for-sale DNS Record Explained: How to Mark a Domain for Sale

Since July 2026, you can use a single TXT record to indicate in the DNS that you are offering a domain for sale. The basis for this is RFC 10023, with which IANA officially added the new entry “_for-sale” to the registry of Underscored and Globally Scoped DNS Node Names.

What is the for-sale record?

The for-sale entry is not a standalone DNS record type, but an underscore label within an ordinary TXT record. The node name “_for-sale” simply determines where in the zone this text record is placed.

Three characteristics make it interesting:

• It can be added and removed at any time, without disrupting existing systems running under the domain
• It works even while the domain continues to operate normally
• It requires no protocol changes and no support from the registry

So anyone who can create TXT records can start using the entry right away. And it does not commit you to a sale.

How is a TXT record with the “_for-sale” underscore label structured?

A for-sale TXT record might look like this:
_for-sale.example.com. 3600 IN TXT "v=FORSALE1;fval=EUR999"

The individual components mean the following:

• _for-sale: the reserved node name that identifies the signal as a sale indicator in the first place
• example.com: the domain the entry applies to
• 3600: time to live (TTL), how long the entry is kept in cache
• IN: the class, which in DNS records usually stands for “Internet”
• TXT: the DNS record type
• v=FORSALE1;: the version tag that every entry must contain
• fval=EUR999: the content tag with the actual information, here the asking price

The important distinction is between the first two and the last two elements. “_for-sale” is not part of the record itself, but a separate label below your domain. The content in quotation marks, on the other hand, is the value of the TXT record.

The version tag v=FORSALE1; must always come first. The reason is practical: other text records that have nothing to do with a sale may appear at the same location in the zone. Only the version tag allows processing systems to distinguish a genuine signal from incidental content. If it is missing, the entry must be ignored.

Which content tags are available?

The version tag is followed by a further piece of information, the content tag. These tags are optional, but using them is recommended so that potential buyers get additional information. Four of them are defined:

• furi: contains exactly one URI through which potential buyers can obtain further information or get in touch. The recommended schemes are http, https, mailto and tel
• fval: contains an asking price consisting of a currency code and an amount. For common currencies, the three-letter codes according to ISO 4217 are intended; cryptocurrencies are also possible
• ftxt: contains short free text for human readers, for example a note about conditions
• fcod: contains a code whose meaning is agreed upon between cooperating parties, for example between a registry and its registrars

The advantage of fcod: instead of a target URL, you only publish a code, and the processing party's system determines where it leads. That way, control stays with a known backend, and redirects can be changed centrally without touching thousands of DNS records.

Each record may contain only one content tag. If you want to provide a price, a contact address, and a note at the same time, you simply create several text records at the same node. Processing services then pick out whatever is relevant to them.

What should you keep in mind when setting for-sale entries in the DNS?

There are a few limitations you should know about before adding the entry.

The domain must resolve. The signal lives in the DNS and therefore only works as long as the domain actually resolves. During the redemption period, in pendingDelete status, or when DNSSEC validation fails, the mechanism comes to nothing.

Choose a short TTL. The standard recommends no more than 3,600 seconds. Long cache times mean that outdated prices or withdrawn sale intentions continue to circulate through DNS resolvers for hours.

Wildcards do not help. “_for-sale” must always be set as a specific entry; a _for-sale.*.example.com is invalid. So you cannot mark an entire portfolio or a complete top-level domain as for sale with a single entry, but need a separate record for each domain.

Not below .arpa. The record works at any level of the DNS, with one exception. It is excluded from the infrastructure domain .arpa.

Remove it after the sale. Once the domain has been sold or is no longer being offered, the entry should be deleted. Text stating that a domain is currently not for sale is invalid content under the standard.

What risks does the for-sale record carry?

As simple as the entry is to set, the standard is equally open about its downsides.

Your intention to sell becomes public. DNS records can be queried by anyone. Whoever sets a for-sale entry tells the whole world that they are willing to sell. This can weaken your own negotiating position, and competitors see the signal too.

Contact details invite scraping. An email address or phone number in furi sits unprotected in the DNS. Precisely the data that is withheld in WHOIS for good reasons becomes public again. If you want to avoid this, it is better to point to a contact form than to a direct address.

Price details are non-binding. The value in fval is explicitly only a reference point. Automated systems should not derive any obligation to purchase from it, and artificially low bait prices are a foreseeable pattern.

Misuse as a marketing channel. The standard itself points out that the entry can be used to attract attention or generate contacts, entirely without a genuine intention to sell.

Checking and using “_for-sale” in the DNS

To find out whether a for-sale entry already exists for a domain, you can run a simple DNS lookup from the command line:
dig TXT _for-sale.example.com +short

Web interfaces such as digwebinterface.com work as well, as long as you set the DNS record type to TXT.

If you want to process such entries and display them on a website, you should be careful. The content of a TXT record can be freely chosen by anyone and is therefore fundamentally untrustworthy. Such data must be sanitized before it is displayed, and a link from furi must never be opened automatically. Users have to actively confirm that they really want to visit the target.

At INWX, you can add the entry yourself in the nameserver management section. To learn how to do so, look at our FAQ how to create a TXT record.

RFC 10023 is an informational document that merely describes a convention. Setting a for-sale record in the Domain Name System is not a requirement for selling a domain.

Whether it catches on will be decided in practice. The prerequisites are good, though. The entry costs nothing, interferes with nothing, and can be tried out with a single line. If marketplaces, registrars and availability checks process the signal in future, it could become a useful standard component in domain trading.

For more on the common ways to acquire a domain that is already taken, see our article How to buy a domain that's already taken.