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Wanted Domain Liquidation Platform - Seeking input for new Epik project

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Dear Namepros,

The team at Epik is exploring the development of a project that aims to shift the painful domain name expiration process into a more profitable experience for domainers. Perhaps you have read my opinions about registrars selling expired domains and refusing to help registrants in recovery. The time to disrupt this with action has come!

In the meantime, since joining Epik last month, I decided to do something about it with the help of some amazing engineers. The goal of this "name liquidate" idea is to sell domains directly to buyers that may otherwise wait to acquire these domains at expired auctions or being filled as registrar backorders which pays zero to the registrant.

The planned solution addresses two domainer pain points,
1. Liquidation of expiring inventory brings much needed capital, meaning you can renew more of your portfolio.
2. Buyers get clear title and dont waste time bidding on names that can be recovered post-expiry.

Here is the process,
1. Submit your domains: you unlock your domains, provide auth codes.
2. Seller acknowledges that a fast-transfer of the domain will occur once domain has a bid.
3. Bidders agree to non-revocable change of ownership if their bid prevails.
4. Sellers receive a large portion (80%?) of auction proceeds.

The process begins with a 7 day reverse auction counting down hourly/daily, down to $1 plus renewal/transfer for delivery. The domain doesn't have to be expired or expiring. You can submit the name multiple times during the life of the name but not more than once per year. Once the auth code is verified:
• Epik parks the domain with auction template with Make Offer pricing so retail bids can come in.
• Wholesale buyers are informed of expired auction inventory update.
• Domain goes through reverse auction in 7 days
• Domains are fast transferred to Epik as soon as one bid is made.
• If seller locks name, all domains will be removed and no further listings will be accepted from seller.
• Domains already at Epik are pre-qualified for "name liquidate" services, but you must opt in manually.
• External domains are eligible once auth codes are verified.
• Data will include number of views, expiration date, and expected delivery.
• Pre-set domain buys will give you the ability to buy any name when a price hits a certain target.
• Once a bid is submitted, it cannot be revoked. All purchases a final non-refundable.
As for brand name, we are considering NameLiquidate.com — very descriptive name and targeted at a very specific audience. That said, open to considering other names. A separate brand naming project is coming shortly for what Rob describes as the “Ultimate Digital Brand Marketplace”. This is separate.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
I'm sorry you're not taking this seriously.

Please carry on, and shun anybody trying to help protect NameLiquidate against shills.

[...]

We have some fans.

We have some rock-throwers.

We have some spectators.

I extend respect and courtesy to those who afford me the same. I have yet to cast the first stone.

Nobody gets a free pass, including me. I am fine with that.

Excuse me for not jumping at the opportunity to blindly agree.

In the mean time, you appear to be fine with NameLiquidate.

Lots of content in this thread. Very little information on the homepage.

How about addressing that, and leave the politics for those running for office.

Ciao!
 
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Some upgrades deployed earlier today to NameLiquidate:

1. New listing schedule: 7 days auction 7 days bargain

2. Added checking for external domains for all 14 days to make sure only deliverable domains are listed.

3. Added reserve price to domains list UI: https://registrar.epik.com/auction/selling

4. Hide appraisal if appraisal = 0 or if it is not available

Item #4 was a request from @Makbliss earlier in the week. Quick turnaround on that one.
 
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Some upgrades deployed earlier today to NameLiquidate:

1. New listing schedule: 7 days auction 7 days bargain

2. Added checking for external domains for all 14 days to make sure only deliverable domains are listed.

3. Added reserve price to domains list UI: https://registrar.epik.com/auction/selling

4. Hide appraisal if appraisal = 0 or if it is not available

Item #4 was a request from @Makbliss earlier in the week. Quick turnaround on that one.

Really cant show how much is BIN bid lost to..
Under “lost”, i want it show price lost out to.

hard figure range sold base time left when sold
love the history tab. alrdy Nice improvements.
only my lost bids, lose after followin 💯hours...

Samer
 
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Your wish was our command -- the proxy bids are now concealed:
Current bids are public again. This time on domain details page nameliquidate.com/domainname.com only :(
 
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Current bids are public again. This time on domain details page nameliquidate.com/domainname.com only :(

Correct -- not on browse view:

upload_2020-3-6_17-28-21.png


Only on the detail view. You would hide it there too? Not sure I agree.
 
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You would hide it there too?
Yeah. As per the spirit of a dutch auction alone, or a combo of dutch + sealed bid auction which nameliquidate was technically converted to after proxy bidding was added. Imho.
Btw, was it always visible on details page? Or after some recent upgrade?
 
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and one cannot say better:
We need to make it easy and safe for people with more money than time to go in once every few days and put in a bunch of proxy bids and then not worry about being sniped.
- which implies that current bid should be hidden in all places, list view and details view.
 
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moreover, current high bid should also remain private (never disclosed) to other proxy bidders... if we think about it. Proxy bid in reverse dutch auction is just an extra service for those who may not be online 24/7/365. Yeah, a proxy bidder should be able to update his bid if he so wishes. But, in no case should the system inform him that he was outbid. Proxy bidder in this case is supposed to enter his max. bid (something where he would add domain to shopping cart in future, but he is asking the system to act on his behalf). This is all. Such a policy would eliminate an issue reported in another epik thread - somebody received outbid reports @ nameliquidate but still got the domain paying his only original $9 bid.
 
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moreover, current high bid should also remain private (never disclosed) to other proxy bidders... if we think about it. Proxy bid in reverse dutch auction is just an extra service for those who may not be online 24/7/365. Yeah, a proxy bidder should be able to update his bid if he so wishes. But, in no case should the system inform him that he was outbid. Proxy bidder in this case is supposed to enter his max. bid (something where he would add domain to shopping cart in future, but he is asking the system to act on his behalf). This is all. Such a policy would eliminate an issue reported in another epik thread - somebody received outbid reports @ nameliquidate but still got the domain paying his only original $9 bid.

That case was due to the payment failing on the second bidder. The second bidder reached out to us about it and we explained he had to have a valid payment method on file at the time the auction reached his bid price.

I see what you mean about the proxy bid, will address that on our Monday meeting to gather a consensus.
 
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The sort by purchase price does not work properly in the bargain bin section.

On mobile Safari, the “place bid” button shows by each name in the bargain bin. Not sure if this is correct.
 
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The sort by purchase price does not work properly in the bargain bin section.

On mobile Safari, the “place bid” button shows by each name in the bargain bin. Not sure if this is correct.

Thanks. We'll check that out @vitigo
 
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Hello,

Will be fixed ASAP.
Thanks for your help doing Epik better!

Vitaliy
 
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I wonder how many times that has happened. Dan could have been referring to a different auction, but this example happened to me at nameliquidate.

As that could be perceived as a false reserve, or could have been done so to entice me to bid more.

Here's how it played out (according to my email history):

Show attachment 146540

///

I remember thinking, ahh good. What was I doing bidding $9 on that domain? Not saying I'm not happy to win at $9. But at that moment, it was the relief of $9 opening up, and not being attached to another domain. Typical domainers should I buy, or should I leave it, questioning oneself, that left me thinking, should I bid more?

///

Then, about five hours later, a few minutes before the auction ended, two more emails come in:

Currently at $11
Show attachment 146541

//

Currently at $34
Show attachment 146543

///

Then, to my surprise, a few minutes later I receive:

Show attachment 146544

For how much you ask?

Show attachment 146545


That case was due to the payment failing on the second bidder. The second bidder reached out to us about it and we explained he had to have a valid payment method on file at the time the auction reached his bid price.

Hi @DanSanchez -- thanks for looking into this. I'm still a little fuzzy as to what occurred.

A couple of follow up questions:

-- How many bidders were there? It seems as if you are implying there were only two bidders. Myself, and the second bidder who's payment failed, the same bidder that apparently reached out to you.

-- Was "the second bidder" also responsible for the $10 pre-bid that I received an email notice for at 4:15 PM on February 1st?

-- Was the "second bidder" also responsible for the $11 pre-bid that I received an notice for at 9:16 PM on February 1st?

-- By "second bidder" are you are referring to the bidder who bid $34, citing the email notice I received at 9:17 PM on February 1st, which stated a new bidder (noting the email states new bidder, not new pre-bid) whose pre-bid is above mine, and the auction is currently at $34

-- What time was the auction originally supposed to end? Or specifically speaking, if there were no other bids after my $9 pre-bid, at what time would I have received the confirmation email that I had won the domain? --- The reason I'm asking, is the subject of the email(s) received, specifically speaking to the email received at 9:17 PM was, "Your pre-bid for prrotect.com has been exceeded by another bidder" and the email noted the new $34 current auction price. Yet, two minutes later, at 9:19 PM (same day February 1st), I received the "Congratulations! Your bid for Prrotect.com has won".

--In the, "Your pre-bid for Prrotect.com has been exceeded by another bidder", the text in the email states "The domain prrotect.com that you are watching at NameLiquidate has a new bidder whose pre-bid is above yours. The auction is currently at $$" The reason I bolded new bidder, is I'm wondering if each time I received the email notice of my pre-bid being exceeded, is did it actually occur from a new bidder, or was it merely a new pre-bid, perhaps by the same bidder who had previously outbid me.

-- If the email notices I received about my pre-bid being exceeded, regarding the $10 pre-bid, $11 pre-bid, and $34 pre-bid, were all done by the same "second bidder", then I'm wondering if this non-paying pre-bidder aka "second bidder" had done the seller a disservice by prompting the auction to end early? -- the ending early assertion is based off of receiving a congratulations email, two minutes after I received a my pre-bid had been exceeded email. I could be wrong, hence the above question asking what time was the auction originally supposed to end at my $9 pre-bid?

-- If there were more than two bidders (more than myself the $9 pre-bid, and "second bidder" the $34 pre-bid) then what happened with the $10 pre-bid and $11 pre-bid? Did those pre-bids also fail to have a valid payment method or funds available on file at the time the $34 pre-bid defaulted at the point of payment?
 
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Good quote I saw today.. it said "If you happen to be in a place where you need lifting up, often the easiest way to achieve this is by lifting up someone else first".

Lot of suffering in this world today. I am not sure if I should be encouraged or saddened to my heart to see how some of us choose to use your time.

May the day bring you all blessings, and the insight of how much you are loved.
 
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Good quote I saw today.. it said "If you happen to be in a place where you need lifting up, often the easiest way to achieve this is by lifting up someone else first".

Lot of suffering in this world today. I am not sure if I should be encouraged or saddened to my heart to see how some of us choose to use your time.

May the day bring you all blessings, and the insight of how much you are loved.

Great quote.

But what does your comment have to do with this thread? And/or why post it now of all times, in this thread, and not other threads?

Are you implying my, or others feedback, is saddening to your heart to see how some of us use our time?

Below is a quote, or more so a scene from a movie, relating to white lies. A concept I find it difficult to grasp. In the sense, of struggling to know when to be brutally honest, compared to when to tell a white lie?


I like Max's approach; that real beauty is on the inside. Maybe it's best white lie more, and be more like Fletcher, just to help lift others up? Is providing a form of disinformation the best way to lift others up?
 
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Hi @DanSanchez -- thanks for looking into this. I'm still a little fuzzy as to what occurred.

A couple of follow up questions:

-- How many bidders were there? It seems as if you are implying there were only two bidders. Myself, and the second bidder who's payment failed, the same bidder that apparently reached out to you.

-- Was "the second bidder" also responsible for the $10 pre-bid that I received an email notice for at 4:15 PM on February 1st?

-- Was the "second bidder" also responsible for the $11 pre-bid that I received an notice for at 9:16 PM on February 1st?

-- By "second bidder" are you are referring to the bidder who bid $34, citing the email notice I received at 9:17 PM on February 1st, which stated a new bidder (noting the email states new bidder, not new pre-bid) whose pre-bid is above mine, and the auction is currently at $34

-- What time was the auction originally supposed to end? Or specifically speaking, if there were no other bids after my $9 pre-bid, at what time would I have received the confirmation email that I had won the domain? --- The reason I'm asking, is the subject of the email(s) received, specifically speaking to the email received at 9:17 PM was, "Your pre-bid for prrotect.com has been exceeded by another bidder" and the email noted the new $34 current auction price. Yet, two minutes later, at 9:19 PM (same day February 1st), I received the "Congratulations! Your bid for Prrotect.com has won".

--In the, "Your pre-bid for Prrotect.com has been exceeded by another bidder", the text in the email states "The domain prrotect.com that you are watching at NameLiquidate has a new bidder whose pre-bid is above yours. The auction is currently at $$" The reason I bolded new bidder, is I'm wondering if each time I received the email notice of my pre-bid being exceeded, is did it actually occur from a new bidder, or was it merely a new pre-bid, perhaps by the same bidder who had previously outbid me.

-- If the email notices I received about my pre-bid being exceeded, regarding the $10 pre-bid, $11 pre-bid, and $34 pre-bid, were all done by the same "second bidder", then I'm wondering if this non-paying pre-bidder aka "second bidder" had done the seller a disservice by prompting the auction to end early? -- the ending early assertion is based off of receiving a congratulations email, two minutes after I received a my pre-bid had been exceeded email. I could be wrong, hence the above question asking what time was the auction originally supposed to end at my $9 pre-bid?

-- If there were more than two bidders (more than myself the $9 pre-bid, and "second bidder" the $34 pre-bid) then what happened with the $10 pre-bid and $11 pre-bid? Did those pre-bids also fail to have a valid payment method or funds available on file at the time the $34 pre-bid defaulted at the point of payment?

@Grilled - @vitigo in engineering is checking your comment and will revert.
 
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@Grilled - Engineering confirmed that there was a bug there. It has already been patched. A $50 bug bounty was deposited to your Epik account balance.
 
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@Grilled - Engineering confirmed that there was a bug there. It has already been patched. A $50 bug bounty was deposited to your Epik account balance.

Fantastic. Thank you!

If you would, as it'd make me feel more comfortable, (unless there are other details not mentioned) please take $25 of that bounty out of my Epik account balance, and put it in the [prrotect.com sellers] account balance, as in my eye, the seller might have lost out the most due to this bug.

In that, the false $34 bid, appears to have cost the seller $25, by the seller having to honor my $9 bid, and not the false $34 bid, which appears (may have?) caused the auction to end early?

My feedback is not just to protect me. It's to help ensure there is a trustworthy domain liquidation marketplace in existence (for both buyers and sellers). As if such a marketplace were to exist, and a thriving one at that, where the domain owner can receive 91% of the proceeds, than for me, that success will far outweigh any bug bounty, or recognition for reporting such errors.

Lastly, trying to eliminate any snarky sass,

I had reported this nearly a month ago. In the interim, at least one nP member (I think it was @JB Lions) had mentioned to an epik staff member (I don't remember who) that there was pending questions/feedback to be addressed, and that might have been a better use of time, rather than some of the back and forth, gossip like nonsense that had seemingly been ongoing occurrence. I agree, and very much appreciate (as it makes me feel more comfortable with NameLiquidate) that epik has finally looked into this with the same, or similar detail I had, to wit identified and patched a bug.

Some of us spend too much time looking at the details, and when these details get dismissed due to a possible lack of time/detail looked into by an epik staff member, it can raise other questions. Such as does epik really not see the error, or are they knowingly dismissing the details that were presented? Arguably, this instance could have been presented in better form, such as on a silver/copper platter, but such detail can take more time presenting, than the time spent discovery/research, and with perception and experiences being different, interpretation to certain communication isn't an exact science; some of us being better communicators than others.
 
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Some great engagement here:


@Busyfather_dot_com was crushing it on NameLiquidate. Good to see.

Inventory is rising.

Prices are rising.

Sell through is solid.

Great engagement also on DNAcademy Social this week too. ICYMI, check it out. @Braden Pollock holds court on NameLiquidate starting at 1:11:


I joined the fun at around 1:26.

It is cool seeing a novel market innovation get root and become real. The project was incubated right here on NamePros so that is a bit of a NP success story.

@DanSanchez is leading the charge and working hard to help folks succeed with it. Engineering has also been responsive to feedback.
 
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So the $96,000 question will be.......................

When will NameLiquidate.com domain auction sales be listed on Namebio?

I think that's how "legit status" begins right?

probably waiting till you guys get above a certain amount of sales?

I always say. There's no better day than today.

You guys should celebrate when you cross that amount though. That's definitely a milestone.

Edit. Some of the venues listed on there I've never even heard of before. But I'm sure everyone knows Epik.

Nameliquidate.jpg
 
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So the $96,000 question will be.......................

When will NameLiquidate.com domain auction sales be listed on Namebio?

I think that's how "legit status" begins right?

probably waiting till you guys get above a certain amount of sales?

I always say. There's no better day than today.

You guys should celebrate when you cross that amount though. That's definitely a milestone.

Edit. Some of the venues listed on there I've never even heard of before. But I'm sure everyone knows Epik.

Show attachment 154619

I doubt it. Besides liquidation prices aren't all that useful IMO. When I look at comps I'm looking for end user sales.
 
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I doubt it. Besides liquidation prices aren't all that useful IMO. When I look at comps I'm looking for end user sales.

with a name like NameLiquidate.com. I can see it being the "new standard" as far as getting a true "base reading" on the market especially once we start to see more above $500 domain sales. who knows? even $10,000? at "liquidation"?

That has to be useful in gauging the market? it's still in it's infancy I think? all the big platforms started somewhere.
 
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with a name like NameLiquidate.com. I can see it being the "new standard" as far as getting a true "base reading" on the market especially once we start to see more above $500 domain sales. who knows? even $10,000? at "liquidation"?

That has to be useful in gauging the market? it's still in it's infancy I think? all the big platforms started somewhere.
It's not going to happen. It's a reverse auction with the starting price @ $998, so that's the max price. Price drops continually until reserve is hit so I dare say the number of sales above $500 would be extremely low.
 
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