HUGE DOMAINS SNIPING GODADDY CLOSEOUTS

[wwwweb]

So annoying Godaddy hasn't stopped Huge Domains from sniping Godaddy Closeouts with their automated tools, no way a human bidder can win a even closeout.

First they were sniping with the backorders, now you cut that out, and you are letting them snipe via automated tools.

So what do you say @Joe Styler , you want to even the playing field a bit, as your partners are bidding everything in a split second, from $12, to $11, and bidding everything else into the hundreds from a simple bid. I would rather pay a Huge Domains surcharge at checkout.


Huge Domains has an unfair advantage on the auction platform, essentially taxing every user for using it with their automated access advantages given to them thru the house.

 

[tonyk2000]

Imagine HD didnt know about it lol.
"I lost millions"

Conspiracy theory:
I'd guess that his rewards (if any) are processed on another level... As HD is the largest expired auctions customer. ..

 

[markfromslo]

It's so interesting how Huge Domains and I have the same taste in names. I am outbid by HD on nearly every name now (unless it's one I REALLY want, so I'll bid up) . There's nothing wrong with that, it's not sniping, it's just having an endless amount of money. It's just so crazy that the majority of names I want have only me and HD as the bidders. Strange. And frustrating.

And they are always there in the background of those initially zero bid names, waiting for the time to run out so they can snipe it. If I put a bid in with a few seconds left, sure enough within a minute I have an outbid text sent to me and I know exactly who it most likely is.

 

[Lord Antares]

It's so interesting how Huge Domains and I have the same taste in names. I am outbid by HD on nearly every name now (unless it's one I REALLY want, so I'll bid up) . There's nothing wrong with that, it's not sniping, it's just having an endless amount of money. It's just so crazy that the majority of names I want have only me and HD as the bidders. Strange. And frustrating.

And they are always there in the background of those initially zero bid names, waiting for the time to run out so they can snipe it. If I put a bid in with a few seconds left, sure enough within a minute I have an outbid text sent to me and I know exactly who it most likely is.

There's no coincidence there. They automatically bid only on names which others bid on.
Therefore, a domain which only 1 person wants turns into a domain which only 1 person + huge domains want.

 

[Recons.Com]

It's so interesting how Huge Domains and I have the same taste in names. I am outbid by HD on nearly every name now (unless it's one I REALLY want, so I'll bid up) . There's nothing wrong with that, it's not sniping, it's just having an endless amount of money. It's just so crazy that the majority of names I want have only me and HD as the bidders. Strange. And frustrating.

And they are always there in the background of those initially zero bid names, waiting for the time to run out so they can snipe it. If I put a bid in with a few seconds left, sure enough within a minute I have an outbid text sent to me and I know exactly who it most likely is.

It has nothing to do with "taste". You are choosing the names that match HD criteria for length, extension, valuation etc., but they also need one thing missing, as even with those parameters, there is too much trash. That one thing is a human validation and you provide that for them.

That is why my algorithm for GD auctions is: bid only if you are willing to pay 12%+ of GD valuation and you absolutely want the name. Otherwise, you have better chances of grabbing few of those you wanted in closeouts for cheaper.

 

[7363824]

It has nothing to do with "taste". You are choosing the names that match HD criteria for length, extension, valuation etc., but they also need one thing missing, as even with those parameters, there is too much trash. That one thing is a human validation and you provide that for them.

That is why my algorithm for GD auctions is: bid only if you are willing to pay 12%+ of GD valuation and you absolutely want the name. Otherwise, you have better chances of grabbing few of those you wanted in closeouts for cheaper.

And sometimes thats not even enough. I just lost one today. The final winning bid was $1,325, GD value only $3,400. But I wanted it not as an investment but to build something on so i was willing to go upto $1,300. Unless the winner also was an end user i seriously doubt there is much to be made on that name, I already thought the GD value was high.

 

[Recons.Com]

And sometimes thats not even enough. I just lost one today. The final winning bid was $1,325, GD value only $3,400. But I wanted it not as an investment but to build something on so i was willing to go upto $1,300. Unless the winner also was an end user i seriously doubt there is much to be made on that name, I already thought the GD value was high.

I am sure it was someone else. There is a company that sells/develops names and they often bid quite high if they like the name.

Oh, and if I have time and the pattern clearly shows HD, I often bid it up to 5-10% GD, just to drain HD funds... But be careful with this not to hurt fellow investor. So far, I have been at 100% with guessing that it is HD by the bidding pattern.

 

[7363824]

I am sure it was someone else. There is a company that sells/develops names and they often bid quite high if they like the name.

Oh, and if I have time and the pattern clearly shows HD, I often bid it up to 5-10% GD, just to drain HD funds... But be careful with this not to hurt fellow investor. So far, I have been at 100% with guessing that it is HD by the bidding pattern.

Definitely not, unless they changed bidder ids. Just out of curiosity I tried searching the bidder id here to see if it was a bidder who's been discussed here. At least by that id, no.

I will probably circle back in a few months and see if there's just a for sale lander on it or what.

 

[blogspotter]

Definitely not, unless they changed bidder ids. Just out of curiosity I tried searching the bidder id here to see if it was a bidder who's been discussed here. At least by that id, no.

I will probably circle back in a few months and see if there's just a for sale lander on it or what.

For domains with the some history, the price has gone through the roof.
I am not a domainer but I have been buying auction domains for a long time for my own sites.
Domains that have no Brand name value, that would go for 150-200 a couple years back are now going for 1000+
Problem is that, if a domain has clean back links, clean archive, there is always someone who will pay a 100% premium.

I am subscribed to the email list of many resellers, even domains that I didn't want to bid for $800 are being offered for 1500 next day and it is getting snapped up. Maybe it is not a bad business.
One kid is selling 10s of $1000-$2000 domains every week at a 100% mark up. Kid not in a condescending way, but compared to other bigger players...

 

[markfromslo]

So today I bid on six names. All six were won by HD. And I went up a few hundred dollars on a few of them. Theis company must be spending $50K a day. Godaddy should just bulk sell them every single name and get it over with. They have every right to bid on the names, but it is just so f*&king annoying.

Unfortunately, they and I go after the same names. And they are not formula names--these are names a human has to look at and think, hmmm, that's interesting. And on most of the names, there are no other bidders, just me and them. The names start at no bidders and then in the last five minutes I bid and they follow.

I just either have to quit or spend a lot more time focusing on closeouts. I do make a lot of money on the closeouts--like yesterday I sold a nae I got for $11 last month for $1,788 today. But it's a lot more work.

I know I've said this a couple times already, but I think maybe I'll quit (which is what HD wants--they would have saved over $1,000 today with me out of the picture) and just increase the cash flow on my 3,000 names in inventory.

 

[markfromslo]

I've completely given up and stopped using GD auctions now. Haven't bought a name there for months. No more stress or annoyance.

My hero! Im trying...

 

[pb]

So today I bid on six names. All six were won by HD. And I went up a few hundred dollars on a few of them. Theis company must be spending $50K a day. Godaddy should just bulk sell them every single name and get it over with. They have every right to bid on the names, but it is just so f*&king annoying

I'm not so sure about that. I am not a lawyer and definitely not an expert in US law, but it does seem like hindering competition using unfair advantage and in some EU jurisdictions they would be in trouble.

Unfortunately, they and I go after the same names. And they are not formula names--these are names a human has to look at and think, hmmm, that's interesting. And on most of the names, there are no other bidders, just me and them. The names start at no bidders and then in the last five minutes I bid and they follow.

Let me just quote the post by Recons.con from a few days ago that is totally spot-on: "You are choosing the names that match HD criteria for length, extension, valuation etc., but they also need one thing missing (...) That one thing is a human validation and you provide that for them."

That's why they constantly scan the ending auctions for last-minute bids and pounce on 80-90% of them, even if there's "just" one bidder. So the only, and I mean only way to get a half-decent domain for $12 is to get it for $11.

 

[markfromslo]

Let me just quote the post by Recons.con from a few days ago that is totally spot-on: "You are choosing the names that match HD criteria for length, extension, valuation etc., but they also need one thing missing (...) That one thing is a human validation and you provide that for them."

That's why they constantly scan the ending auctions for last-minute bids and pounce on 80-90% of them, even if there's "just" one bidder. So the only, and I mean only way to get a half-decent domain for $12 is to get it for $11.

I don't know if they wait to see what a human is doing, if that's what you are saying. It's possible, but my feeling is that before the auctions begin, they already know the names that their algo and some employee scanning has come up with. They wait to see if anyone is going to bid on it and if not they snipe it before you have a chance to get it for $11. And if I bid, they bid. I believe this to be true because when I don't place the bid, hoping to get it at $11, it's generally snapped up by HD.

You say, "You are choosing the names that match HD criteria for length, extension, valuation etc.," But I'm really not. I am going for names with low valuations very often. I don't care about keywords, traffic, age...all the usual factors. I go by instinct and 15 years experience, and that's why there is most often no bidders (other than HD). It sounds like a dumb process I have, but it's not. I make a ton of money doing this. The usual factors create bidding wars to ridiculous prices. I'm not in those.

Anyway, I think it's time for me to hang up my hat in buying names and just sell all the names I have. But as any addict, I've said this before... LOL

 

[pb]

You say, "You are choosing the names that match HD criteria for length, extension, valuation etc.," But I'm really not. I am going for names with low valuations very often. I don't care about keywords, traffic, age...all the usual factors. I go by instinct and 15 years experience, and that's why there is most often no bidders (other than HD).

There might be others that you just don't see. Every day I watch some domains that get a last-minute bid and then get devoured by HD without any other bidders. Sometimes I bid second/third but mostly I don't even care as I know it's already lost.

Every day I select a few domains w/o bids and watch them. If they go to closeouts, I manage to get some of them (no scripts or api, just refreshing and clicking the button when it appears), but 50%+ are sniped by api users* (not necessarily HD). If there is a last-minute bid, invariably HD is all over the auction and either they get the domain (probably in 80% of cases) or someone pays through the nose to outbid them (rarely it's the first bidder...).

(*) how I know if I'm against an api user or a regular user is by visit count - api users don't need to refresh the page so the counter only goes up by my refreshing. if the counter skips by 2-3 at a time, I know there are some real people at least (but probably bots as well).

 

[Ostrados]

HD is a bot and bots are dumb..

Do you want to hurt HD? Just stop bidding on any GD auctions..Good luck for their bot after than in finding good domains.

They use our human bids as indication of domain value, it is similar to what we do when we sort the auctions by number of bids. Our bids is like light in the darkness without them HD bot will be blind.

 

[markfromslo]

They use our human bids as indication of domain value, it is similar to what we do when we sort the auctions by number of bids. Our bids is like light in the darkness without them HD bot will be blind.

How do you know this? Is it just a guess, or do you know something? I don't think we can derive this from their actions.

 

[blogspotter]

How do you know this? Is it just a guess, or do you know something? I don't think we can derive this from their actions.

Sorry i am a noob. How do you know it is HD. Also can you tell me some example domains that they might snipe today, if you don't mind.. I just want to see the type of domain they snipe.

Or just a few they sniped they few days.

 

[blogspotter]

HD is a bot and bots are dumb..

Do you want to hurt HD? Just stop bidding on any GD auctions..Good luck for their bot after than in finding good domains.

They use our human bids as indication of domain value, it is similar to what we do when we sort the auctions by number of bids. Our bids is like light in the darkness without them HD bot will be blind.

Also if you are the only bidder in close out, won't the domain go into deletion next day?

 

[Recons.Com]

How do you know this? Is it just a guess, or do you know something? I don't think we can derive this from their actions.

I second his statement. I know empirically.

100% of names I bid got bid by them and if I did not I got some in closeouts. Do your own experiment. Choose 20 names. Assign randomly 0 and 1 to 10 each. Bid last moment on 1 group and don't at second. Check the result

 

[Ostrados]

How do you know this? Is it just a guess, or do you know something? I don't think we can derive this from their actions.

Because almost everytime you bid at any domain 6 mins before auction, an HD comes from nowhere.

 

[Ostrados]

I second his statement. I know empirically.

100% of names I bid got bid by them and if I did not I got some in closeouts. Do your own experiment. Choose 20 names. Assign randomly 0 and 1 to 10 each. Bid last moment on 1 group and don't at second. Check the result

Agree.. you have much higher chance at closeouts

 

[Ostrados]

BTW I noticed that at closeouts I get domains than are better than many domains that I lose to HD in auctions

 

[Ostrados]

Also if you are the only bidder in close out, won't the domain go into deletion next day?

Closouts are not auctions but bargain BINs that start at $11 and decrease every day to reach $5, after that domain drops

 

[markfromslo]

Sorry i am a noob. How do you know it is HD. Also can you tell me some example domains that they might snipe today, if you don't mind.. I just want to see the type of domain they snipe.

Or just a few they sniped they few days.

This is a very long thread. And through it all it's been clearly shown that it's Huge Domains. I'm not going to document all the proof.

 

[markfromslo]

Because almost everytime you bid at any domain 6 mins before auction, an HD comes from nowhere.

No, not every time. Many, many times, probably most times. But not every time. I still get quite a few at $12 with one bid. Maybe 25% of them don't bring in HD.

 

[markfromslo]

Hey this is off-topic, but so interesting. I sold the name BYYU.com for $5,888.00 in January of this year. (I bought for $32). Now, just 7 months later it shows up on Godaddy Auctions today. I've never seen this happen so fast for such a pricey name. The buyer must have bought it, not extended expiration date, and then died.