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.

 

[silentg]

Instead of addressing the question of why domain brokers aren’t calling the buyer, they chose to hide the question.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1945150858305352111

 

[AEProgram]

brokers want to make sales. They see the info of the lead, we don't. If we did, you would understand why the broker isn't calling. A ton of the leads are bots filling out forms. Sometimes AN catches it, most of the times it just becomes a lead and it gets the automated treatment. Brokers jump and call if they thought a lead is legit.

 

[silentg]

brokers want to make sales. They see the info of the lead, we don't. If we did, you would understand why the broker isn't calling. A ton of the leads are bots filling out forms. Sometimes AN catches it, most of the times it just becomes a lead and it gets the automated treatment. Brokers jump and call if they thought a lead is legit.

They could have answered the question instead of hiding it. There were others who liked it and wanted an answer.

 

[DomainGlitz]

As long as the the forms are being filled out by REAL PEOPLE, stalled/confused leads are understandable. But now since CUA (Computer Use Agents), just ask google what is computer use agent and it will give you the answer that will make us question our choices.
They literally can mimic human behavior and fill out forms on websites with ease. So we will be seeing more of those stalled/closed leads in the future unless some steps are taken to block ai.
What i said was just regarding the ai bots being able to fill in the forms easily more than before and not justifying anything

 

[AEProgram]

As long as the the forms are being filled out by REAL PEOPLE, stalled leads are understandable. But now thanks to CUA (Computer Use Agents) just ask google what is computer use agent and it will give you the answer that will make us question our choices.
They literally can mimic human behavior and fill out forms on websites with ease. So we will be seeing more of those stalled/closed leads in the future unless some steps are taken to block ai.
Now, showcase your CUA related domains in Domains Related to CUA section

domainers renew millions of dollars of domains a month because they thought a robot lead is a real lead. It is critical for portfolio management to know what's up. Obviously for a registrar, any way to get you to renew is good.

 

[DomainGlitz]

100% that and i was trying to tell our members that a possible more stalled or closed leads in the future is possible because of AI/bots/CUA. And about renewal you are %%% 100 %%% correct
What i said was just regarding the ai bots being able to fill in the forms easily more than before and not justifying anything

 

[domainer8888]

They could have answered the question instead of hiding it. There were others who liked it and wanted an answer.

That's exactly why they hid it

 

[Future Sensors]

Some time ago, there was an issue with an extremely slow checkout process from Afternic lander to GoDaddy cart. What's the current status? Is anyone still experiencing these issues?

 

[forge]

I also encountered issues yesterday where the add to cart button would just crash the site.

This was always a problem for me whenever trying to checkout at Godaddy Auctions.

The solution was to always fully log in before adding anything to cart.

Hope this helps (I was in Chrome).

 

[domainer8888]

This was always a problem for me whenever trying to checkout at Godaddy Auctions.

Same thing happens for me too sometimes when checking out (with hand-regs), crashing the site. Using Chrome on MacOS

 

[domainer8888]

I checked in Chrome Dev Console (with Preserve log checked) what happens AFTER you click NEXT on the domain lander page (https://www.godaddy.com/forsale/) and you are getting redirected to the cart.

On Desktop via wifi ((310 Mbps) it took around 11 seconds till the cart page was operational for user input, I used a stopwatch.

On mobile via wifi (310 Mbps) it took 19 seconds.

Would like to hear your numbers (private window, no cache, as normal end users would have).

According to studies,

- As Page Load Time grows from 1s to 3s, the likelihood of bounce increases by 32%.
- As Page Load Time grows from 1s to 5s, the likelihood of bounce increases by 90%.
- When Page Load Time grows from 1s to 6s, the likelihood of bounce increases by 106%.
- When Page Load Time climbs from 1s to 10s, the likelihood of a bounce increases by 123%.


How fast should a Website Load in 2025?

 

[GoDaddy]

Instead of addressing the question of why domain brokers aren’t calling the buyer, they chose to hide the question.


Show attachment 279119

Show attachment 279120

https://twitter.com/x/status/1945150858305352111

That's odd, @silentg. We didn't hide the reply, but we'll definitely investigate to see what happened there.

It's a great question, and to answer it; our brokers use a lead scoring system that evaluates dozens of data points. If a lead scores low or hasn't provided a valid phone number, our brokers will opt to email instead. From your comment about "marking leads as stalled after a few attempts," this would be consistent with low-scoring lead handling, or the lead has told us they're not looking to acquire the name at this time.

 

[pb]

As long as the the forms are being filled out by REAL PEOPLE, stalled/confused leads are understandable. But now since CUA (Computer Use Agents), just ask google what is computer use agent and it will give you the answer that will make us question our choices.
They literally can mimic human behavior and fill out forms on websites with ease. So we will be seeing more of those stalled/closed leads in the future unless some steps are taken to block ai.
What i said was just regarding the ai bots being able to fill in the forms easily more than before and not justifying anything

Get ready for googlebot mailing/calling you and asking for the price of the domain...
https://blog.google/products/search/deep-search-business-calling-google-search/

 

[GoDaddy]

Today, I transferred the 3,300+ domains I had listed on Afternic to Spaceship.

You're seriously unreasonable in every way:

1) I receive payments in euros. There are significant fees for the USD/EURO conversion and for the money to reach me. You or your bank might be doing this, but it's incredibly annoying. Dan.com used to do this conversion, and there were no losses.

2) It's really strange that you still don't offer crypto for payment. If you're not open to innovation, you're really going to lose customers.

3) Some of your employees aren't communicating well with potential customers.

For all this, I'm transferring to Spaceship...

That's not what we want to hear, @tlpgndr. We'll DM you to follow-up on these points.

@GoDaddy

I recently sold and transferred a domain through GoDaddy Domain Broker Service and now it's just sitting there with a status of:

A payout amount of $XXXX USD is waiting for you.

Waiting for what? Hell to freeze over?

I've read the GD help file (https://www.godaddy.com/en-ca/help/domain-broker-service-a-sellers-roadmap-5687) and there is no mention of this status. This transaction already had a Payee attached so how do I request or release this payment from 'waiting for you' status?

Thanks, as this is extremely confusing, and I've sold everywhere and seen everything.

Congrats on the sale! This isn't related to Afternic, but it looks like you have a thread open on this, where you mention your payout is now on the way. We'll follow-up via DM to double-check the domain, and see whether we can see what happened there.

 

[silentg]

That's odd, @silentg. We didn't hide the reply, but we'll definitely investigate to see what happened there.

It's a great question, and to answer it; our brokers use a lead scoring system that evaluates dozens of data points. If a lead scores low or hasn't provided a valid phone number, our brokers will opt to email instead. From your comment about "marking leads as stalled after a few attempts," this would be consistent with low-scoring lead handling, or the lead has told us they're not looking to acquire the name at this time.

Thanks James

 

[Springs77]

@GoDaddy Unfortunately, this problem still persists. I sold a domain yesterday, and payout is scheduled today, but in the meantime the domain isn't visible in any overview. Have the developers been made aware of this issue, and is a fix planned?

@GoDaddy Confirming this issue. After you get the "FUNDS ON THE WAY FOR ______.COM", the domain completely disappears from the Afternic dashboard. It doesn't show under "Transfer Complete" or "Payout Complete" again until the payment is made. Sometimes this takes a few days depending on payment method. Makes sales harder to track. Thanks.

** Possible solution: add a "Payout Pending" tab/box status to fill the gap

 

[Jeff_Libert]

I received e-mail from GoD today that includes the following: "The following domain names have been requested for sale through the Afternic Premium Network".

The domain is already listed, with a Buy--Now on the Afternic platform, which has successfully handled every sale/purchase interest for several years.

I see no reason to vary the standard practice. The transfers are often completed in a day and payment has been handled without a glitch. I see no bona fide reason to insist that I "bend" to the request. .

Why would anyone "NEED" a transfer via Fast Transfer? Is there anything that Afternic-GoDaddy is unable to accomplish doing business as usual?

FWIW, the BIN, Floor Price and Minimum Offer is $25K USD and I'm not budging on the price. It's a decent, timely, very useable, generic domain that I've held for some time with a mind to develop it for residual income purposes. So, from my POV, it's a simple "Pay the BIN and it's all yours" situation. What am I missing? (I'm not desperate for $.)

 

[carob]

What am I missing?

Nothing, except the awful risks that come with Fast Transfer - if your name is sold at the wrong price or by the wrong, ie crooked, person, it leaves your account before you know it and good luck trying to get it back.

 

[DomainRecap]

Nothing, except the awful risks that come with Fast Transfer - if your name is sold at the wrong price or by the wrong, ie crooked, person, it leaves your account before you know it and good luck trying to get it back.

Exactly, and it's almost like Fast Transfer was designed exclusively for thieves, scammers and fraudsters.

 

[Jeff_Libert]

Thanks for the replies. The request struck me as a bit suspect, given the domain's ready availability for sale and transfer via Afternic / GoDaddy.

It's an interesting scam-riddled world, isn't it? Ergo, my motto (#37): "When in doubt, don't!"