Pheenix.com - Drop Catching Service - Please Share Your Experiences

[Neophyte]

I just signed up with Pheenix.com, a new drop catching service by the owners for FreshDrop, and would like to know your experience with them. Has anyone won a domain with them? Any issues in getting the domains put in your name/in your account?

 

[Name Trader]

Dynadot beats Pheenix hands down. It's sad to see a kind of pioneer hit the slopes like this. May they RIP.

 

[Sam]

As a lazy domainer who sometimes lets things slip, I like the fact that they have public auctions after the domain is caught. But I would never place a backorder with them initially.

 

[Name Trader]

As a lazy domainer who sometimes lets things slip, I like the fact that they have public auctions after the domain is caught. But I would never place a backorder with them initially.

As a non-lazy domainer. These after capture auctions, suck. I hate them all, generally. But they're here to stay. I still place my backorders with them and dynadot. But they mostly get caught by dropcatch, .web surrogates or dynadot. (for the domains which I backorder).

 

[Soofi]

Pheenix is charging ridiculous high amount of $250 for the domain name in redemption period while Godaddy and others charge somewhere around $80 or under.

Grow up Pheenix and stop ripping off your customers before they desert you for better places!

 

[Sam]

Pheenix is charging ridiculous high amount of $250 for the domain name in redemption period while Godaddy and others charge somewhere around $80 or under.

Grow up Pheenix and stop ripping off your customers before they desert you for better places!

Simple fact is they wont. Its all about drop catch success rate. If they start getting beaten by other companies no one will use them. I've yet to lose something via SnapNames or DropCatch.

 

[GoKaizen]

Pheenix adds 300 more registrars to drop-catch arsenal
http://domainincite.com/21365-pheenix-adds-300-more-registrars-to-drop-catch-arsenal
http://domainincite.com/21365-pheenix-adds-300-more-registrars-to-drop-catch-arsenal

 

[Name Trader]

Pheenix is charging ridiculous high amount of $250 for the domain name in redemption period while Godaddy and others charge somewhere around $80 or under.

Grow up Pheenix and stop ripping off your customers before they desert you for better places!

IIRC. It's ICANN that recommends $240 to take a domain out of redemption. There are a majority of registrars which charge around that figure. Including eNom and NameCheap. Again, IIRC. It's GoDaddy which is bucking the trend here by only charging $80. It is supposed to be painful to take a domain out of Redemption. You have more than ample chances to renew your domain before it goes into Redemption.

 

[Name Trader]

Pheenix adds 300 more registrars to drop-catch arsenal
http://domainincite.com/21365-pheenix-adds-300-more-registrars-to-drop-catch-arsenal

Lets hope it gives them more captures as well. They might have a lot of registrars already. But they don't catch much, compared to Dynadot. Who has much smaller number of Registrars. I have a feeling, something is inefficient (polite word for broken) with their capture software system.

 

[Soofi]

IIRC. It's ICANN that recommends $240 to take a domain out of redemption. There are a majority of registrars which charge around that figure. Including eNom and NameCheap. Again, IIRC. It's GoDaddy which is bucking the trend here by only charging $80. It is supposed to be painful to take a domain out of Redemption. You have more than ample chances to renew your domain before it goes into Redemption.

Be a market leader and pro-customers. If others can do it, why not Pheenix?

 

[Name Trader]

Be a market leader and pro-customers. If others can do it, why not Pheenix?

All I'm saying is that most Registrars charge about that amount. So I don't see why you are picking on Pheenix about this. They have much bigger problems. Like why their drop capture is failing to beat players with much smaller volumes of registrars. Will this new 300 registrars turn the table for them? I'm not sure. The proof is still in the future.

 

[Soofi]

All I'm saying is that most Registrars charge about that amount. So I don't see why you are picking on Pheenix about this.

No, I deal mainly with these 2 registrars and I am going to compare them to see which does better for me (period). And, when I say Godaddy charges significantly much lesser, that's true!

They have much bigger problems. Like why their drop capture is failing to beat players with much smaller volumes of registrars. Will this new 300 registrars turn the table for them? I'm not sure. The proof is still in the future.

I am least bothered about their other problems as it isnt impacting me at this moment. Lets discuss problem at hand? Like when you say ICANN suggest $240 redemption fee, can you share source for that information?

 

[Name Trader]

@Soofi - OK. My comments above were IIRC. But I've now done some research. There is no hard and fast rule with Redemption Fees at ICANN. They leave it entirely up to the Registrar, how much they charge to recover a domain in the Redemption Period. Just as long as the Redemption Fee is clearly stated in their ToS. They recommend, at least $80. But the Registrar can charge whatever they like. And it's OK with ICANN.

I mentioned eNom and Namecheap charge $240. And they do. NameCheap, being an eNom Reseller has to also charge this $240. These were the 2 companies I had been exposed to most about these Redemption Fees.

So you are correct to hammer Pheenix about their Redemption Fees being high. But you knew that going in with them. Didn't you? And I cannot figure why on earth you would not renew any domain (for regular renewal fees) rather than let it fall into Redemption and pay these enourmous fees (even at GoDaddy). So it's kind of a moot point. IMHO.

So you are using Pheenix as a Registrar? Not as a drop-catcher? I can't imagine why anybody would want to use Pheenix solely as a Registrar? Their Control Panel is extremely limited, and prices are not great at $10.99 for a .com renewal. IMHO. You can't be serious about using them as a Registrar and don't use their Drop-Catching service. Because if you used them as a Drop Catcher. They suck big time at catching .com domains on the drop. Just look at the domains which are on auction. I wouldn't buy many if any of them. All the best names are caught by other drop-catchers, much larger and much smaller than Pheenix. They added those 300 more registrar because they were not competitive with the number of registrars they already use, at 200. Which is many more than the smaller companies which already beat them. Dynadot is my direct experience of this. Which I have proved to my satisfaction. Albeit, a limited sample.

 

[john_karr]

Stub,

Right now it is still first come first. Once we are ready to transition to a multi-bid system, we'll notify all our customers.

Tan

Is Pheenix.com still a 1st come 1st service, and can you transfer a domain name out of Pheenix.com after 60 days?

 

[Arca]

Is Pheenix.com still a 1st come 1st service, and can you transfer a domain name out of Pheenix.com after 60 days?

All domains they catch that have 2 or more backorders are put up for public/open auctions, where anyone can join in on the bidding, even if they didn't backorder the domain (same system as dropcatch.com).

You only get domains outright if you are the only bidder. No first come first serve if there are multiple backorders.

You can transfer domains out after 60 days.

 

[DomainVP]

Used Pheenix for the first time in a long time, and it caught a domain over SnapNames, DropCatch, and NameJet.

I was shocked.

It had another order on the name and went to auction; the other bidder didn't place another bid and I was the first to place the order so I won.

It looks like the additional registrar power has helped them actually be competitive again.

 

[Name Trader]

Used Pheenix for the first time in a long time, and it caught a domain over SnapNames, DropCatch, and NameJet.

I was shocked.

It had another order on the name and went to auction; the other bidder didn't place another bid and I was the first to place the order so I won.

It looks like the additional registrar power has helped them actually be competitive again.

Did you check there were backorders at SnapNames, NameJet? You cannot check that at DropCatch? So I take your comments as a tad biased with the enthusiasm of the catch I've had that happen quite a few times also. But often on taking a second look, the domain isn't as great as I first thought.

I haven't done a lot of backordering in the last month. Taking a break with my attention diverted to other projects. But my impression has been that they are performing quite well. But I was expecting better results with the number of registrars now deployed. That's just my impression.

 

[DomainVP]

Did you check there were backorders at SnapNames, NameJet? You cannot check that at DropCatch? So I take your comments as a tad biased with the enthusiasm of the catch I've had that happen quite a few times also. But often on taking a second look, the domain isn't as great as I first thought.

I received a $40k offer for the singular version of the domain a few months ago, so enthusiasm and how other domainers could perceive the name aren't really at the top of my list for this purchase. It was a logical pick for me to increase the strength of my position.

There were no other backorders at Snap or NJ, but they (+ Dropcatch) usually catch everything I backorder, and I haven't even placed an order with Pheenix in a long time. I did so with this name because of the aforementioned value it has to me.

I'm glad I did, or else someone would have gotten the drop through Pheenix.

 

[Name Trader]

 

[Arca]

Used Pheenix for the first time in a long time, and it caught a domain over SnapNames, DropCatch, and NameJet.

I was shocked.

It had another order on the name and went to auction; the other bidder didn't place another bid and I was the first to place the order so I won.

It looks like the additional registrar power has helped them actually be competitive again.

Interesting. I usually backorder around 500-700 domains each month with the various dropcatchers, and all of these are also backordered with Pheenix, as either full price or discount backorders (majority are full price backorders). Their current catch rate for me is only about 3-5%, and that’s actually a marked improvement compared with a few months ago (before they added a bunch more registrars to their arsenal), so they still seem to be underperforming compared with how many registrars they now have.

Pretty much everything they catch for me go to public auctions, so the outcome is no different than if dropcatch.com get them.

If Pheenix gets stronger/more competitive, it's not going to benefit domainers at all IMO, now that they do public auctions. A domain that gets caught by Pheenix and goes to a public auction is generally going to sell for a lot more than one that gets caught by SnapNames and goes to a closed private auction. A weak Pheenix and a less competitive Dropcatch, with a stronger SnapNames/NameJet would be the ultimate scenario for domain investors, as final sales prices are much lower in private auctions (the people who win auctions at Pheenix and Dropcatch would often not have been participating in the auction at all had the domain gone to a private auction). Just my view on it. Not rooting for Pheenix to become more competitive, as it's pretty much just the same as Dropcatch becoming more competitive...

 

[DomainVP]

Interesting. I usually backorder around 500-700 domains each month with the various dropcatchers, and all of these are also backordered with Pheenix, as either full price or discount backorders (majority are full price backorders). Their current catch rate for me is only about 3-5%, and that’s actually a marked improvement compared with a few months ago (before they added a bunch more registrars to their arsenal), so they still seem to be underperforming compared with how many registrars they now have.

Pretty much everything they catch for me go to public auctions, so the outcome is no different than if dropcatch.com get them.

If Pheenix gets stronger/more competitive, it's not going to benefit domainers at all IMO, now that they do public auctions. A domain that gets caught by Pheenix and goes to a public auction is generally going to sell for a lot more than one that gets caught by SnapNames and goes to a closed private auction. A weak Pheenix and a less competitive Dropcatch, with a stronger SnapNames/NameJet would be the ultimate scenario for domain investors, as final sales prices are much lower in private auctions (the people who win auctions at Pheenix and Dropcatch would often not have been participating in the auction at all had the domain gone to a private auction). Just my view on it. Not rooting for Pheenix to become more competitive, as it's pretty much just the same as Dropcatch becoming more competitive...

I agree.

Any dropcatcher that implements public auctions on backorders is not a friend to the domain investor. I don't blame them for looking out for #1 but by doing that it certainly does us no favors.

There is no fate worse than DropCatch. If you aren't competing against a flurry of domainers, then you have to consider that HugeDomains might have their eyes on your domain as well. Either way, when it goes to auction expect the profit to be sucked out of most domains.

Pheenix would be the same except they rarely catch anything worth value.

 

[davidc1]

I agree, some of my customers stopped using DC and Pheenix as they never win domains in public auctions.
One other thing to know is the more backorder there are on a domain, the more power they'll put to catch it...

 

[Paul123]

Any dropcatcher that implements public auctions on backorders is not a friend to the domain investor

Enough said.

Best,
Paul

 

[Arca]

Any dropcatcher that implements public auctions on backorders is not a friend to the domain investor

Enough said.

Best,
Paul

Not ALL domainers think in that way though. For example, yesterday I saw the owner of domaining.com praising the open auction model, because it means he doesn't have to "waste time to find decent names" to bid on. And a LOT of the people winning names over at DropCatch and Pheenix do not have a backorder for those names, and would be excluded from bidding on (and eventually winning) those auctions if they had been private.

 

[Name Trader]

I agree.

Any dropcatcher that implements public auctions on backorders is not a friend to the domain investor. I don't blame them for looking out for #1 but by doing that it certainly does us no favors.

There is no fate worse than DropCatch. If you aren't competing against a flurry of domainers, then you have to consider that HugeDomains might have their eyes on your domain as well. Either way, when it goes to auction expect the profit to be sucked out of most domains.

Pheenix would be the same except they rarely catch anything worth value.

Hang on. I thought HugeDomains were precluded from competing against other domainers. Are you saying HD are participating in these Domain Auctions. I thought they were specifically excluded from doing this. I think this requires some clarification from DropCatch.

 

[Arca]

Hang on. I thought HugeDomains were precluded from competing against other domainers. Are you saying HD are participating in these Domain Auctions. I thought they were specifically excluded from doing this. I think this requires some clarification from DropCatch.

HugeDomains do not participate in auctions at dropcatch.com.