Discuss your Epik Experience!

[dande]

I think Epik is building the best ever Domain Lander in the history of domaining, and it really needs to be talked about extensively. That's why I am creating this discussion thread. A lot of thought process really goes into the project. And I can see (for the first time) a landing page that is built from the stand point of domainers rather than for just the marketplace itself.

Everything you have ever dreamt of getting or seeing in a professional landing page can be found in the new Epik marketplace landing page design.

Some of my Favorites Features:

1. The ability to optimize your "domain for sale" landing page to actually rank on Google, displaying your sales pitch/domain description. I just did that with few of my generic domain names such as ASAP.TV, targeting certain keywords, and they are showing pretty well on Google. That's a huge plus in my marketing effort.

2. Being able to change background image is another huge one for me. If you are good with pictures and images, you will surely find this very useful. I did that with Nagasaki.org and the result was truly amazing, showing the city of Nagasaki right at the background.

There are too many positive features and I don't want to mention all of them, all alone

So I am leaving you guys to share and discuss what you loves most or dislike about the new Epik marketplace and the landing pages.

The only negative for me is the checkout process. There are too many terms and conditions buttons to tick before checking out. It will be nice if they can streamline those into one beautiful big button

They also need to place the checkout button directly under the payment options. Right now it is awkwardly place somewhere below at the sidebar, which I don't find cool at all.

Sales experience is also welcomed in this discussion. I haven't had any sells so far at Epik because I started using the marketplace just recently, but the future is looking so bright.

 

[tonyk2000]

There are nearly 400 domains in liquidation now.

Anything between 21 years old (Creation Date: 1998) and 1 year old ... Thank you Epik for improving the inventory

 

[NicTraders]

There are nearly 400 domains in liquidation now. More inventory is coming online, and more bidders are showing up. There will be domains that sell for $1 but a lot more names sell for much higher.

As @tonyk2000 says, this is mainly about making sure domains don't go through the HugeDomains/GD oligopoly, but rather stay in the hands of indy domainers.

Rob, a few Q's:
- What % of domains listed on NameLiquidate are actually selling at the current time?
- Can you list an already expired name?
- If your name doesn't sell can you still choose to renew? (And what's the grace period for renewal with Epik?)
Thanks

 

[karmaco]

I, for example, list stuff which I am not going to renew anyway. No expectations of enduser prices Moreover, each domain I listed - if "grabbed" even for $1 (+ transfer fee) - will make me happy . It is really better - another fellow domainer got it, great, less business to hugedomains (I do not want them to become more huge by routinely regging what I drop), less business to pre-release auctions houses (they would otherwise probably sell it without paying even $0.01 to myself the previous owner).
About the maths: If it is not to be renewed, then, technically, any amount is better - $1, $9, $999.
And it works - one man's trash is another's treasure.

I respectfully disagree. I’d rather let it drop than get 90 cents or just renew. The goal should be to liquidate for at least what you paid. I don’t care about huge domains or whoever. The first week the bottom price was $9 and I thought that was fair to both parties. Now I can do far better liquidating here at NP. I thought we were helping domainers not thwarting Huge Domains etc.

 

[Rob Monster]

Rob, a few Q's:
- What % of domains listed on NameLiquidate are actually selling at the current time?
- Can you list an already expired name?
- If your name doesn't sell can you still choose to renew? (And what's the grace period for renewal with Epik?)
Thanks

- Good question on sell-through. We don't have stats there. If folks like the idea of publishing sell-through rates, and list of sold domains, we could do it. However, for sellers they may prefer to keep it under wraps that they picked up their diamond through liquidation auction. Dunno, open to input there.

- Yes, you can list expired domains. As long as the domain is unlocked and has a valid auth code, the auction submission should start.

- If it does not sell, the domain is absolutely still yours as before. You renew it wherever you have it, or start a transfer. You do make a good point though which is we could give folks the option of indicating what to do with the domain if it does not sell, i.e. keep it or drop it. We'll give that a review asap.

 

[NicTraders]

- Good question on sell-through. We don't have stats there. If folks like the idea of publishing sell-through rates, and list of sold domains, we could do it. However, for sellers they may prefer to keep it under wraps that they picked up their diamond through liquidation auction. Dunno, open to input there.

- Yes, you can list expired domains. As long as the domain is unlocked and has a valid auth code, the auction submission should start.

- If it does not sell, the domain is absolutely still yours as before. You renew it wherever you have it, or start a transfer. You do make a good point though which is we could give folks the option of indicating what to do with the domain if it does not sell, i.e. keep it or drop it. We'll give that a review asap.

Thanks Rob.
- I'd be interested in seeing sold listings, or if not specific sold listings it would be interesting to know totals, though that's less valuable data.
Thanks for the info.
P.S. How long is the grace renewal period with Epik?

 

[NicTraders]

@Rob Monster re Backorders @ Epik. I have a domain on b/o and I notice that it says:
DOMAIN EXPIRES ON: N/A
AVAILABILITY DATE : N/A
Perhaps something not quite working right that you might want to look into...
However I see the domain was recently renewed (now expires 2021). The company has gone out of business so I assume it was an auto-renewal. Anyway, not sure if the fact that it has been renewed makes those dates N/A, or if that's an issue.
Cheers.

 

[Rob Monster]

@Rob Monster re Backorders @ Epik. I have a domain on b/o and I notice that it says:
DOMAIN EXPIRES ON: N/A
AVAILABILITY DATE : N/A
Perhaps something not quite working right that you might want to look into...
However I see the domain was recently renewed (now expires 2021). The company has gone out of business so I assume it was an auto-renewal. Anyway, not sure if the fact that it has been renewed makes those dates N/A, or if that's an issue.
Cheers.

As discussed, this domain has no imminent or projectable drop-date.


<domain omitted>

Registry Domain ID: 3159703_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN

Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.gandi.net

Registrar URL: http://www.gandi.net

Updated Date: 2019-12-18T20:47:06Z

Creation Date: 1999-01-22T05:00:00Z

Registry Expiry Date: 2021-01-22T05:00:00Z

Registrar: Gandi SAS

Registrar IANA ID: 81

Registrar Abuse Contact Email: [email protected]

Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +33.170377661

Domain Status: ok https://icann.org/epp#ok

Name Server: NS-1491.AWSDNS-58.ORG

Name Server: NS-1775.AWSDNS-29.CO.UK

Name Server: NS-276.AWSDNS-34.COM

Name Server: NS-621.AWSDNS-13.NET

 

[NicTraders]

Yeah, I understand. Previous expiry was 22 Jan this year. And it is for a company that I know has gone out of business. But when I checked today the expiry has moved to next year. So I am guessing an auto renew was triggered and their credit card still worked. Or something like that.
Anyway, just thought I'd check whether that was the expected behaviour on your backorder entry or whether there should have been data there. Doesn't worry me as I can check whois, just thought I'd mention it. Thx

 

[Rob Monster]

Yeah, I understand. Previous expiry was 22 Jan this year. And it is for a company that I know has gone out of business. But when I checked today the expiry has moved to next year. So I am guessing an auto renew was triggered and their credit card still worked. Or something like that.
Anyway, just thought I'd check whether that was the expected behaviour on your backorder entry or whether there should have been data there. Doesn't worry me as I can check whois, just thought I'd mention it. Thx

@vitigo will have a look but in the meantime, safe to say no imminent drop.

 

[NicTraders]

@vitigo will have a look but in the meantime, safe to say no imminent drop.

Yep, for sure, no worries. Thx

 

[BharatR]

We'll take a look this week at how to force a currency default versus having the system guess the user's currency based on GEO IP.

@vitigo

Thanks please get it done, i was planning to move my portfolio to epik from dan but this is a hindrance.

 

[Rob Monster]

Thanks please get it done, i was planning to move my portfolio to epik from dan but this is a hindrance.

Yup got it, engineers are working on it already.

Plus we got some other great feedback from another domain investor, @BuyBrandWeb.com:

1. I'm not a great fan of pop-up boxes and some browsers block pop-ups. It would be great if you place contact us form instead of 'make an offer' pop-up
2. TrustRatings.com's link should be placed anywhere in the footer or below the body, but not on the top
3. Give an ability to add BIN to other registrars domains
4. Offer and counteroffer mechanism should for registrars domains like DAN
5. Move currency droplist beside the BIN like DomainMarket
6. Setup a catch-all email to Epik hosted landing pages!
7. Share the interested parties who initiated a checkout(BIN), but not paid like Escrow ( Agreed terms and conditions, selected a payment option, waiting for the funds, paid)

So these are also being implemented unless others object strongly.

On #3 this currently for anyone whose account is approved for it. We are considering to enable this for everyone.

Anyway, this is another good example of co-creation -- where a few demanding, sophisticated stakeholders help direct development in real-time with the result being a better product for everyone.

@vitigo @Ala Dadan

 

[Rob Monster]

Quick update:

- Selling non-Epik domains is now enabled on all Epik accounts -- this used to require approval but now we have a tight workflow for tracking sales sold on external registrars so we lifted that requirement.

- Some big updates are coming to NameLiquidate.com including scheduled proxy bidding. Also, one click submission of domains to NameLiquidate right from Epik domain manager comes TOMORROW:

- NameInvestors.com, the widget dashboard developed by @Gube is an under-discovered gem. Ask @JudgeMind how much he loves it.

- Some Epik staff are buying domains at auction lately, which I support and encourage. We only host Dutch auctions so there is no shill bidding possible. They will often pay in Masterbucks which are redeemable.

 

[BuyBrandWeb.com]

Yup got it, engineers are working on it already.

Plus we got some other great feedback from another domain investor, @BuyBrandWeb.com:

1. I'm not a great fan of pop-up boxes and some browsers block pop-ups. It would be great if you place contact us form instead of 'make an offer' pop-up
2. TrustRatings.com's link should be placed anywhere in the footer or below the body, but not on the top
3. Give an ability to add BIN to other registrars domains
4. Offer and counteroffer mechanism should for registrars domains like DAN
5. Move currency droplist beside the BIN like DomainMarket
6. Setup a catch-all email to Epik hosted landing pages!
7. Share the interested parties who initiated a checkout(BIN), but not paid like Escrow ( Agreed terms and conditions, selected a payment option, waiting for the funds, paid)

@vitigo @Ala Dadan

Thanks, @Rob Monster.

It would be great if you design a special dashboard for Epik Marketplace with a number of inquiries received in the last one month, 6 months, or a year and for sold names. Display domain name with leads (mention multiple leads with the date those were inquired)

 

[Rob Monster]

Thanks, @Rob Monster.

It would be great if you design a special dashboard for Epik Marketplace with a number of inquiries received in the last one month, 6 months, or a year and for sold names. Display domain name with leads (mention multiple leads with the date those were inquired)

We'll take a look. Feel free to email any design input there. Your instincts are good.

 

[JudgeMind]

Quick update:

- Selling non-Epik domains is now enabled on all Epik accounts -- this used to require approval but now we have a tight workflow for tracking sales sold on external registrars so we lifted that requirement.

- Some big updates are coming to NameLiquidate.com including scheduled proxy bidding. Also, one click submission of domains to NameLiquidate right from Epik domain manager comes TOMORROW:

Show attachment 141506

- NameInvestors.com, the widget dashboard developed by @Gube is an under-discovered gem. Ask @JudgeMind how much he loves it.

- Some Epik staff are buying domains at auction lately, which I support and encourage. We only host Dutch auctions so there is no shill bidding possible. They will often pay in Masterbucks which are redeemable.

Yes, I agree. There is some great data and have grabbed some decent names lately. thank you Rob and the Epik team

Also, epic escrow is seamless and easy. Had a buyer wanting to pay in BTC for a $5000 purchase lately, Epik made it happen. Buyer was happy I was happy!

 

[BharatR]

Please include option to export auth codes with export csv file like namesilo which now even godaddy provides it.

 

[NicTraders]

Quick update:

- Some big updates are coming to NameLiquidate.com including scheduled proxy bidding. Also, one click submission of domains to NameLiquidate right from Epik domain manager comes TOMORROW:

Show attachment 141506

Love it. Works like a charm. Domains show on NameLiquidate immediately. Now for the Proxy Bidding...

 

[Blitzpotz]

Please include option to export auth codes with export csv file like namesilo which now even godaddy provides it.

While this really would be a nice option I never have a good feeling when storing these lists with authcodes in my PC environment. Data could be stolen, and sometimes it happens to use an outdated code. Personally I am quite unsure if to prefer the Godaddy and Namesilo method (lists as an option) or the way of Dynadot and Epik (Code by domain).

The online process to transfer out a domain from Epik is easy and fast, and they even remind to unlock your domain.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

What purpose of 3rd-party MX record (mail.b-io.co) when using your landers?
+ there is also additional TXT record with its ID/signature.

Hidden email monetization?
I don't need it.

These are in the process of being removed
You already can bulk remove them if you wish

This "process" is too long...
Already ~1.5 months elapsed since my post - no any changes...
Those abnormal records are still applied by default... And I waste my time for each domain in my portfolio...
Also I can't remove them in a bulk... Because in this mode all types of records are affected...

 

[BharatR]

While this really would be a nice option I never have a good feeling when storing these lists with authcodes in my PC environment. Data could be stolen, and sometimes it happens to use an outdated code. Personally I am quite unsure if to prefer the Godaddy and Namesilo method (lists as an option) or the way of Dynadot and Epik (Code by domain).

The online process to transfer out a domain from Epik is easy and fast, and they even remind to unlock your domain.

To each their own, i think it is very useful option and can save lot of time.

 

[Gube]

This "process" is too long...
Already ~1.5 months elapsed since my post - no any changes...
Those abnormal records are still applied by default... And I waste my time for each domain in my portfolio...
Also I can't remove them in a bulk... Because in this mode all types of records are affected...

Sure,
A way to edit that quicky is to set email forwarding (can be set in bulk)
It will replace that mail bio to the redirection server

Gube

 

[DnFolk]

To each their own, i think it is very useful option and can save lot of time.

Agree with my large portfolio at epik, sometimes when i sell bulk domains in reseller, its time consuming getting authenticate codes of each domain. So auth codes with file is must have option for me.

 

[Rob Monster]

This "process" is too long...
Already ~1.5 months elapsed since my post - no any changes...
Those abnormal records are still applied by default... And I waste my time for each domain in my portfolio...
Also I can't remove them in a bulk... Because in this mode all types of records are affected...

Those MX records are Bounce.IO monetization of the MX stream.

I actually recommend instead using the email forwarding service with catch-all instead.

Bounce.io does not bring much so I think we'll drop it for now. I had not seen this request earlier but just confirmed with engineering that will go ahead and drop it.

That said, I strongly recommend using those email forwarders for intelligence gathering. I have sold many names by using misrouted emails as soft-sell to the CEO.

@vitigo - As discussed with Aleksey, approved to disable Bounce.io effective immediately.

 

[Ntmt]

I actually recommend instead using the email forwarding service with catch-all instead.

Is there some way to setup catch-all for emails AND use some external lander page like Sedo?