How WordEstate works

No. Nobody can own an English word. When you buy a word on WordEstate you get the right to display your name, links and brand on that word’s page (its “title deed”) and to resell that right on WordEstate. You don’t get ownership of the word itself, any copyright, or any trade mark, and it doesn’t stop anyone else using the word anywhere else.

No. A WordEstate listing is not a trade mark registration and doesn’t give you any trade mark rights. If you want to protect a brand name, speak to the UK Intellectual Property Office or a trade mark attorney.

Until you sell it. There are no renewal fees. The final terms will set this out properly.

Every available word costs £10 in pounds or $13 in US dollars, paid once. Use the GBP/USD switch at the top of any page to choose; you’re charged in that currency only, with no conversion by us. Words that someone already owns can only be bought if the owner has opened them to bids and accepts your bid.

By card (and Apple Pay or Google Pay where available) on Stripe’s secure checkout page. WordEstate never sees or stores your card number.

Search or browse for a word. If it says “Available”, click Buy, log in or create an account, fill in your title deed and pay. The word is held for you for 30 minutes while you pay, and your listing goes live as soon as Stripe confirms the payment.

Proper nouns aren’t allowed. WordEstate only lists common English nouns, like “pudding” or “rocket”. Names of people, places, companies and brands are left out on purpose. If a word you expected is missing, it’s probably a proper noun or isn’t on our word list (Princeton WordNet).

Log in and go to My words. Open “Edit title deed” on any word to change your name or brand, logo, description and links. Changes show straight away.

Like a Linktree: add as many links as you like (website, shop, Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and so on). They appear as buttons in the order you choose. Use ↑ ↓ to reorder, or tick “Hide” to hide one without deleting it. Links must be http:// or https:// web addresses.

Each owned word shows a public visit count. It only counts clicks through to the owner’s links, not people just looking at the page.

Not easily. Clicks go through our server, which ignores repeat clicks from the same visitor within 30 minutes, caps how many clicks one network can count each day, filters known bots, and ignores the owner’s own clicks.

In My words, each word shows a per-link breakdown of click-throughs. If you change a link’s web address, its count starts again from zero; the word’s total is kept.

A perk for owners. Every day one owned word is picked at random and featured on the home page, with its owner’s title deed and a “Visit owner” button. Everyone sees the same word all day.

You don’t need to do anything. Every owned word is automatically in the draw each day. Unowned words never are.

Yes. You can install WordEstate straight from the website, so it gets its own icon on your home screen and opens full screen like an app. It’s free and there’s nothing to download from an app store.

Open wordestate.com in Safari. Tap the Share button (the square with an arrow pointing up), scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen, then tap Add. The WordEstate icon appears on your home screen.

Open wordestate.com in Chrome. Tap Install the WordEstate app when it appears at the top of the page, or tap the ⋮ menu and choose Install app (or Add to Home screen), then confirm.

You need an internet connection to browse, buy and bid, so you always see the latest prices and bids. If you lose your connection, the app shows a reminder to reconnect.

Only if you let them. In My words, switch Open to bids on or off at any time, and optionally set a minimum bid. With bids off, your word shows as “Not currently for sale”.

First set up payouts (see below). Then open My words, find the bid under “Incoming bids” and click Accept. You’ll see the WordEstate fee and what you’ll receive before you confirm. The buyer then has 48 hours to pay. When they do, the listing passes to them and any other bids close. If they don’t pay in time, the offer lapses and your word is yours to sell again.

The owner chooses GBP or USD when they open a word to bids. Every bid on that word is in that currency, and the buyer pays in it. WordEstate’s 12.5% fee is taken in the same currency. Payouts go to a UK Stripe account, so Stripe converts US-dollar sales to pounds when it pays the seller. Changing a word’s bid currency cancels its open bids.

WordEstate takes 12.5% of the final sale price on every resale, and you keep 87.5%. For example, on a £200 sale you get £175 and WordEstate keeps £25 (the same on a $200 sale: you get $175). The fee is rounded to the nearest penny.

Sellers are paid through Stripe Connect. Before you can accept a bid you set up a payout account with Stripe, which verifies your identity and bank details, as the law requires. When the buyer’s payment succeeds, your share goes straight to your Stripe account and Stripe pays it into your bank, typically within a few working days. Your first payout can take longer while Stripe completes its checks.

If something goes wrong with a payment, for example the word was taken by someone else at the same moment, we refund you in full automatically. Because your listing goes live as soon as you pay, you’re asked to agree to that at checkout, and the usual 14-day cancellation period for digital services may then not apply. The final wording will be confirmed after legal review.

If a resale payment can’t be completed (for example the offer changed), the buyer is refunded in full, including WordEstate’s fee, and the seller keeps the word.

Listings removed for serious or repeated breaches of the content rules may not be refunded.

Nothing unlawful, hateful, sexually explicit, violent, defamatory or misleading. No malware, scam or phishing links, no impersonating another person or business, and no images or logos you don’t have the right to use. WordEstate may review, hide or remove any listing and suspend accounts that break the rules.

Every owned word page has a Report this word link. Choose what’s wrong and add any details. Our team reviews every report and can hide a listing while it’s checked.

Use Forgot password on the log-in page. Enter the email on your account and we’ll send you a link to choose a new password. The link works once and expires after an hour. If it doesn’t arrive, check your spam folder or contact us.

Log in and go to Account settings. You’ll need your current password to make changes.

We never store your password, only a slow, salted hash of it (bcrypt). Sessions use secure, HTTP-only cookies.

Use the contact form and pick a topic so your message reaches the right place.

We aim to reply within two working days.