---
title: Smaller down payments, 5% and 10%
url: https://namegarage.com/blog/smaller-down-payments
author: Namegarage
date: '2026-09-30'
description: Lease-to-own plans now take a 5% or 10% down payment, between nothing
  down and 20%. The smaller step also opens Easy start on long plans that used to
  need 20% down.
---

# Smaller down payments, 5% and 10%

**Clarification — 2026-10-25.** The costs below are fixed payment-plan and
Easy Start surcharges, included in the total to own. They do not accrue month
by month. Current card plans use Stripe, which processes payments without
holding the domain in escrow. Review the complete schedule, including the
final payment, and the [current Terms of Sale](/terms/) before confirming.
Existing agreements retain their own terms and provider.

A lease-to-own plan used to start one of two ways: nothing down, or at
least 20% down. On an expensive name that is a big jump. On a $12,000
domain, 20% is $2,400 before the first monthly payment.

There are now two steps in between: **5% and 10% down**.

## What each option costs

Take a $12,000 domain on a 48-month plan:

| Down payment | Due today | Monthly | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | $325 | $325 | $15,600 |
| 5% ($600) | $905 | $305 | $15,249 |
| 10% ($1,200) | $1,485 | $285 | $14,916 |
| 20% ($2,400) | $2,648 | $248 | $14,304 |

"Due today" is the down payment plus the first monthly payment. The last
payment can differ by a few dollars, $314 at 5% and $321 at 10%, because
we split in whole dollars and true up in the final month.

The down payment itself never carries a fee, and every down payment lowers
the payment-plan surcharge on the rest by its own percentage: 5% down takes 5% off
the fee, 10% down takes 10% off. That is why the totals fall as the down
payment grows. Plans of up to 12 months carry no payment-plan surcharge at all,
with or without a down payment. From 20% down, that fee-free limit also
grows to longer plans: 18 months at 20%, up to 48 months at 50%.

## It opens Easy start sooner

Easy start lets you pay half the monthly payment for the first 3, 6 or 12
months, then steps up to make up the difference. On a long plan it asks
for a little money up front: your first payment has to cover about two
months of fair rent for the name. With nothing down, that rules Easy start
out on plans of 24 months or more, and until now the next option was 20%.

At 5% down, the $12,000 domain above qualifies for every Easy start option
on 48 months. With a 12-month Easy start the plan is:

- $753 due today: the $600 down payment and the first $153 payment
- $153 a month through month 12
- $360 a month from month 13 to month 47
- $395 in the final month

That comes to $15,431. The extra $182 over the standard 5% plan is the
Easy Start surcharge: 10% of the $1,824 you deferred, spread over the later
payments.

## Where to find it

On a domain page that offers monthly payments, the down-payment selector
in the Pay-monthly panel now lists 5% and 10% between "No down payment"
and 20%, each with its dollar amount. The same choices appear when you
make an offer with a payment plan. Pick one and the breakdown table shows
the full schedule before you continue to the selected payment provider.