Backlink profile — is the "authority" real?

Many aged domains command a premium because of their "authority." Real or not, the backlink profile tells the truth: referring domains, anchor-text distribution, spam signals. Run a backlink check (Aiyucha's backlink-profile tool is one option): anchor text full of spam terms and referring domains that are all low-quality networks means the authority is paper-thin.

Remember: more backlinks does not mean better backlinks. Ten high-quality relevant links beat a thousand junk ones.

Check 3: Accessibility — is it blocked anywhere?

For domains targeting Chinese users, this one is make-or-break: check for firewall and DNS-pollution blocks, and whether the domain is intercepted inside WeChat. A domain blocked in WeChat burns every link you promote. Accessibility checkers (Aiyucha's WeChat-safety and China-accessibility tests) run in minutes — do it before you pay.

Check 4: ICP filing history

If the domain was once ICP-filed and later cancelled, find out why: a normal business deregistration and a violation-driven cancellation carry completely different risks. Filing history itself is neither good nor bad — the reason for cancellation is what matters.

Check 5: Trademark conflicts

Search for identical or similar registered trademarks in your target markets. Big companies do not negotiate — one lawyer's letter and both the domain and your site investment go down the drain. The USPTO, the EUIPO, and China's trademark office all offer free searches. Five minutes of work; do not skip it.

Check 6: Pricing terms — first-year price vs. renewal price

Many registrars charge $1 for the first year and $20 to renew, plus redemption fees and transfer restrictions. Before ordering, work out the three-year total cost of ownership: first-year price plus renewal price times two. Budgeting on the first-year price alone is the most common trap.

All clear? Then place your order

Once a domain passes all six checks, it is worth paying for. When you order through Domain Registration, you can pay directly with USDT if that is what you hold — pay exactly what the invoice says, no currency conversion, no card binding. Simple and transparent, the way buying a domain should be.