Will Not Use DropCatch.com

[DomainVP]

As many of you know, DropCatch.com will catch a domain that has been backordered, and opens the auction open to the public. Great for them, terrible for being a domainer.

There was an auction for a name, which I have a steady buyer for in that niche. Max I have ever paid for a name in that niche was $150, and I easily sold for $1k+.

There was only myself and another domainer that placed a pre order. Over the next 3 days four more bidders came to the table, and the auction quickly went from the initial backorder price to well over $700 USD.

The only bidders were myself, and a 3rd party who did not backorder the domain, but who came along in the final 36 hours.

The profit margin & risk no longer made sense to compete on the name, so I was out.

If this is the evolution of dropcatching, you better get your names where you can and hold on tight. I never thought I would find myself saying, "I wish NameJet caught that one."

My only consolation is that I cost another party hundreds of dollars, that went to DropCatch of course...

Good for DropCatch, bad for us all. Just something to consider when ordering names.

What are your thoughts?

 

[discobull]

People have been complaining about this policy from day one, but they clearly don't care as long as they're making money. The only thing that will put an end to their public auctions is for people to stay away from dropcatch altogether. Anytime you so much as place a bid on their platform, you're effectively screwing yourself by rewarding them for a policy that ultimately hurts you.

I place my backorders with the other dropcatchers and whatever those others don't catch I consider lost for good. Pending deletes tend to be the lowest quality out of the various venues anyhow so it's not the end of the world as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Keith]

What you call smart, I call unethical. Those of us that invest time, effort , and money into finding valuable domains understand why they shouldn't be offering the results of our work to those that haven't made the same investment. The only people that I can imagine being ok with this are people that have money but no idea how to find good domains on their own. Dropcatch basically throws their customers under the bus every time they take a domain that only two or three of us had the skill to find and then offers up the results of our efforts to the rest of the world.

This thread is basically a bunch of cry babies.

Nobody did hard work by placing a BO. It's laughable to think that folks here suggest that competition should be limited in any way. Get over it. Dropcatch is no different than Godaddy expiring auctions. Anyone can participate there right? Now what's your argument? Gonna piss on Godaddy's system too or bid and pay fair value?!

 

[equity78]

Why should drop catching have ever been allowed ?

Why should Go Daddy auction names off that someone can still renew while taking the money upfront ?

Why should a company not be allowed to run their business anyway they want that is within the laws of their jurisdiction ?

This is the Wild West, that's why.

 

[hookbox]

We should all be glad that they don't catch every single good domain available and then tell us all to Fuck Off and if we want the name to go buy it at Huge Domains for 2500 bucks.

 

[Asfas1000]

I'm not crazy at all about the process of public auctions either. I agree with most of what was said throughout this thread.

What I basically do is backorder a domain name I want in all other services BESIDES dropcatch and hopefully I land it somewhere else and I get it or it goes into a private auction. If it doesn't all I have to do is check dropcatch and they are usually the ones who were able to grab it.

I did place 1 order using dropcatch because I wanted the name bad and it went straight to my namebright account, did not have an auction for it.

This is the best strategy IMO.

 

[Domainace]

The only names being snagged under the radar are really not worth the majorities time to chase.

Sorry you are not finding names under the radar, but good names are certainly still there. They are often missed because they fall outside the usual metrics set by software many use to evaluate domains, and have to be found by manually (and carefully) scanning large lists. That's work.

And even if there are a few other bidders that spotted the name as well, there's still a much better chance that they won't pursue it as strongly as you will.

On the other hand, when I'm not feeling like working, I will sometimes scan short lists like Dropcatch, or just watch Godaddy auctions to piggyback on late bids at the end of the auction. Since so many people jump on anything with bids on it, I don't usually come up with much that way though.

 

[Jasonn]

I see your point but we both know that domainers can't resist platforms like Dropcatch. This is a vicious business to be in for sure!

Indeed it is. Its possible reberry started dropcatch.com because the hugedomains method of catching so much and waiting for sales to come isn't generating enough income to justify holding so many names. i could be very wrong but i highly doubt he started dropcatch just because he is such a nice guy and wanted to give the world access to his great catch rate. with dropcatch he might not making 1800-2500 per name but every name caught is sold immediately for cash instead of holding and waiting.

 

[Name Trader]

@Bram C. - Of course the whole drop catch system wouldn't collapse if domainers never backordered at DC. All it would mean is there are more domains DC can catch for HugeDomains.

 

[Asfas1000]

I have a hard time trying to figure out the pros of using drop catch.com

I mean, if there are 2+ Dropcatch bidders, I can always join the open auction later.
If there is exactly 1 other bidder, it makes sense to backorder, and not let the other bidder take it, but no assurance I will get it at a reasonable price, considering that others may join in too.
And if there are no bidders, I can backorder with pheenix which is way cheaper.

 

[Jasonn]

yeah it blows. i gave them a try, backordered a name i thought no one else would have interest in but sure enough there was one other guy and by the end there 10 other people who joined. a domain that is not a popular term, no other tlds were taken, etc but still went beyond its value (if it ever really had any). there will always be enough people with money to keep their public auctions profitable. the public auctions will almost always also be bumped up by bidders who have no intentions of winning but want to see other people pay more, so there is that too.

 

[Name Trader]

Hats off to DropCatch. They invested in the Registrar infrastructure to become top dog Drop Catcher. They can dictate how they sell, open auction style, which puts the most money in their pocket. It's the free market at work. I personally think that Reberry's market is not domainers, but end users. DropCatch seems to transition both, but definitely favors the big spenders. Which most of us small-fry domainers are not. SN/NJ must be hurting bad, not capturing the same amount of domains and then watching them being bid up much higher with DC's open auction system, while their own closed auction model is not optimizing their revenues.

The competitive edge here is the number of Registrars knocking on the Registry's servers when a domain drops. It does 2 things. It crowds out the other companies, like SN/NJ, and as a consequence captures more domains. Unless SN/NJ wake up and smell the roses, they are doomed into accepting the new status quo. And if they do that, you will see them moving to an open auction model, as well.

Like everybody else, I don't like the DC model. But it's the new reality. Get used to it.

Also. By refusing to use DC, IMHO, you are resigning yourself to the same reality as SN/NJ now face. You never know, if you will be only bidder, and win the domain outright, by using the best drop-catch system available. Of course if there are multiple bids on SN/NJ, you are unlikely to be the only bidder on DC. Then, for these marginal domains you need to decide if a cheaper droptcatcher like Pheenix, can do a better job for you.

 

[Keith]

Dropcatch is smart. Why would any registrar limit auctions to only those with BO?

Don't hate, just open your wallet if you really want a particular domain imo.

 

[Keith]

but why should we all pay more money because dropcatch decided to do public auctions?

Because you want a particular domain. Otherwise it wouldn't matter who caught it. You and others only care about the tactics of dropcatch because they catch domains you want to own

 

[discobull]

Dropcatch is smart. Why would any registrar limit auctions to only those with BO?

Don't hate, just open your wallet if you really want a particular domain imo.

What you call smart, I call unethical. Those of us that invest time, effort , and money into finding valuable domains understand why they shouldn't be offering the results of our work to those that haven't made the same investment. The only people that I can imagine being ok with this are people that have money but no idea how to find good domains on their own. Dropcatch basically throws their customers under the bus every time they take a domain that only two or three of us had the skill to find and then offers up the results of our efforts to the rest of the world.

 

[discobull]

What folks in this thread want is a deal...reseller pricing, not gonna happen!

That's right. The reason we put hours of effort into research each day is to find a good deal. No kidding. Not going to happen??? Actually it happens to me on a regular basis -- just not with dropcatch.

Like I said before, there are those out there that either lack the talent or are too lazy to find names on their own and naturally those people are happy that DC operates the way they do. The fact that you are seemingly unaware of the fact that anybody puts effort into finding good backorders and that you also approve of how DC operates kind of proves my point. Hey, if it works for you, great. I, OTOH, can't think of any good reason for giving away my work.

 

[DU]

My mistake. I've obviously been hallucinating all these years thinking that I spend hours each day going through lists of deleting domains. Thank you for correcting my misimpression.

I guess you hate those with automation tools too....

I noticed this with PDM.com sale which to me is a very very bad method of auction. Well, soon they will realise it's not good and will definitely scare off domainers.

Yeah - because that wasn't on Rebies list to go after anyway????? He would have snagged the name either way, at least this way you got a 3 day ? auction instead of a buy it now page.

 

[Jasonn]

I'm reading your posts and don't understand your position.

Godaddy and Dropcatch are identical. One auctions domains pre deletion and the other post deletion. Would you feel better if godaddy let domains delete and then host an open auction?

pending deletes have always been treated differently. when godaddy catches a pending delete it goes to a private auction, not public.

 

[Omar Negron]

I'm not crazy at all about the process of public auctions either. I agree with most of what was said throughout this thread.

What I basically do is backorder a domain name I want in all other services BESIDES dropcatch and hopefully I land it somewhere else and I get it or it goes into a private auction. If it doesn't all I have to do is check dropcatch and they are usually the ones who were able to grab it.

I did place 1 order using dropcatch because I wanted the name bad and it went straight to my namebright account, did not have an auction for it.

 

[Keith]

In fact, I'm not sure why DC doesn't hold public auctions for domains that only have one bidder? It obviously can't be because they care about their customers. Maybe you should suggest it to them since exploiting other people's work seems to be your preferred method of operation?

You seem to be hung up on the fact that you "did work" by placing a BO. That's nonsense. It also doesn't matter if the domain deletes and goes to auction or if it simply auctions in expiry status. Both formats require research if you want to participate at auction time.

Now assume nobody places a BO at dropcatch for a deleting domain. So what. Namebright will catch it and keep it for themselves anyways. Just be glad that they give you the option to obtain domains that they "work hard" to catch.

 

[Jasonn]

I've participated in about 2 auctions at Dropcatch. Hardly letting someone else do my research.

The idea that others piggyback on your BO is silly. These "newbie domainers" you mentioned aren't new at all. Or maybe they just found out who caught the deletion and where to bid by dumb luck?!

You're not finding gems under the radar. We all know what good domains are and place BO when necessary. The only names being snagged under the radar are really not worth the majorities time to chase.

you are obviously someone who isn't that involved in the daily pending deletes. i backorder 10-20 domains per day almost every day. some are better than others but when an auction starts out with 2 bidders who actually placed a backorder before the deadline and ends up with 10 after 3 days, those 8 other bidders have "piggybacked" on the backorder. i wouldn't know what else to call it.

 

[DomainVP]

You seem to be hung up on the fact that you "did work" by placing a BO. That's nonsense.

I spend about 2-3 hours every day looking over domains.

Myself and one other person in the entire domaining world backordered that name, and along comes an end user who was most likely notified of the auction. Of course it makes me mad; had NJ caught that name it would have been an easy $1k+ flip, possibly even more.

Is it "fair"?

Well what's fair in this world Keith? Nothing. There are children who have no access to clean water or food, so my gripe with DC seems very insignificant when put into the grand perspective of things.

However, for me, it is a matter of principle.

In the end... having principles is rarely profitable for anyone so it is what it is.

It is also my choice not to support a service that profits from my work. I would have rather had the other guy get the name without competition, rather than earn DC $700+ by me placing spiteful bids towards an end user who showed up late to the party.

I may place orders with DC, however if there is competition outside of initial backorders I won't even bother; in fact, I came up with a name for when this happens to an auction. I call it, "A fate worse than NameJet."

 

[Domainace]

Stu, those were some big assumptions. I could easily say the reverse - that 8 out of 10 bidders didn't do their research, and were only there because it appeared in DC auctions. Big names, sure, they are not secret. But the under-the-radar names are hurt by the process. To manually pick one name by scouring 1000s of names takes some work. The same name, when presented among a handle of other choses names in the DC auction, will be easy to spot.

A bit off topic, but I can't see how end users will ever be a major factor at these auctions. They would have to be familiar with the process and, more importantly, they would have to be lucky enough for the name they want right now to be coincidentally expiring. That will always be a small fraction of the auction market.

There's no doubt they are very smart at DC. Of course their model is not unethical. It sucks for domainers, but it's just business. I am wondering how their current model will work out for them during the next economic downturn - when small businesses decide it's not a god time to splurge on a domain name. I expect we will see a flood of drops from Huge Domains. And a flood of drops from newer domainers who overpayed at auctions with inflated dreams of eventual sales. And that's happening at all auctions these days.

 

[Name Trader]

@Jasonn - I'm only singing their praises because, in my book, they have demonstrated they are prepared to invest in infrastructure, in order to be more competitive than the opposition (SN/NJ), and they have succeeded in taking market share from the competition. I take my hat off to them for that. Also, they have weighed up whether to have closed or open auctions correctly. They are making more money by having open auctions. None of that is unethical. Just because SN/NJ continue with closed auctions, doesn't mean the market leader needs to follow suit.

It's true that I am a sporadic drop-catcher, but I have stated I don't like the open auction model, because it means having to pay more for a capture, and I'm a profit kinda guy. But it is a reality that the most successful drop-catcher on the planet utilizes open auctions. You have to live with that or go play in a much smaller pond. You might even find great success in that smaller pond.

I understand the mechanics of auctions, but it is entirely up to the bidder how much they pay for a domain. If they overpay, that's entirely their fault.

To assume that no bidders have done their research is just as much an assumption. Actually, I don't see much difference between your two assumptions about research, one seems to be quite smart and one seems to be a lot of work. If you are in the latter category, and continue the same way in a changed environment, you might end up in the same place as the dodo (just an expression, no offence is meant by it).

 

[Name Trader]

@kawalsukhi - You should learn from both your bad and good experiences. Rinse and repeat the good experiences. Never to repeat (hopefully) the bad experiences.