Who Sells IPv4 Addresses: Brokers, Registries & Direct

By Savvas Bout, Founder of Prefixx. Last updated 5 November 2026.

Determining who can sell IPv4 addresses is relatively easy, the IPv4 address space is managed by a number of registries, brokers and holders of IP address space all of whom sell blocks of IPv4 addresses. These registries maintain authoritative records of IPv4 address blocks and coordinate their allocation or reassignment according to established policies.

The aftermarket has its own rules and whilst it may appear an easy option. The wrong seller relationship can deliver all sorts of problems with the block of IP addresses failing to meet reputation criteria. Vetting the seller before you buy IPv4 addresses helps avoid inheriting ranges with poor reputation or incomplete documentation. Choosing a seller who understands your business requirements and can provide clean documentation reduces the risk of operational disruption after the sale completes.

All of the free address space of the five Regional Internet Registries was assigned between 2011 and 2020. Today, all additional addresses are sold on the resale market. This can be through a broker, by direct deal between two peers, or even by lease. Brokers maintain inventories and connections that help match buyers with available resources across different registries and jurisdictions. Brokers serve as intermediaries who connect sellers holding unused address blocks with buyers seeking to expand their network infrastructure.

Each of these paths to new address space has its own risk profile, time to transfer and operating overhead. Here we explore the various seller types and the quality assurance one might wish to apply to each before purchasing their pool of addresses. Evaluating these factors carefully helps ensure that when you buy IPv4 addresses, the acquisition aligns with your network architecture and compliance requirements.

Who sells IP addresses and why a secondary market exists

These surplus IP addresses are held by universities, enterprises, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and government organizations that received large IP address allocations years ago. They are sold through broker s that are registered with a RIR and/or through direct transfers between parties via the RIRs. All five RIRs used up their initial free IP address pools between 2011 and 2020. Today, all newly issued IP addresses are sold on the transfer market.

Address exhaustion and why it matters

There are approximately 4.3 billion IPv4 addresses in existence. With the free pools having closed, the market for IPv4 addresses now is a seller’s market where organizations from around the world are competing to buy addresses from current holders. IPv4 addresses have become a scarce digital asset that organizations must acquire through competitive bidding and negotiation.

Who actually sells IP addresses

Sellers typically fall into three groups: Each group approaches the sale differently based on their operational needs and available resources.

Universities and research institutions with legacy /8 or /16 allocations.
Enterprises that downsized or migrated workloads.
ISPs consolidating after mergers.

Why use a broker when buying IP addresses

Internet registries, transfer eligibility, and escrow can be a time-consuming headache to deal with.

When buying a block of IP addresses, it is very important to know who currently holds the block and that not all seller categories are equal. We can carry out quality control checks on Tixx to ensure that you are buying from a reputable seller. Proper due diligence on IP assets helps buyers avoid blocks with poor routing history or incomplete registry documentation.

How to purchase IP addresses and navigate the transfer process

When you buy IPv4 addresses, the entire transfer is done through the relevant regional internet registry. The registry verifies your organization's eligibility and grants you the right to access and utilize the purchased addresses once the transaction is complete. The registry workflow ensures that buyers can connect the acquired addresses to their autonomous system and begin announcing routes as soon as approval is granted.

Preparation: due diligence and escrow

Block due diligence via Tixx checks on each block (ownership, DNSBL blacklists (12 DNSBLs), routing health). Prevent buyers from acquiring damaged prefixes.
Funds are held in escrow until the RIR transfer has started. Payment will only release when the buyer’s resource record has been updated.

How to buy IPv4 addresses with RIR approval and transfer

RIR submission. A transfer request is submitted to the RIR (e.g. ARIN, RIPE NCC, APNIC, LACNIC or AFRINIC) where the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA) has delegated address space policy to the respective RIR s. Processing time to approve a transfer varies between the RIRs.
We handle the routing paperwork. We prepare the LOA, RPKI ROA, and IRR route objects for you. You do not need to do anything with this paperwork as we manage it for you.

Note: Skipping a marketplace that vets blocks before listing is a common mistake. Unvetted blocks can carry blacklist history that delays routing and damages deliverability. Proper vetting includes reputation checks, blacklist screening, and verification that the seller holds legitimate title to the resource.

Completion: network routing confirmed

Resource record update. The block will appear under your network in the registry database after the RIR has approved the transfer.
Funds are held in Escrow until record update is confirmed and then released to seller.

Understanding how a transfer works is only half the picture, as companies also determine what you will be charged for the transfer and why. The various factors influencing these charges, including address usage, differ very much between registries, between block sizes, and even between block history entries. Buyers must carefully manage their budget expectations and understand that pricing reflects not only the block itself but also the administrative overhead of registry compliance.

Leasing IPs as an alternative to buying IP addresses

No organization needs to own their IP resources. Leasing of IPs enables customers to get their hands on the same IP address space as if they owned it but without the capital expenditure or long term commitment of buying the IP addresses outright.

What a lease arrangement includes

The lease of your required networking infrastructure is all covered in a well-structured lease. For our guaranteed leases at Prefixx, we include the same LOA, RPKI ROA and reverse DNS that networks world rely on, all sorted in the paperwork by us to meet your business needs, so you can start managing your routing from day one.

Leasing allows you to deploy addresses without the capital outlay of a purchase, making it suitable for projects with defined timelines or infrastructure that may scale down after launch. The lease structure ensures your business can deploy addresses immediately while maintaining flexibility to adjust capacity as operational requirements evolve.

When leasing makes more sense than buying IP addresses

Leasing large blocks of capacity for a nominal fee is a good option for short periods such as for a project, compliance test, or extra capacity for a short period of time. The decision to lease is based on your temporary or uncertain address demand.

Organizations evaluating lease terms should confirm that the provider maintains proper registry standing and can deliver the routing documentation required by companies to announce the leased space. Each business must weigh the flexibility of leasing against the permanence of ownership when planning network infrastructure.

No long term commitment required

Leased IP can scale as needed whereas purchased IP generally cannot. Lease agreements provide non-revocation guarantees for the full term of the lease and come with white-glove service such as geolocation, blacklists and abuse. Leased or purchased, the broker you choose determines the extent to which you’ll need to manage the process.

Why choose Prefixx when you need to buy or sell IPv4 addresses

Prefixx is a boutique IPv4 brokerage that has handled buying, selling, and leasing IPv4 addresses since 2018, with a team rooted in networking since 2007. We manage the entire transfer process end to end, across all five internet registries, so your team stays focused on your network.

Zero buyer fees. Sellers pay a 3-8% commission. Buyers pay nothing.
Tixx QC on every block. Ownership, blacklists, and routing hygiene verified before any IPv4 block reaches a buyer.
Escrow-secured transactions. Funds are held in escrow to protect buyers and sellers through the entire process.
White-glove routing paperwork. Our consultants prepare the LOA, RPKI ROA, and IRR route objects on your behalf.
All five RIR regions covered. ARIN, RIPE NCC, APNIC, LACNIC, and AFRINIC transfers handled, including inter-RIR moves.

Interested in buying or selling IPv4 addresses? Browse the Prefixx marketplace or contact our support team for expert advice and a personalized offer. Our support team can help you secure immediate access to the address blocks that match your technical requirements.

Frequently asked questions

What are the transfer costs and limits for buying internet protocol assets on the secondary market?

IPv4 resale market prices vary by RIR region, subnet size, and reputation history. A /24 under ARIN and an identically sized block under RIPE NCC can trade at noticeably different rates in the same month, and tracking down either number is time consuming since neither is published anywhere official. prefix size matters too: smaller prefixes typically command a higher per-address premium than larger ones. Buyers evaluating IPv4 address blocks should request recent transaction comparables from their broker to understand current regional pricing dynamics.

How many public IPv4 block addresses are available?

There are roughly 4.3 billion IPv4 addresses in total, and every one is spoken for. The five RIRs emptied their free pools between 2011 and 2020, leaving many organizations without access to new addresses from a central reserve. All supply today comes from the secondary transfer market, where organizations sell or lease space they no longer need. As networks grow and services scale, the need to expand IP holdings through transfer or lease becomes unavoidable for most operators.

How do I get US IPv4 address blocks?

US IP inventory falls under ARIN, the registry for North America. You acquire it through the address resale market by purchasing or leasing a block from a current ARIN registrant, with the transfer recorded in the ARIN database. A registered ARIN broker handles the transfer paperwork, RIR approval, and network routing documentation on your behalf. Prefixx is a registered broker with ARIN and manages the full process end to end, from sourcing a vetted block through to completed transfer. The broker coordinates each step to ensure the entire transfer process complies with ARIN policy and completes without delay.

Can any organization sell their IPv4 address space?

Generally yes, provided the organization holds a valid registration with the relevant RIR and the IPs in question meet that registry's transfer eligibility rules. Legacy resources are also transferable in most cases. Some blocks carry restrictions, such as a post-transfer holding period imposed by certain RIRs, so companies need to confirm eligibility before listing. Tixx by Prefixx checks ownership, transfer eligibility, and RIR standing on every block before a deal moves forward. The registry verifies that the seller's org id matches the resource holder of record before approving any change of registration.

What are the 169.254.169.254 IP addresses?

169.254.169.254 is a non-routable link-local address used by cloud providers, including AWS, GCP, Azure, and others, to serve instance metadata to virtual machines and their clients. It is not a public IPv4 address and cannot be bought, sold, or transferred. You reach it only from within a running instance on the same host, never from the public internet. It has no connection to the secondary IPv4 market. Because the address exists solely in the link-local scope, no external device can route packets to it or gain access from outside the host environment.

How long does the IPv4 transfer process take?

Timeline depends on the RIR involved, the completeness of the documentation, and whether the companies are doing an intra-RIR transfer or one that crosses registry boundaries. Inter-RIR transfers are a strategic decision for clients that adds coordination steps between two registries and typically takes longer than a same-registry deal. Working with a registered broker who correctly prepares the LOA, RPKI ROA, IRR route objects, and IPs documentation from the start removes the most common sources of delay. Prefixx handles all routing paperwork and manages the RIR process on the client's behalf. Brokers who manage the technical and administrative workflow help clients avoid common pitfalls that cause rejections or requests for resubmission.

Is there still a waiting list for IP addresses from the RIRs?

ARIN maintains a queue for organizations that qualify under specific legacy criteria, but it moves slowly and covers only limited block sizes. RIPE NCC, APNIC, LACNIC, and AFRINIC have all exhausted their free pools and no longer issue new space through a standard allocation process. For any practical purpose, the secondary transfer market is the only reliable source of IPv4 addresses today.

The IP address marketplace is today’s sole supplier of IPv4 numbers.

For clients, the four parameters of a free number, allocation size, RIR region, and routing, decisively determine its market price.

Leasing may be the appropriate way for support staff to immediately obtain addresses and save the initial capital for purchasing an IP address. By contrast, Buying is more cost-effective in the long run when clients need stability and control over the routing of traffic for an extended period of time.

If you are ready to source a vetted block, get a transfer handled across ARIN, RIPE NCC, or APNIC, or explore a guaranteed lease with white-glove routing paperwork, reach out to Prefixx and get a personalized offer within 72 hours.