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.

 

[rh2000]

Is Afternic having parking problems? Some of my domains don't resolve or resolve to the wrong landing page.

 

[Springs77]

Is Afternic having parking problems? Some of my domains don't resolve or resolve to the wrong landing page.

I'm having the same issue -- lander changes and price changes are not taking effect right away. Takes at least a few hours (took 24 hours yesterday) to "sync" it seems.

 

[rh2000]

I'm having the same issue -- lander changes and price changes are not taking effect right away. Takes at least a few hours (took 24 hours yesterday) to "sync" it seems.

Along with going to the wrong landing page, some domains are not resolving also. They must be having issues since making some changes.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Along with going to the wrong landing page, some domains are not resolving also.

I am pretty sure this is the longstanding issue with https and the landers.

if someone enters example.com for a name with Afternic lander it works.

also if someone enters http://example.com that will show the lander correctly.

but if the user or browser enters https://example.com it will give that warning.

The long https://www.godaddy.com/forsale/example.com will also show the lander correctly.

I wish this could be fixed. It is a long standing issue at Afternic and some other marketplaces.

-Bob

 

[Future Sensors]

@rh2000 and @Springs77

Could you provide the following info already?

- Which exact Afternic nameservers are you using?
- Which lander is configured for your domain?
- If possible, the exact domain

I'm currently not seeing any problems with wrong redirects, or TLS problems. I'm using ns5/ns6 and custom lander type. Tried all methods with http and https. TLS certificates for my domains have previously been created by Afternic, this may also matter on a case-by-case basis.

Note to all in general: the term 'resolving' is a bit confusing, better not use it. It's a term related to DNS.

 

[Future Sensors]

What did shock me is the HTML source code for the Custom Lander. It seems as if GoDaddy wanted to capture the whole world in that.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Note to all in general: the term 'resolving' is a bit confusing, better not use it. It's a term related to DNS.

Interesting. I just edited my post to not use the term.
Now can you help me resolve all my other problems in life?
-Bob

 

[Springs77]

@Future Sensors

They are resolving perfectly (It's not DNS for me) ... but it resolves to a blue GoDaddy page that says "This domain is registered, but still may be available". This is what @Acroplex mentioned above, when changing the lander settings it goes to that page instead of the "For Sale" page sometimes.

I had the same issue yesterday and it took between 10-24 hours to "sync"/"update"/"fix" whatever the word. Hope that makes sense.

** this is using ns1.afternic.com/ns2.afternic.com

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I had the same issue yesterday and it took between 10-24 hours to "sync"/"update"/"fix" whatever the word

Yes, I had some with that problem for first few hours, and only for a couple of names, and this morning they worked (without me doing anything else), so hopefully in a few more hours yours will as well.

 

[Future Sensors]

@Future Sensors

They are resolving perfectly (It's not DNS for me) ... but it resolves to a blue GoDaddy page that says "This domain is registered, but still may be available". This is what @Acroplex mentioned above, when changing the lander settings it goes to that page instead of the "For Sale" page sometimes.

I had the same issue yesterday and it took between 10-24 hours to "sync"/"update"/"fix" whatever the word. Hope that makes sense.

** this is using ns1.afternic.com/ns2.afternic.com

Thanks @Springs77 (and @Acroplex)

All these options, including the option "This domain is registered, but may still be available", are included in the HTML source code.

@GoDaddy You really need to clean up your HTML source code for the Custom Lander (the code for the lander type I checked). Make it lean and mean. Read the source and you will find completely unnecessary things in it, which make it very complicated to function and maintain. Don't try to incorporate all the functionality of other landers, Auctions, or other things.

 

[411domains]

We love the feedback and appreciation for the Custom Lander, thank you to everyone that has commented. This will be a long post..!

Thanks for your feedback, @ACQWIRE Media. Right now, you're able to edit individual domain names for CamelCasing. We'll look at ways to add bulk CamelCasing options in the future.

@GoDaddy - You guys refer to it as CamelCase, I refer to it as PascalCase. Nonetheless, i wasn't referring to bulk editing case, but rather utilizing the system that's already in place at Afternic.

I'll use the name shown in your blog post as an example.

If you were to add SaintWool.com or any domain to Afternic using any mixed case you desire and then visited the internal marketplace page shown below, you would see the casing exactly how you typed it.

afternic.com/domain/saintwool.com

The system is already in place. Why isn't it being utilized?

This is how Afternic already does it.
This is how DAN does it.
This is how Bodis does it.
This is how DomainAgents does it.
This is how Parked/Voodoo did it.
This is how Uniregistry did it.
This is how Epik does/did it.

The big difference is, unlike everyone else, Afternic is the only platform that converts all casing in spreadsheets to lower case when uploaded, which means if anyone wants Camel/Pascal case, they're stuck adding up to 50 at a time.

 

[rh2000]

@rh2000 and @Springs77

Could you provide the following info already?

- Which exact Afternic nameservers are you using?
- Which lander is configured for your domain?
- If possible, the exact domain

I'm currently not seeing any problems with wrong redirects, or TLS problems. I'm using ns5/ns6 and custom lander type. Tried all methods with http and https. TLS certificates for my domains have previously been created by Afternic, this may also matter on a case-by-case basis.

Note to all in general: the term 'resolving' is a bit confusing, better not use it. It's a term related to DNS.

Go through all your domains. Some will resolve and some won't. I am trying to find somewhere else to park. Now I see why my inquiries went down.

 

[Future Sensors]

Go through all your domains. Some will resolve and some won't. I am trying to find somewhere else to park. Now I see why my inquiries went down.

Actually, I did check a lot of them, and I cannot reproduce what you are experiencing. That's why I asked for more details about your config/setup. And maybe a specific domain you can mention where it happens.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I would like to suggest improvements to the 'In Review' situation.

Right now, the "In Review" is used for a variety of situations. A differentiated notation providing information on why the name is in review would be helpful.

1. Domain names that have been flagged due to something about the name
2. Domain names that were in FT but have reached 30 days prior to expiration date
3. Domain names that have transferred registrar
4. Probably other things

A name can still be transferred and sold within the last 30 days, so rather than call it in review, why not have a notation No Longer in FT, but keep the name listed for sale on Afternic. After all, non FT names stay for sale until they actually expire.

Related to that, when I renew a name, it seems the system never rechecks and the name stays In Review. Surely that would be an easy check to automate? Or if that can't be done automatically for some reason, at least a tick box for I renewed, then just check Whois to confirm.

For transferred names, would it not be possible to have a column where the registrar is selected, like Sedo do? Right now you have to either delete the name and add it again, or contact service. Again some sort of tick box to say I have moved name, and then the system sends out a new FT confirmation, now for that registrar.

I also would like to see a Number of Days in Review and some standard for dealing with 1. Most of the time they do just get accepted, I presume in manual overview, but it often takes many days.

Speaking of 1, I never quite understood the logic that a term is placed In Review for listing, yet GD Search for that term will encourage registration of various extensions in exactly that term? Or the Agent service will offer to try to get the name, no matter how TM offending it is? It just seems if you are going to be super stringent for user listing, surely the same should apply to your own service offerings?

Thanks in advance for considering these suggestions.

Bob

 

[Gabriele]

Thanks for your feedback, we will share this with the team to review the GoDaddy cart.

The solution is very simple and is not the same as Dan.com, which is totally different as it does not have a registration and login system for buyers in which to store billing data.

In any other marketplace that charges VAT for European users, such as Namesilo, Name.com or even Envato.com, users can add what they want to buy to the cart, register, and only once they have filled out their billing information the system calculates the applicable taxes. So if a user is a private individual they will have to pay VAT in addition to the cost of the domain, while if they register as a company with a valid VAT number they will not.

What GoDaddy does is exactly the opposite and hurts everyone's sales, since if you put a domain up for sale at 10k it will automatically be displayed with a price of 12k or more for those visiting GoDaddy.com from Europe (and I assume it is the same for Australia and other countries). Only after the user registers and enters the billing information, if he is a private individual he will be asked to pay 12k, but if he is a company with a valid VAT number the price will magically go down to 10k (or in many other cases in which the user is exempt, for example he could be an American citizen who is visiting Europe and therefore has an european IP address).

 

[Future Sensors]

Clicking 'Next' on the Custom Lander takes a really long time processing.

@GoDaddy Please investigate why it takes such a long time before the actual cart is shown.

 

[rh2000]

Actually, I did check a lot of them, and I cannot reproduce what you are experiencing. That's why I asked for more details about your config/setup. And maybe a specific domain you can mention where it happens.

Seems that they fixed it. I will keep my eyes on it. I was using price request.

 

[JB Lions]

Ok, since Dan will be going away, I guess I'll start updating the nameservers and start moving over. I tried one and I get the Buy Now/Lease To Own option showing using ns1/ns2

If somebody gets the first Lease To Own sale, post in the thread, make everybody feel better that it's working.

 

[phaethon]

Why am I prompted to complete 2FA so often, even though the system thinks I'm sort of signed in? It's annoying as hell when I have a lot of editing to do.

Me too, when I use Home Broadband on my laptop, 2FA required almost every time I change something, etc a price.

When I use mobile internet on my phone not so often.

Not sure why. Anyone else having the same issue? How can this be fixed?

 

[Domain Research Labs]

I have a couple of questions regarding the migration from the 7-day auction to only Afternic listings for member to member sales.

In the blog post GD stated:

From May 13th, we’re bidding farewell to new Member to Member listings. This enables sellers to utilize Afternic for all sales while continuing to provide syndicated exposure to GoDaddy Auctions.

My question is, how is the syndicated exposure to GoDaddy Auctions working, because I have not really seen any of the domains I have listed with Afternic showing up at the auction marketplace.

Also, are there any plans to create an API feed of the Afternic marketplace so websites like Expireddomains.net can pull data (like they do with the auction marketplace) in order to provide additional exposure to domains listed with Afternic?

This is especially important for domains with SEO value.

Thanks, I look forward to your feedback.