registrars New display on GoDaddy when searching for names that are in Afternic

[campout]

It looks like GoDaddy has rolled out a new display when you search for names in their search bar. I think it only applies to names that are in Afternic, and maybe GD Premium.

I think I like it. They're trying to sell the name by quoting their own estimated value and making some automated points about the name on the right.

They should be able to tell real quick if it's helping or hurting sales rate.

 

[Lox]

Perfect hash algorithm for the retail value of the inventory.

 

[wwwweb]

@Joe Styler -

This is terrible. Please remove this auto appraisal from showing up.

The prices are way too low and feeding into the hands of cheap end-users.

Hilarious pay top dollar in godaddy auctions, then try to sell it minus 20
Percent commission, so you can break even.

They are playing both sides, and it is wrong, these are unverified, and not audited results, they can cause serious financial damage to names, and portfolios. I don’t think godaddy took the human element into consideration, and how they can cause damage to their clients portfolios with such actions. The make offer coding loophole was not closed. Only one action should imply if the bin price is lower than appraisal it should show, otherwise default to nil.

This is like saying estibot is the definitive blue book for all domains.

I can’t tell you how many estibot $100 or less names, I have sold for thousands.

 

[campout]

Well I kind of like it. I price the majority of my names in that $1,000 to $2,000 range, though. I think it could contribute to a higher sell-through rate for names in that range. I would imagine there are a lot of potential end-users who are immediately turned off when they see a $1,500 price tag on a name, and in those cases if GoDaddy "the authority" is there to ease the shock by showing similar sales and a similar appraisal, it could have the effect of negating the feeling that those prices are crazy in the mind of the buyer.

So I think for someone like me this should have a net positive effect.

For you guys who have more of your names priced higher ($4K, $10K, whatever), I can see how this would be problematic.

 

[Premiums]

@anantj why you dislike my post??

 

[Premiums]

show me your $XX,XXX "Premiums"?

 

[Asfas1000]

This domain has a BIN of $94,888 off GD, so the estimated value of $4,325 and "consumerfinancing.com: (same name, different extension) sold for over $6,600" is not going to be of much help.

Probably the .com domain itself sold for $6,600 at some time, rather an alt. extension.

 

[MapleDots]

godaddy is getting too big now, it's almost scary how much control one company has over the domain resale market. Rick Schwartz was right to criticize them.

 

[urlurl]

they should tweak it and only quote the estimated value if it is the same or less than the purchase price.

 

[tonyk2000]

they should tweak it and only quote the estimated value if it is the same or less than the purchase price.

Indeed, but, since the system offers >1 domains in any search performed, and it is also normal for an enduser to perform various searches, this would not eliminate misunderstanding. Enduser will reasonably ask why some domains he is offered are appraised, while others are not. Which may already be the case for registry premium domains in new gtlds - they don't show appraisals on registry premiums, do they? So it would be really better to remove this "tool" at all from domain search results.

 

[Angelicus]

As far as I can see new display is rolled out only for US based visitors. UK, CANADA still shows old layout w/o 'estimate' price.

 

[xynames]

If you add or change the BIN price, GD usually take few days (which isn't good) to show up while searching at GD... at least for my domains...

Yes today GD shows only the BIN price, not the GD appraised price.

 

[imadoer]

Totally hating this! This is totally going to make end-users want to pay less then the purchase price. if the name is priced higher than the estimated value. It may work for guys that hand register domain names that price their domains cheaper or in this range. But for real names that have value THIS DOES NOT WORK!

 

[Acroplex]

godaddy is getting too big now, it's almost scary how much control one company has over the domain resale market. Rick Schwartz was right to criticize them.

He still runs GoDaddyBlows .com.

 

[tonyk2000]

Cc @Joe Styler
Joe, can you please comment? In particular, what (if any) practical effect did this change have on sales after a few days?

 

[Joe Styler]

I cannot give any specific numbers we don't disclose numbers outside of our quarterly earnings reports (which you can follow via gddy.com)

I can say the sales have improved but it is really not enough time to tell. In the short term sales can improve or not for various reasons which are easier to factor out the longer the period of data you have for it.

I can say this, we constantly change things around on our side and test them. If this does not result in more sales we will change it. We think it has and we think it will continue to do so.

We didn't do this blindly we have been talking about it and testing it with various teams and groups for about a year. We also tested it with some of our bigger sellers in beta and got direct feedback from customers. If you have a premier representative and want to be a part of future beta testing or feedback let your representative know. Of course we use NameFind our own portfolio of domains to test things on so we are in the same boat as far as sales results.

On a side note if you are attending Namescon @Paul Nicks is going to be sharing what we learned by running our own portfolio of domains and give some data insights that we use to manage our portfolio and some best practices we have developed to make the most money from our portfolio. He will be sharing things that can be utilized in your own portfolio to make more money. Part of our goal in owning our own portfolio is to use it to test things on and then share the results with our customers so they can leverage what we learn.

Bottom line we think it will help you sell more domains and our tests so far have borne that out. We always test things and change them with the goal of making more sales for your domains. We think that it is easier to close a sale to show someone that we think the domain is worth $1,800 dollars and you priced it at $9k, then for them to think all domains are worth $15. So even if the appraisal doesn't line up with your asking price we think it does help it to sell. There are going to be people who only want to pay $20 no matter what this won't help change their mind, we know that. There are also going to be people who say GoDaddy says the name is worth $1,800 and I am only going to pay $1,800. At the end of the day if the domain is at $9k it is still at $9k and if that is your asking price it won't sell but from our research we don't think it would have sold at $9k to that buyer in most cases anyway and now you have a $1,800 offer instead of an $18 offer that isn't going to move to $9k.

If there is a motivated buyer with the funds they are going to buy no matter what anyway. What we hope to help by this added information is someone who owns a small business or is a part of a team at a larger company and wants to buy a name to help their brand or project. If they can see that a domain is in fact an asset and that other very similar domains have been selling for a lot more than $15 then they have an easier time coming to buy it at $9k and a much easier time buying it at $2k, or explaining to their team or company that, "Hey this is an asset. Look I'm not crazy, see all the other names like this that have sold for thousands of dollars?".

We think this is working. We also think that showing more people that domains are worth more than a registration fee with real recent sales data will help to facilitate more domain sales for everyone who invests in domain names. We also closely watch any of our sales and any of our tests to make sure that they are working if not we change them.

 

[Acroplex]

"We think that it is easier to close a sale to show someone that we think the domain is worth $1,800 dollars and you priced it at $9k, then for them to think all domains are worth $15."

At which price point will the domain sell, per your example?

Most end-user buyers that make offers "educated" by automatic tools, often arrive with a certain attitude, reassured that the tool gave them a legit answer.

So no, I'd rather negotiate on a clean slate, with a buyer that is open to receive my pricing justifications, than with someone who comes pumped from your valuation. As a domain aftermarket, you are doing us a disservice.

 

[SuperBrander]

@Joe Styler I can understand the logic behind educating buyers and think that if implemented smartly this could be beneficial to everybody, however I think with the current format- Godaddy is indeed doing a disservice to sellers.

I think Godaddy should add to each valuation a text that explains that Godaddy's valuation is only a guideline and that ultimately each domain is unique, has its own history and will be sold for the amount that its seller is willing to accept for it. If you're going to educate buyers- do it right.

 

[tonyk2000]

I performed a number of GD searches on HugeDomains owned domains featured on their 1st page and did not receive a single appraisal ( statements like why is it great and youtube video are still there). Obviously hugedomains is one of a key customers and their domains would frequently be appraised with lower values due to specific porfolio generation methods - all automated on their end so not the best quality/price combination for an enduser.

Did they complain?

I performed a search on a couple of namefind domains (thanksgivingsales.com, halloweensavings.com) which had lower appraisals on Sunday with screenshots posted here - and also did not receive any appraisals at the time of this writing.

Finally, I searched a few domains I own - and they are all shown appraised, but with higher values.

Does it mean that GD elected not to provide appraisal value IF it would be lower and asking price is higher?

As a side note, I like the youtube video ("What are premium domains?"). I am developing own-hosted forsale pages, Joe can you check please is it OK to use this video if the domain landing page is about GD/Afternic listed domain with BIN and is sending the user to either system (GD home page, GD buynow auction, Afternic listing)?
Cc @Joe Styler

 

[Acroplex]

GoDaddy owns several domain valuation patents, for example: https://www.google.com/patents/US8909558

They can assert that their method is established, scientific etc. In that respect, they can and will do all they have to, in order to protect their patent, methodology and utilization. It's what makes GoDaddy money.

It's a status quo situation - but domain portfolio owners have a choice.

 

[Joe Styler]

@Joe Styler I can understand the logic behind educating buyers and think that if implemented smartly this could be beneficial to everybody, however I think with the current format- Godaddy is indeed doing a disservice to sellers.

I think Godaddy should add to each valuation a text that explains that Godaddy's valuation is only a guideline and that ultimately each domain is unique, has its own history and will be sold for the amount that its seller is willing to accept for it. If you're going to educate buyers- do it right.

We do on the appraisal page if you go look up a domain. On this result page that I see now we do not give a specific value. On the ones with screenshots if I look now I don't see the specific value shown for those domains. On the screenshot there is a ? next to the value that should say what you are asking we put in there if I remember correctly with a link to the full legal disclaimer as well.

 

[Joe Styler]

I performed a number of GD searches on HugeDomains owned domains featured on their 1st page and did not receive a single appraisal ( statements like why is it great and youtube video are still there). Obviously hugedomains is one of a key customers and their domains would frequently be appraised with lower values due to specific porfolio generation methods - all automated on their end so not the best quality/price combination for an enduser.

Did they complain?

I performed a search on a couple of namefind domains (thanksgivingsales.com, halloweensavings.com) which had lower appraisals on Sunday with screenshots posted here - and also did not receive any appraisals at the time of this writing.

Finally, I searched a few domains I own - and they are all shown appraised, but with higher values.

Does it mean that GD elected not to provide appraisal value IF it would be lower and asking price is higher?

As a side note, I like the youtube video ("What are premium domains?"). I am developing own-hosted forsale pages, Joe can you check please is it OK to use this video if the domain landing page is about GD/Afternic listed domain with BIN and is sending the user to either system (GD home page, GD buynow auction, Afternic listing)?
Cc @Joe Styler

It is really hard to say what is happening. Since we are testing this it is going to be in a constant state of flux for a while. We may be doing any number of things. One ip may see one result and another a different result, signed in may be different than a customer not signed in, some groups of names may show a specific price and some may not, and some may show a phone number to call and some may not etc. Whatever I say is happening now is probably not the same thing someone else will currently see and also not the same thing that will be there tomorrow. Right now I dont see a specific appraisal price shown on any of the random names I tested, none of which were owned by Huge Domains.
At the end of the day we test a lot of things and find the best way to present things to help promote your domains. We are going to tweak and test and use the data to drive decisions to help you sell more names.

 

[Acroplex]

What remains imprinted in the mind of anyone perusing that domain, is numbers in large bold print. Links to disclaimers and other such secondary legalese won't shift the onus away from the domain owner, who would have one more obstacle to clear before selling the domain.

Your valuations aren't welcome.

 

[Paul Nicks]

GoDaddy owns several domain valuation patents, for example: https://www.google.com/patents/US8909558

They can assert that their method is established, scientific etc. In that respect, they can and will do all they have to, in order to protect their patent, methodology and utilization. It's what makes GoDaddy money.

It's a status quo situation - but domain portfolio owners have a choice.

That makes no sense. The patent you linked to is one of my old ones, and I can proudly say that our newest version has nothing to do with any of my old patents. We're using machine learning technology now and only focusing on past sales, so to assert that we're only showing appraisal values of names to protect an out of date patent doesn't hold up.

 

[SuperBrander]

Thanks @Joe Styler. I saw that "disclaimer" now. Good to know it exists. But It should be on the actual page. Not hidden in a place where the buyer might or might not click on. Why would a random person click on that '?'. Most won't.

 

[Acroplex]

That makes no sense. The patent you linked to is one of my old ones, and I can proudly say that our newest version has nothing to do with any of my old patents. We're using machine learning technology now and only focusing on past sales, so to assert that we're only showing appraisal values of names to protect an out of date patent doesn't hold up.

I'm sure you're proud of the new version, and that reference was made as such; an indication that you have beef in the game, as opposed to simply quoting numbers to help facilitate a sale.