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information A Deeper Look At Domain Name Fast Transfer Sales Networks

Spaceship Spaceship
What if your domain names would be seen at many different registrars? In addition, when a name sold through any of those registrars, the entire transfer process was automatic. You just wait to be paid.

That is the promise of the so-called fast transfer networks. Traditionally there have been two main networks, Afternic Fast Transfer (FT), part of GoDaddy, and the Sedo MLS.

Dan introduced their own registrar distribution network some time ago, and announced this week that names listed on that network would now be part of Afternic.

So let’s have a look at how to get on the fast transfer networks, and the differences between the Afternic Premium Network and Sedo MLS.

The Basic Idea

The basic idea is that you agree in advance to sale and transfer of the name. This means the buyer places the domain name in their cart, at any network registrar, makes the purchase, and are guaranteed delivery of the domain name.

A name needs to have a buy-it-now price to qualify, and the maximum price for the Afternic FT network is $100,000.

The domain name must not be expired and not within the first 60 days after registration, or otherwise subject to a lock.

I covered the basics of fast transfer networks in Part 2 of Domain Investing Just the Basics.

Registration stream networks were an important part of The Many Ways People Might Discover Your Domain Name.

The Networks

Some registrars are part of Afternic Fast Transfer, also called the Afternic Premium Reseller Network, while others are part of Sedo MLS, and some are members of both.

Afternic promote all listed names, whether fast transfer enabled or not, on a smaller standard network of registrars and other partners.

The primary reason to be on the networks is not because the transfer and payment is faster, in many cases it is not. Rather it is that your name appears at a larger number of registrars.

I reached out to an Afternic representative, and they confirmed the listing of premium network registrars at this link was accurate. Your Fast Transfer enabled name will be listed as available for sale at these networks. To see where your domain must be registered to be eligible for Fast Transfer, you will need to click the green fast-transfer registrars link and a pop-up of eligible registrars will appear.

The best way to know which registrars are part of the Sedo MLS program is to open your Sedo account, pretend you are going to change the registrar on a name, and the first section of the pulldown list, registrar names preceded by an S in square brackets, are the MLS eligible registrars. Sedo also promote their names at a larger group of registrars, but in order for it to be Sedo MLS eligible, the name must be registered at one of these S-designated registrars.

The complete registrar lists are long, so I show below a table including only the registrars receiving 3 or more votes in the 2022 Favorite Registrar poll. I ordered the list in terms of number of votes (at time I composed this article) in the poll. The table below shows whether a name registered at that registrar is eligible for the fast transfer networks, if other conditions are met. A green box indicates eligibility.
EligibleTableR.png

Among registrars high on the poll that are part of both the Afternic and Sedo networks are Dynadot, Sav, and NameSilo. GoDaddy, Namecheap and Porkbun registered names get you into the Afternic, but not the Sedo, system. Epik and Fabulous are Sedo, but not Afternic Premium, eligible. Name and Hexonet support both.

Extension Matters

Not all names are eligible, even if at a qualifying registrar and outside lock. The Afternic FT system only supports a rather small number of, mainly legacy, extensions. There is some confusion, so I had an Afternic representative confirm the eligible TLDs, and this is what she told me: Afternic FT eligible TLDs are .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .co, .de, .pw, although not all partner registrars support .de or .pw.

Sedo include many additional extensions in their MLS, including most new extensions, and a number of country code extensions, in addition to the extensions part of the Afternic system.

For example, .xyz names are eligible for Sedo MLS but not Afternic FT. If you invest significantly in new extensions it is worthwhile to use a registrar that supports Sedo MLS.

Once you add any name to your Sedo account it is made clear if it is MLS eligible.

There are some extensions, such as .cc, and a number of other country code TLDs, that are not eligible.

Approval for Network Listing

You must approve at your registrar that you agree with Afternic FT or Sedo MLS listing.

Each registrar handles this process slightly differently, and this is often the source of frustration. Most send you an email with a link to approve the listing. Note that Namecheap just send the emails once per day, so don’t expect it to come immediately after you list.

If you list the names while still within 60 day lock, you may never get this approval email, even after the name becomes eligible. One solution is to delist the name at Afternic or Sedo, and start the process again.

Dynadot have a different, in my mind better, approval system. Your Dynadot account will show names awaiting Sedo or Afternic confirmation. You just check those names, then go to Bulk Tools and select Approve Sedo or Approve Afternic as appropriate. You can deactivate fast transfer by a similar process.

Sav also use a different activation method. When logged into your account choose the Marketplace tab, then at the bottom you will see settings to approve Sedo or Afternic listings.

You can check at Sedo or Afternic that names have been properly activated.

Keep in mind that a registrar transfer will disrupt the fast transfer, even if there is not an associated lock. Afternic automatically catch these, and place your names under review. At Sedo you need to change the registrar, and then activate Sedo MLS again.

Differential Pricing of Names

Since the availability of the name is confirmed at time the client purchases from a registrar, it is acceptable to have the same names in both the Sedo and Afternic networks, if your registrar supports both. So what happens if you set different prices on the two networks?

This article came about partly because @JudgeMind, BrandAim, reached out to me. He pointed out that based on a test he had done, with some registrar partners were listing names from the fast networks at different prices, or not showing buy-it-now options at all. I did my own research, reported below, to confirm what he had discovered,

I took four domain names, all legacy names registered at Dynadot since they supported both networks, and it was easy to confirm proper network listing was active, and activate both networks simultaneously. I removed any Dynadot marketplace listings to not confuse things. I allowed a couple of days to make sure that the pricing changes had propagated to all registrars.

Here are names in my test:
  • Name A was listed for $10,000 on Afternic and $5000 on Sedo.
  • For Name B I did the opposite, $5000 at Afternic and $10,000 at Sedo.
  • For Domain C, I did not activate Afternic FT, but listed it for $10,000 on Sedo.
  • For domain D, I listed at $10,000 on Afternic, but not active on Sedo.
Since the reason to be on the registration stream is to get lots of people potentially viewing your name, I looked at larger registrars. I used data from Domain Name Stat to identify registrars with highest numbers of registered domain names. I also included a few well-known registrars used by domain investors that would not have qualified based on number of registrations.

I went to each registrar and checked the price of each name. The results are given below.
UpdatedNetworkPriceTable.png

Results:
  • Namecheap, while not a Sedo MLS registrar, does list Sedo inventory, with a small price discount. It is a member of the Afternic network, and in the case where the Afternic price was less, it listed that, but without discount.
  • Tucows operate through a reseller network, so I checked one of their large registrars, Hover. They add to the price of each name.
  • While not many investors seem to use Google Domains, month after month they move up the registrar charts. It is not just their own names, or other new extensions. They are getting a large fraction of new .com registrations. Google Domains will show the lower of Afternic or Sedo price, but do not list names with prices above a certain level.
  • Alibaba is an Afternic Premium reseller, but only for the .com and .net extensions.
  • Network Solutions is in both networks. From this small experiment at least, seem to use Afternic pricing if available, and if not show Sedo.
  • NameSilo is in both networks, but did not show the name that was only at Afternic. Instead it showed a link to a Saw broker. The other three names were priced according to the Sedo listing.
  • OVH show Afternic listed prices when available, and a markup on Sedo listed prices for names not on Afternic.
  • IONOS showed Sedo prices without discount or markeup.
  • Name added a markup over the list price of the name.
  • RegRU RegRU apply significant markups to the list prices.
  • Dynadot, in general, listed at exactly the less expensive option, but for one name discounted.
  • Sav seemed to only be using Sedo pricing, offering a discount on the three names.
  • Porkbun are part of Afternic, but not Sedo. They listed the names at Afternic at the listed prices, and referred the buyer to a Saw broker to inquire about the name only at Sedo.
  • Epik added to the listed Sedo prices.
Does this matter to the seller? The seller still get the same list price, minus the marketplace commissions, no matter whether the name was sold slightly above or below list.

However, the variable prices may lead to lack of buyer confidence, and it is unfortunate that some registrars do not seem to be fully supporting their networks with any buy-it-now price shown at all.

To the domain buyer, there can be large price differences depending where they end up buying.

This was a very small sample at a single point in time. It may not totally represent what happens. It is my understanding that NameSilo are currently working on getting Afternic FT prices showing correctly once more.

New Dan–Afternic Optional Integration

Until recently, many domain investors listed on all three of Afternic, Sedo and Dan. The Dan.com product update 7 introduced an option to list on Dan and have your names automatically listed on Afternic at the same buy-it-now price. This is definitely more convenient.

Afternic/GoDaddy agents will no longer have a floor price, however, if the name is listed only through Dan.

Names sold through Afternic via the Dan integration will have a total commission of 20%. That covers both the Dan and Afternic components, and is same as the Afternic commission for most names.

If you continue to sell only directly through Dan, and not integrate with Afternic, the commission remains at 9%.

The sales commission structure at Afternic is graduated, so if your names sell at $5000 or more you will pay less commission if you list them separately on Afternic rather than use the Dan network integration.

If you already have listings on Afternic, they will take precedence over any integrated from Dan.

NamePros members are discussing the Dan-Afternic Distribution Integration here.

Your Thoughts

Please share in the discussion your thoughts on the merits and importance of fast transfer networks.

Article updated Dec 2, 2022:
(1) The distinction between the Afternic Premium Reseller Network and registrars that qualify names for Afternic FT has been made more obvious.
(2) Both tables have been updated. Note that Hexonet registrations qualify under both networks. Additional explanatory information added within tables.
(3) Google is a network reseller, but names registered there are not eligible for FT. As a reseller, Google Domains only list names below a certain price, so names priced at $10,000 did not appear.
(4) Alibaba is an Afternic premium reseller, but only for .com and .net, not for .org or the other FT extensions. Names registered at Alibaba are not eligible for fast transfer, though.


Sincere thanks to @JudgeMind, BrandAim on Twitter, for reaching out and suggesting an article that included how fast transfer network names are listed, or not, on different registrars. Also, thanks to Polly at GoDaddy/Afternic for answering my questions about Afternic FT and the premium network, and to @Michael Cyger for putting me in touch with her. It was @Nikul Sanghvi of Hypernames who first pointed out that the commission in the integrated Dan-Afternic listing would be higher for names at $5000 and above. I acknowledge the registrar statistics provided by DomainNameStat.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Thank you for this post Bob, insightful as always
 
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Thank you Bob. I’d like to also share my findings here when I reviewed one of my names listed at afternic and in the fast transfer network:

I Tested with my domain name AdvancedReality dot com
$14999 price at afternic

NOTE: make offer - direct to domain agents or SAW brokerage contact form through premium partner reg path.

Porkbun.com - displays make offer
GoDaddy - bin $14,999
Netsol- bin $15,150
Register .com - bin $15,150
Enom/hover - make offer
Tucows/hover - make offer
Namecheap - bin $14,700
Name .com - bin $17,248.85
Dynadot - bin $14,999
TierraNet - bin $14,999
Dotster - bin $14,999
Domain .com - bin $14,999
DomainTheNet - shows unavailable
SRSplus - bin $15,150
MyDomain - bin $14,999
iPage - $14,999
Register .com - $15,150
Hover .com - make offer
Rebel .com - $15,150
FatCow - shows unavailable
onamae .com - shows unavailable
RUcenter - bin $23,399
Net .cn - bin $17,841.73
Webnames .ru - shows unavailable
Dotology - bin $14,999
Aplus .net - bin $14,999
Chengmi .cn - shows unavailable
UnitedDomains - unavailable
Xinnet .com - shows unavailable
Namesilo - shows unavailable
Amen .fr - bin 15,149 € ($15,063 usd)
Amen .pt - bin 15,149 € ($15,063 usd)
Nominalia - same as above
Register .it - same as above
Yijie - shows unavailable
Namepal - site down 404 search page
eName - bin $15,073
na .wang - shows unavailable
OVH .com - bin $15,015
1198 .cn - bin $17,595.68
Sav .com - bin $15,150 but the discounted to $14,392.50
Juming. Com - shows unavailable
Gname .com - bin $16,498.90
internet .bs - bin $16,508.91

* those showing unavailable are not displaying afternic bin prices in search path

-NameScout .com is now rebel .com

-Namesilo displays sedo mls in search path not afternic.

-ProTrada - no longer a domain registrar. Now trades crypto.
 
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Strangely enough, the most interesting pricing is.. Google's.
It's the only pricing that looks that they were careful to select the minimum sales price just to be fair to the buyer.

The rest of the prices are all over the place sadly.

@Bob Hawkes ,
apologies if I missed this in the article: did the reps warn against using both Networks? as in, what will happen if a domain gets a sale simultaneously in both SedoMLS and Afternic FT?

Thanks
 
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apologies if I missed this in the article: did the reps warn against using both Networks? as in, what will happen if a domain gets a sale simultaneously in both SedoMLS and Afternic FT?
I did not ask her that, but earlier I had been told by a registrar that one could implement them both. As I understand it when someone checks out with a name, it goes and immediately marks it as unavailable to others, prior to finalizing the checkout, so under fast transfer there is essentially no chance of a double sale. Of course if one has regular BIN multiple places, not only FT, there is a chance of that, although low for most domain names.
Bob
 
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RUcenter - bin $23,399
Thanks again for the research and suggestion, @JudgeMind
So RUcenter are WAY high. That is what I was finding with my effort at translation and currency exchange, but was so high I thought I must be doing something wrong in conversion.
-Bob
 
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Good article thanks!
 
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If you can also add what it takes to verify ownership. Afternic is easy, you get an email from your registrar, you click and confirm. Sedo verification is difficult. Most of us don't want to add a TXT record because we have all types of nameserver settings already. Sedo needs to use email verification like afternic.

I have many names sedo rejected because it is already listed by someone else. If they used the email method they would have my names on their system by the correct owner, me. I did not bother to notify them, let them keep their shitty system. Very annoying when companies refuse to change.
 
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If you can also add what it takes to verify ownership.
Thanks for the comment. With Afternic as I see it there is no verification of ownership of the name, and that is a problem. I can list a name, and as long as it is a registered name, and someone else has not listed it, I can list it. If someone has falsely listed it, which seems to happen a lot unless I am unlucky, then I have to email service/support, provide a screen capture of the name in my account, and some variable time later they will reply that the outdated/false listing has been removed and I can now add my name.

With Sedo, before one can list a name you need to verify ownership. The usual way is to place a TXT record that is unique to you. I find it works best if this is done before listing the name on Sedo. If I do it this way, almost always when I list on Sedo it is verified within minutes (yes occasionally hiccups).

The TXT verification at DAN works the same way.

Personally, I far prefer having verification to not having it, and would appreciate if Afternic either incorporated the DAN system, or adopted one of their own.

As well as preventing false listings, verification helps guard against mistakes. Once at Afternic I inadvertently listed a name not exactly the name I had. Because no verification, the listing went up. At Sedo the verification would catch that and not allow me to list it incorrectly.

Some registrars make it particularly easy to add, e.g. the tools at NameSilo (and numerous other registrars) allow you to make a set of the TXT you use, then it is a one click step.

This is a little off the topic of the article, so if anyone reading this is new to field, this is about verification of ownership of the name to list it on the marketplace, and not the approval of the MLS or FT listing as mentioned in article.

Bob
 
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Just to add a little something to this:
there is also a way to easily add domains to sedo via Above.com and its personalised nameservers.

As long as one setups sedo with above.com properly, and by using Above.com's NS, the domain will immediately get cleared of all conflicts which, imo, is super convenient. The same is also valid for Bodis and PC
 
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Vey informative as always. Thank you, Bob! :xf.smile:🙌
 
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Thanks for the comment. With Afternic as I see it there is no verification of ownership of the name, and that is a problem. I can list a name, and as long as it is a registered name, and someone else has not listed it, I can list it. If someone has falsely listed it, which seems to happen a lot unless I am unlucky, then I have to email service/support, provide a screen capture of the name in my account, and some variable time later they will reply that the outdated/false listing has been removed and I can now add my name.

With Sedo, before one can list a name you need to verify ownership. The usual way is to place a TXT record that is unique to you. I find it works best if this is done before listing the name on Sedo. If I do it this way, almost always when I list on Sedo it is verified within minutes (yes occasionally hiccups).

The TXT verification at DAN works the same way.

Personally, I far prefer having verification to not having it, and would appreciate if Afternic either incorporated the DAN system, or adopted one of their own.

As well as preventing false listings, verification helps guard against mistakes. Once at Afternic I inadvertently listed a name not exactly the name I had. Because no verification, the listing went up. At Sedo the verification would catch that and not allow me to list it incorrectly.

Some registrars make it particularly easy to add, e.g. the tools at NameSilo (and numerous other registrars) allow you to make a set of the TXT you use, then it is a one click step.

This is a little off the topic of the article, so if anyone reading this is new to field, this is about verification of ownership of the name to list it on the marketplace, and not the approval of the MLS or FT listing as mentioned in article.

Bob
verification is needed, my point was you can verify by sending an email to the registrant, simple. There are names that I own listed on sedo by other people, I tried to add it to my account and without adding a txt records, which I won't, the names remain in someone else's account. They could have just emailed the registrant like any modern platform does.

TXT verification is very good for people trying to manage one domain etc. If you have many domains, different nameservers going, you will have to change the ns first, add txt record, go back and change the ns.
 
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Thank you Bob and BrandAim for doing this research for us.
This study reminded me of a similar study I saw here:


Michael Cyger’s Domain Name Quarantine Social #16 (June 26, 2020)
Jump to the time - 44.41 for this topic.
 
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Interesting. Thanks @Bob Hawkes for putting that all together.

When i look at an example of my portfolio
- Windpartners * com (listed for $12,888 with AN fast transfer) -
some results are:

Godaddy - $15,336
Register - $13,419
Rebel - $13,419
Namecheap - $13,020
Gname - $14,176
RUCenter - $20,106
Domain*com - $12,888
iPage - $12,888


So compared to @JudgeMind results the registrars seems to change its own "% commision" from name to name / seller to seller (?) .

Godaddy lists my name with +$2,448 f.e.
(Isn't especially that a bit crazy? So they collect $+2,448 on "registar" side AND $2,183 commision on "Afternic" side on my sale) or am i missing something?
 
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Excellent info Bob. It would be much convenient if Godaddy becomes a part of Sedo Network too.
Thank You.
 
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I prefer to put a price ending with 999 or 9999 but in this scenario - it's impossible.

That's sad.
 
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Ty Mr Bob, yet another great article. :)
 
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Interesting. Thanks @Bob Hawkes for putting that all together.

When i look at an example of my portfolio
- Windpartners * com (listed for $12,888 with AN fast transfer) -
some results are:

Godaddy - $15,336
Register - $13,419
Rebel - $13,419
Namecheap - $13,020
Gname - $14,176
RUCenter - $20,106
Domain*com - $12,888
iPage - $12,888


So compared to @JudgeMind results the registrars seems to change its own "% commision" from name to name / seller to seller (?) .

Godaddy lists my name with +$2,448 f.e.
(Isn't especially that a bit crazy? So they collect $+2,448 on "registar" side AND $2,183 commision on "Afternic" side on my sale) or am i missing something?

You have to consider VAT if the buyer resides in a country which has it.

Some months ago did a test with GoDaddy and saw that they add exactly the country VAT tax rate to the BIN price.
 
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You have to consider VAT if the buyer resides in a country which has it.

Some months ago did a test with GoDaddy and saw that they add exactly the country VAT tax rate to the BIN price.

Ahhhh, that's the point. Damn i was asking myself for a long time where the upprice came from but it is exactly like you told.

(My example - listed price $12,888 + my country tax (19%) = full price $15,336)

Thanks man. :)
 
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Very informative, great work Bob!!
 
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my point was you can verify by sending an email to the registrant, simple.
Agree that a verification option would be to send a verification email to one of the addresses in the whois record. Not sure how privacy might make that more difficult being sure the return email is indeed from the owner. But right now you can list names not currently on Afternic without that email.
If you have many domains, different nameservers going, you will have to change the ns first, add txt record, go back and change the ns.
Agree that the TXT is time-consuming. Even with less than 1000 names, not all of which are at Sedo or Dan, I find it a chore. But it is also a chore to keep sending emails to Afternic support to have them take down the old listings. I personally prefer the automated TXT system.

But there should be a better way than either of these. In Part 1 of What The Domain World Needs @enterscope made the excellent suggestion that there should be registrar-based listing on the marketplaces. I go to Dynadot or NameSilo or Sav or wherever, tell them I want this name listed on Afternic or Sedo at such a price and tick whether I want FT enabled, and done. The registrar know I own the name. It would be so much faster and more foolproof. I am surprised that one of the domainer-friendly registrars don't already have it. If you list names at GoDaddy, then listing for sale on Afternic can of course be done this way now.

Bob
 
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It would be much convenient if Godaddy becomes a part of Sedo Network too.
It definitely would be, but as major competitors in the general purpose domain marketplace space, I doubt we will ever see it.

Right now if you list only at Sedo MLS the most important coverage you are missing is GD, so important to get that by also listing on GD/Afternic.

While GD have a minority of total domain registrations in world, they dominate any of the others individually, so it is a big market you can't afford to miss.

-Bob
 
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I prefer to put a price ending with 999 or 9999 but in this scenario - it's impossible.
You can set the price they see at Afternic (or Sedo) when directly accessing from there, and that will hold for some registrars in the networks, but you are right many will show random price endings.

It's a good point, as some feel there are psychological advantages to certain endings like 99 or 88 or triple repeating digits.

-Bob
 
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Major problems at each marketplace

Dan: Domains don't resolve. Some do. There can be some discrimination.
It may be coming from "spam blocker".
Also domains don't resolve anymore, when JS is off.
Also they don't combine payments, and make you pay lots of bank fees.
(but they still delay payments if you want, but what for if payments can't be combined).
They are getting worse and worse.
Also lots of fakes sales. Some may be their fault, because
they make "accepting or rejecting an offer by accident" very easy.

Sedo: They give seller info to fake buyers (anyone).
And you can file lawsuit against someone which doesn't exist, as a revenge (in theory).
Landing pages covered by cookie curtains.
Lots of lowballing activity, coming from previous owners,
agents, registrars.
Search function is horrible and useless, they show totally nonmatching results,
even after lots of filtering.
You can't edit a domain for 1 week, if there is an offer.
You can edit it 1 week after responding.

Afternic: You don't have any hints about the buyer,
and you are selling to Godaddy agents, or other agents most of the time.
Direct connection with buyer probably almost doesn't exist.
(Good side: once you add price, it can be seen at many registrars).
GD agents can get a lead , and hide it , or make offer elsewhere,
instead of using their own channels.

Bad side of all: Removing prices is very difficult (time consuming).
You may have to sell expired domains.
Once there is a lead, everyone knows it, or at least one party knows it,
and it will be grabbed before expiration, and probably you added a price for it,
(or worse, you don't know there was a buyer). but agents would prefer to
not inform you about the lead, and another mid-buyer who missed the opportunity
may try to buy from the marketplace at listed price, and instead of making a sale,
you may have to "pay a price" (for not deleting the domain you don't own anymore).

I'll add prices to most of my domains, if selling lost domains become impossible.
For example 5 days before expiration, erase prices, and even if renewed don't
activate the old price.
We are losing enormous amount of time, and sales, just because marketplaces are
not reasonable enough.

Also it is not clear how fast transfer options can be managed.
is it possible to cancel fast transfer option: noone knows, when asked noone will respond.
It is not written anywhere. You just setup FT without knowing its consequences.
 
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Thanks for many points in your post @topdom. Regarding
is it possible to cancel fast transfer option: noone knows
You can't once a name is bought, obviously.

But before that if you take off a BIN price at Afternic or Sedo it will be removed (some propagation delay showing up at all registrars).

At Dynadot you can from within registrar panel remove using bulk tools. I believe Sav plan to implement a way to deactivate FT/MLS from within the registrar soon, but I don't think you can right now.

Thanks again for taking the time to express your views so completely. I am sure that some of the frustrations you feel resonate with many others.

-Bob
 
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