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.

 

[Name2go]

Ok, since Dan will be going away, I guess I'll start updating the nameservers and start moving over. I tried one and I get the Buy Now/Lease To Own option showing using ns1/ns2

If somebody gets the first Lease To Own sale, post in the thread, make everybody feel better that it's working.

Lease to own works. I had two deals with a 24 months length. The first LTO is already history because buyer didn’t process the second payment. The other one still is in its (paid) first month.
I cannot compare Afternic with DAN, I use DAN for sales only. But the Afternic LTO solution feels quite comfortable to me.

 

[Name2go]

BTW I am extremely satisfied with my Afternic Rep in all respects. Let me share his reply to a few questions I made regarding LTO three months ago. Nothing new to most of you but perhaps a little help for few.

Basic rules
The max term length for LTO are 60 months.
Only domains with a BIN price between $500 - $100k are eligible for LTO.
You can only set a maximum monthly payment for now, the minimum payment is $99 per installment. So a domain priced at $1,000, can be on a maximum of 10 month LTO, but a minimum of 2 months. You don't set the Min term just the Max term, it's up to the buyer if they decide to pay off the LTO payments early.

Do the basic settings like Cashparking and Lander stay unchanged?
All lander and cash parking setting were untouched, they remain the same, activating LTO simply gives the buyer an option to make payments via installments at checkout, or when the broker is negotiating, they can use LTO to help close a deal.

Does the buyer have the equal choice between lease, BIN and negotiate?
Buyer decides which option they want to use to purchase the domain name, the lander you choose will have an impact on how they decide to purchase, but all options will be made available for the buyer, LTO is just another option which gives the buyer flexibility.

Who is the registrant during the lease period?
Is it legit that a buyer leases a domain and tries to sell it higher during the lease period?
GoDaddy is the registrant in this case, we hold the domain and no the buyer cannot resell the domain until the original LTO payments have been completed. Our ToS states they cannot relist the domain for sale until they own the domain outright, free and clear, so they would need to complete all payments on the original LTO agreement, before they can relist the domain.

Who is responsible for illegal or unwanted content on a website developed by the buyer?
We have no control over the content that the buyer displays on domains while the LTO term is active. Only if they stop or miss payments can we stop the LTO deal, and return the domain to the seller, this is a small risk you are open to, when using LTO, but I would say cases are uncommon where they would be using the domain for unwanted content like you say, but still a thought to consider.

Does Lease to own need Fast Transfer, thus Nameservers headed to Afternic?
Lease to own doesn't require FT but it does require BIN pricing, and if you have a domain priced you may as well opt-in to Fast-Transfer, as the domains will have more exposure across the domain marketplace, thus have a higher chance of selling.

 

[Future Sensors]

You guys refer to it as CamelCase, I refer to it as PascalCase.

With PascalCase you assume that the first letter is always capitalized. However, you would then not be able to present the domain as eBike.tld or eCommerce.tld.

The CamelCase format indicates the first word starting with either case, then the following words having an initial uppercase letter.

 

[411domains]

With PascalCase you assume that the first letter is always capitalized. However, you would then not be able to present the domain as eBike.tld or eCommerce.tld.

The CamelCase format indicates the first word starting with either case, then the following words having an initial uppercase letter.

I get it, but I think when most people talk about camelCase in relation to their domain display names, they're referring to UpperCamelCase, which is nothing more than PascalCase.

 

[Future Sensors]

I get it, but I think when most people talk about camelCase in relation to their domain display names, they're referring to UpperCamelCase, which is nothing more than PascalCase.

Not me...

 

[ArielT]

@GoDaddy

I've noticed that price requests are not appearing in the Lead Center ( only email received )

I've checked in "All" also using the search box but nothing

 

[Maged Khatab]

Hello @GoDaddy ,

Thank you for the new updates and the new Customer Landers. I just have a small notice that you could give it a look.

1- The GoDaddy logo should be clickable and go to a new window with the GoDaddy main page, because from a buyer's point of view, they may want to check that this is a legit landing page so by clicking on the GoDaddy logo and getting to GoDaddy home page, they'll be able to search for the domain name and confirm the domain listing on GoDaddy is legit. I know this isn't always the case but I think it makes more sense when it comes to UI & UX.

*Please note that not a single link on the landing page points to the GoDaddy website except for the "Next" button to complete the purchase.

2- Rounding up LTO prices will eliminate confusion and match the pricing format on the landing page, because as you see one of the screenshots attached has the price of $2988 without decimals and the LTO is $498.00 with decimals.

*Please note that this was always the case with Dan landing pages and almost every other landing page out there with BIN & LTO.

I appreciate your great efforts with the new updates and the new Custom Landers and I hope you take my suggestions into your consideration.

Regards,

 

[GoDaddy]

Clicking 'Next' on the Custom Lander takes a really long time processing.

@GoDaddy Please investigate why it takes such a long time before the actual cart is shown.

Thanks @Future Sensors, we're looking into improvements for GoDaddy's cart loading for both the Buy it Now lander and the Custom Lander.

I have a couple of questions regarding the migration from the 7-day auction to only Afternic listings for member to member sales.

In the blog post GD stated:



My question is, how is the syndicated exposure to GoDaddy Auctions working, because I have not really seen any of the domains I have listed with Afternic showing up at the auction marketplace.

Also, are there any plans to create an API feed of the Afternic marketplace so websites like Expireddomains.net can pull data (like they do with the auction marketplace) in order to provide additional exposure to domains listed with Afternic?

This is especially important for domains with SEO value.

Thanks, I look forward to your feedback.

Hi @Domain Research Labs
Afternic-listed domains continue to be syndicated to GoDaddy Auctions, as always. The most reliable way to find Afternic-listed domains is to either search directly, or browse the "Public Buy it Now" listings for Afternic-listed names with a Buy Now price.

@GoDaddy

I've noticed that price requests are not appearing in the Lead Center ( only email received )

I've checked in "All" also using the search box but nothing

Hi @ArielT
Thanks for your feedback. There was a brief issue with leads loading over the weekend, which has been resolved (this didn't impact leads being received, just leads loading for sellers). If you continue to see issues, please reach out to Afternic's support team. You can also share an example domain name via DM so that we can track the issue with our team.

Hello @GoDaddy ,

Thank you for the new updates and the new Customer Landers. I just have a small notice that you could give it a look.

1- The GoDaddy logo should be clickable and go to a new window with the GoDaddy main page, because from a buyer's point of view, they may want to check that this is a legit landing page so by clicking on the GoDaddy logo and getting to GoDaddy home page, they'll be able to search for the domain name and confirm the domain listing on GoDaddy is legit. I know this isn't always the case but I think it makes more sense when it comes to UI & UX.

*Please note that not a single link on the landing page points to the GoDaddy website except for the "Next" button to complete the purchase.

2- Rounding up LTO prices will eliminate confusion and match the pricing format on the landing page, because as you see one of the screenshots attached has the price of $2988 without decimals and the LTO is $498.00 with decimals.

*Please note that this was always the case with Dan landing pages and almost every other landing page out there with BIN & LTO.

I appreciate your great efforts with the new updates and the new Custom Landers and I hope you take my suggestions into your consideration.

Regards,

Hi @Maged Khatab
Thanks for your feedback. The Custom Lander focuses on bringing the buyer through the checkout process. That's why aside from a link to TrustPilot, we currently only link out to the GoDaddy cart through the "Next" button - focusing the attention of the buyer on the key pathway to secure the domain name. Including a link to GoDaddy.com may take them away from the purchase pathway, although this is a theory we could test in the future, based on your feedback.

Regarding rounding up Lease to Own, there are many challenges to rounding up or down to the nearest dollar when offering Lease to Own at scale, globally. We've discussed this, but right now, we do not have plans to implement currency rounding on LTO.

 

[Domain Research Labs]

Hi @Domain Research Labs
Afternic-listed domains continue to be syndicated to GoDaddy Auctions, as always. The most reliable way to find Afternic-listed domains is to either search directly, or browse the "Public Buy it Now" listings for Afternic-listed names with a Buy Now price.

Are there any plans to create an API feed of the Afternic marketplace so websites like Expireddomains.net can pull data (like they do with the auction marketplace) in order to provide additional exposure to domains listed with Afternic?

The reason this is important is because buyers interested in SEO domains will not go to -and likely do not even know about- "Public Buy it Now" listings for Afternic, they will go to Expireddomains.net or other major databases that aggregate domains along with SEO data via API or FTP feeds.

As of now, the data from Afternic can only be found at Afternic, which offers a very limited exposure for domains with SEO value.

Thanks.

 

[DomainRecap]

We're working on that function, and Make Offer will come to the Custom Lander.

Good, because if the rumors are true and you're getting rid of Dan then you need to offer the same features through Afternic.

For example, I have a lot of small sales (that I planned on funneling over to domain purchases) just sitting on Afternic that I never get info on until days later when the broker updates the file. This is counter-productive for me, as with these small-sales on Dan, I either close the sale or dump the buyer, all within an hour or two.

You simply cannot make "quick cash" on Afternic so I am no longer trying. The only viable strategy is to provide nosebleed-level prices to the broker and then give him a week to see how high he drags the buyer. Anything else is counter-intuitive and a big waste of time.

For small sales, waiting days and days for updates is insane and there is really no reason for a broker to get involved in a transaction that is anything less than mid 4-figures. If I want to fire-sale a domain for $999 to quickly build funds, it's impossible to do that when Afternic brokers may take several days or even a week just to get an answer back to you. Even when you agree to a buyer's offer, it can still take a while to get a formal response back.

Functionality you need to add to Afternic:

1) Make Offer on all landers
2) Allow the seller to negotiate sales, especially smaller ones with a time factor.
3) Allow the seller to choose when to involve the Afternic brokers.

If you want to run a broker-only service for the entire domain inventory of what was Dan, GD and Afternic, then you need to hire 10X as many brokers so it doesn't take 3+ days for a response to a counter offer to be relayed back to a seller, and vice versa. Looking at my Afternic dashboard is literally like watching paint dry.

 

[411domains]

We love the feedback and appreciation for the Custom Lander, thank you to everyone that has commented. This will be a long post..!


Thanks @Future Sensors! We're thrilled to have included many features domain investors have been asking for within the Custom Lander, but there's plenty more to come in the future.

At the moment around 3 in 10 will have access to the new Filter tools. We're taking our time to bring these tools to all customers in a stable way.

@GoDaddy - I had the misfortune of the beta update being added to one of my accounts and it was enough for me to pull my entire portfolio.

The bulk search, if you can actually get it to work, isn't bulk search at all.

It maxes out at 1K characters, which translates to 50-80 names at a time.

How long did it take to get this far???

It's clear nobody has any experience whatsoever in what their attempting to build.

You're not inventing anything new. These industry standard "features" that we've been waiting patiently on, have been around for decades.

"We're taking out time" he says.

At this rate, everyone currently working on the project will have great grandchildren by the time the platform is up to par. That is, if it ever gets up to par.

 

[Maged Khatab]

@GoDaddy I'm aware of the glitch that some domains when pointed to Afternic Nameservers with the "Custom Lander" may display the message "This domain is registered, but may still be available.". However, some colleagues here reported that it was resolved within 24 hours by itself.

But this isn't the case with .bot names as all .bot names "not just mine" with BIN prices don't display the price on the new "Custom Lander" and "Buy It Now BIN" Landers. Even "Request Price" landers aren't displaying the form anymore.

Please fix this issue ASAP.

Thank you!

 

[Maged Khatab]

@GoDaddy I'm currently testing the new "Custom Lander" and I found that if LTO is disabled while using the "Custom Lander" with Custom Lander Options set to "Buy it Now + Lease To Own", it will display the domain name with BIN and LTO, even though the LTO is set to Off.

One more thing, with the previous example if LTO was set to 12 months or any number and you set it Off while using the "Custom Lander" with Custom Lander Options set to "Buy it Now + Lease To Own", it will always show BIN + LTO with the maximum months possible.

Please find attached the screenshots for more details and fix this issue ASAP.

Thank you!

 

[Vivere]

The fast transfer status of all domains in my Afternic portfolio abruptly changed to “Not Eligible” and has stayed that way for over 24 hours.

@GoDaddy, what's going on? Please fix this.

 

[Embrand]

Loads of problems right now. I also suddenly have names show up in my account even though I deleted them a long time ago and many of them are expired. I tried deleting the listings, but get an error message.

At least they don't appear for sale at Afternic or GoDaddy.

 

[Timkh]

When buyers click "make offer" via "GD search", on the next page they see "Comparable domains sold".
Usually low sales from GD auctions are shown there. Could you please remove this?

 

[Future Sensors]

Cross reference:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/afternic-listing-serious-issues.1330967/

 

[Future Sensors]

In the meantime, Afternic tells customers on Twitter to individually contact support to resolve the 'Not Eligible' issues.

On NamePros @GoDaddy has yet to respond to concerned members about these same issues.

Isn't this strange, considering this is a widely reported problem happening to everyone right now? People are complaining about it both on this forum and on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1815783759427616773

https://twitter.com/x/status/1816032944021996008

https://twitter.com/x/status/1816034536804753797

 

[Future Sensors]

A heartfelt encouragement for James, who is committed enormously, but also has to do with the internal organization and the design choices made there.

Cheers.

 

[Springs77]

For the past week or so I've noticed that AFTERNIC BIN (Fast Transfer) domains are no longer showing in GoDaddy auctions when I do "ADVANCED" FILTERING.

If I search for just the full domain with no filters, the name appears with all the others.

But if I filter for KEYWORD, EXTENSION, TYPE, etc. those names don't appear anymore.

Anyone know if this is intentional or can replicate it ?

(** Also these happen to be Namecheap domains, not sure if that's relevant)

 

[Recons.Com]

In the meantime, Afternic tells customers on Twitter to individually contact support to resolve the 'Not Eligible' issues.

On NamePros @GoDaddy has yet to respond to concerned members about these same issues.

Isn't this strange, considering this is a widely reported problem happening to everyone right now? People are complaining about it both on this forum and on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1815783759427616773

https://twitter.com/x/status/1816032944021996008

https://twitter.com/x/status/1816034536804753797

Not sure how the "reaching out" will help. I have reached out with this problem to my AN rep, GD rep, James and the problem is still there and worse now (before only portion of the names were getting this, now almost all).

 

[Acroplex]

Adding to the long list of Afternic glitches; a buyer believes they control the domain after making payment for an LTO initiated at Afternic. The domain is, in fact, sitting at another registrar under lock and key. Apparently, GoDaddy can add ghost domains in one's accounts. A rather entertaining issue, depending on how many domains one has at Afternic (1 in my case.)

 

[GoDaddy]

@GoDaddy I'm currently testing the new "Custom Lander" and I found that if LTO is disabled while using the "Custom Lander" with Custom Lander Options set to "Buy it Now + Lease To Own", it will display the domain name with BIN and LTO, even though the LTO is set to Off.

One more thing, with the previous example if LTO was set to 12 months or any number and you set it Off while using the "Custom Lander" with Custom Lander Options set to "Buy it Now + Lease To Own", it will always show BIN + LTO with the maximum months possible.

Please find attached the screenshots for more details and fix this issue ASAP.

Thank you!

Hi @Maged Khatab
Please DM us a domain name as an example, and we'll escalate to the Afternic team.

The fast transfer status of all domains in my Afternic portfolio abruptly changed to “Not Eligible” and has stayed that way for over 24 hours.

@GoDaddy, what's going on? Please fix this.

Hi @Vivere,
We are investigating a UI issue, where active Fast Transfer domain names are being labeled incorrectly.

This hasn’t impacted the distribution of these domain names, and an update will be released to rectify this UI issue as soon as possible.

Loads of problems right now. I also suddenly have names show up in my account even though I deleted them a long time ago and many of them are expired. I tried deleting the listings, but get an error message.

At least they don't appear for sale at Afternic or GoDaddy.

Hi @Embrand
Please could you DM us your Afternic username?

 

[Springs77]

@GoDaddy is this intended behavior with GoDaddy auctions now ? Thanks

For the past week or so I've noticed that AFTERNIC BIN (Fast Transfer) domains are no longer showing in GoDaddy auctions when I do "ADVANCED" FILTERING.

If I search for just the full domain with no filters, the name appears with all the others.

But if I filter for KEYWORD, EXTENSION, TYPE, etc. those names don't appear anymore.

Anyone know if this is intentional or can replicate it ?

(** Also these happen to be Namecheap domains, not sure if that's relevant)

 

[Maged Khatab]

Hi @Maged Khatab
Please DM us a domain name as an example, and we'll escalate to the Afternic team.

As per your request, I sent you a DM regarding the LTO and .bot issues.