DropCatch Private Auctions - Beta/Soon

Big news.

I'm guessing as soon as Weed.cc got a bid earlier today, it was automatically transferred to NameBright.

Now, would that still require manual approval by the seller, or is it wholly automated to the point of Afternic Fast Transfer? cc: @Domain Shane

A few months ago, way before the scandal elsewhere I asked about this auction or sales platform possibly occuring in the future, and they hinted that they were working on something but could not say anything. They also stated they wanted to only open it up once it is bug free. I am sure this is still beta stage.

Based on my great experiences with both NB and DC, I am sure they will address these issues. The bidding platform has been very clean imho, they restart auctions if something they did not catch while it was going on, etc.

Best part I have found is they follow absolute auction rules and no games with expired names once they grab them on the drop there is no domainer clawbacks or expired-remorse re-regging. Hope that remains standard practice and they set an example for other platforms to follow english absolute and traditional auction rules.

Looking forward to seeing this positive advancement.

DropCatch.com is troubled by lots of "potentially fraudulent activity", or bidders bidding up auctions and not paying, where auctions have to be re-run as a result.

I get emails from dropcatch all the time saying "due to complications involving potentially fraudulent activity, the following auctions you had participated in are being restarted".

The cannamarket.com auction has already ended three times (!), and been restarted two times, because the first two winners didn't pay up. However, the last time the auction ended, for the third time, is 5 days ago, and the name has still not been paid for, so I wouldn't be surprised if they have to restart the auction once more, and run it a fourth time... The win is certainly past the auction payment deadline, and the name has still not changed WHOIS to reflect the winner, which happens immediately upon payment. So there has been at least two "fraudulent activity" non-payment wins for the name, and it's looking like the third win is not going through either. Will they really run the auction a fourth time if the third winner turns out to be a fraudulent bidder too? This kind of scenario is playing out over and over at DropCatch.

DropCatch.com is just like a game of hot potato where bidders bid up a auctions and don't pay. There is just an unbelievable amount of auctions being restarted due to winners not paying up, and I have not seen this king of thing on any other pre-release or dropcatching platform. DropCatch is clearly not taking serious enough measures to vet their bidders, or not doing enough when they catch people engaging in fraudulent bidding. The amount of auctions that have to be re-run due to fraudulent bidding is just unbelievable. Who knows how many times these "fraudulent bidders" have driven up prices for legit bidders that pay up? There are simply far more re-auctions on dropcatch than on any other platform.

@DropCatch Support has ignored and avoided questions about this and other "challenging" dropcatch.com issues in the past, and there is no transparency about what they do when they discover fraudulent bidding. A fraudulent bidder may have driven up the price in a number of different auctions before getting discovered/banned, and it seem they do not address this retrospectively in any way. They just re-run auctions until they finally get a winner that pays up. Considering how many auctions have to be re-run, I don't know if they even ban these bidders, and if they do, they make it back onto the platform anyway, because there are endless re-auctions due to fraudulent bidding activity. I feel less "safe" bidding on DropCatch than I do on any other domain auction platform, because they are having so many issues with fraudulent bidding activity.

If dropcatch is not able to stop fraudulent bidders from winning in their auctions over and over again for dropcaught in-house names, how are they going to be able to stop coordinated shill bidding where private sellers can directly benefit from engaging in shill bidding? As long as they are having major issues weeding out fraudulent bidding activity on expired domains auctions, I think there is a high risk that they are not going to be able to stop shill bidding and coordinated unnatural bidding activity that aims to drive up the price in private seller auctions. Some of the shill bidders that got banned from NameJet are probably going to be selling at DropCatch instead now. I hope DropCatch has taken and will take adequate steps so that they don't end up facilitating another shill bidding scandal.

@Arca wow, that surprises me that has been happening to you. Have you talked to them on the phone? Maybe its a recent growth issue they have as a small company, it seems more new bidders and new handles daily? Right? Every contact via email or phone I have made has been pleasant and resolved or addressed.

I don't follow up on auctions I lose, so have no idea about that issue. I dont pay attention usually to restart volume. Deadbeat bidders should be banned. Period. Everything I've purchased has been hassle free and only 5 minutes once credit card process it's moves to NB, done. Seems simple enough to ban people who don't pay, right?

Some of the prices for their numerics have me wondering lately, I should be following up to see if they end up HugeDomains ?

That's a great news!

Does it mean we can list our domains there? I didn't see any announcement about that officially from Dropcatch.

@Kamaz I was told today that they have a waiting list. It will be coming soon. I am sure lots of ironing out details to prepare for third parties listing, closing times different than now with the fixed format, etc.

Arca said:

Who knows how many times these "fraudulent bidders" have driven up prices for legit bidders that pay up

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Enough said.

Arca said:

DropCatch.com is troubled by lots of "potentially fraudulent activity", or bidders bidding up auctions and not paying, where auctions have to be re-run as a result.

I get emails from dropcatch all the time saying "due to complications involving potentially fraudulent activity, the following auctions you had participated in are being restarted".

The cannamarket.com auction has already ended three times (!), and been restarted two times, because the first two winners didn't pay up. However, the last time the auction ended, for the third time, is 5 days ago, and the name has still not been paid for, so I wouldn't be surprised if they have to restart the auction once more, and run it a fourth time... The win is certainly past the auction payment deadline, and the name has still not changed WHOIS to reflect the winner, which happens immediately upon payment. So there has been at least two "fraudulent activity" non-payment wins for the name, and it's looking like the third win is not going through either. Will they really run the auction a fourth time if the third winner turns out to be a fraudulent bidder too? This kind of scenario is playing out over and over at DropCatch.

DropCatch.com is just like a game of hot potato where bidders bid up a auctions and don't pay. There is just an unbelievable amount of auctions being restarted due to winners not paying up, and I have not seen this king of thing on any other pre-release or dropcatching platform. DropCatch is clearly not taking serious enough measures to vet their bidders, or not doing enough when they catch people engaging in fraudulent bidding. The amount of auctions that have to be re-run due to fraudulent bidding is just unbelievable. Who knows how many times these "fraudulent bidders" have driven up prices for legit bidders that pay up? There are simply far more re-auctions on dropcatch than on any other platform.

@DropCatch Support has ignored and avoided questions about this and other "challenging" dropcatch.com issues in the past, and there is no transparency about what they do when they discover fraudulent bidding. A fraudulent bidder may have driven up the price in a number of different auctions before getting discovered/banned, and it seem they do not address this retrospectively in any way. They just re-run auctions until they finally get a winner that pays up. Considering how many auctions have to be re-run, I don't know if they even ban these bidders, and if they do, they make it back onto the platform anyway, because there are endless re-auctions due to fraudulent bidding activity. I feel less "safe" bidding on DropCatch than I do on any other domain auction platform, because they are having so many issues with fraudulent bidding activity.

If dropcatch is not able to stop fraudulent bidders from winning in their auctions over and over again for dropcaught in-house names, how are they going to be able to stop coordinated shill bidding where private sellers can directly benefit from engaging in shill bidding? As long as they are having major issues weeding out fraudulent bidding activity on expired domains auctions, I think there is a high risk that they are not going to be able to stop shill bidding and coordinated unnatural bidding activity that aims to drive up the price in private seller auctions. Some of the shill bidders that got banned from NameJet are probably going to be selling at DropCatch instead now. I hope DropCatch has taken and will take adequate steps so that they don't end up facilitating another shill bidding scandal.

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All bidders who participate in auctions on DropCatch.com have completed a verification process. We take this process very seriously and reserve the right to request additional information for account verification as we feel it is needed. The integrity of our platform is of utmost importance to us. Additionally, all users who do not complete payment on backorders or auctions are suspended from our system indefinitely. We strictly adhere to our terms and conditions in the event of non-payment on all auctions, but also unpaid backorders.

Unpaid Winning Bids and Re-Auction of Domains In the event a customer fails to pay for a domain they won in auction within 96 hours (4 days) of the end of the auction, the domain will be re-auctioned and the delinquent customer’s DropCatch account will be terminated. The customer will be permanently terminated from DropCatch and not be allowed to use DropCatch or any of its services in the future

This and further information may be found on the terms and conditions on our site directly.

If you do have questions regarding how our system addresses re-auctions or would like further information on any DropCatch services please do not hesitate to contact us. I am sorry to hear you feel you have questions or concerns that have not been addressed and I would be happy to further discuss any question you may have! You may email support directly or Direct Message us at anytime.

Jv1999 said:

so what is the fee for private auctions ^_^ I noticed that most domains go for more on dropcatch than they normally would so private bidding seems like an awesome idea!

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You can find all information regarding what listing a domain name on the Marketplace will entail in our terms&conditions. Give it a read, and let us know if you have additional questions.

A bit off topic, but I wonder when DropCatch will come out of their beta version. It has said "beta" next to their logo for years now

https://www.dropcatch.com/OtherInfo/TermsAndConditions

Thanks @DropCatch Support for posting here!

Here are the terms, I had no idea they were posted yet, just looked at them for the first time. Excellent!

DropCatch Marketplace for Sellers (DCMFS)

Listing Fees: The listing party will be charged a 15.0% commission on the winning auction amount, minus any transfer or renewal fees. An additional 5.0% fee will apply if the listing party elects to place a reserve an auction in order to discourage the use of reserves.

In the event payment cannot be collected from the purchasing party, the auction will be voided and the purchasing party’s account will be terminated indefinitely from DropCatch.

Auction Terms are Final: All terms of the auction selected by the Selling Party when the domain is listed for auction will be strictly adhered to, including but not limited to, the original minimum starting price, the reserve, and the time frame for the auction. The Selling Party may not alter, extend, or cancel any auction once an auction has an active bid on it.

Third Party Audit: From time to time, DropCatch may consult with third parties to examine the integrity of our auction platform. By using DropCatch.com and the Marketplace a user expressly consents to and agrees that DropCatch may share and disclose any personal information, bidding history, all platform behavior, and any other information you provide, including IP address, browsing behavior, etc. with a third-party to audit or periodically review operations.

Seller Waives Rights: Seller agrees that DropCatch, in its sole discretion, may suspend, interrupt, cancel, delete, terminate and/or undo an auction or completed domain sale, including, but not limited to reversing payment for a domain. In the event of any type of valid dispute, third-party claim fraud, abuse, mistake, technical error or glitch, or any other situation which requires intervention, DropCatch has the sole right and discretion to take whatever actions deemed necessary to uphold all rules, regulations, policies, and laws.

Sorry about being late to the thread. I haven't checked in NP for a while. When selling you will put in your auth code and give NameBright permission to transfer. As soon as your name meets reserve, or gets a bid at no reserve, the name will transfer. You obviously need to make sure that lock is off. If you put up an auction and it is not eligible for transfer it will tell you right then that you can put it up. The auth code assures them it will transfer and if can't be moved it can't be auctioned.

When will it open up? I'm not sure. We're doing beta and giving them feedback on things that are good and bad. Mostly good so far. You will like the system. Of course, bad names will still be bad names, even with an easy to use platform. But for good names, I think you'll be able to get some great prices out of NameBright.

Namejet and Godaddy are great too but its nice to have another strong auction platform at our avail

offthehandle said:

@Kamaz I was told today that they have a waiting list. It will be coming soon. I am sure lots of ironing out details to prepare for third parties listing, closing times different than now with the fixed format, etc.

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I asked the support yesterday and they told me the service is in beta version, and private sellers are invited only, so I think they will launch it soon.

maybe private authenticated only bidders should be included for a while. I could be weighing a legit private offer timed to end before the cheesy maybe/maybe not auction transition is due to take place.
Any auction that permits remorse re t regging and clawbacks isn't running an auction just a scheme.
Maybe the domains should pass fully into dropcatch escrow before the auction proper, so the ownership is firmly moved and not in conceptual limbo.
Transfer back within xx days in case of no joy could be the terms.

weed . cc is at $820.
https://www.dropcatch.com/Domain/Weed.cc

Since original post, today at the moment there are now including both private and dropped names over 1,387 ongoing auctions.

Hopefully there will be filters added soon. It's quite annoying at the moment having everything lumped together.

bowskie said:

Hopefully there will be filters added soon. It's quite annoying at the moment having everything lumped together.

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As of right now you can filter for dropped auctions vs. private auction by going to the auction page and clicking on the header of the column you would like to sort by. Check it out and let us know if you have any additional feedback!

DropCatch Support said:

As of right now you can filter for dropped auctions vs. private auction by going to the auction page and clicking on the header of the column you would like to sort by. Check it out and let us know if you have any additional feedback!

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If you sort them using the "Type" column you can get all of the Dropped domains together, but they are in no particular order and it isn't very practical.

It used to be nice being able to see highest to lowest bids for dropped domains that were ending on a particular date.

Have I missed a trick?

bowskie said:

If you sort them using the "Type" column you can get all of the Dropped domains together, but they are in no particular order and it isn't very practical.

It used to be nice being able to see highest to lowest bids for dropped domains that were ending on a particular date.

Have I missed a trick?

Click to expand...

Yes this is not ideal. People need to see them not only listed as type but by end time as well.

We are currently working on a more advanced filter that will give several options. If you happen to have any suggestions, please let us know. I can't guarantee that they will all get implemented, but they will all be reviewed by the development team to determine how feasible each is. We hope to have the filter in place within the next week.

An update for anybody watching this thread. Our development team has deployed their new filter options today. You can now filter the auctions by "Private Seller" or "Dropped", and you can also apply filters such as:
"Has Bids" for any auction that has 1 or more bids
"Reserve Met" for anything that either has no reserve, or the reserve has already been met
"Ending Today" for any auction that is ending today

Thank you all for your patience, as our development team has been working hard to make this the best platform available!

That will do nicely!