Checklists
Documents to keep
A domain has no title deed. The archive assembled around the sale is the only evidence of what was bought, from whom, and on what terms.
On this page
The core file
- The signed purchase agreement. Parties, name, price mechanism, deadline, warranties and the failure clause. This is the document everything else supports, and the clauses are set out in purchase agreement essentials.
- The invoice. Seller details, buyer details, the domain, the amount, the tax treatment and the date. A private seller invoice looks different from a business one, and both are worth keeping.
- Proof of payment. The bank confirmation or the escrow statement showing the amount, the date, the receiving account and the reference.
- The escrow transaction record. The terms as accepted, the funding confirmation, the release confirmation and the closing statement. Escrow platforms do not keep records forever, so download rather than rely on the account.
- Identity evidence for the counterparty. A company registration extract, or the identity confirmation shown by the escrow provider.
The handover evidence
- The full message thread, exported rather than left in a mailbox, including the offer, the acceptance and every change of terms.
- The proof of control obtained before payment, whether that was a TXT record, a file at the site root or a nameserver change, with the timestamp.
- The WHOIS or RDAP lookup taken before the deal, showing the registrar, dates and status codes at that moment.
- The record of the code being sent or the push being executed, with the date and time.
- The transfer confirmation from the gaining registrar, and the screenshot of the domain overview page after it landed.
- The WHOIS or RDAP lookup taken after handover, which together with the first one shows the change.
Records the buyer builds afterwards
- The registrar account details, meaning which account holds the name, under which email address, with recovery methods recorded somewhere other than that account.
- Renewal receipts, which over years form the clearest evidence of continuous holding.
- Correspondence with the registrar about locks, contact verification and any suspension.
- Any trademark search carried out before purchase, which shows what was checked and when.
- Notes of who else had access during the sale and when that access was removed.
How long each item stays useful
| Record | Useful for |
|---|---|
| Purchase agreement | As long as the name is held, and afterwards while a claim could still be brought |
| Invoice and proof of payment | The statutory retention period for business records in the relevant country, which is a matter of years |
| Escrow transaction record | As long as the agreement, since it evidences performance |
| Proof of control and handover screenshots | Most valuable in the first years, when a claim to the name is most likely |
| Registration lookups | As long as the name is held |
| Renewal receipts | Rolling, keeping at least the most recent years |
Why the archive matters later
Three situations bring it out. A dispute procedure where the question is whether the name was acquired in good faith and for a legitimate purpose, and where the date of acquisition and the price mechanism matter. A tax or audit question about a purchase treated as an asset. A hijacking, where the buyer has to demonstrate to a registrar or a registry that the account holder is the rightful one.
In all three, the useful evidence is contemporaneous. Reconstructing a chain of ownership from memory two years afterwards convinces nobody.
Storage
Keep one folder per domain, named for the domain, with the records inside it. Store it somewhere that does not depend on the domain being sold or on a single mailbox surviving.
Redact what does not need keeping. A full copy of a counterparty passport is a liability rather than an asset once the escrow provider has already verified the identity; a note that verification was completed, and by whom, does the same job.
Store the archive away from the registrar account and away from the domain itself. A record that becomes unreachable when the name is lost is not a record.
The items collected during the deal itself are listed in the buyer checklist.