Afternic - Official Thread

[GoDaddy]

Hello NamePros!
By popular demand, we have launched a dedicated feedback thread for Afternic, the GoDaddy-owned domain name marketplace.

We have created this thread as a way for you to tell us what works, what doesn't work, and what features you'd like to see at Afternic (please be constructive with your feedback). We're looking forward to hearing from the domain investment community to help us shape the future of Afternic.

We will also be sharing Afternic product updates in this thread.

Please note that this thread is not meant for support. Please email our support team at [email protected] for assistance.

 

[Ostrados]

Please fix the following problematic issues with Afternic:

1- Afternic NS5/NS6 does not resolve in Firefox private browsing!

I reported this bug before to @James Iles and to Afternic support 45 days ago but still nothing.


2- Old Godaddy auction listings (listed by others) override Afternic NS5/NS6 landing page:

I reported this issue in full details in this thread:
Afternic listing does not override Old Godaddy Auctions


3- Automated Verification method is needed when adding names to Afternic:

We need a faster and more practical method for domains verrification, rather than providing screenshots to Afternic support. Also to prevent others from listing our names, which is reported here in this thread:
There are some people list millions of other people's domain on afternic


4- No camel case for domain names in Afternic landing pages:

Why I can't show MyDomainName.com instead of mydomainname? Is it so hard to implement?


5- Search field shows up at checkout (bad) in NS5/NS6 BIN pages!

6- Suggested cheap Alternative at checkout of NS5/NS6 BIN pages!

 

[kor]

To see how the process works, I inquired one of my own domains with a pseudo name and email address.

Even though it was 3 days late, one of the brokers returned. He shared the BIN price, I stated that I had a budget of 1/3 of this price and I could not buy it. He then said that he wanted to pass this domain and offer me an alternative.

1-) Even though it has been 2 weeks since I filled out the ns3/ns4 inquire form, is it a correct approach not to share any information about this request with the domain owner? Shouldn't he have at least said: "There is someone interested in buying the domain name but the budget is low, would you consider making a counterbid?"

2-) Is it ethical to try to direct a customer who is interested in a specific domain name to other domains in your database? How would you explain my potential buyer being referred to another seller?

It seems that trusting the godaddy brand and delivering the sales channel to you despite the high commission amounts was not a very rational idea.

 

[Future Sensors]

Hello Afternic,

On June 22, I sold a domain through Afternic for USD 9,500. It was a brokered lead transaction. The funds had already been received from the buyer and I gave Afternic the AUTH code on the very same day.

Since then, the day of June 22nd, the domain is in the "Afternic DNescrow" account with GoDaddy, and Afternic manages the buyer's funds.

Despite this, Afternic refuses to pay the money to me as the seller, stating that the buyer will first have to accept the domain in their GoDaddy account. Afternic Transaction Assurance has reaffirmed this today on July 6th.

Afternic, I kindly request that payment to me (and other payments) be made faster. This payment takes unnecessarily long and it feels very frustrating to be dependent on Afternic in this way.

Thank you.

@GoDaddy
@James Iles
@Joe Styler

 

[Acroplex]

The biggest most important and easiest issue to fix by Afternic is the following one(and I have reported it multiple times directly and via NP):

- Afternic landers don't resolve if a domain is entered or clicked via https.

It is hard to estimate and depends, of course, on the backlink profile, but probably 10-20% of sales are lost simply because the potential buyer sees an empty page when using https. For me personally, this means 5 to 6 figure loss every year, to Afternic this is probably 8 figure annual loss.

It is mind boggling that after so many years since Google pretty much has "outlawed" http protocol, GD still not only is stuck with http, but can't even make https work.

Until this huge impact issue is resolved, I don't believe Afternic/GD is genuinely interested in collecting any actionable feedback.

Not defending this lack of SSL, however Uni Market domains don't use SSL either.

On the other hand, Dan.com listings do! And this speaks volumes about the modern approach Dan.com took across the board.

IMO, Afternic should be completely retired and Dan.com should be rebranded as the new "Afternic 2.0."

 

[tonyk2000]

Please stop allowing adding domains one does not own. As proven in various NP threads, it is a major issue within all GD properties, including afternic and dan. In other words, it must be obligatory to verify ownership via DNS or CNAME for any and all added domains. This includes "special" clients with API access. Thank you.

 

[411domains]

Two questions:

1.) Has anyone else noticed price updates are not updating at a number of Afternic partners? (NameCheap...Google Domains...Name.com to name a few.)

Before anyone says, "it could take up to blah blah blah hours/days," I've been monitoring a this for approximately two weeks and the prices are not updating.

2.) Has anyone had success with spreadsheet uploads in beta? I cannot get passed "Invalid file type uploaded."

When I upload spreadsheets in the classic version, nothing happens. It's taken, but unfortunately not a single change is made to the portfolio.

@GoDaddy /Afternic, it would be so much more efficient if we had price filters to work with at Afternic or at the very least the ability to copy & paste domains for editing.

Quite frankly, I'm surprised those basic key options still aren't available after two key acquisitions and 2 to 3 years of being in beta.

 

[bmugford]

Hello Afternic,

On June 22, I sold a domain through Afternic for USD 9,500. It was a brokered lead transaction. The funds had already been received from the buyer and I gave Afternic the AUTH code on the very same day.

Since then, the day of June 22nd, the domain is in the "Afternic DNescrow" account with GoDaddy, and Afternic manages the buyer's funds.

Despite this, Afternic refuses to pay the money to me as the seller, stating that the buyer will first have to accept the domain in their GoDaddy account. Afternic Transaction Assurance has reaffirmed this today on July 6th.

Afternic, I kindly request that payment to me (and other payments) be made faster. This payment takes unnecessarily long and it feels very frustrating to be dependent on Afternic in this way.

Thank you.

@GoDaddy
@James Iles
@Joe Styler

I have a similar issue with a recent Afternic sale.

I sold a domain on 6/27/2023. It was pushed and accepted to Afternic's account that day.

I contacted support yesterday and asked them why the payout has not been scheduled yet and was told -

"The TA team doesn't release funds until the buyer has accepted the name into their account. That is the last thing we are waiting on but it should be done soon."

In my case the domain is a .US domain, which doesn't offer privacy. I can see the domain is in the buyer's information, and has been since at least 6/29/2023.

So I am not sure what "until the buyer has accepted the name into their account" actually means.

I had a different sale a few days after which was already paid out without a problem.

This has to be some recent policy change, as I have been paid for domains that were still in the "Afternic" GoDaddy account before. In my case, the domain was not even in Afternic's account.

Can you please clarify what is going on?

@James Iles @Paul Nicks @Joe Styler

Brad

 

[Recons.Com]

The biggest most important and easiest issue to fix by Afternic is the following one(and I have reported it multiple times directly and via NP):

- Afternic landers don't resolve if a domain is entered or clicked via https.

It is hard to estimate and depends, of course, on the backlink profile, but probably 10-20% of sales are lost simply because the potential buyer sees an empty page when using https. For me personally, this means 5 to 6 figure loss every year, to Afternic this is probably 8 figure annual loss.

It is mind boggling that after so many years since Google pretty much has "outlawed" http protocol, GD still not only is stuck with http, but can't even make https work.

Until this huge impact issue is resolved, I don't believe Afternic/GD is genuinely interested in collecting any actionable feedback.

 

[clickcents]

Dear GD/Afternic, you have to seriously think of domain verification while adding names by seller accounts..

Recently i am getting dynadot and namecheap fast transfer requests for approval and when I checked, somebody has listed my domains at high BIN in afternic..

So is it the credibility of such a large marketplace owned by GoDaddy..?? Anybody can list any domains without permission or knowledge of the actual owner?

Note: I have not listed these domains in my afternic account because these are approved premium by some brandable market places.So the other seller that took advantage of my non listing of particular domains and listed simply as his own..

So am I supposed to send mail to afternic support everytime for removing these domains ?? Evenif it is removed by afternic for that seller,some other can again add these domains without any verification..

Also if the actual owner approved the fast transfer and if domain gets sold from other seller account,how worse the situation be? Because the domain will automatically transferred to buyer by the registar..

So it is an endless headache for actual owners and endless fun for spa**ers

We are in the era of AI everywhere now and please stop these useless listings by non owners..

Hope that many other genuine sellers also facing these issues

 

[Jeremiah88]

First on the list should be ownership verification

Having to email cs more than 3 times to delist an outdated marketplace listing isn't funny.

Lost a sale because my domain was priced lower on GoDaddy by the previous owner, buyer became skeptical and lost interest

 

[Future Sensors]

Good question @kor

How actively are GoDaddy brokers promoting domains from their own NameFind portfolio here?

@James Iles @GoDaddy

 

[411domains]

Yes, I agree, not resolved yet

I just checked again and 1 has disappeared again ( there could be more )

I did a price update earlier and the following happened:

1. An entire portfolio of Fast Transfer active domains were downgraded to pending opt-in.
2. 40-50 names disappeared and became unsearchable in beta, but searchable in classic.
3. Domain count changed.
4. Several domains were deleted altogether.
5. The prices did not update anywhere. (Not even the Afternic landers.)

@GoDaddy , It's 2023, why does it take 1 1/2 hours to upload a simple spreadsheet??? What is that all about? (1/2 just to begin the upload)

In the time it takes to upload a spreadsheet at Afternic, I can upload at least 20+ of the same spreadsheets anywhere else. (Except for DAN, who now seems to be having regular upload issues. Hmmm...Coincidence?)

Further, it should not take 24-72 hours for pricing to update in the standard networks or the Afternic landers for that matter. (Lander pricing should be the very first thing to update.)

In what universe is this considered ok?

That said, rather than wait for these guys to figure it out, I made my entire portfolio disappear.

I'd rather have nothing listed than have the illusion that everything is listed.

The irony is, even though the entire portfolio was removed, several hours ago, everything is still appearing as listed, but unavailable to purchase if a buyer tries adding it to their cart.

 

[capybara]

Its great we have more details and transparency about the customer interaction at Afternic recently. But it would be nice if it is developed even further, and we could read the emails/calls logs (understandably with personal/contact details edited out). It seems that many people have concerns and questions about the brokers' work with their domain names.

 

[capybara]

What Afternic needs to implement:

– option to automatically verify domains which would override listings by other people
– stop auto delisting domains into "pending review" because of transfer/expiration (at least two weeks past expiration should not affect the listings since such domains are perfectly transferrable and thus sellable). Replace this with dashboard warnings (and optional email warnings).
– support domain pushes at all significant registrars so that domains after registration/transfer could be sold without delays
– reconsider fee structure for high value domains (15% for >100k domains is nonsense and even more so is 25%)
– option for automatic distribution of listings to Dan.com
– either support for crypto payments at Afternic landing pages or option to forward checkout to Dan.com where such support exists

 

[Acroplex]

I think most will agree that all this feedback is pointless when there is no publicly disclosed commitment to a time frame. E.g. by Q2/2023 the deliverables are [insert list of tasks to be completed.]

Domain investors want to use a service that is stable and mature. Think: Uni Market & Dan.

 

[DomainBarracksRob]

@GoDaddy Why is it just about ever time I update/change a price on a name already listed, it put's the name in review...and sits in review for days, unless I take the time to reach out to have it fixed?.......This a a time consuming and a hassle that I did not notice before all these recent changes you and Dan have made.

Can this please be improved ? Thanks. @James Iles

 

[tonyk2000]

As per the last newsletter: "In instances where you are adding a domain name to your portfolio that already has a listing on Afternic, you'll be able to use TXT or nameserver records to move that domain name into your portfolio within minutes."
Fine, but ownership verification is still not mandatory. In other words, fraudsters are still able to add domains they do not own (if a real owner does not have the domain listed @ afternic), as well as unregistered domains. Moreover, the same issue is still not fixed @ DAN.

@James Iles

 

[411domains]

@GoDaddy

I brought up this particular concern several times in the past and either the messages were not relayed to the team or they fell upon deaf ears.

Now that someone is actively listening, I thought this might be the opportune time to revisit this concern.

This is a screenshot of a premium domain checkout.

It looks great except for one little hitch.

Look closely at the highlighted renewal date...Renews July 2024 (One year from the date the domain was added to the cart, exactly like a domain registration.)

The problem is, this particular domain is registered through 2030.

These are not domain registrations, they are premium purchases.

For the sake of simplicity, it should state nothing more than the renewal price.

Simply put, the premium domain purchase renewal dates are inaccurate.

While it may all work out once the order has been processed, it may cause buyer hesitation and/or confusion prior to that point.

Since they're using the same path and code, the simplest solution would to remove the date.

For the sake of accuracy, it would be greatly appreciated if we could get this looked into and corrected.

 

[bmugford]

I think I noticed something similar during a previous (manual transfer) sale.

So basically we can't be sure of anything until the money actually hits our PayPal/bank account. Whenever and if that happens.

Between GoDaddy, Afternic, and Dan it seems like the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

I often run into issues with listings already existing, and not being able to figure out where they are feeding into the system from or knowing how to remove them.

I understand it not being easy for GoDaddy to keep this stuff straight. There are just so many different distribution paths, systems, processes, etc.

Brad

 

[411domains]

We’re excited to share that Lease to Own is coming soon to Afternic. But from today, we’re giving all Afternic sellers early access to start enabling Lease to Own for their domain names!

Once launched to buyers, Lease to Own will be available as an option through Afternic’s Dan.com Landers as well as through GoDaddy when someone searches for your domain name!

This means that we want to invite sellers to enable Lease to Own early so that they can take advantage of the alternative purchase option from day one!

There are 4 steps that sellers can take today to be ready for Lease to Own. Read those, and more, on the Afternic blog.

Why Lease to Own? For some, lower advertised monthly payment may drive an increase in sell-through rate. Lease to own can also provide a recurring income for domain name sellers, which is the goal for many portfolio owners.


What’s launching today?
Afternic domain name sellers have access from today to start enabling Lease to Own on their domain names at Afternic. This can be done individually or in bulk.


What do I need to do to enable Lease to Own?
For existing domains in your Afternic portfolio, you can visit https://www.afternic.com/portfolio/selling where you’ll see a new Lease to Own column. From there, you can enable Lease to Own for individual domain names.

You can also enable Lease to Own in bulk by selecting all domains on a page, then using the Pricing option in the footer toolbar.


Will new additions to my portfolio be automatically enrolled into Lease to Own?
Your new settings page, https://www.afternic.com/account/lander, will allow you to switch on Lease to Own by default for all new domain names that are added to your portfolio, as long as they have a Buy Now price between $495 and $100,000.

While you’re there, you can also choose a default sale lander for domain names that you add to your portfolio in future!


When will Lease to Own show on my landing page?
We will be launching Lease to Own soon, and when we do, a Lease to Own option will be available for customers using the Dan.com Lander option at Afternic. At the same time, we will begin the rollout of Lease to Own at GoDaddy search.


What will Lease to Own look like through GoDaddy search?
Once it rolls out, buyers that search for your domain name at GoDaddy will be presented with a Lease to Own button next to the existing Buy Now button for enabled domain names with a Buy Now price between $495 and $100,000.


We will share a preview of the GoDaddy search experience soon.


Visit https://www.afternic.com/portfolio/selling to start enabling Lease to Own today!

@GoDaddy Instead of monkeying around with LTO options, how about you add basic data filters, so that we can better manage our portfolios?

DNS had them!
UNI had them!
DAN has them!
Sedo has them!

We've been requesting these for YEARS!

You acquired two platforms who had amazing data filters and functions.
You killed one and you're in the process of killing the second.

Afternic, who's supposed to be this industry leading, sales producing behemoth of a platform, remains the only platform in the industry who doesn't have a single data filter option.

Not to mention, it's the only platform in the industry, where a 100 inch monitor is required to view more than a few columns at a time. It's a joke.

It's obvious nobody on the team has ever managed a large or even massive portfolio before. If anyone had, data filters would have been the first options added.

We're in year 3 of the 10 year beta plan and you still don't have a single data filter or a real clue for that matter. What are you guys thinking over there?

If it weren't for the classic view option, I would've given Afternic the ax in the first year of beta.

As a matter of fact, I do believe I'll be pulling my portfolio for good and making Sedo my exclusive sales platform from now on.

I'm sick to death of the neverending bugs, breaks, glitches, disconnects, delayed updates and inefficiencies that come with maintaining a large portfolio at Afternic. Most importantly, I don't like the fact that Afternic penalizes those who list, but do not park with Afternic.

As for the DAN landers via Afternic...anyone with half an ounce of common sense, knows it's better to park and list directly with DAN.

It's absurd to think otherwise.

 

[Rhinnnn]

Live look at the tech that seemingly powers GoDaddy's payout system:

 

[Traderas]

I know this thread is not for support and it is just to tell you what “works and what doesn’t work”.
Well, afternic support doesn’t work…
Delayed answers, misinformation and indifference.

Indifference:
5 days ago, I bought 6 domains the same time. I got no receipt for 1 of them. I sent 2 emails to support, but no response yet. Yesterday, a GoDaddy sales rep called me, to ask me to complete the 6th transaction. I told him I had already paid. Apparently the only way to get refund for my payment, is to send you the receipt I never received! He provided me no other option. In the meantime I lost the domain I wanted to buy, as it’s not listed anymore…
No money and no domain!
(Of course I had previously contacted with my bank, and they assured me the payment completed normally from their side)

Misinformation:
The same godaddy sales rep negotiated on my side for a domain that I wanted to buy last week. He assured me that if I receive the domain through afternic in my GoDaddy account by push, there won’t be any lock period. After I received the domain, I saw that it’s locked for the next 60 days. I contacted him again and he told me to speak with Afternic Transaction Assurance. They confirmed that the domain will indeed be locked for 60 days…
So the rep gave me wrong information, either by mistake or on purpose, to close the sale.
(If I knew this in advance I would have transferred out the name instead of receiving it in godaddy.)

Delay:
I bought a domain 11/2, that I haven’t received yet.
The domain was purchased in afternic and registered in godaddy.
Why is it so difficult to transfer internally a domain? Aren’t you the same company?
Last update I had, 9 days ago, is that they are working on it!

 

[Embrand]

I'm done with Fast Transfer for now. SImply too risky. All the time I receive emails asking me to confirm Fast Transfer for names owned by me but listed by someone else. Afternic really needs to get serious about owner verification.

 

[JB Lions]

I think Afternic really needs to work on getting payments out much quicker. Sedo and Dan are faster. I know it's called Fast Transfer but Fast Payout would be nice.

Domain Sold

"There is no action needed from you at this time and we will send you an email within 7-10 days regarding your payment."

10 days?

Transfer complete but Payout - Not Scheduled

I've had Dan and Sedo payout the next day.

 

[kor]

I received an offer of $100 for a domain name that I had just added to my portfolio and was listing only to collect offers. Of course, I rejected this funny offer.

Then I got this message:

I am the only one who will decide the pricing of the assets I own. No one has the right to comment on this point until I ask for. Especially to speak to me in an imperative manner is unacceptable!

If you do not want such listings to be made in Afternic, then simply remove this option. Or train your brokers properly!