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.

 

[Optinom]

Can afternic please include some details with this lead update:

Buyer call logged

Who called who?

Call from buyer logged
or
Broker call to buyer logged

or something like that

Call logged usually means - broker "attempted" to call the buyer.

If buyer responds to the call or buyer calls on phone it's usually tagged as "Engagement occured".

 

[DomainRecap]

Call logged usually means - broker "attempted" to call the buyer.

If buyer responds to the call or buyer calls on phone it's usually tagged as "Engagement occured".

I don't think that's always true, as I have plenty of "Buyer Call Logged" entries that fit the timestamp of a counter offer. With email it's more straight forward, with "Email sent to buyer" and "Email received from buyer".

I always see "Engagement Occurred" when the first contact with the buyer happens, and the initial bid is confirmed. On my Dashboard that is usually followed by a "Status updated to Active Discussions - Engaged with buyer" entry. I don't believe I have any negotiations with multiple "Engagement Occurred" entries.

Then again, this could vary from broker to broker and there may be little consistency in which drop-down selections are used for each situation. Some brokers don't even update regularly and I once sold a domain and found there were two higher counter offers in the queue.

 

[AEProgram]

I don't think that's always true, as I have plenty of "Buyer Call Logged" entries that fit the timestamp of a counter offer. With email it's more straight forward, with "Email sent to buyer" and "Email received from buyer".

I always see "Engagement Occurred" when the first contact with the buyer happens, and the initial bid is confirmed. On my Dashboard that is usually followed by a "Status updated to Active Discussions - Engaged with buyer" entry. I don't believe I have any negotiations with multiple "Engagement Occurred" entries.

Then again, this could vary from broker to broker and there may be little consistency in which drop-down selections are used for each situation. Some brokers don't even update regularly and I once sold a domain and found there were two higher counter offers in the queue.

we should not have to debate this, afternic should make it clear. For up to 30% in commission I think we deserve this.

 

[DomainRecap]

we should not have to debate this, afternic should make it clear. For up to 30% in commission I think we deserve this.

I agree, and this just illustrates how incomprehensible the Afternic brokerage system really is.

 

[silentg]

Is it bad brokers or they don't have enough brokers to handle all the leads?

 

[DomainRecap]

Is it bad brokers or they don't have enough brokers to handle all the leads?

I think it's a little from Column A and a bit from Column B.

What I've discovered from talking to a few buyers (who got sick of waiting and contacted me through WHOIS and even Dan) is that they get the same "Are you interested" canned reply over and over every 2-4 days, and when they answer "Yes", then 2-4 days later they get another "Are you (still) interested?" email.

It seems that the brokers have too many accounts and can't keep track of what exact stage each transaction is at, or even bother to look, and we get a situation where buyers are not being served in a timely or individual basis.

At least now all the "Stalls" are starting to make sense.

 

[November]

What I've discovered from talking to a few buyers (who got sick of waiting and contacted me through WHOIS and even Dan) is that they get the same "Are you interested" canned reply over and over every 2-4 days, and when they answer "Yes", then 2-4 days later they get another "Are you (still) interested?" email.

It seems that there are some desperate buyers who contact the seller through WHOIS out of desperation. But there are also many who don’t know how to do it, and the sale falls through. I know of other such cases as well.

 

[NameGroove]

It seems that there are some desperate buyers who contact the seller through WHOIS out of desperation. But there are also many who don’t know how to do it, and the sale falls through. I know of other such cases as well.

That's why all my names have BINs.

 

[DomainRecap]

That's why all my names have BINs.

If you're taking the brokers out of the equation, then why are you paying 15% (minimum) for that?

 

[NameGroove]

If you're taking the brokers out of the equation, then why are you paying 15% (minimum) for that?

Reg Path

 

[DomainRecap]

Reg Path

Still seems kinda weird, as the majority of your clicks are going to come through type-ins by interested parties. I try to maximize that traffic no matter if it's a bit more work.

When I had my NS linked to Dan, I still listed my domains on Afternic and Sedo just in case, but rarely heard a peep from them and sold virtually nothing there, while offers poured in to Dan, resulting in some nice sales. Then Dan got shut down and GD migrated me to Afternic, and amazingly, offers started flowing into Afternic too (unfortunately the sales didn't follow).

Your traffic is your most treasured asset, so use it well.

And yes, I am guilty of staying at Afternic way, way, way too long, just because it was easier and there was less friction. The total loss of control and the inherent requirement of setting BINs to make sales, became too much at one point, so I bolted.

 

[DomainRecap]

This meme is so incredibly true that it hurts for me to look at it:

 

[OceanKing]

Why it is compulsory to specify a BIN price in order to use this 'make offer' lander?

 

[DomainRecap]

Why it is compulsory to specify a BIN price in order to use this 'make offer' lander?

It isn't and that "warning" is likely just social conditioning to get you to add a BIN price, because that's really the only way Afternic functions properly.

 

[DomainRecap]

So my domains are all at Atom now, but what do I get in my email this morning?

An offer from Afternic...

 

[Jannes]

 

[DomainRecap]

No joke, and a month later I'll still be waiting for the "Stalled" designation.

 

[DN_Hunter]

So my domains are all at Atom now, but what do I get in my email this morning?

An offer from Afternic...

Haha! That just happened to me too -- as I moved about 98% of my names to Atom/DomainEasy (experimenting between the two), I got a legit inquiry on one of my names. So I changed the nameservers back to Afternic on that name -- don't want to get hit with the increased commission. I also removed all the BIN prices on Afternic because of their nameserver policy.

 

[JB Lions]

Late payments this month.

Previous Installment
Jan 22, 2025

Last Installment
Feb 21, 2025

As far as:

"Payout Received - Last installment received successfully."

Does anybody know if that refers to the Jan 22 installment or the Feb 21 installment.

Usually for this Lease To Own Transaction I was getting paid on the 22.

---------
nevermind, I just called them. They'll get back to me.

 

[Garet]

Afternic Parking?

Is anyone actively parking with a GoDaddy property (SmartName, CashParking) and finding it reasonably efficient and manageable? I like to have parking in my landers mix. I have tried but cannot achieve a reasonable solution with a GoDaddy-approved, non-punitive NS solution.

I find that successfully adding names is very difficult, nearly impossible. It's worse than sales landers. Old ownership overrides new. I have names set to parking that resolve fine but do not show any traffic or revenue. These are proven names elsewhere. I moved them only to avoid GoDaddy's NS penalty. I have reached out via email and contact form. Nothing.

Most of my GoDaddy parking revenue comes from names, not that I currently own, but ones that I used to own. Frankly, it's ugly.

I am reluctant to terminate parking names that earn a multiple of renewals. Sedo is fine but certainly not inspired.

I very much welcome words of wisdom from anyone who finds that they can add names to parking and have them accurately track.

Thank you.