How to Choose an IPv4 Broker & Which Ones Are Verified

Here is something odd about most advice on picking an IPv4 broker. It tells you to look for brokers accredited by the regional internet registries, then names accreditations that no longer exist. One of the three big registries retired its recognised broker list and never replaced it. Plenty of articles, and plenty of broker websites, still talk as if it is there.

That matters because you are about to wire a serious amount of money for something you cannot physically inspect. You want a way to check who you are dealing with that does not rely on the seller's own marketing.

There is one. It is public, it is dated, and it takes about two minutes.

The two-minute check:

1. Open the registry's published broker or facilitator page for your region.
2. Find the company by legal name, not by the brand on their website.
3. Match the organisation ID, where the registry publishes one, against the entity that will actually invoice you.
4. Note the date they qualified or were listed, where the registry provides one.

The rest of this guide explains what those pages do and do not prove, what to judge a broker on beyond the listing, and how the registry status works as of 2026.

What a Broker Actually Does for You

Strip away the sales language and the job comes down to four things.

They find you a block that matches what you need, in the right region and the right size. They help establish that the seller genuinely has the right to transfer it, which is less obvious than it sounds when address space has changed hands over decades. They help push the paperwork through the relevant registry, which has its own policies and timeline. And, depending on the transaction structure, they may coordinate escrow or other payment arrangements so that money changes hands alongside the transfer rather than simply relying on a direct payment to the seller.

Worth saying plainly, since it comes up constantly: buying and transferring IPv4 address space is a legitimate activity when carried out under the applicable registry policies. You are acquiring the registered right to use the addresses through a transfer process, rather than buying internet property outright.

Two quieter benefits are worth knowing about.

The first is confidentiality. In a negotiated transaction, an intermediary can act as the point of contact between buyer and seller and may help keep the buyer's identity out of early discussions. That can be useful when a company does not want its infrastructure plans or address requirements widely known, although the precise level of confidentiality depends on the broker and the transaction.

The second is routing cleanliness. Space that has been used before can carry old baggage: BGP announcements still floating around, route objects sitting in internet routing registries, stale DNS records, and reputation issues associated with previous use. If nobody checks these before handover, your new block may not behave as expected when you start announcing it. Everything you eventually build on that space, right down to your load balancer setup, assumes the addresses can be routed and configured cleanly from the start.

Four Ways to Get IPv4 Space

Traditional brokerage. You state a requirement, they source against it, and the price is negotiated. Good for unusual sizes and buyers who want an intermediary, but it can be slower if you need a firm number quickly.

Fixed-price marketplace. Live inventory, published prices, buy now, no bidding. Suits companies whose finance team needs an approved figure before signature, particularly where a defined purchase price is important for internal approval.

Auction. Buyers compete through bidding rather than negotiating a fixed price. This can suit sellers looking for competitive offers, but it can be less convenient for buyers working through a fixed procurement or approval process.

Direct transfer. Possible where you already know your counterparty and the relevant registry policies allow the transaction. You handle registry policy and paperwork yourself, and may need to coordinate both registries if the space crosses regions. You also take on responsibilities that a broker might otherwise handle, including counterparty checks, documentation, and transaction coordination.

Route	Price visible upfront	Anonymity	Best suited to
Brokerage	No, negotiated	High	Unusual sizes, buyers wanting an intermediary
Fixed-price marketplace	Yes	Medium	Buyers with approval processes
Auction	Bidding only	Low	Sellers seeking competitive offers
Direct transfer	Agreed privately	None	Known parties, smaller transactions

How IPv4 Pricing Actually Works

Nobody publishes a single universal rate card for this market, which is part of why it feels opaque. A few things are consistent enough to plan around.

Address space is commonly quoted on a per-IP basis rather than simply as one flat block price. A /24 contains 256 addresses, a /22 contains 1,024, and so on, so the headline figure on a listing can be calculated from the quoted per-IP price multiplied by the number of addresses. Larger blocks can carry a different per-IP price from smaller ones, and the price depends on factors such as block size, market conditions, region, transfer requirements, and the characteristics of the address space itself. Contiguous space in demand can command a premium.

Brokers get paid in different ways. Some take a commission on the sale, which may or may not be disclosed to you. Others operate as marketplaces where the listed price is the price and their margin sits inside it. Neither model is inherently better, but you should know which one you are dealing with, because the pricing structure can affect how much room there is for negotiation and what the final invoice will contain.

Total cost is not just the sale price. Budget for your registry's transfer fees, which vary by region and can change over time, and for escrow fees if you settle that way rather than by direct payment. Ask whether the quoted figure is final before you take it to finance, and ask specifically which registry, escrow, and administrative charges are included.

One alternative worth pricing against: leasing. It converts a capital purchase into an operating cost and can work out cheaper over short terms, and more expensive over long ones. If your need is temporary or you are unsure how much you will use, run both numbers before committing.

How to Check a Broker's Registry Status

Do this before any conversation about price. It costs nothing.

Start With ARIN's Published List

If your transfer involves the ARIN region, ARIN comes first. It runs a Qualified Facilitator Program and publishes its current Qualified Facilitators on a public page with organisation IDs and qualification dates.

Getting listed is not simply a marketing claim. ARIN's Qualified Facilitator process has specific requirements, and the published list identifies the organisations that ARIN has approved as Qualified Facilitators. A Qualified Facilitator can assist organisations with transfers in accordance with ARIN policy.

The current ARIN page is the important source rather than an old article or a broker's own description. The list can change, so avoid relying on a fixed number of organisations without checking the current ARIN page immediately before publication.

Check that the organisation ID matches the legal entity that will invoice you. Companies here often trade under a different name from the one they registered with, and you want to understand exactly which legal entity is carrying the registry status and which entity you are actually paying.

Here is what that looks like in practice. IPv4 Connect is a marketplace brand, and the organisation listed by APNIC behind it is Brander Group Inc. (dba IPv4 Connect). When checking a broker, this is exactly the kind of relationship worth confirming against the registry's own records rather than relying solely on the trading name.

APNIC's page lists Brander Group Inc. as “Brander Group Inc. (dba IPv4 Connect)”. Search the registry pages for the brand alone, and you might conclude nothing is there, even though the legal or registered organisation appears under a different name.

There Is No Such Thing as a RIPE Certified Broker

This one trips up a lot of buyers, because the claim still appears on broker websites.

RIPE NCC used to publish a Recognised IPv4 Transfer Brokers List. Its Executive Board decided in October 2023 to decommission the list and the associated IPv4 Transfer Listing Service. The broker list was removed from the RIPE NCC website, and RIPE NCC confirmed in January 2024 that the decommissioning had been completed. Nothing equivalent has replaced that recognised broker list.

Nobody can therefore hold a current RIPE NCC “Recognised IPv4 Transfer Broker” status based on that retired programme. If a broker uses wording that suggests it currently holds RIPE NCC recognition under the old scheme, check the claim carefully against RIPE NCC's current information.

The important distinction is that the absence of a broker list does not mean IPv4 transfers are unavailable in the RIPE NCC service region. It means you cannot use the old recognised-broker list as a current verification mechanism. Buyers should instead look at the applicable transfer process, registry records, contractual protections and the broker's own due diligence.

Check APNIC's List for Asia Pacific

APNIC keeps a registered IPv4 brokers page listing companies that have signed its broker guidelines, committing to run transfers fairly and transparently and to represent registry policy accurately.

Read APNIC's own wording, though. It states that listed brokers are not its agents, and that it does not sponsor, endorse, or approve their services. Treat the listing as evidence that the organisation has entered into APNIC's broker arrangement, not as a registry recommendation or guarantee of the broker's commercial services.

What About LACNIC and AFRINIC

The regional registries do not all operate identical broker programmes. If a company claims official standing in Latin America or Africa, ask exactly what status it means, which registry supposedly grants it, and where that status is published on the registry's own website. Do not treat a broker's use of words such as “official”, “approved” or “certified” as proof by itself.

Warning Signs Worth Taking Seriously

• Any claim of current RIPE NCC certification or RIPE recognised-broker status based on the retired programme.
• The words official or approved attached to APNIC, given APNIC says that listed brokers are not its agents and that it does not sponsor, endorse or approve their services.
• Registry claims for regions where the stated programme or status cannot be found on the registry's own website.
• No pricing information at all until you hand over contact details, particularly if the broker will not explain how its pricing works.
• An IP reputation or blacklist report that only arrives after payment, leaving you with no opportunity to assess the address space before committing.
• Payment arrangements that offer little protection or provide no clear explanation of when funds are released.
• Client counts, transfer volumes, or ratings with no named source or methodology.

None of these proves that a company is unsuitable on its own. The point is to look at the whole transaction and ask whether the important claims can be independently checked.

Seven Things to Judge a Broker On

1. Registry standing you can look up. Published rather than merely claimed, with the organisation name and ID matching the entity involved in your transaction where the registry provides those details.
2. IP reputation reporting, and when you get it. Used space can carry a reputation problem, in much the same way a shared IP address can affect a site that did nothing wrong. What matters is whether you receive meaningful reputation or blacklist information before you pay or only after the transaction is committed.
3. A written remedy if the block is unsuitable. Replacement, cancellation, or another remedy should sit in the agreement, not simply in an informal email or sales conversation.
4. A pricing model that fits your approval process. If finance needs a fixed figure approved in advance, a bidding process may be difficult to fit into your procurement process.
5. Escrow and payment terms. Understand when funds are released, who controls the escrow process, and what happens if the registry rejects or delays the transfer. Anything unusual deserves a question.
6. Routing and reputation checks before handover. Ask whether old announcements, route objects, DNS records, and reputation issues are checked as part of the transaction, and who is responsible for resolving them.
7. Pre-approval support. Where the relevant registry requires a recipient to demonstrate need or meet transfer criteria, a broker who understands the process can help you prepare the required information before the transaction reaches the registry.

Picking One for Your Region

In the ARIN region, open the published Qualified Facilitator list first and match the organisation ID to the legal entity involved in your transaction. Everything else should be considered alongside that information rather than instead of it.

In Asia Pacific, do the same with APNIC's registered broker page, keeping in mind what that listing does and does not mean. APNIC's own wording makes clear that its listed brokers are not APNIC agents and that APNIC does not endorse their services.

In the RIPE NCC service region, there is no current recognised broker list to consult. That means your due diligence needs to focus more heavily on the broker's legal identity, the contract, the transfer process, registry records, payment protections and the checks carried out on the address space.

Then ask three questions. Do I see the price before I commit? Do I get the IP reputation or blacklist report before I pay, or after? And what happens, in writing, if the block turns out to have a problem?

You will learn more from those three answers than from an hour on anyone's website.

Wrapping Up

Buying address space is one of those purchases where the marketing is loud, and the verifiable facts are quiet. The good news is that many of the most useful facts are public and free to check, and the basic registry checks can take only a few minutes.

Start with the registry pages. Work out who on your shortlist actually appears, under which legal name, and what that registry status actually means. Then ask about pricing visibility, IP reputation reports, payment protections, and written remedies. A broker should be able to explain those points clearly before you commit to a transaction.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do IPv4 addresses cost?

There is no single fixed rate. Pricing is commonly quoted per IP address rather than simply per block, varies by region and block size, and moves with market conditions. Ask whether the quoted figure includes registry transfer fees, escrow costs, and any other administrative charges before treating it as final.

How long does an IPv4 transfer usually take?

There is no universal timeframe because the process depends on the registry, the transfer type, the documentation required, and whether any issues arise during verification. A managed broker may give you an estimated timeline, but registry processing and any missing information can affect the actual completion date.

Do I need pre-approval before buying address space?

It depends on the regional registry and the type of transfer. ARIN and APNIC both have transfer policies and requirements that recipients may need to satisfy before a transfer can be completed, including demonstrating a need for address space in applicable circumstances. The exact requirements should be checked against the current policy for the relevant registry rather than assumed from a broker's general description. RIPE NCC does not use the old recognised-broker programme as a pre-approval mechanism, and its transfer process should be checked separately.

Are there any RIPE certified brokers?

Not under the former RIPE NCC Recognised IPv4 Transfer Brokers List. RIPE NCC retired that programme in 2023 and confirmed in January 2024 that the list had been removed and the decommissioning completed. If a broker claims current RIPE NCC recognition under that old programme, check the claim against RIPE NCC's current information before relying on it.