Simply put
- X has launched Handle Marketplace, enabling premium users to buy or rent inactive usernames, with prices going up to $1 million.
- Preferred Handles are rentals and are revoked if the subscription is canceled.
- This initiative aims to generate new revenue, essentially turning usernames into a form of digital real estate as advertising revenue dwindles.
X is finally rolling out something it’s promised for a while now. The Handle Marketplace lets premium subscribers claim inactive usernames through a tiered system, pricing the most sought-after handles at figures reaching seven digits.
Only available to Premium Plus and Premium Business subscribers, this marketplace categorizes inactive handles into preferred and rare types.
You can request a preferred handle (like a full name or specific phrase), but a unique string will be added. This way, you might have something like @JohnSmith123 or @Lisa35xy.
If you decide to cancel your premium subscription, X will reclaim your handle after a 30-day grace period.
In some rare instances, usernames can behave quite differently—short and common ones like @Pizza or @Tom might be priced from $2,500 to over $1 million, depending on demand and perceived cultural significance.
Interestingly, unlike Preferred Handles, those who buy Rare Handles can retain them even if they cancel their subscription.
However, don’t get too ambitious, thinking you could flip these handles for profit. Mr. X emphasized that handles bought through the Marketplace are non-transferable. Selling or buying them outside the platform could lead to account suspension.
Overall, X sees this as addressing a long-standing issue. Previously, bots would quickly snatch up desirable usernames, disrupting the system, according to internal documents.
If a specific handle isn’t currently available, users can put it on their watchlist and get notified when it becomes free. This formalizes something that had been happening unofficially for years—a hidden market for Twitter handles that never benefited X financially.
But here’s the thing: users are essentially paying for the right to change their username, keeping their followers intact as they shift their identity. X notes that your previous username will be frozen and not available to anyone else. They might offer additional options for account redirection in the future, but that feature isn’t live just yet.
Research has indicated that a small number of accounts could generate significant revenue just by changing handles. The company is now taking charge of this once-unregulated territory.
This isn’t Musk’s first dance with monetizing dormant accounts; after acquiring Twitter in December 2022, he announced plans to release 1.5 billion inactive usernames.
By November 2023, reports surfaced suggesting X was secretly exploring a flat fee of $50,000 for some accounts—an interesting development indeed. Researchers later indicated that verified organizations could start bidding for handles from $10,000.
So, what’s really changing here?
The gist of it seems to be that X is looking for non-ad revenue. The decline in advertising spend, especially since Musk took the helm, has been noticeable, and this could be a way to attract more subscriptions from brands and influencers eager to grab valuable usernames.
Critics have pointed out that this system places a digital class structure on users. It pushes people to keep paying for premium subscriptions just to secure a username, turning them into rentals instead of lasting digital assets.
Moreover, there are still questions about transparency. X hasn’t clarified how they define inactive accounts or how original owners can contest actions taken against them.
Some users, like photographer Gene X Hwang, have shared experiences of their handles being charged unexpectedly after previously being informed that they were free.
It’s worth mentioning, too, that there have been controversies around handles being taken from users without notice; for instance, Cameron Asa, who created the handle @Cameron when Twitter launched, lamented losing it to Gemini CEO Cameron Winklevoss.
Attempts to get official comments from X about these matters have been unsuccessful, as the company doesn’t typically engage with the press.
And what about the pricing for these coveted handles? Only time will tell. We looked into the process for purchasing one, but all we got was a spot on the waiting list.
