Trust & Safety

Due diligence checklist

A rigorous review keeps acquisitions drama-free. Use this checklist before you wire funds or accept an offer so you know exactly what you are buying or selling.

Trademark and legal

  • • Search USPTO, EUIPO, WIPO, and local databases for identical or confusingly similar marks.
  • • Avoid terms that are generic in some jurisdictions but protected in others.
  • • Document descriptive use cases if you pursue a term with existing registrations to reduce UDRP exposure.

Reputation review

  • • Check the Wayback Machine for sensitive or abusive historical content.
  • • Pull backlink data to spot spam campaigns, PBN footprints, or toxic anchors.
  • • Verify that emails from the domain are not blacklisted across major providers.

Technical health

  • • Confirm the domain is unlocked, has a valid auth code, and is older than 60 days for transferability.
  • • Inspect DNS records for lingering TXT, MX, or CNAME entries that might need cleanup post-transfer.
  • • Validate SSL, CDN, and subdomain assets if the current owner runs active services.

Commercial viability

  • • Review search trends, CPC data, and comparable sales to estimate end-user demand.
  • • Map obvious buyer categories and sanity-check for conflicting live brands.
  • • Estimate holding costs (renewals, lander fees, opportunity cost) relative to projected exit price.