If, unlike the millions of Americans who have ditched the app since the 2024 election, you still care about a unique presence for yourself or your business on X — now’s your chance.
After announcing this feature earlier this year, X has now fully developed its handle market. This allows users to purchase or claim usernames from old, inactive accounts.
Unfortunately, you’ll have to subscribe to Premium+ or Premium Business to access the marketplace, which means payments starting at $40 or $200 per month, respectively, on top of whatever you’re paying for your new handle.
There are also clear restrictions on what is up for grabs. The market is segmented into priority and rare handles. Preferred handles are available to anyone provided they are approved by X’s team, while rare handles are only available by invitation or “public drop”. X says the selection of who gets a rare username will be based on a combination of factors, such as past contributions to X, your intended use of the handle, and your engagement and reach on the platform.
According to X’s FAQ, preferred handles often include full names, multiword phrases, or alphanumeric combinations such as gabrieljones, pizzaeater, and paradoxai. On the other hand, rare handles include short, common, or culturally significant names such as @pizza, @tom, and @win. X claims that these rare handles can go as high as 500 to seven figures, depending on demand and uniqueness.
If you decide to switch to a new handle, your previous handle will be frozen and unavailable to others. If you choose a preferred handle and then cancel or downgrade your subscription to the free version, your old handle will return to your account after a 30-day period.
Recommended by our editors
Since Elon Musk took over in 2022, X’s efforts to monetize how users identify themselves, from ditching legacy blue checkmarks to charging for verification, have been followed by several notable incidents of misinformation.
In 2024, a fake “verified” account for pharma giant Eli Lilly posted that insulin would be made free, causing its stock price to drop significantly. X later reinstated the blue checks for some influential accounts, even if they did not pay the premium. More recently, X has been experimenting with revealing more information about an account, including where its owner is located or when the account was set up.
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I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to manually install games from multiple CD-ROMs. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human life. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.
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