Is it possible to sell someone else domain name at GoDaddy?

jideofor · Apr 18, 2019

Hello everyone,

With reference to the case of Dustie.com being sold for less than the original owner had listed (or intended to list it), I was just wondering whether it was possible to sell another person's domain name on Godaddy based on what I had encountered over there in the last few hours.

It is a bit different from what happened with Dustie.com. Let me explain.

I am looking at someone domain names at Godaddy which have been listed on Godaddy Premium Auction.

What got be me worried is the fact that some of these names listed for sale on Godaddy have website on them or are redirected to a site. The names are actually in Godaddy's possession and not a case of being in a place like Namecheap but listed on the premium auction. That is not even possible to begin with.

Now here is the thing. If I decide to buy such names listed on Godaddy Premium auction that has a site on it or is redirected to another site, it got me wondering if it was the owner of the site that listed it or someone else.

What made me more worried is the fear of what happened to Dustie.com should someone goes on to buy such a name and owner claims he did not authorize the sale at Godaddy considering it redirects to a site or has a website on it.

Is there a way to make Godaddy verify that the actual owner of the sites listed it for sale? Would be out of place if after noticing this I decided FIRST ask Godaddy to check whether it was the real owner that listed it for sale, considering it has a website on it or redirect to a site?

I wouldn't want to be accused of stealing another person's domain name after such scenario... it will be too embarrassing.

@Joe Styler @Paul Nicks

Joe Styler · Apr 18, 2019

We do verify domains at the time they are listed and again when there is a sale before moving the domain. In almost all cases the domain moves to the buyer seamlessly. If there were an issue, say ownership recently changed between the listing time verification and the call for a sale the domain would fail to sell causing an error getting it into the shopping cart, or fail to move causing an error when we try and move if from the seller who listed it to the buyer. If the domain is not in the seller's control who listed it, it would fail. So there are several checks in place to prevent the situation you are asking about.

jideofor · Apr 18, 2019

Joe Styler said:
We do verify domains at the time they are listed and again when there is a sale before moving the domain. In almost all cases the domain moves to the buyer seamlessly. If there were an issue, say ownership recently changed between the listing time verification and the call for a sale the domain would fail to sell causing an error getting it into the shopping cart, or fail to move causing an error when we try and move if from the seller who listed it to the buyer. If the domain is not in the seller's control who listed it, it would fail. So there are several checks in place to prevent the situation you are asking about.

Oh wow... That is fair enough and thank you.

domain hacks · Apr 18, 2019

Here is a story, a fresh one.

Some 10 days ago I bought a “premium” domain at GoDaddy for $500.

The domain was transferred to me almost instantly. I have all the Emails and screenshots supporting my purchase of that domain (at the moment of the sale there was a live site on that domain, it still is, and it is a company that is well known is certain circles and recently featured in major US media)I relisted that domain for $2700.

My listing of that domain was accepted by GD Auctions but the next morning I woke up to see domain was taken away from me, money refunded and I was not able to login to my GD account (I also have 3+ hosting packages and some 50 domains and websites with them, so I kinda need that account, right?).

So I talked to GoDaddy support via chat and we managed to re-start my GD account after changing the password. After I logged in, I noticed that domain in case was still in my For Sale domains at GoDaddy Auctions, even if it was not in my onwership anymore. I thought that this was a mere glitch and that will go away once system recognize it.

Fast forward one week– I tried to login to my Auction GoDaddy account to list a domain I own but I couldn’t do that , they kept sending me to the forum/help page. So, I sent an Email to [email protected] to see what is going on.

Today I received an answer from GoDaddy Auction team on why is my account blocked.

This is how GoDaddy politely tells their 10 years customer to f*** off. (remember , I did nothing wrong, and I am sure the closing of my account was connected to domain I bought from GoDaddy)

Your auctions membership has been permanently suspended due to violations of the Auction Membership and Terms of Service.
No further information will be provided, the decision is final, and we consider this matter closed.

If this is not sorted out here are my next steps.

1.Move all my domains and hosting packages away from GoDaddy.

2.Contact the company that had their online property listed for $500 at GoDaddy. I will explain them how GoDaddy is taking a gooooood care of them and I am sure they will share that with their Twitter , YouTube and Insta followers.

If this was not the reason for my account termination I apologize, but I have been trying to figure out what could be the problem, but that is the only thing I can think of.

Source

Dustie · Apr 18, 2019

Domain Hacks, that has got to be terribly frustrating. I can't believe they wouldn't give you an explanation as to why your account has been banned from auctions? From what you post it doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. I'm so sorry for your situation. Believe me, I know how you feel right now, and it's not good. I hope you are able to get it all sorted out and soon!

WhoaDomain.com · Apr 18, 2019

domain hacks said:
Here is a story, a fresh one.

Some 10 days ago I bought a “premium” domain at GoDaddy for $500.

The domain was transferred to me almost instantly. I have all the Emails and screenshots supporting my purchase of that domain (at the moment of the sale there was a live site on that domain, it still is, and it is a company that is well known is certain circles and recently featured in major US media)I relisted that domain for $2700.

My listing of that domain was accepted by GD Auctions but the next morning I woke up to see domain was taken away from me, money refunded and I was not able to login to my GD account (I also have 3+ hosting packages and some 50 domains and websites with them, so I kinda need that account, right?).

So I talked to GoDaddy support via chat and we managed to re-start my GD account after changing the password. After I logged in, I noticed that domain in case was still in my For Sale domains at GoDaddy Auctions, even if it was not in my onwership anymore. I thought that this was a mere glitch and that will go away once system recognize it.

Fast forward one week– I tried to login to my Auction GoDaddy account to list a domain I own but I couldn’t do that , they kept sending me to the forum/help page. So, I sent an Email to [email protected] to see what is going on.

Today I received an answer from GoDaddy Auction team on why is my account blocked.

This is how GoDaddy politely tells their 10 years customer to f*** off. (remember , I did nothing wrong, and I am sure the closing of my account was connected to domain I bought from GoDaddy)

Your auctions membership has been permanently suspended due to violations of the Auction Membership and Terms of Service.
No further information will be provided, the decision is final, and we consider this matter closed.

If this is not sorted out here are my next steps.

1.Move all my domains and hosting packages away from GoDaddy.

2.Contact the company that had their online property listed for $500 at GoDaddy. I will explain them how GoDaddy is taking a gooooood care of them and I am sure they will share that with their Twitter , YouTube and Insta followers.

If this was not the reason for my account termination I apologize, but I have been trying to figure out what could be the problem, but that is the only thing I can think of.

Source

Scary.

jideofor · Apr 18, 2019

domain hacks said:
Here is a story, a fresh one.

Some 10 days ago I bought a “premium” domain at GoDaddy for $500.

The domain was transferred to me almost instantly. I have all the Emails and screenshots supporting my purchase of that domain (at the moment of the sale there was a live site on that domain, it still is, and it is a company that is well known is certain circles and recently featured in major US media)I relisted that domain for $2700.

My listing of that domain was accepted by GD Auctions but the next morning I woke up to see domain was taken away from me, money refunded and I was not able to login to my GD account (I also have 3+ hosting packages and some 50 domains and websites with them, so I kinda need that account, right?).

So I talked to GoDaddy support via chat and we managed to re-start my GD account after changing the password. After I logged in, I noticed that domain in case was still in my For Sale domains at GoDaddy Auctions, even if it was not in my onwership anymore. I thought that this was a mere glitch and that will go away once system recognize it.

Fast forward one week– I tried to login to my Auction GoDaddy account to list a domain I own but I couldn’t do that , they kept sending me to the forum/help page. So, I sent an Email to [email protected] to see what is going on.

Today I received an answer from GoDaddy Auction team on why is my account blocked.

This is how GoDaddy politely tells their 10 years customer to f*** off. (remember , I did nothing wrong, and I am sure the closing of my account was connected to domain I bought from GoDaddy)

Your auctions membership has been permanently suspended due to violations of the Auction Membership and Terms of Service.
No further information will be provided, the decision is final, and we consider this matter closed.

If this is not sorted out here are my next steps.

1.Move all my domains and hosting packages away from GoDaddy.

2.Contact the company that had their online property listed for $500 at GoDaddy. I will explain them how GoDaddy is taking a gooooood care of them and I am sure they will share that with their Twitter , YouTube and Insta followers.

If this was not the reason for my account termination I apologize, but I have been trying to figure out what could be the problem, but that is the only thing I can think of.

Source

Wow. . This is exactly my worry. @Joe Styler, please can you clarify this for us? This exactly what I was talking about earlier.

Please do well to see to it that this is sorted out.

Joe Styler · Apr 18, 2019

You do not get banned from the auctions for buying a domain at a wrong price. You get banned from the auctions for doing things against our terms of service. Beyond that I can't comment. I am not sure what the account is here and if I knew I would not comment publicly on someone'e private account.
As far as the Dustie.com domain I have been in contact with Dustie privately via email. That is all I can provide at this time.

Larion · Apr 18, 2019

domain hacks said:
Here is a story, a fresh one.

domain hacks said:
and I was not able to login to my GD account (I also have 3+ hosting packages and some 50 domains and websites with them, so I kinda need that account, right?).

it is always the best to separate your domains with your hosting-account (for your websites).
Never have your domains with the same company as the hosting for your websites.

Domains for your websites: at company A
Hosting for your websites: at company B
"Domains for sale"-Platform: at company C

Usually hosting-companies want your domains to be with them as well, because they want to make money from your yearly domain-renewals. But you need to tell the website-hosting-company that you are not having the domains with them, otherwise you will go to another hosting-company.

NEVER have all your stuff at one company. Always separate for safety and security.

domain hacks · Apr 18, 2019

NEVER have all your stuff at one company. Always separate for safety and security.

I know, I have account and products at 10 different companies.

I know I am risking much more than my Auctions account if I go out with the names and screenshots, but why would everything be allowed to big companies? Why would they ban my account without explanation...maybe they should tell me why, maybe it is something completelly different.

Joe Styler said:
You get banned from the auctions for doing things against our terms of service

I buy and sell domains there, what else is there to do? If you care look into my account and explain what I did (privately, if you cant go public) that would be great, if not, that would be great as well.

karmaco · Apr 18, 2019

My listing of that domain was accepted by GD Auctions but the next morning I woke up to see domain was taken away from me, money refunded and I was not able to login to my GD account

What reason were you given for why the transaction was reversed?

domain hacks · Apr 18, 2019

karmaco said:
My listing of that domain was accepted by GD Auctions but the next morning I woke up to see domain was taken away from me, money refunded and I was not able to login to my GD account

What reason were you given for why the transaction was reversed?

I got a
"You’ve canceled a product. You can review your full billing history and manage your preferences from your account. Here's what we removed for you today:...." mail from them. Funny people, selling other peoples domains, taking away domains, canceling products, terminating accounts...no explanation whatsoever.

Name Trader · Apr 18, 2019

domain hacks said:
Here is a story, a fresh one.

Some 10 days ago I bought a “premium” domain at GoDaddy for $500.

The domain was transferred to me almost instantly. I have all the Emails and screenshots supporting my purchase of that domain (at the moment of the sale there was a live site on that domain, it still is, and it is a company that is well known is certain circles and recently featured in major US media)I relisted that domain for $2700.

My listing of that domain was accepted by GD Auctions but the next morning I woke up to see domain was taken away from me, money refunded and I was not able to login to my GD account (I also have 3+ hosting packages and some 50 domains and websites with them, so I kinda need that account, right?).

So I talked to GoDaddy support via chat and we managed to re-start my GD account after changing the password. After I logged in, I noticed that domain in case was still in my For Sale domains at GoDaddy Auctions, even if it was not in my onwership anymore. I thought that this was a mere glitch and that will go away once system recognize it.

Fast forward one week– I tried to login to my Auction GoDaddy account to list a domain I own but I couldn’t do that , they kept sending me to the forum/help page. So, I sent an Email to [email protected] to see what is going on.

Today I received an answer from GoDaddy Auction team on why is my account blocked.

This is how GoDaddy politely tells their 10 years customer to f*** off. (remember , I did nothing wrong, and I am sure the closing of my account was connected to domain I bought from GoDaddy)

Your auctions membership has been permanently suspended due to violations of the Auction Membership and Terms of Service.
No further information will be provided, the decision is final, and we consider this matter closed.

If this is not sorted out here are my next steps.

1.Move all my domains and hosting packages away from GoDaddy.

2.Contact the company that had their online property listed for $500 at GoDaddy. I will explain them how GoDaddy is taking a gooooood care of them and I am sure they will share that with their Twitter , YouTube and Insta followers.

If this was not the reason for my account termination I apologize, but I have been trying to figure out what could be the problem, but that is the only thing I can think of.

Source

I feel for you. GD closed my account with 360 domains in it. I never got any clear explanation why. I certainly had done nothing to warrant it. I had, in fact followed the instructions of my previous account manager. I was told I had no right of appeal, from that first beginning, and then every time they shut down my appeal, they told me again I had no right of appeal. After 5 appeals, they agreed to re-open my account. No clear explanation of why they closed my account in the first place, or why my previous appeals were also rejected. These great minds closed my account, rejected 4 appeals, and on the fifth appeal, they changed their mind. Without explanation why they put me thru so much pain and misery. No apology. Nothing. I wasn't even allowed to appeal to these nerds. Faceless men in gray suits. All of them. Every appeal had to go thru my current account manager.

I was grateful for them re-opening my account. It might have bankrupted me, if I hadn't prevailed. I still use GoDaddy. But I never keep any domain in my GoDaddy account longer than when the lock is released. Nobody will ever convince me that their Software Systems or their Management, are worth more than one hoot. @Joe Styler is a good guy. But he only toes the corporate line. As is to be expected. I still reach out to Joe here on NamePros, on a few serious occasions. He's a straight shooter. At least he will tell you all that he is authorized to tell you. He won't leave you guessing, if at all possible.

I'm very well versed how GoDaddy's systems operate. So don't generally need any assistance. Their first level of phone support, is generally very, very poor. You spend 30-60 minutes, on each phone-call before asking to speak to their manager. It's painful. Their training must be really, really bad. I dread calling them.

I would NEVER have my domains registered at GoDaddy and hosted by GoDaddy. That gives them much more leverage on you. Close your account first for something they didn't like about your websites. It gives me the shudders. It's about the same feeling I get with their Domain Marketplace and their Registrar. Brrrwwhh! There are too many reports of problems with their marketplace. Joe will give you very small percentages. But if you are involved in one of those small percentages. It's a BIG thing. It's troubling whilst they have any problems with their marketplace. It looks like a sieve. From my PoV. Of course. Most transactions process without any problems. At all. But that should not leave us complacent for things going awfully wrong.

domain hacks · Apr 19, 2019

stub said:
I feel for you. GD closed my account with 360 domains in it. I never got any clear explanation why. I certainly had done nothing to warrant it. I had, in fact followed the instructions of my previous account manager. I was told I had no right of appeal, from that first beginning, and then every time they shut down my appeal, they told me again I had no right of appeal. After 5 appeals, they agreed to re-open my account. No clear explanation of why they closed my account in the first place, or why my previous appeals were also rejected. These great minds closed my account, rejected 4 appeals, and on the fifth appeal, they changed their mind. Without explanation why they put me thru so much pain and misery. No apology. Nothing. I wasn't even allowed to appeal to these nerds. Faceless men in gray suits. All of them. Every appeal had to go thru my current account manager.

I was grateful for them re-opening my account. It might have bankrupted me, if I hadn't prevailed. I still use GoDaddy. But I never keep any domain in my GoDaddy account longer than when the lock is released. Nobody will ever convince me that their Software Systems or their Management, are worth more than one hoot. @Joe Styler is a good guy. But he only toes the corporate line. As is to be expected. I still reach out to Joe here on NamePros, on a few serious occasions. He's a straight shooter. At least he will tell you all that he is authorized to tell you. He won't leave you guessing, if at all possible.

I'm very well versed how GoDaddy's systems operate. So don't generally need any assistance. Their first level of phone support, is generally very, very poor. You spend 30-60 minutes, on each phone-call before asking to speak to their manager. It's painful. Their training must be really, really bad. I dread calling them.

I would NEVER have my domains registered at GoDaddy and hosted by GoDaddy. That gives them much more leverage on you. Close your account first for something they didn't like about your websites. It gives me the shudders. It's about the same feeling I get with their Domain Marketplace and their Registrar. Brrrwwhh! There are too many reports of problems with their marketplace. Joe will give you very small percentages. But if you are involved in one of those small percentages. It's a BIG thing. It's troubling whilst they have any problems with their marketplace. It looks like a sieve. From my PoV. Of course. Most transactions process without any problems. At all. But that should not leave us complacent for things going awfully wrong.

Wow, thanks for a such insightful response, you described it the way it is. Their "support" basically takes 10 minutes pushing me into buying and/or renewing services with them, instead of going directly to solving my problem. And most of the time they do not know how to solve the problem without reaching out to some other depertment.

Domains - Wanted · Apr 19, 2019

Larion said:
...NEVER have all your stuff at one company. Always separate for safety and security.

Given the case described in OP and the unconvincing and much less helpful than usual response from @Joe Styler, I would go a little further and strongly recommend:

NEVER have all your stuff at GoDaddy. Always separate for safety and security.

GoDaddy's domain and hosting pricing alike are less than competitive. Okay, so we all have accounts at GoDaddy, whether to bid in auctions, or take delivery of acquired domains that can't be immediately transferred out. But keeping anything there long term? Risky business, to put it mildly! As evidencsd by multiple threads here. Kudos to @Joe Styler for jumping in and saving the day on multiple occasions, but my point is this: he shouldn't have to! His coworkers' arrogance is stupid, disgusting and not a little scary:

Your auctions membership has been permanently suspended due to violations of the Auction Membership and Terms of Service.
No further information will be provided, the decision is final, and we consider this matter closed.

Seriously?

carob · Apr 19, 2019

domain hacks said:
Why would they ban my account without explanation...maybe they should tell me why, maybe it is something completelly different.

The decision may be made by an automated process - but the logic of that process was written by a human and should be checkable and reversible if it gets it wrong.

If you are an EU citizen or resident, under GDPR you can request that GD give you all data pertaining to you - which should cover this decision: https://uk.godaddy.com/help/gdpr-privacy-features-for-eu-residents-27883#Portability

GDPR also gives you the right to ask for human review of any automated decision.

I wonder if a flag went up when you listed the domain if they had just just classified it as incorrectly owned, overlooking the fact that you had just bought it in good faith and were not at fault.

If things like this keep happening then maybe Godaddy processes and employees need some review. Godaddy auctions do seem to have a lot of trouble recognising mistakes.

tonyk2000 · Apr 19, 2019

jideofor said:
What got be me worried is the fact that some of these names listed for sale on Godaddy have website on them or are redirected to a site.

I have myself listed a few such domains. Knowingly. Instead of parking and/or using forsale lander, decided to play with affiliate monetization a little, using whitelabels in some cases. Reason - human traffic I saw in stats, and niche(s) were appropriate for such experiments. Yes, I would promptly deliver the domains should they be sold (and they are all actually fast transfer afternic domains and/or gd premium listings, so the delivery would be instant).

jideofor · Apr 19, 2019

tonyk2000 said:
I have myself listed a few such domains. Knowingly. Instead of parking and/or using forsale lander, decided to play with affiliate monetization a little, using whitelabels in some cases. Reason - human traffic I saw in stats, and niche(s) were appropriate for such experiments. Yes, I would promptly deliver the domains should they be sold (and they are all actually fast transfer afternic domains and/or gd premium listings, so the delivery would be instant).

hmmm I see. I hope it is same for many others I have noticed. What if you were just an exception?

tonyk2000 · Apr 19, 2019

jideofor said:
What if you were just an exception?

I checked a number of Namesilo marketplace domains once and found so many things I'd never expect. Forward to personal facebook. "Under Construction" registrar-powered pages. Default hosting pages. Parking without any keyword optimization and without forsale signs. But they were all domains definitely available for immediate purchase (as it is how namesilo marketplace is configured). So it is likely that with GD aftermarket purchases should also be completed successfully in most cases.

jideofor · Apr 19, 2019

tonyk2000 said:
I checked a number of Namesilo marketplace domains once and found so many things I'd never expect. Forward to personal facebook. "Under Construction" registrar-powered pages. Default hosting pages. Parking without any keyword optimization and without forsale signs. But they were all domains definitely available for immediate purchase (as it is how namesilo marketplace is configured). So it is likely that with GD aftermarket purchases should also be completed successfully in most cases.

Alright thanks.

domain hacks · Apr 19, 2019

@Joe Styler would you mind checking my account and see why was I banned and if that is a mistake? I can send you my account number via PM if you agree.

Joe Styler · Apr 19, 2019

domain hacks said:
@Joe Styler would you mind checking my account and see why was I banned and if that is a mistake? I can send you my account number via PM if you agree.

happy to have a look. PM me your account info a domain in your account or account number.

70ym · Apr 19, 2019

I dont know how afternic verify the ownership of domains.
I have bought banana.com that was not listed by the owner.
And many of my domains keep in "in review" status.

domain hacks · Apr 20, 2019

I would like to say that Joe Styler from GoDaddy contacted me with a great news. My account was unsuspended. Thanks Joe.

It is great to have this type of support on Namepros.

If you wonder what happened and why was I banned, I am just going to say that this was probably a case of bad listing.

I am leaving domains at GoDaddy and continuing to use Auctions GoDaddy platform as this is the venue where I sell domains really fast.

I would also like to thank to everyone else who posted in this thread. Have a great weekend everybody.

Larion · Apr 20, 2019

I am using this Registrar and can recommend it:

https://www.domaindiscount24.com

Is it possible to sell someone else domain name at GoDaddy?

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