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.

 

[Kyle Tully]

@GoDaddy it would be great to get the answers to the lead form questions in the seller dashboard.

Info such as what the domain will be used for and whether they have bought a name before is important info!

 

[johnn]

I just turned on Self- Brokering Lead feature and been waiting for 3 hours and nothing has happened?
I thought I should at least get one sale?

 

[Future Sensors]

I just turned on Self- Brokering Lead feature and been waiting for 3 hours and nothing has happened?
I thought I should at least get one sale?

Three hours? A mere tick of the clock within Afternic's vast domain. One does not invoke the 'Self-Brokerage' feature and expect instant divine intervention. The digital gears of Afternic grind at their own pace, and even the most fervent, like yourself, may find their request lingering in the queue. Perhaps the aftermarket gods are simply contemplating the precise shade of serendipity to bestow upon your domains...

 

[johnn]

My wife said I should get at least one sale.

 

[Future Sensors]

My wife said I should get at least one sale.

If she's referring to 'Make Offer,' she's likely talking about Atom.com, not Afternic.

 

[Yanosh]

Basically you guys received all our suggestions and went with : “ Thank you guys , we’ve listened to you , so we are implementing this and as reward we are charging you for your great idea “

 

[NicTraders]

I know and I just got the Tomato Surprise a few minutes ago.

I saw the note, was very pleased, and then BAM, GD hit direct in the face with a ripe tomato.

If GoDaddy was going to pull this and use the Self Brokerage System to make even more money off Afternic users, then someone should have communicated this beforehand.

But no, they want to bring in the room with a smile on your face and then punch you in the stomach.

Surely you did not expect more from GD though did you? I am so glad now that I took all my domains elsewhere and didn't wait for this. If this were announced on 1 April I would have thought it was an April Fool's joke. Their post said "This innovative system combines the best of ..." so it would seem their definition of innovative is very different from mine. Oh, wait, the innovation is in charging people to self broker. Yep, that's new.

 

[Future Sensors]

Still, asking to login to make an offer is not real appealing.

This method effectively gathers extensive buyer profiles. But unfortunately, Afternic Sellers will not have access to most of this important data. It will primarily serve to enhance GoDaddy's corporate growth and stock valuation. And Afternic Sellers pay an additional yearly fee to make this happen.

 

[rh2000]

I just turned on Self- Brokering Lead feature and been waiting for 3 hours and nothing has happened?
I thought I should at least get one sale?

You better hurry up and make a sale so you can pay that Godaddy subscription fee.

 

[SpareDomains]

Currently most of my sales are direct with the occasional sale through various sources Afternic, Sedo, etc... I moved all of my domains out of GoDaddy last year and I won't be rejoining DDC to bring them all back just to self broker.

You can get all buyer information on a white label at atom for 7.5% so why would I pay an annual fee plus pay 15%-20% commission. You can get buyer info at NamePros=free, Aftermarket=free, Efty=annual fee, etc...

If a sale isn't going to come direct I'm gonna push Atom/Sedo above Afternic from now on. If the brokers were good one thing but some are great and others not so much so this move just pushes me closer to eliminating Afternic from my sales channels.

 

[NameGroove]

@GoDaddy it would be great to get the answers to the lead form questions in the seller dashboard.

Info such as what the domain will be used for and whether they have bought a name before is important info!

I'm not arguing against this - but I always found "what the domain will be used for" an unnecessary hurdle point. Do you really thing a large corp is going to tell you so you can raise the price?

 

[Kyle Tully]

I'm not arguing against this - but I always found "what the domain will be used for" an unnecessary hurdle point. Do you really thing a large corp is going to tell you so you can raise the price?

If nothing else it gives you a starting point for a conversation.

 

[Jannes]

Why am I receiving 'Price requested for [domain], please take a minute to reply to your broker with your asking price' emails before the system finds out (usually immediately) whether the "buyer" is confused or not. Incredibly stupid procedure.

(not that I care much after I've soon removed all my remaining Price request landers)

 

[johnn]

Actually I just sold one name (not from Self- Brokering Lead feature)

 

[phaethon]

I think only a tiny fraction of domainers have the skills and the experience to negotiate and probably perform better than GD agents which is their main job, have been trained and follow guidelines that produce results. You might be angry, because you have many stalled leads, but that's probably how it works, a number game.
Especially for newbies or overconfident domainers with only a few sales, this might turn into a carnage.

 

[Optinom]

I think only a tiny fraction of domainers have the skills and the experience to negotiate and probably perform better than GD agents which is their main job, have been trained and follow guidelines that produce results. You might be angry, because you have many stalled leads, but that's probably how it works, a number game.
Especially for newbies or overconfident domainers with only a few sales, this might turn into a carnage.

It's a combination of 3 things. Skills, Motivation & Learning.

GD Brokers perhaps have better skills, but they're probably low on motivation wrt your lead because of the sheer volume of leads they're handling. A $100k enquiry is far more important for them, than the $2000 offer you got (and fairly so).

In addition, when you negotiate with buyers yourself (although Afternic platform currently only lets you send counteroffers/accept/decline offers) you learn more, and it helps you buy better names in future.

 

[Abdillahi Abdillahi]

Well, part of me was expecting that this self-brokerage this would not come without any cost, and it appears that is the case. I am surprised the GD quoted number of 100K sellers/members already in the DDC ? That is huge. With that said, next please.

 

[Eagle Domains]

Someone Gotta call the CEO of Afternic / Godaddy from Crunchbase and tell them what sort of a monster it's becoming . They will Plummet if they treat Domainers as Cash cows and kill the Hen laying the Golden Egg , People move to Greener pastures. Sad part is i dont see them hearing , they have a Deaf Ear .

 

[DomainRecap]

I think only a tiny fraction of domainers have the skills and the experience to negotiate and probably perform better than GD agents which is their main job, have been trained and follow guidelines that produce results. You might be angry, because you have many stalled leads, but that's probably how it works, a number game.
Especially for newbies or overconfident domainers with only a few sales, this might turn into a carnage.

Didn't you already post this before?

In case you missed my previous reply, this is patently untrue and the problem isn't skill or experience, it's that on Atom, Saw or DomainEasy, I can reply to potential buyers in minutes (buyers like that), while Afternic brokers can take days and days to even forward your initial offer to the buyer.

And every step forward is the same - on Atom the buyer can counter or accept my offer at any time, and I can immediately see the result and respond - I recently sold a domain for a pretty good price on Atom in 14 minutes. On Afternic, each step with a broker takes significantly longer (due to your broker handling lots and lots of other accounts) and I have had very basic negotiations drag on for a month or more.

Everything just takes sooooooo long at Afternic, and that's what kills many deals there, and helps create a "Stall Graveyard" for your domains. You're always going to have tire-kickers on your domains, but at least with self-brokerage you can figure that our quickly and concentrate on the interested buyers.

* On that note, I will admit that the situation is improving (at least for me) and Afternic recently made 2 sales for me. The broker was competent and didn't take more than a day or two to respond, and the payment was sent quickly.

 

[D Haynes]

GD Brokers perhaps have better skills.

Not an assumption I'd make

am surprised the GD quoted number of 100K sellers/members already in the DDC ?

My guess is a lot of those will be corporate members who are happy to pay a yearly fee for the privilege of only paying a bit more for their renewals than they could elsewhere.