Do you have a catchy or memorable phone number? (Wait, how can you even tell?)
Well, maybe it spells something, or has an obvious numerical pattern that always makes it easy for people to memorize.
If so, congratulations! Enjoy that clout and clever conversation piece. However, if you don’t strictly need your memorable number, did you know that you can also sell it? Because perhaps your number spells out the name of someone’s new business, or they just want something snazzy for a radio jingle, and they’re willing to pay top dollar to have it.
NumberBarn makes it easier than ever before to become a Broker and access the biggest marketplace of people buying and selling numbers. You can connect with the right customers to get you the best possible price on your phone numbers, quickly and conveniently. We’ll give you a quick rundown of the steps below.
What You Need First
- Porting credentials for your phone number from your current service provider: It’s a lot easier than it sounds; selling via NumberBarn requires “porting” (the industry term for transferring a phone number between carriers) the number you intend to sell over to NumberBarn. This will require an account number and porting or transfer PIN, which your current service provider should have readily available for you in your settings somewhere.
- An active NumberBarn account in good standing: If you’ve already got a NumberBarn account, then you’re good to go! However if this is your first transaction with us, you’ll need to create a new account really quick. NumberBarn accounts require at least one active phone number on creation. You can either purchase a new number from us, or port in an existing number that you own and want to list for sale (which is most likely in this case.) This is where you’ll be asked to provide the account number and porting PIN. The port will likely take anywhere from 3 to 10 business days.
How to Sell (or License) Your Number
- First, go to NumberBarn’s online selling page: https://www.numberbarn.com/brokerage
- Submit Broker Program application: Once you’ve established your NumberBarn account with at least one active number (purchased in good faith and without fraud), you can fill out the simple application to be verified as a “Broker” before agreeing to the marketplace terms and conditions. Once approved, you’ll be good to go!
- Determine your number’s asking price: As a shiny new Broker, you can list your phone numbers at whatever price you want. However, the chances of actually selling the number improve when taking several factors into consideration, like the price you set compared to the price of similar numbers for sale. You can peruse NumberBarn’s marketplace to get an idea of pricing by searching for numbers relative to yours, whether from a numerical pattern or spelling a related word.
NumberBarn also offers an easy, automatic tool for estimating your phone number’s potential value range to get you started. (This price range is a suggested range based on sales and listings of other similar numbers, not a guarantee of sale at the estimated value price range.) You can also set your number to receive custom offers to allow potential customers to suggest prices, if you really can’t decide. (More on that below.) Price is set with your listed numbers in the “sell” tab of your Broker dashboard in your NumberBarn account. - Decide whether you want to sell or license: Here you can also toggle that you are licensing the number, rather than selling it, leasing it to someone for a finite period and a regular fee while you maintain ownership. Note that toll-free numbers can only be licensed, and not sold.
- Allow offers: If you decide to list your phone number with the “make an offer” status, you can accept, reject, or send counter-offers before settling on a price. We handle all the verification and payment processing, so you can kick back and let NumberBarn do the work. You’ll receive email updates about every step of the process, and have access to reports on the Broker dashboard documenting your pending, completed and cancelled sales, licenses, earnings, and payments.
- Get paid: Once the transaction is complete there’s a ten-day hold period, after which you can transfer the money from NumberBarn to your bank account via ACH payment. You can also keep it there and use it as a credit to pay for any other NumberBarn services you may be using, like number parking or call forwarding.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much do I make on a sale? Brokers take away 60% on all number sales and licenses. NumberBarn’s percentage covers the overhead on all the logistical heavy lifting that we do so you don’t have to (advertising, billing, fraud prevention, customer support, etc.)
- Is there a fee for transactions? There’s no transaction “fee,” but phone numbers do cost $2 a month for parking. (Parking essentially refers to storing or hosting the number at NumberBarn until it’s sold, ported away or deactivated.)
- Do I have to pay taxes on the sale? We don’t take any additional taxes at point of sale, but you should probably report any money that you do make as income when you file your taxes.
- Is there a minimum price for listed numbers? Yes! It’s $9.95
- What if I’m selling numbers as a business? If selling phone numbers is a regular part of your professional practice and not just an occasional transaction, then we can set you up as a NumberBarn business account. If you receive more than $600 per year in payouts from NumberBarn, we’ll send you a 1099-K form for your taxes, and our support team can get you a W-9 as well, if you need.
You Could Hit the Jackpot!
And just like that, you can list that fancy phone number you’ve been sitting on for sale on the world’s largest phone number marketplace. We can’t guarantee your phone number will sell, or for how much, but we have many fun stories of customers who discovered the phone number assigned to them by their carrier was worth more than a few dollars. If you’re not that committed to your specific digits, why not shoot your shot and try listing them for sale at NumberBarn?
