How do I hand over a website when I sell it?
The short answer
Transfer each account to the buyer one at a time: the domain, the hosting or website builder, email, payments and any other tools. Give the buyer a written list of what’s included and when each item renews. Change passwords and replace keys as you go, and keep your own records of the sale for tax.
- Agree in writing what’s included, and use escrow for the payment.
- Make a list of every service, account, cost and renewal date. That list is the handover document.
- Move the domain to the buyer’s registrar account, or transfer it. See how to transfer a domain.
- Transfer the hosting or builder account, or the site itself, as each provider allows.
- Move or cancel email, payment and other tool accounts. Cancel any bills that would keep charging your card.
- Replace any API keys and passwords the buyer now controls, and remove yourself from the accounts.
Words used here
- Handover dossier
- A print-ready document for selling a website: every service, a map, a step-by-step transfer plan and safety warnings.
- Rotating keys
- Replacing a secret key with a new one and switching off the old one, so anyone who had the old key is locked out.
- Sold / handed over
- The site belongs to someone else now. It’s kept for your records and tax, but left out of your spending totals and alerts — and it doesn’t count towards your plan.
- Escrow
- A neutral company holds the buyer’s money until both sides confirm the handover is complete. It protects buyer and seller.
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