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.

 

[DomainRecap]

Anyone else get the feeling that GD will be shutting down Afternic soon?

In many ways, Afternic doesn't even exist. It has no search engine (uses GD), its landers are now GD branded, and GD-branded brokers take care of the negotiations/transactions. The only people who deal with Afternic are domain sellers who maintain their for sale listings through the platform.

At a certain point, it's all going to be all GoDaddy and Afternic will join Dan on the scrap heap.

 

[Jannes]

My buyer (LTO, prenegotiated deal) received this message and approached me to ask what on earth it means (the buyer asked me, because ”we are trying to contact them, but they are being quite weird and not really giving the answer”). That sounds like GD/AN customer support allright.

Why does it state ’next month’s payment’ when it also says payment 4 of 4 has been made?
A one-size-fits-all template that doesn’t properly adjust for the situation, or what?

 

[DrJacoby]

Anyone else get the feeling that GD will be shutting down Afternic soon?

In many ways, Afternic doesn't even exist. It has no search engine (uses GD), its landers are now GD branded, and GD-branded brokers take care of the negotiations/transactions. The only people who deal with Afternic are domain sellers who maintain their for sale listings through the platform.

At a certain point, it's all going to be all GoDaddy and Afternic will join Dan on the scrap heap.

Yep, that's the next logical step. I can't see a good reason to keep Afternic as a separate entity.

 

[johnn]

So they will change the name from Afternic to AfterDAN?

 

[Bailian]

So they will change the name from Afternic to AfterDAN?

Agreed!
Or change the name to AfterUniregistryUndevelopedDan

 

[Garet]

In many ways, Afternic doesn't even exist.

Agree 100%. It's now simply the name for GoDaddy's listing service.

 

[Timkh]

Considering that Self-brokerage will be launched very soon, we can assume that it will be a completely different interface + no need for so many brokers. So I wouldn't be surprised if Afternic is completely liquidated and we log into the new platform directly from the GoDaddy website.

 

[Optinom]

@GoDaddy

What's the difference between these two leads. Both the leads came with an offer. Did both come via domain landing page or anything different?

This one says lead created by "AS" (Afternic System)

And this one says lead created by "GW" (Godaddy W)

 

[DomainRecap]

@GoDaddy

Why do Afternic brokers seem to waste so much time "confirming" offers that you declined/wouldn't accept anyway.

Let's say that you get an offer for $2K and counter at $8K, why could the broker then waste a week confirming the $2K when you've already essentially declined it when you asked for $8K? Just send them the $8K counter and confirm the offer when it's agreeable to both sides.

Under this current system, a long series of offers/counter-offers, with confirmations at every step, would literally take forever to complete.

This happened to me recently and I received an offer, then immediately countered with my sell price, but when I inquired 5 days later on the progress, the broker was still attempting to confirm the original offer. He just replied that the offer was finally confirmed, and I again sent in my counter offer, effectively putting me back to square one.

I realize that "confirming every single offer/counter-offer from buyers" must be some "business process" that is required to be done before the next step, but "confirming declined offers" is clearly slowing down an already-microscopically slow negotiation process.

 

[End User King]

Anyone here miss DAN?

Everyday. Afternic doesn't work

 

[End Game]

I actually sold a domain on Afternic, Jan 9. Broker contacted me with an offer at my email address.

We negotiated a price between my buy now price and the buyer's price. Sale went thru. Was actually pretty smooth with the broker, but I don't have a clue, whether I could've done better self brokering.

Funds were secured the same day. So, that last Thursday. Still waiting on payment.

 

[DomainRecap]

Considering that Self-brokerage will be launched very soon, we can assume that it will be a completely different interface + no need for so many brokers. So I wouldn't be surprised if Afternic is completely liquidated and we log into the new platform directly from the GoDaddy website.

That would be the logical way to do it, as this would require potential buyers to have both a GD account and a method of payment, thereby streamlining the process and speeding things up immensely. Of course, there should be a brokerage option for those who want it, thus giving the brokers ample time to hit their deadlines.

If GD implements the Self-Brokerage Tool + GD-Integration correctly, this "new platform" could bring in a lot of new sellers and be a real cash cow for them.

 

[DomainRecap]

I actually sold a domain on Afternic, Jan 9. Broker contacted me with an offer at my email address.

We negotiated a price between my buy now price and the buyer's price. Sale went thru. Was actually pretty smooth with the broker, but I don't have a clue, whether I could've done better self brokering.

Funds were secured the same day. So, that last Thursday. Still waiting on payment.

This scenario is definitely an outlier, and I have experienced one of these lightning-fast transactions myself.

Once.

The rest of the time, it's days and days of updating your dashboard, hoping for some kind of an update.

 

[End Game]

This scenario is definitely an outlier, and I have experienced one of these lightning-fast transactions myself.

Once.

The rest of the time, it's days and days of updating your dashboard, hoping for some kind of an update.

Yes, I know I got lucky on this one. Last sale I had a few months back, I had to get my rep involved over several days.

I'm just hoping they hit my "buy now" link.

 

[End User King]

This scenario is definitely an outlier, and I have experienced one of these lightning-fast transactions myself.

Once.

The rest of the time, it's days and days of updating your dashboard, hoping for some kind of an update.

The problem here is inconsistency. Go Daddy is arbitrarily, deciding which transactions are more time sensitive than others. If I ran Godaddy, I would maintain consistency across all transactions. That would ensure a fair marketplace. What we have here now is selective bias. Some brokers know their clients and no they would take to Namepros to voice disdain and a cater to those sellers. I make sales too, but I'm not going to praise Godaddy on one front and the next post singing their praises. This is not directed at you, but at GoDaddy, the conglomerate.

 

[love4ever]

Anyone here miss DAN?

We miss it big time


.

 

[GoDaddy]

@GoDaddy

When a domain gets sold, a notice appears on the main dashboard.

There's a button "View Listing", and it goes to the overview at https://www.afternic.com/sales?filter=AWAITING_AUTH_CODE

However, the filter doesn't work, and the URL shows ALL past sales, not only those awaiting auth code.

Suggestion

From the dashboard, link directly to the individual domain that needs action, like: https://www.afternic.com/transactions/<unique_transaction_id>/details


Show attachment 268520

Hi @Future Sensors,
We've adjusted the filter, and that change was included in the latest site update released yesterday. Thanks for bringing this to our attention!

@GoDaddy @Afternic
OK, I already brought this up. Before you send "Email sent to Buyer" for leads -- PLEASE tell your brokers (or your automation robots) to perform a portfolio check of the seller to see if the name is still available. I already told you about a name that was sold last September. You asked me for an example and I sent you 2 examples of emails going out even though the names were ALREADY SOLD. Now today, one of the names I sent you as an example on December 4th is updated with "Email sent to Buyer" - I SOLD the name via AFTERNIC in September, I gave you that name as an example of the issue on December 4th via DM, and today it is updated with "Email sent to buyer"?????

Thanks @DN_Hunter. If the domain sold through Afternic, it should have been automatically removed from your account. If it was sold elsewhere, we recommend removing it yourself. If the leads were active before the domain sold on Afternic, which seems likely with your December examples, they should automatically stop. We can definitely check on this for you.

@GoDaddy

What's the difference between these two leads. Both the leads came with an offer. Did both come via domain landing page or anything different?

This one says lead created by "AS" (Afternic System)

Show attachment 269072

And this one says lead created by "GW" (Godaddy W)
Show attachment 269073

Hi @Smooth
You can find the name of your assigned broker in the transaction activity area, just above the status updates you mentioned.

"Engaged with buyer" indicates that the broker has received responses from your lead and is actively discussing the domain with them.

"Qualifying" is the stage before this, where the broker is still working to confirm the lead's interest in your domain name.

 

[Optinom]

Hi @Smooth
You can find the name of your assigned broker in the transaction activity area, just above the status updates you mentioned.

"Engaged with buyer" indicates that the broker has received responses from your lead and is actively discussing the domain with them.

"Qualifying" is the stage before this, where the broker is still working to confirm the lead's interest in your domain name.

Hi, @GoDaddy i'm aware of the status and broker name.

My question is, is there any difference between a lead created by "Afternic System" vs "Godaddy W"

 

[DN_Hunter]

Thanks @DN_Hunter. If the domain sold through Afternic, it should have been automatically removed from your account. If it was sold elsewhere, we recommend removing it yourself. If the leads were active before the domain sold on Afternic, which seems likely with your December examples, they should automatically stop. We can definitely check on this for you.

One more time -- the domains SOLD through Afternic as I have stated multiple times. The issue is NOT that the domains are in my account (they are NOT in my account). The issue is your brokers are still sending out correspondence on domains that are no longer in my account. Teach them to check if the domain is still in the seller's account before trying to contact the buyer again. Or maybe just automate it so that before the "Email sent to buyer" happens, the system automatically (behind the scenes) checks if the domain name is currently active in the Seller's account.

 

[johnn]

Just sold another one yesterday. Transfer was done yesterday and receive the money today.
Complete transaction in 48 hours.
This is what it supposes to be.