discuss Crap I just bid on a domain I did not want!!

MapleDots · Mar 22, 2018

HeHe

So it's late for me, have not eaten and have a bit of a sugar low. I see this domain for sale on GoDaddy and it's actually pretty sweet. Starting bid was quite reasonable and I figured it was way too low for a premium domain so I wanted the seller to think I was serious.

So guess what.... I bid twice the opening bid amount and felt pretty good that I had a chance the offer would get accepted.

Then..... a wave of something overcame me and I went to dictionary.com and sure enough I had a misspell on my hands, the domain had an extra letter that did not belong.

CRAP

So there I sit looking at the domain name trying to justify how I could possibly put it to use. No matter how I flipped it I figured I just wasted some good money. The owner of the domain would surely be accepting my offer.

Almost an hour to the T the seller came back with a counter for a couple hundred bucks more than my double sized offer.

HeHeHe.... I just chuckled to myself. The guy had a solid offer on a misspell and got greedy, he had to ask another couple hundred bucks. Well, that lets me of the hook, now I can go spend the money on something I actually want.

Lesson to seller: If you have a misspell that is close to the real word there is a chance the bidder did not realize it was a misspell. If you counter, you let him off the hook.

Think about accepting the bid on a misspell because you might not get a second bid when the guy on the other end realizes its a misspell.

So how was your day

MapleDots · Mar 22, 2018

Yup that is crystal clear at this point, what is not crystal clear is the documentation.

Galaxy Traveller · Mar 22, 2018

"That would be the exact opposite policy to sedo"
Godaddy is different platform why anyone compare between those? Or why Godaddy follow policy of other platform?
It is your responsibility to select the domain for bid.
Though my sympathy for you.

dr manos · Mar 22, 2018

MapleDots said:
Would it not be nice if that was clearly stated in the GoDaddy policies.
That would be the exact opposite policy to sedo and similar.

I have spent two days asking and have gotten two different answers from multiple sources at godaddy.

Forum - Counter cancels bid
General support - bid stands
Auction Support - counter cancels bid
Joe Styler - bid stands

Can you blame me for asking for CLEAR clarification?

As seller at TDNAM i always counter the offers even if initial bid is good price for the specific name.
If in a week no reply, i accept the offer if price is ok. Did it many many times so far, so be sure, buyer's bid stands for a week.

Kate · Mar 22, 2018

tiawood said:
Yep. I've surely done that before. Now I Google EVERYTHING.

I try to always get both versions: British/Canadian English & US spelling = peace of mind, possibly more leverage to sell

lock · Mar 23, 2018

So lucky the deal was voided with the counter offer. I have bought a fair few typos in my time.

cooljub · Mar 23, 2018

Really interesting thread.

It's not an exact science, but I think Sedo has it right.

In my opinion, by countering he has rejected your offer. The deal has moved on and the dynamics have changed. What's on the table now is not your offer, but his counter. Now it's for you to choose to accept, counter, or walk away.

I think a lot of people probably feel this is a principle of negotiating that you don't even need to write down. Maybe GD's terms & conditions writer is one of those people

It would be better if it was clear though.

MapleDots · Mar 23, 2018

I have it officially.....

Thank you to all members who responded.

GoDaddy differs from services like Sedo.

When you make a bid on GoDaddy and the seller counters it does NOT cancel the original bid. If you make a bid it is binding for 7 days. So if you offer 1k and the seller comes back at 1.5k it does not void your original bid. If you do not answer the seller he can decide at any time in those 7 days to accept your offer.

I must say that I find that whole process a bit strange but I guess it is what it is.

Kinda like I go to the butcher and offer 60 bucks for the steaks and he says 80. You say no thank you and the butcher says... too bad I'll hold you to the 60.

In this case I prefer the sedo way where the latest bid or counter bid becomes the binding one.

To refresh your memory here are the sedo terms...

All that said, I can live with the way GoDaddy does it and won't complain about it but their documentation leaves a lot to be desired. Not one member of their support team was able to show me anywhere in their terms where it is as clear as with the sedo terms.

There you have it... thank you so much to everyone who chimed in previously.

Keep in mind my opening post is not correct for godaddy, it is correct for sedo only so the advice still applies, just not for godaddy. If on sedo you get a bid and you are thinking about taking it be careful if you make a counter offer because it will annul the previous bid and the buyer walks away. This is probably the most important on misspells because sometimes the bidder does not see the misspell until further in the transaction and if you counter offer the original bidder walks away.

MapleDots · Mar 23, 2018

Almost forgot....

Their so called forum expert gave out the wrong advice via their support forum...

The statement below is NOT correct

Joe Styler · Mar 23, 2018

MapleDots said:
I just spent a half hour on the phone with several departments at GoDaddy and they have confirmed the original bid is now not binding. I asked them to provide it to me in writing because all of godaddy terms, bidding agreements etc are very unclear about this. Almost all other auctions invalidate the original bid when a counter offer is made and so it should be because the seller is basically saying not good enough I want more.

Maybe @Joe Styler can clarify this because even tech support could not find ANY documentation on it.

I did answer you already above in the thread. If you make an offer it is good for 7 days. A counter offer does not make your initial offer null and void. We can work on making the wording clearer. Auctions support may not have understood the question correctly. If you email them at [email protected] they can help you. Calling support and explaining to them what happened and then having them explain it to someone else might be causing the issue not sure without listening to the conversations, but the offer stands for 7 days.

alcy · Mar 23, 2018

godaddy is its own platform
they can make their own rules

on most platforms the previous bid is voided if new offer is made.. but just because something is done in most places, that does not automatically make it the best solution. in some cases this gd setup can benefit buyer.. in some cases the seller.. and in some cases both will be unhappy with it. all sorts of situations and people are possible. in same way that on sedo, with previous bids voided, a seller may sometimes find himself regretting this setup, in other cases a buyer may end up regretting it.. etc etc..

perfect solutions do not exist. but its nice to have variety.

simple way to remember how gd handles offers is: no matter what offer you make when, or the buyer makes, everything remains valid for 7 days from being made. its that simple

cheers

Joe Styler · Mar 23, 2018

MapleDots said:
Almost forgot....

Their so called forum expert gave out the wrong advice via their support forum...

The statement below is NOT correct

He is a customer just like you just trying to help people in his own spare time and from what I have seen all his answers except this one have been right. Anyone can post on there or ask anything they want to know and other customers try and help give advice. I think it is pretty cool that the guy gives up his own time in an effort to help people who have questions about what we do as domain investors whether they are well versed in it like yourself or completely new.

MapleDots · Mar 23, 2018

Joe Styler said:
I did answer you already above in the thread. If you make an offer it is good for 7 days. A counter offer does not make your initial offer null and void. We can work on making the wording clearer. Auctions support may not have understood the question correctly. If you email them at [email protected] they can help you. Calling support and explaining to them what happened and then having them explain it to someone else might be causing the issue not sure without listening to the conversations, but the offer stands for 7 days.

I understood your answer Joe.... at that point I was more talking about the wording and clarification on the godaddy website. On sedo the terms are crystal clear.

On godaddy it keeps saying the original bid is binding for 7 days
The seller has as 7 days to accept, decline, or counter your amount

It still does not say that the bidder is responsible to honor the bid after a counter offer.
It tells the bidder of the sellers rights but does not clearly state the bidders responsibility after a counter bid. In my case I assumed it was similar to sedo and I assumed wrong. When I looked at your documentation it was not clear what happened after a counter and even your support staff gave me two different answers. Also your pros on the forums did not have the answer.

With all that misinformation it is clear there needs to be better documentation of this fact, especially since the godaddy policy differs from other auctions. That is exactly why the documentation should be crystal clear.

So to clarify.... I understand but will the next person, your documentation is pretty lacking on this.

MapleDots · Mar 23, 2018

alcy said:
godaddy is its own platform
they can make their own rules

on most platforms the previous bid is voided if new offer is made.. but just because something is done in most places, that does not automatically make it the best solution. in some cases this gd setup can benefit buyer.. in some cases the seller.. and in some cases both will be unhappy with it. all sorts of situations and people are possible. in same way that on sedo, with previous bids voided, a seller may sometimes find himself regretting this setup, in other cases a buyer may end up regretting it.. etc etc..

perfect solutions do not exist. but its nice to have variety.

simple way to remember how gd handles offers is: no matter what offer you make when, or the buyer makes, everything remains valid for 7 days from being made. its that simple

cheers

I agree with you completely and I understand godaddy makes the rules. I have not once argued that they should be changed. Personally I was surprised by it but I understand and accept it. The documentation of it however is the part that continues to be lacking. Remember I got different answers even from the support staff. They could not for sure tell me what happened after a counter offer. One support guy said the original offer was binding and the other said it was not after a counter offer was received. Even the pro's on their forum don't know the correct answer, which means clarification in print is required.

karmaco · Mar 23, 2018

All of this will mean absolutely nothing if the seller doesn’t hit the accept offer button before the 7days is up or push it to auction.

wwwweb · Mar 23, 2018

In general business to each their own, but if someone refuses a counter a deal is dead in the water, unless the buying party counters back. I have seen this is real estate transactions where sellers think they can get more, or play off bids, and it doesn’t work out, and then they have to do the walk of shame, and say hey is that deal still good?

I had no idea a price is live on decline, but good to know, but fair enough if your going to submit an offer you better be prepared to back it up for 7 days, only fair I guess.

MapleDots · Mar 23, 2018

wwwweb said:
In general business to each their own, but if someone refuses a counter a deal is dead in the water, unless the buying party counters back. I have seen this is real estate transactions where sellers think they can get more, or play off bids, and it doesn’t work out, and then they have to do the walk of shame, and say hey is that deal is good?

I had no idea a price is live on decline, but good to know, but fair enough if your going to submit an offer you better be prepared to back it up for 7 days, only fair I guess.

You got it spot on

But you see how it is surprising a number of people, clarification was needed.

equity78 · Mar 23, 2018

MapleDots said:
You got it spot on

But you see how it is surprising a number of people, clarification was needed.

Oh absolutely without this thread many would not have known of this, it changes the art of negotiation.

I got an offer right now on Sedo, I turned down $500 by countering at $2,0000 knowing full well that they are not bound to their initial $500.
Just to play the game after the $2,000 expired, I had a feeling about this buyer for this name by the join date and location, so I went and sent a new offer like Sedo allows and made it $500, their price, they did not accept.

Now if I was on GoDaddy they would be on the hook for the $500.

@Joe Styler I would imagine many potential buyers don't know their initial bid can be accepted and I would expect many would back out, are their accounts closed?

This changes the art of negotiating big time in my opinion.

Thanks for posting this and getting the answer.

Name Trader · Mar 23, 2018

Joe Styler said:
He is a customer just like you just trying to help people in his own spare time and from what I have seen all his answers except this one have been right. Anyone can post on there or ask anything they want to know and other customers try and help give advice. I think it is pretty cool that the guy gives up his own time in an effort to help people who have questions about what we do as domain investors whether they are well versed in it like yourself or completely new.

It's cool that he gives up his time for free. It's NOT COOL, that he supplies an incorrect answer irrespective of how many answers he get's right.

MapleDots · Mar 23, 2018

stub said:
It's cool that he gives up his time for free. It's NOT COOL, that he supplies an incorrect answer irrespective of how many answers he get's right.

GoDaddy need to post underneath and correct it because it's one of the first items that came up when I googled for an answer.

Joe Styler · Mar 23, 2018

MapleDots said:
GoDaddy need to post underneath and correct it because it's one of the first items that came up when I googled for an answer.

I was getting to it. Give me a few minutes

Joe Styler · Mar 23, 2018

stub said:
It's cool that he gives up his time for free. It's NOT COOL, that he supplies an incorrect answer irrespective of how many answers he get's right.

That is a pretty high bar. Posting without ever making a mistake. I think the forums would all be empty if that were a criteria.

Name Trader · Mar 23, 2018

Joe Styler said:
That is a pretty high bar. Posting without ever making a mistake. I think the forums would all be empty if that were a criteria.

I don't read those user forums. But as long as you make a disclaimer there that these are customers replies which may or may not be correct. And that GoDaddy are not responsible for any wrong answers. Or however you wish to word it. That should be sufficient.

Pointing them to a GoDaddy Authorised help library would also be useful.

MapleDots · Mar 23, 2018

GoDaddy (Joe Styler) has posted a correction:
https://www.godaddy.com/Domain-Investing/Auctions-Counter-Offer-to-Buyer/td-p/35292

They also stated they are working on making the documentation clearer on this issue.

equity78 · Mar 23, 2018

Joe Styler said:
That is a pretty high bar. Posting without ever making a mistake. I think the forums would all be empty if that were a criteria.

I would imagine many potential buyers don't know their initial bid can be accepted and I would expect many would back out, are their accounts closed?

johname · Mar 23, 2018

You can look and see the accept offer link still active. So I would think buyers would know

discuss Crap I just bid on a domain I did not want!!

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