HUGE DOMAINS SNIPING GODADDY CLOSEOUTS

wwwweb · May 6, 2019

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.

Recons.Com · Jun 26, 2019

wwwweb said:
You have to buy them for about $20 each.

It shows $17.48 for me as DCC member. But also includes 1 year renewal, so in an expired name case, that adds up to around $10 for the bid.

markfromslo · Jun 26, 2019

Recons.Com said:
You are again comparing humans to api. My point is a bit different. Many players are supposed to have that api, why HD seems to be the winner almost every time?

Excellent point! Surely there would be other snipes using the API. Where are they?

Windoms · Jun 27, 2019

slobizman said:
Excellent point! Surely there would be other snipes using the API. Where are they?

And with so many established players in this industry others would have also figured it out. Especially since its super priority interest to them (#1 place for finding the main product they sell).
Somehow no one besides HD has figured it out.

wwwweb · Jun 27, 2019

A lot of good points made by seasoned domain pros, and everyday users who are quite keen to notice facts.

I guess we hear crickets from godaddy on this, business as usually, Huge Domains going to snipe another couple hundred freebies today.

Once again not a level playing field, bid carefully.

markfromslo · Jun 27, 2019

Windoms said:
Somehow no one besides HD has figured it out.

Or no one else gets an advantage that we don't know about.

wwwweb · Jun 27, 2019

slobizman said:
Or no one else gets an advantage that we don't know about.

Well it’s not like they don’t know about it, they can pull up their closeouts buys quickly, and figure out that stats.

They aren’t doing anything to stop them, like I said, I kind of think it’s a thank you for all those assists on those one off bids they end up proxying into the hundreds. If it wasn’t, and it’s clearly an advantage to one party, not just a minor one, but looking the other way really doesn’t help the other 99.9% of godaddy customers. It is no way a level playing field, not even close.

Windoms · Jun 27, 2019

wwwweb said:
Well it’s not like they don’t know about it, they can pull up their closeouts buys quickly, and figure out that stats.

They aren’t doing anything to stop them, like I said, I kind of think it’s a thank you for all those assists on those one off bids they end up proxying into the hundreds. If it wasn’t, and it’s clearly an advantage to one party, not just a minor one, but looking the other way really doesn’t help the other 99.9% of godaddy customers. It is no way a level playing field, not even close.

If you look at GD as a whole entity, this doesn't benefit them. Only a limited group of people (department).
If the case gets to the right ears, they will fix this.
I guess we all have to send complaints / sign a petition for someone or find someone's email address

wwwweb · Jun 27, 2019

Windoms said:
If you look at GD as a whole entity, this doesn't benefit them. Only a limited group of people (department).
If the case gets to the right ears, they will fix this.
I guess we all have to send complaints / sign a petition for someone or find someone's email address

It’s all departmentalized, and I am sure each department wants to show growth. Given all the streams, this auction platform might have seemed small 5 years ago, but a lot has changed present day. Employees get compensated based on performance in departments, especially executive management of those departments.

They didn’t seem to care much when the backorder loophole was being gamed, why would they care now. Usually takes someone like Rick Schwartz to rant about it to get their attention.

markfromslo · Jun 29, 2019

Dear Huge Domains (aka Godaddy partner): Congratulations on your purchase today of ElderCarePro.com. I thought I'd be the only (human) bidder for it today, but when your bid followed mine I could sense it was you. I refused to fight you into the hundreds of dollars. Sure enough, after the auction when I could see the bidder number, there you were: Bidder 913932.

wwwweb · Jun 30, 2019

slobizman said:
Dear Huge Domains (aka Godaddy partner): Congratulations on your purchase today of ElderCarePro.com. I thought I'd be the only (human) bidder for it today, but when your bid followed mine I could sense it was you. I refused to fight you into the hundreds of dollars. Sure enough, after the auction when I could see the bidder number, there you were: Bidder 913932.

Thanks for sharing that, given it is a 1 year old, 2018 registered domain, a vague term, with nil search results it is basically the nail in the coffin that innocent bidders are being put into bidding wars, and godaddy refuses to step in, and protect it’s customers.

What defines someone as an elder care pro, like with 7 million domains, why would they proxy over $100 to obtain this domain?

Sharing examples like this continues to show what most already know, to bad godaddy is still in denial. There are a lot of newbies who keep falling for this, and paying hundreds for domains that have no real bidding compeition

markfromslo · Jun 30, 2019

wwwweb said:
Thanks for sharing that, given it is a 1 year old, 2018 registered domain, a vague term, with nil search results it is basically the nail in the coffin that innocent bidders are being put into bidding wars, and godaddy refuses to step in, and protect it’s customers.

What defines someone as an elder care pro, like with 7 million domains, why would they proxy over $100 to obtain this domain?

Sharing examples like this continues to show what most already know, to bad godaddy is still in denial. There are a lot of newbies who keep falling for this, and paying hundreds for domains that have no real bidding compeition

I went to about $50-60 I think, and then I just knew that it was HD and decided I wasn't going to go up to a couple hundred dollars, which is where I likely would have had to go. I have examples like this daily.

Lox · Jun 30, 2019

They're (TurnCommerce) not just paying to own the domain name, they're paying to beat other people who are bidding and prevent them from having it. You couldn't potentially find any flaw with what (in almost real-time) monitoring tool does + InfluxData helped them to setup the largest DNS installations in the world + more ...

wwwweb · Jun 30, 2019

Lox said:
They're (TurnCommerce) not just paying to own the domain name, they're paying to beat other people who are bidding and prevent them from having it. You couldn't potentially find any flaw with what (in almost real-time) monitoring tool does + InfluxData helped them to setup up the largest DNS installations in the world + more ...

Fair enough, but gaming the closeouts really should be abolished.

wwwulff · Jun 30, 2019

I bought a few names where HD was the second highest bidder and although it is annoying that they pretty much bid on everything, it's just part of the game and I didn't think I over paid for any of them (low xxx)

wwwweb said:
Fair enough, but gaming the closeouts really should be abolished.

I totally agree with you here and even though it probably won't happen GD should take it seriously and do something about it.

Lox · Jun 30, 2019

It depends on a lot of factors. If you bid without giving TurnCommerce time to react (auto bid) they'll allow you an additional time ("satisfaction") before the bot react to an increase of “value”. If you bid too low, they'll (in most cases) outbid you instantly. Your "offer" will of course be highly dependent on what the monitoring tool will tell them about the "behavior" (appraisal, traffic, DN auction views, history of keyword/s and realtime SERP, etc. I guess 200+ factors).

Recons.Com · Jun 30, 2019

wwwweb said:
Fair enough, but gaming the closeouts really should be abolished.

The only question here is if GD is losing more than it is gaining from HD via the reputation damage and loss of other bidders.

I, for one, don't bid on names I would otherwise buy at up to high $xx, low $xxx and they get sniped by HD at $11. I only participate in auctions that I know will go into higher price and will have multiple pursuers.

So, HD brings more money to GD via forcing people to pay up to their max budget for low quality names and willing to be left stuck with the names it really did not want, but for this gets rewarded by getting dirt cheap deals on closeout names that really shouldn't have made it to closeout. And HD makes GD lose money by turning away potential bidders for these kinds of names.

I guess, since HD/GD are working so closely, the math works in the favor of continuing the way it is and the gain from gaming is higher than the loss from the reputation loss.

wwwweb · Jun 30, 2019

Recons.Com said:
The only question here is if GD is losing more than it is gaining from HD via the reputation damage and loss of other bidders.

I, for one, don't bid on names I would otherwise buy at up to high $xx, low $xxx and they get sniped by HD at $11. I only participate in auctions that I know will go into higher price and will have multiple pursuers.

So, HD brings more money to GD via forcing people to pay up to their max budget for low quality names and willing to be left stuck with the names it really did not want, but for this gets rewarded by getting dirt cheap deals on closeout names that really shouldn't have made it to closeout. And HD makes GD lose money by turning away potential bidders for these kinds of names.

I guess, since HD/GD are working so closely, the math works in the favor of continuing the way it is and the gain from gaming is higher than the loss from the reputation loss.

I’m sure there is more to this simple relationship that we don’t know about. Godaddy is turning $11 & $12 into 10x 20x conversions, I think the relationship is very beneficial.

They sell a lot of names for huge domains thru their platform, doubtful they are paying 20% like the rest.

Even bidding hundreds of dollars on thousands of names a week, with a less than 2 percent sell thru, how long can they sustain such a burn without putting money away for slower times. Verisign price hikes will cost their bottom line millions, difference between profit, and loss.

I used to check the platform a lot more, and bid regularly, I have dropped off my activity by about 90 percent, and I’m sure others have better things to do with their time, than play bidding games.

Godaddy continues to state this is a level playing field, but we all know it isn’t.

markfromslo · Jun 30, 2019

As I was outbid again today on another name by Bidder 913932, I was thinking... this is good for Godaddy in another respect: The domain game is going downhill, with the exception of the big names. Without HD, Godaddy would sell quite a bit fewer domain names in the auctions. HD buying up untold numbers of names at $11 and bringing up prices in auctions with other bidders, the aftermarket looks much healthier than it really is. Makes the unsophisticated think, "names are moving fast! Buy, buy, buy while I can!"

Lox · Jun 30, 2019

wwwweb said:
how long can they sustain such a burn

Multiple TC (eg. Dropcatch1 llc, Dropcatch57 llc,Dropcatch105 llc, ...100s) subsidiaries provide $ax & other benefits.

wwwweb · Jun 30, 2019

slobizman said:
As I was outbid again today on another name by Bidder 913932, I was thinking... this is good for Godaddy in another respect: The domain game is going downhill, with the exception of the big names. Without HD, Godaddy would sell quite a bit fewer domain names in the auctions. HD buying up untold numbers of names at $11 and bringing up prices in auctions with other bidders, the aftermarket looks much healthier than it really is. Makes the unsophisticated think, "names are moving fast! Buy, buy, buy while I can!"

I’m on the opposite side, the prices in the auction market seem really high. Seems like over eager spenders who really don’t understand how long some domains take to sell. Obviously there are good names that have a lot of good competition probably as some big holders are trying to replace sold
inventory, but not at prices they sell to end users for.

Turn commerce Dropcatch Huge names whatever you want to call them, caused disruption to the drop market, and it looks like they have done the same to the auction market, with the help of godaddy who has benefited them greatly along the way with loopholes such as the backorder, and now API sniping tool in closeouts.

Lox · Jun 30, 2019

Some registries/registrars give the registrant 5+ days to think about and change from yes to no. If no, the name is canceled and returned/dropped to the market or tunneled. (it happens, but how very often ... don't know)

wwwweb · Jun 30, 2019

Lox said:
Some registries/registrars give the registrant 5+ days to think about and change from yes to no. If no, the name is canceled and returned/dropped to the market or tunneled. (it happens, but how very often ... don't know)

I doubt this is the case now since registry partners are involved. But godaddy had many ways to compensate huge domains via free or discounted
backorder credits, discounted
commissions, rebates, extended payment terms etc....

Turncommerce is very savvy, and I’m
sure they feel thing bring more than the average user, and would be smart to negotiate some sort of concessions.

Many people have stated they now how to instigate huge domains bids to maximize their pain, and make them pay up for subpar domains, but I feel many times that backfires by the original bidder getting stuck when they take out the proxy, and huge domains bot is nowhere to be found.

Hats off to godaddy they have discovered a way to extract the maximum amount for subpar names like eldercarepro.com etc... it’s truly raining money over there.

markfromslo · Jul 1, 2019

wwwweb said:
I’m on the opposite side, the prices in the auction market seem really high. Seems like over eager spenders who really don’t understand how long some domains take to sell. Obviously there are good names that have a lot of good competition probably as some big holders are trying to replace sold
inventory, but not at prices they sell to end users for.

I agree, absolutely. The prices people are paying for what I consider crap names boggles my mind. I just don't get it. Due to this, I have greatly reduced my name buying unless I can get a bargain on a name I realize the value of and other don't. Since about a year ago, I've preferred to just let my names sell, pocketing the profits rather than reinvesting them. I think in the not-so-distant future there will be tens of thousands of domainers left holding too large an inventory of names, most of which will never sell. It's profit to the pocket time, for the most part. And this HD situation is helping me stick to this decision.

Lord Antares · Jul 1, 2019

Recons.Com said:
GD claims that the API is open to almost anyone. What I don't understand then is why every name that goes into closeout and doesn't emerge out again ends up with HD?

Shouldn't there be someone else doing this and beating HD at least now and then?

This is the real question here. Wouldn't it be fairly trivial to test?

In fact, I don't think it even needs testing. Here's a quote from GD:

Terms of use
Each API endpoint has an allotted number of calls you are allowed to make within a period of time (60 requests per minute). If you attempt to make more API calls to an endpoint than this allotted amount, the call will be rejected by the GoDaddy API and will return an HTTP status code of 429 and an error message indicating that your rate limit has been surpassed.

If you do receive an error indicating that you have exceeded your limit, the error message will tell you the duration you need to wait before resuming calls to that endpoint.

So you get 1 API call per second, which is more or less standard with registrars. HD seems to operate at speeds far exceeding 1 call per second. Something doesn't add up there.

Unless 60 requests per minute doesn't mean 1 request per second. Maybe HD fire off 60 requests instantly at a time their bot knows is right. Do all expired domains take exactly the same amount of time to enter closeouts? Because that would make sense then.

Hmm...

wwwweb · Jul 1, 2019

Lord Antares said:
This is the real question here. Wouldn't it be fairly trivial to test?

In fact, I don't think it even needs testing. Here's a quote from GD:

So you get 1 API call per second, which is more or less standard with registrars. HD seems to operate at speeds far exceeding 1 call per second. Something doesn't add up there.

Unless 60 requests per minute doesn't mean 1 request per second. Maybe HD fire off 60 requests instantly at a time their bot knows is right. Do all expired domains take exactly the same amount of time to enter closeouts? Because that would make sense then.

Hmm...

It was all BS to hush everyone up, all these pros wouldn’t be speaking up if it wasn’t a level playing field.

Either someone isn’t being honest, or they have figured a way around it, and have not been questioned, or stopped, but it’s total bs for both scenarios. Another black eye for Godaddy.

This is a great partnership, and don’t expect godaddy to rock the boat unless they really have to. A few domain hacks speaking up is not enough to level the playing field to date.

HUGE DOMAINS SNIPING GODADDY CLOSEOUTS

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

____Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

____Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

____Top Member

Top Member

____Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Top Member

Similar threads

We're social

Pinned

Appreciation

Agreement