X Will Start Selling ‘Inactive’ Usernames Soon

If you haven’t logged into X for a while but still want to keep your X username, you might want to log back in soon. According to a recent post on the website formerly known as Twitter, the company will soon start selling “handles that are no longer in use” to paying subscribers.

The feature, called the X Handle Marketplace, is currently only being teased, but a waitlist for it is live. Once active, it’ll allow X Premium+ subscribers (at the $40/month level) and Premium Business accounts to both request free (with their subscription, at least) handles, and directly purchase especially rare ones.

Rare usernames could cost $2,500 or more

According to an FAQ page, pricing for rare handles starts at $2,500 and could go “over seven figures, depending on demand and uniqueness.” You’ll also need an invitation to even be allowed to purchase a paid username, although receiving the complimentary handles also comes with complications.

For free handles, there are two types. The standard ones, called “priority handles,” are open for any eligible subscriber to request; X says it will usually review requests within three business days, although not all requests will be approved. But X also says it will occasionally drop select rare handles (the type it would usually charge for) as part of free giveaways, where multiple subscribers can apply for the handle and a winner will be selected “based on merit.”

As for what X considers “merit” to be, that would include past contributions to the site, intended usage for the handle, as well as engagement and reach on the platform.

Once you’ve got a new handle, your current username will be locked so others won’t be able to change it, and your page’s @ will change to the new one. X also says it may offer paid redirects from old usernames to new ones in the future.

Note, though, that if you got your new handle for free, you’ll need to stay subscribed to keep using it. Users who paid for their handles will be able to let their X subscriptions lapse without losing them.

What handles X will be giving out for free

As for what type of inactivate handles X will be giving out, the site has provided a few examples. Generally, paid handles will be pithy, one word, “culturally significant names,” like @Pizza or @Tom. Meanwhile, free ones are more likely to be full names or multi-word phrases, like @GabrielJones or @PizzaEater. 

As someone who doesn’t subscribe to X, it’s the full names that have me concerned—and the ones I’d suggest logging into your account to preserve. Part of the reason I haven’t deactivated my X account yet is because I don’t want someone else to be able to make an account with my username, which is a variation on my full given name. I don’t post on it very often, but I’d rather others not be able to easily masquerade as me.

With that in mind, I’ve reached out to X to ask how the website will decide when to make “inactive” usernames available to request, and will update this post when I hear back. X’s inactive account policy says that users should log in “at least every 30 days” to keep their accounts active, though, so if you’re concerned about your username being taken, it’s best to play it safe.

To be fair to X, redistributing usernames from inactive accounts is not an unheard of practice for social media sites, although charging for them is a bit novel. X says the reason it’s requiring a subscription to access the X Handle Marketplace is “to prevent bot spam or misuse,” so that the site can make way for “fair and secure distribution through a controlled process.”

However, as hinted at by another change coming to the site, a subscribed account does not necessarily mean a bot-free account. I’m curious to see how the X Handle Marketplace launch goes once the feature hits the (paying) public.

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