Afternic - Official Thread

[GoDaddy]

Hello NamePros!
By popular demand, we have launched a dedicated feedback thread for Afternic, the GoDaddy-owned domain name marketplace.

We have created this thread as a way for you to tell us what works, what doesn't work, and what features you'd like to see at Afternic (please be constructive with your feedback). We're looking forward to hearing from the domain investment community to help us shape the future of Afternic.

We will also be sharing Afternic product updates in this thread.

Please note that this thread is not meant for support. Please email our support team at [email protected] for assistance.

 

[bmugford]

If you are experiencing these as a professional, I cannot even imagine what the end user who wants to buy a domain name from the aftermarket is experiencing.

Yeah, and that is just on the buy side.

On the sell side, there are annoyances also.

I am still waiting for payment on a sale that was "completed" on January 4th.

That is when I got an email saying funds will be sent in 1-3 business days.

They have not been sent. In fact, there is still no payout date even scheduled.

It's just been a frustrating experience lately. Several things don't seem to work properly or are extremely slow.

Brad

 

[Mister Funsky]

I am still waiting for payment

Just as an FYI, the last several payments came to me in a reasonable amount of time. My recent issue(s) have been with a lackluster broker on two occasions.

Hopefully things will happen for you quickly.

 

[Janoss]

How can I have more than one payout method on Afternic? The option to add a new payout method seems to have disappeared from the settings page.

 

[Mister Funsky]

edited

 

[Recons.Com]

My biggest issue with Afternic currently is the broken sync with my Godaddy account. The problem started in summer 2023 when the names I list still shows as "list for sale" or "pending". Relisting won't help either.

Afternic rep says it is GD's problem. GD rep basically after a few back and forth wrote me this (and I quote):

"I found that this is an issue that we are aware of but aren’t currently in the process of resolving. It may be some time (weeks or months) before a fix is in place."

This was in September 2023 and after 4 months nothing has changed.

Think about it. Something was working fine. They did something and broke it. It is absolutely simple thing in IT, - syncing data in two databases, yet they screwed it up. And a client that makes mid six figure turnover with your company complains about it and your response is "we know, we don't care, deal with it".

 

[internext]

recommend reaching out to Afternic's customer service team: https://www.afternic.com/contact-afternic

@DAN.COM
@GoDaddy
@James Iles

Having nightmares trying to figure out why my Dan/Afternic integration is FUBAR!!

I've been on the phone with 3 different Afternic reps today alone. Nothing helps. Everyone seems so confused. I even deleted all my Afternic names today but even that didn't help. My Afternic account is pretty old but I never really used it to park or market my names listed there. My Afternic account predates my Dan account by many years. And now, I ONLY want Afternic for their distribution network, since it has supposedly become an automatic feature for Dan sellers. I prefer Dan's landers, flexibility, and ability to add seller's notes.

I started noticing most of my domains do not make it to the distribution network. Getting no leads so I did a bunch of random domain searches at GoDaddy. Some names show up with my Dan prices, but the vast majority get that $69 Broker Service offer as a search result. This is for domains with BIN listed on Dan.

So here is my question in a nutshell. How do I get ALL of my current and future Dan BIN listings to show up on the Afternic distribution network? I want to finally benefit from this arrangement!! I have a separate Afternic account but I have deleted all my names in an effort to make this work. But it still doesn't. Interestingly, I curiously started to add names back to my account... some want ownership verification, and some don't. From my understanding, none of my names should pass ownership verification because they should be seen as owned under Dan. Anyway, I did not proceed because I was just experimenting so I could tell you what happened when I tried.

Primola.com examples:
GoDaddy search result ($69 Broker offer)
Dan Landing Page Showing BIN is listed
And below, you see no ownership conflict if I try to add Primola.com to Afternic. But there should be, as it should be seen under the Dan umbrella.

Finally, here is my Afternic stat from my Dan dashboard

• 36 Afternic domain listings (out of hundreds, mostly with BIN so I could be on the distribution network)

The 36 Afternic listings are the same amount from both before and after deleting all names from my Afternic account.

So it would seem to me that I need Dan to know it controls ALL my names, and not Afternic thinking it controls most of them, even after being deleted. PLEASE HELP

One more issue:
Just noticed that all my names that do show up are offering matching BIN/Minimum Offer pricing.
In the case of this example, my Dan minimum is $1688, not $2488.

FYI, my username at Dan and Afternic are both the same as my username here.

Thanks

 

[tonyk2000]

How can I have more than one payout method on Afternic? The option to add a new payout method seems to have disappeared from the settings page.

An illogical change @ the new afternic interface. @GoDaddy you're switching to the new interface too fast, without proper testing. Please do not remove afternic classic in the meantime, as a number of features are not yet available @ the new interface. Not only adding other payout methods are affected. I see no way to select payout method (if >1 methods are already configured) after the sale is completed but before the payout is scheduled - it works @ classic interface, but will it work @ the new interface??? Also, I see no way to review the list of PendingReview / Pending Fast Transfer approval domains at the new interface.

 

[Mister Funsky]

the vast majority get that $69 Broker Service offer as a search result.

Firstly, thanks for the detailed post and sharing your experience.

I too have the $69 issue...recently had a potential buyer reach out to me after I moved a domain away from afternic to another platform. They expressed their displeasure with the 'broker' service as they felt no other option was available to reach the 'seller'. The buyer became livid after I pointed out it should have given them a fixed price.

We (those of us investing in names) know how to find the owner of a name via WHOIS or other methods but most people do not and 'type in' is how they find us.

I'm still getting phishing warnings when visiting names parked at afternic...30 hours and counting. A lead is a rare and delicate entity...if a potential buyer gets one of the pop ups below, it could cost me a sale. This has to be fixed ASAP.

UPDATE: As of 1PM EST all prior names not resolving are working properly now.

 

[Bearded Goat]

@internext I have the same issue. A lot of my dan buy it now domains do not show at godaddy. And some of them do not even show at afternic. I just moved them as it doesn't make any sense to have them listed if they do not even show up. I have sent emails to support and they have been able to fix some in the past. But it just keeps happening with different domains.

 

[GoDaddy]

Anyone else seeing a problem with names pointed to Afternic? I get a phishing warning no matter what name I check.

Hi @Mister Funsky,
We've raised this with the landing page team. Using multiple devices, IPs, and browsers, our teams haven't been able to replicate, but we have raised this with the landing page team to monitor and investigate. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Is it possible to bulk update the LTO option for all my portfolio?

I saw that I can enable the LTO option on the "pricing" update model box, but it also asks for new BIN, min. offer and floor price. So I couldn't be sure about what will change exactly because I don't want to change pricing, just need to enable LTO option.

Hi @kor,
In the 'pricing' box, you can keep the BIN, minimum offer, and floor price fields blank and enable Lease to Own separately*. After submitting your changes, you'll be taken to a new page to confirm the updates before they're live. At this point, you can validate that your prices remain untouched.

*(to enable Lease to Own, your domains must already have an active Buy Now price between $495 and $100,000)

How can I have more than one payout method on Afternic? The option to add a new payout method seems to have disappeared from the settings page.

Hi @Janoss,
We'd encourage you to edit your default payout method to make any adjustments. This ensures that your default payout method is always up to date with your preferred payout settings. To add a second, or new payout method, please reach out to our support team: https://www.afternic.com/contact-afternic

My biggest issue with Afternic currently is the broken sync with my Godaddy account. The problem started in summer 2023 when the names I list still shows as "list for sale" or "pending". Relisting won't help either.

Afternic rep says it is GD's problem. GD rep basically after a few back and forth wrote me this (and I quote):

"I found that this is an issue that we are aware of but aren’t currently in the process of resolving. It may be some time (weeks or months) before a fix is in place."

This was in September 2023 and after 4 months nothing has changed.

Think about it. Something was working fine. They did something and broke it. It is absolutely simple thing in IT, - syncing data in two databases, yet they screwed it up. And a client that makes mid six figure turnover with your company complains about it and your response is "we know, we don't care, deal with it".

Hi @Recons.Com,
Thanks for raising this. We will DM you to learn more information, if you're willing to share.

@DAN.COM
@GoDaddy
@James Iles

Having nightmares trying to figure out why my Dan/Afternic integration is FUBAR!!

I've been on the phone with 3 different Afternic reps today alone. Nothing helps. Everyone seems so confused. I even deleted all my Afternic names today but even that didn't help. My Afternic account is pretty old but I never really used it to park or market my names listed there. My Afternic account predates my Dan account by many years. And now, I ONLY want Afternic for their distribution network, since it has supposedly become an automatic feature for Dan sellers. I prefer Dan's landers, flexibility, and ability to add seller's notes.

I started noticing most of my domains do not make it to the distribution network. Getting no leads so I did a bunch of random domain searches at GoDaddy. Some names show up with my Dan prices, but the vast majority get that $69 Broker Service offer as a search result. This is for domains with BIN listed on Dan.

So here is my question in a nutshell. How do I get ALL of my current and future Dan BIN listings to show up on the Afternic distribution network? I want to finally benefit from this arrangement!! I have a separate Afternic account but I have deleted all my names in an effort to make this work. But it still doesn't. Interestingly, I curiously started to add names back to my account... some want ownership verification, and some don't. From my understanding, none of my names should pass ownership verification because they should be seen as owned under Dan. Anyway, I did not proceed because I was just experimenting so I could tell you what happened when I tried.

Primola.com examples:
GoDaddy search result ($69 Broker offer)
Dan Landing Page Showing BIN is listed
And below, you see no ownership conflict if I try to add Primola.com to Afternic. But there should be, as it should be seen under the Dan umbrella.
Show attachment 251504

Finally, here is my Afternic stat from my Dan dashboard

• 36 Afternic domain listings (out of hundreds, mostly with BIN so I could be on the distribution network)

The 36 Afternic listings are the same amount from both before and after deleting all names from my Afternic account.

So it would seem to me that I need Dan to know it controls ALL my names, and not Afternic thinking it controls most of them, even after being deleted. PLEASE HELP

One more issue:
Just noticed that all my names that do show up are offering matching BIN/Minimum Offer pricing.
In the case of this example, my Dan minimum is $1688, not $2488.
Show attachment 251507

FYI, my username at Dan and Afternic are both the same as my username here.

Thanks

Hi @internext,
You're correct - Dan listings with a Buy it Now price should be distributed to Afternic's network. We will DM you for more, and we'll forward this case to our engineers to review the synchronization.

you're switching to the new interface too fast, without proper testing. Please do not remove afternic classic in the meantime, as a number of features are not yet available @ the new interface. Not only adding other payout methods are affected. I see no way to select payout method (if >1 methods are already configured) after the sale is completed but before the payout is scheduled - it works @ classic interface, but will it work @ the new interface??? Also, I see no way to review the list of PendingReview / Pending Fast Transfer approval domains at the new interface.

Hi @tonyk2000,
Thank you for your feedback.

The ability to select a payout method after the sale is complete will continue to be in the Classic environment for the moment. Once we're confident that a 2.0 experience replaces all the functions on that page successfully, we'll switch that page over.

Reviewing a list of domains pending review can be done from your dashboard in 2.0. The 'portfolio summary' contains a 'pending review' cell. Clicking on this brings you to a filtered view: https://www.afternic.com/portfolio/selling?filter=review

To review a list of domains pending fast transfer approval, we recommend heading to your portfolio page, and sorting your portfolio by Fast Transfer status.

@internext I have the same issue. A lot of my dan buy it now domains do not show at godaddy. And some of them do not even show at afternic. I just moved them as it doesn't make any sense to have them listed if they do not even show up. I have sent emails to support and they have been able to fix some in the past. But it just keeps happening with different domains.

Hi @Bearded Goat,
Thanks for your report. We'll also DM you for more information.

 

[bmugford]

Even after buying the domains, getting a refund, and GoDaddy reprocessing the transaction, the websites still load the Afternic BIN landers.

You can also add them via the GoDaddy checkout path.

If another party is able to somehow swoop in and buy these, I am going to be highly annoyed.

The domains were finally removed from Afternic.

I hope it was because I bought them, and not because another party did.

Brad

 

[Mister Funsky]

We've raised this with the landing page team. Using multiple devices, IPs, and browsers, our teams haven't been able to replicate, but we have raised this with the landing page team to monitor and investigate. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

I just took a few minutes to check names that had issues before and a couple others.

5 browsers were checked and all look good now.

 

[Acroplex]

Using Avast antivirus. There is an ongoing issue with random alerts on Afternic landers, related to api.afternic.com as seen below:

 

[bmugford]

Using Avast antivirus. There is an ongoing issue with random alerts on Afternic landers, related to api.afternic.com as seen below:

Show attachment 251521

This is what I get on my mobile device in Chrome for the two domains I purchased.

Some domains load properly, some don't.

 

[DomainRecap]

I have received an offer from an Afternic broker, but how do I accept it?

I hit the "Accept Offer" button, and all it does it try to change my Floor Price to the price of the offer, which it has already done. Each time I hit Accept Offer, it brings up the same "change price" screen over and over and over even though the values have already changed.

If the "Accept Offer" button is actually a "Change Price" button and this is functioning as intended, then the button should not be called "Accept Offer".

This is the definition of insanity.

@AfternicDLS @GoDaddy

 

[DomainRecap]

If the "Accept Offer" button is actually a "Change Price" button and this is functioning as intended, then the button should not be called "Accept Offer".

This looks like exactly what was going on here.

Gotta love that Afternic beta!

 

[bmugford]

Yeah, and that is just on the buy side.

On the sell side, there are annoyances also.

I am still waiting for payment on a sale that was "completed" on January 4th.

That is when I got an email saying funds will be sent in 1-3 business days.

I contacted my account rep about this one today. It's not a big sale.

I received this "1-3 business day" email 8 days ago now.

The transaction still does not even show a payout date.

I was told that they talked to the transaction assurance team and it was escalated.

It seems like I am having issues with almost every transaction lately.

Brad

 

[capybara]

For the domain names which do not use Afternic nameservers (...and haven't been there for years), when there is suddenly a view count, where do these come from?

 

[DomainRecap]

where do these come from?

Probably clicks from partners in their domain sales MLS network.

 

[Future Sensors]

In the Dashboard, Afternic suddenly starts asking to setup a payee account to receive domain sales payments. But I have already specified two payment methods in Settings. What's going on? So many errors everywhere.

 

[kor]

These kinds of strange problems that appear out of the blue have started to make me think that there are people within the company who are sabotaging the system.

 

[MariaEl]

In September, 2023 I listed one of my domains (two generic English dictionary words, exact match for a service), and wanted to try parking it with ads. My parking account status was and is still approved, I set the nameservers to Afternic (1 and 2) as instructed, and selected "Cashparking" lander. Once or twice since that date I checked (typed domain's exact URL) and it was effectively displaying related ads. Last time was yesterday. But then I logged into my account and looked up for the parking stats of those nearly four months, and... nothing!! Checked three times, selecting the right time frame, and got always the same result "Sorry, no...etc.". So I guess I will never know, but, if any revenue was generated, it certainly did not reach me (neither did I have the chance to know if my name was at least visited).

I feel outraged, and I don't even want to waste time and energy on this. Just changed nameservers out of AN.

So sorry to have to complain, absolutely not my style.

 

[Kyle Tully]

In the Dashboard, Afternic suddenly starts asking to setup a payee account to receive domain sales payments. But I have already specified two payment methods in Settings. What's going on? So many errors everywhere.

Yup I've had the same issue for months.

 

[MariaEl]

In September, 2023 I listed one of my domains (two generic English dictionary words, exact match for a service), and wanted to try parking it with ads. My parking account status was and is still approved, I set the nameservers to Afternic (1 and 2) as instructed, and selected "Cashparking" lander. Once or twice since that date I checked (typed domain's exact URL) and it was effectively displaying related ads. Last time was yesterday. But then I logged into my account and looked up for the parking stats of those nearly four months, and... nothing!! Checked three times, selecting the right time frame, and got always the same result "Sorry, no...etc.". So I guess I will never know, but, if any revenue was generated, it certainly did not reach me (neither did I have the chance to know if my name was at least visited).

I feel outraged, and I don't even want to waste time and energy on this. Just changed nameservers out of AN.

So sorry to have to complain, absolutely not my style.

To be clear: Afternic system didn't recognize my domain as "parked" at all, when in fact it was.

 

[lotk]

I see that Afternic Classic view is going to be retired tomorrow and we will only be able to use Afternic 2.0. I still see no way of being able to submit my details after making a purchase. I can see it in my list of purchases (Domains --> Purchases) but no option to click on anything.
FYI My complaint to Afternic resulted in them giving me the details to submit my info via the Classic view. Glad I did it today before there was no option.... Anyone else experience this?