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.

 

[Dane]

Landers: For me it's DomainEasy Brandable theme for 685 domains already.

I'm waiting for a few of the changes and updates they've talked about.

 

[NameGroove]

Sooo... where's everyone moving to?

For my direct names - I'm Aftermarket.com landers (with Escrow and Sedo buttons), Afternic BIN landers and the remainder Sedo #15 landers.
Also premium brandables use their respective landers at BB, Atom, and Brandpa.

 

[NameGroove]

I haven't been able to purchase a name. I've been looking at on Afternic. Saw some post on Twitter about the Landers at Afternic not working anymore

I just checked my Afternic BIN and Custom landers. Each lander loaded fast, but when I hit "buy now" it took quite a while to add to cart. However, it did eventually add to cart and then one could purchase from there. So they work, albeit slowly, for me.

@GoDaddy @Afternic please check the speed with which a domain is "added to the cart" from Afternic landers.

 

[NameGroove]

@Afternic do you have any STR on BIN vs Custom landers? Since I only use buy it now pricing, I'd simply like to choose the lander (of these 2 options) that has the highest STR. Can you let me know which that is?

 

[DN_Hunter]

Sooo... where's everyone moving to?

I started by moving names I had at AN with a BIN <= $5K to SEDO (using "Sales Lander 15").

I set the nameservers to sedoparking, and most of the names were able to list properly.
But I found that about 60 names are "pending ownership verification" -- a little research and I see these names are in other sellers accounts. So I sent a note to SEDO support telling them I don't have the time to have to change the nameservers in order to add a TXT record with my personalized verification code. But of course I got a useless canned reply from SEDO Support saying I need to add the TXT Record or unmask the privacy WHOIS. It's a pain in the neck, and they need to be able to accept a NS3 with a special code so they can verify -- that would be much easier than the TXT record.

I ended up adding the TXT record to all 60 names, and have been waiting for them to process the review of ownership -- assuming it doesn't run during the weekend? I have no idea how long it will take them to go look at the TXT records I added to the 60 names.

The bigger issue is I have at least these 60 names in other sellers accounts. That bugs me that I have to go through hoops to make them remove my names from other sellers accounts.

 

[love4ever]

I

I ended up adding the TXT record to all 60 names, and have been waiting for them to process the review of ownership -- assuming it doesn't run during the weekend? I have no idea how long it will take them to go look at the TXT records I added to the 60 names.

The bigger issue is I have at least these 60 names in other sellers accounts. That bugs me that I have to go through hoops to make them remove my names from other sellers accounts.

Thats normally happening when you add TXT after listing at sedo .
It always work perfect when you add the TXT first and wait minimum 15 minutes then list at sedo .
So now delete the 60 domains and list it again it will be ok .

 

[End User King]

I started by moving names I had at AN with a BIN <= $5K to SEDO (using "Sales Lander 15").

I set the nameservers to sedoparking, and most of the names were able to list properly.
But I found that about 60 names are "pending ownership verification" -- a little research and I see these names are in other sellers accounts. So I sent a note to SEDO support telling them I don't have the time to have to change the nameservers in order to add a TXT record with my personalized verification code. But of course I got a useless canned reply from SEDO Support saying I need to add the TXT Record or unmask the privacy WHOIS. It's a pain in the neck, and they need to be able to accept a NS3 with a special code so they can verify -- that would be much easier than the TXT record.

I ended up adding the TXT record to all 60 names, and have been waiting for them to process the review of ownership -- assuming it doesn't run during the weekend? I have no idea how long it will take them to go look at the TXT records I added to the 60 names.

The bigger issue is I have at least these 60 names in other sellers accounts. That bugs me that I have to go through hoops to make them remove my names from other sellers accounts.

It can be tedious to list at Sedo, but at least their landers resolve.

 

[NameGroove]

Thats normally happening when you add TXT after listing at sedo .
It always work perfect when you add the TXT first and wait minimum 15 minutes then list at sedo .
So now delete the 60 domains and list it again it will be ok .

I have also had a lot of luck changing NS to sl1.sedo.com and sl2.sedo.com just before adding domains to Sedo. They (at least for MLS approved registrars like Dyna, PB, and 101domain) are accepted almost immediately. Works even faster than txt it appears to me

 

[DN_Hunter]

Thats normally happening when you add TXT after listing at sedo .
It always work perfect when you add the TXT first and wait minimum 15 minutes then list at sedo .
So now delete the 60 domains and list it again it will be ok .

Problem is I don't see a way to delete the 60 names because they are Pending Ownership Verification

 

[GoDaddy]

I have been getting several of these "Price Requested on your AfternicDLS Domain" emails daily.

When I look at the lead center the status on most is "qualifying". It is "negotiation" on some.

None of the "qualifying" ones show an actual offer.

Where are these inquiries coming from? @GoDaddy

What does this mean exactly?

A lead indicates that someone is interested in the domain, but is not prepared to buy it yet.

Brad

Hi Brad,
Price requests occur on inquiries we get for unpriced domain names, and they can come from a number of sources.

The most likely route is through the Request Price lander, but these can come from inbound phone calls from our partner network, too.

It signals that someone's registered interest in your domain name, but in order to carry on the conversation, we need to know your Buy it Now price. Once we have this, an Afternic broker can then reach out to the lead.

In the interest of being fair, as I tend to harp on Afternic a lot, I got a very nice surprise this afternoon.

The broker (Josh - who seems to be a real dynamo) made a sale and actually got me more money than I asked for. He was also very quick with the updates (the inquiry was on Nov 21 and after a price + counter, he sold it a day later), so kudos to him for that effort.

This is what happens when you strike while the iron's hot.

P.S. @GoDaddy - Please assign Josh all my future domain inquiries.

Thanks @DomainRecap, congrats on the sale!

---

Congrats. I had a reverse experience.

A domain with bin of 4400, min offer of 1000 and floor price of 1299. Idea is, if an offer comes through, broker should be able to close.

But I got an offer of 1000. After broker's call with the buyer , buyer now says he can offer only 500.

I'm gonna move all sub 5k names to bin only.

Hi @Smooth
Using the Buy it Now or Custom Lander is something that works well for many lower-priced names, especially in the sub-$5,000 range, where you'd typically see more impulse buyers. Let us know how you get on!

Show attachment 266670
Result of uploading same spreadsheet that was downloaded from Afternic. No amount of re-uploading the spreadsheet adds the domains. No response from alleged support after more than 24 hours - Afternic landers were already unreliable and the sales process full of obstacles, but this is the final reason to not use Afternic landers!

Could you DM us with your Afternic username, @carob? We'd like to take a look at this in more detail.

@Afternic do you have any STR on BIN vs Custom landers? Since I only use buy it now pricing, I'd simply like to choose the lander (of these 2 options) that has the highest STR. Can you let me know which that is?

Hi @NameGroove
The Buy it Now lander and the Custom Lander are fairly similar. Plus, they both have the same strong GoDaddy branding and purchase path. Custom Lander gives you a Lease to Own option, though, that can make your domains more accessible to a wider pool of visitors.

 

[Future Sensors]

Plus, they both have the same strong GoDaddy branding and purchase path.

Have you been able to fix the extreme delay yet? How long will it take for GoDaddy to fix such issues?

 

[Dane]

It signals that someone's registered interest in your domain name, but in order to carry on the conversation, we need to know your Buy it Now price. Once we have this, an Afternic broker can then reach out to the lead.

@GoDaddy - I'm confused about this. Why does the seller HAVE TO provide a Buy It Now price? What if the seller wants the buyer to make an offer on that particular name first?

 

[DomainRecap]

I'm confused about this. Why does the seller HAVE TO provide a Buy It Now price? What if the seller wants the buyer to make an offer on that particular name first?

You don't, and just tell the broker you require a qualifying offer of $XXXX to provide a BIN as there are too many tire-kickers out there.

That's what I say when I get these "phone inquiries" with $0 and it's never been a problem. The vast, vast majority turn out to be tire-kickers looking to buy a domain for the change in their pocket, so it's hardly a big loss even if you don't reply.

Serious buyers make serious offers.

If course they would *like* you to just send a BIN in, but you don't have to (and shouldn't) without at least an offer that meets or exceeds your minimum.

 

[Dane]

You don't, and just tell the broker you require a qualifying offer of $XXXX to provide a BIN as there are too many tire-kickers out there.

That's what I say when I get these "phone inquiries" with $0 and it's never been a problem. The vast, vast majority turn out to be tire-kickers looking to buy a domain for the change in their pocket, so it's hardly a big loss even if you don't reply.

If course they would *like* you to just send a BIN in, but you don't have to (and shouldn't) without at least an offer that meets or exceeds your minimum.

I've been told, more than once, that if I don't provide a BIN price when asked for it (on a Make an Offer name) I will have to remove the name from Afternic.

 

[DomainRecap]

I've been told, more than once, that if I don't provide a BIN price when asked for it (on a Make an Offer name) I will have to remove the name from Afternic.

That's always a slight possibility (though not a reality in my experience) but only if its a real potential buyer who meets or exceeds your minimum offer requirement. If you totally ignore real buyers with valid offers consistently, then yes, Afternic may have a problem with you.

If your minimum is not met, just relay this requirement to the broker and they'll determine if the buyer is real or just a hobo looking to circumvent the lander to buy it for $50.

I do this all the all the time and I've never received anything other than "No problem, I'll confirm this with the buyer" in response.

 

[dmblea]

Last week I decided to move some of my GoDaddy domains back over to Afternic after several years of using Sedo and Dan, and my experience so far has been somewhat disappointing. Allow me to explain. So far I uploaded about 30 names, of which three of them (PVBF .com, HMFD .com and LVAU .com) have shown Pending Sync for about a week now. This morning I called Afternic to see why, and how I am able to bypass this, and the rep told me that they could not listed with Afternic "for compliance reasons". The rep could not tell me why. So basically 10% of the names I tried to list with them, I am unable to so. I should also mention that these three domains have been owned by me for years, and have never had a problem listing them with other marketplaces. Here is my predicament. Moving forward, as I upload more domains for sale, I do not want to have 10% of my names going through this same issue. Is there a workaround to get these three names listed at Afternic, or should I just move these domains elsewhere to avoid a similar situation moving forward as I list more names? Thanks in advance.

 

[carob]

Show attachment 266670
Result of uploading same spreadsheet that was downloaded from Afternic. No amount of re-uploading the spreadsheet adds the domains. No response from alleged support after more than 24 hours - Afternic landers were already unreliable and the sales process full of obstacles, but this is the final reason to not use Afternic landers!

Having waited many days, Afternic "support" replied saying they cannot do anything about this (what is support for) and just repeat parrot-like the instructions for uploading spreadsheets. If one that was successfully uploaded and processed last week fails on upload this week, clearly the problem is with Afternic, and no amount of user-blaming will alter that.

And if, as they now claim, it takes up to 24 hours to process an upload, why is that not indicated at the time of upload and some indication of progress given? Because if the user sees no response and no success, they will upload again, initiating a new 24 hour period, then again, another 24 hours, and the domains will never get listed.

Time is money and Afternic is not worth it any more and not going to be, they are not even in control of their own systems and I don't think their own cost-benefit analysis thinks it is worth fixing stuff or respecting the users.

 

[End User King]

Have you been able to fix the extreme delay yet? How long will it take for GoDaddy to fix such issues?

2028 hopefully. I'm curious as to why they never answer this question. That's the main issue affecting sales.

 

[411domains]

Last week I decided to move some of my GoDaddy domains back over to Afternic after several years of using Sedo and Dan, and my experience so far has been somewhat disappointing. Allow me to explain. So far I uploaded about 30 names, of which three of them (PVBF .com, HMFD .com and LVAU .com) have shown Pending Sync for about a week now. This morning I called Afternic to see why, and how I am able to bypass this, and the rep told me that they could not listed with Afternic "for compliance reasons". The rep could not tell me why. So basically 10% of the names I tried to list with them, I am unable to so. I should also mention that these three domains have been owned by me for years, and have never had a problem listing them with other marketplaces. Here is my predicament. Moving forward, as I upload more domains for sale, I do not want to have 10% of my names going through this same issue. Is there a workaround to get these three names listed at Afternic, or should I just move these domains elsewhere to avoid a similar situation moving forward as I list more names? Thanks in advance.

@dmblea - There is a reason for this. However, it's not my place to say.

All I can say is they're most likely pending sync, because they're pending ownership verification.

When you listed them, you should have received an email regarding that, but if you have a large portfolio, I can tell you from experience, those emails are easily missed.

I recommend you:

Delete the domains.

Add the Afternic ownership verification nameserver.

Re-list the domains.

 

[dmblea]

@dmblea - There is a reason for this. However, it's not my place to say.

All I can say is they're most likely pending sync, because they're pending ownership verification.

When you listed them, you should have received an email regarding that, but if you have a large portfolio, I can tell you from experience, those emails are easily missed.

I recommend you:

Delete the domains.

Add the Afternic ownership verification nameserver.

Re-list the domains.

Appreciate the suggestion, but I already did that. Just very frustrating, as I would have rather had my listings at one marketplace (much like going to only one grocery store, in lieu multiple stores for different items). I can’t even imagine what those specific three GoDaddy registered domains have in common to prevent a GoDaddy platform (Afternic) to allow me to list them for sale. Not the end of the world. I will look at Atom, as many of you have suggested).