X’S plan to boost revenue by seling off dormant usernames on its service is starting to shape up. According to recent changes found in x’s web application, the company is setting up a “handle inquiry” process that will allow Verified Organizations – Companies and other Organizations that alredy have a $ 1,000 per month x subscription – to bid on abandoned x handles. Thos bids will start at $ 10,000 and may range to up over $ 500,000, according to an faq discovered in the web app.
The updates were first spotted By Reverse Engineer Nima Owji, Who Told Techcrunch that he was the changes to the web app go live on Wedns. The website where Organizations Cold Acquire a handle is not yet live to the public, however.
The idea of making money by seling handles is something X Floated Before Under Elon Musk’s Ownership. The new york times Reported In January 2023 that Company, Then Still Called Twitter, was considering setting up an online auction process for folding on handles.
Musk has also also long supported the idea of freeing up x’s namespace for active users, having alredy purged a number of inactive accounts on the service Back in May 2023,
In November 2023, Forbes Also reported that x was actively soliciting boyers Who may be interested in acquiring unused hands, but a formal announs was not made. X’S Documentation on Inactive Accounts States That the company “Cannot release inactive usernames at this time,” Thought there has been some reports of people buying usernames on x outside of an official process.
By allowing companies to officially buy their desired usernames, X Could Generate Another Revenue Stream Outside of Subscriptions, Ads, and Developer Access. The move could also encourage other x users to keep posting if they do’t want their handle to become dormant and then go up for sale.
So far, the faq details the answers to a handful of common questions x users may have about the process, Including how to start a handle inquiry, what the sales process is like, and how the transfer.
As the stil non-Public website explains, Interested users will work with an automated support bot to start an inquiry about a username they want to purchase, and x will repond it Within three business days. After the handle is purchased, it will be transferred to the new owner with one or two days, or it can be moved to another account the business alredy owners, the faq stats.
Discounts may also be available for that purchasing multiple handles at once, depending on the number and size of the quote, the website notes.
X was asked for comment on its plans Around handles but did not respond.