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.

 

[Future Sensors]

Thanks for your experiment and effort you put .
Are you boosted member at afternic ? If yes, So we can consider the results you mentioned was based on that ?
Maybe if your boost is off could be different results ?

Boost settings have zero effect on the partner network.

 

[dr manos]

Thanks for your experiment and effort you put .
Are you boosted member at afternic ? If yes, So we can consider the results you mentioned was based on that ?
Maybe if your boost is off could be different results ?

.

Hi, thanks for reply

yes boosted member, unfortunately it is account setting and can not use at specific names only.

Tomorrow will check again via WHOIS my about 50 BIN sales of 2025 there to see the partner, as far as i remember when transferred, majority was namecheap, then GD, but i will write tomorrow exact numbers

 

[dr manos]

Boost settings have zero effect on the partner network.

Yes, i think also that Afternic boost has to do only with the "verified domain" badge at lander and an elevated placement in GoDaddy search results, partners take each domain price via the API, they do not know if boost is on or off for an account.

 

[NameGroove]

Thank you so much for your experiment and detailed results, including looking at how fast price changes. I did a similar thing a few years ago , but only for a small number of names that I deliberately priced differently at Sedo and Afternic, and did not look at price propagation time. Your study here is more comprehensive. Here is link: A Deeper Look at Fast Transfer Sales Networks.


Although the one that appears in summary is the cheaper, I think they both show if you use the little triangle to expand the list. It is interesting that you found price change really fast. At least for their pickup from Atom, I have found some cases where a sold domain name is still being listed some days later, even though it shows as sold on Atom.


I presume your search was for the exact term with the extension in all cases? If one only searches on SLD, it will depend on if boost on/off if always appears at top, I think. And for sure with any other TLD.



For exposure, it is important to realize that Sedo MLS covers a large number of TLDs, many country code and new extensions in addition to legacy, whereas the Afternic FT is for .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .io, .xyz, .co and in some markets and registrars .de and .pw I think.

I think in alternate extensions, gradually Atom Sapphire Marketplace will be an important place to be, as it makes it easy to search for names in just one extension like .io or .ai etc.

The recent agreement between Porkbun to list Atom Premium names as I understand it without a markup makes that marketplace versatile for some searchers, with coverage of all of Afternic, Sedo, and Atom.

It appears that although now Namecheap still is showing Afternic listings, that may not stay long term. Some now feel the need to list at Seller Hub, which further complicates the listing process. I am now in many cases listing on all of Afternic, Sedo, Spaceship Seller Hub, Atom (standard or plus), and the registrar marketplace (e.g. Dynadot), but it definitely adds time to the listings.

Thanks again for your great summary and your work in doing this.

Bob

Unstoppable also now allows listings for names not regged there Bob, just in case you weren't busy enough

 

[dr manos]

Unstoppable also now allows listings for names not regged there Bob, just in case you weren't busy enough

Have you checked exposure of names listed at UD?
I think i will make the experiment later today

 

[NameGroove]

Have you checked exposure of names listed at UD?
I think i will make the experiment later today

I imagine they do not have much traffic yet - but since you can list for free - any eyeball is a plus imho (assuming the TXT record requirement to be added is easy)

 

[br1ll1on]

@Afternic @GoDaddy can I get a specific broker removed from touching my leads,
this is my 2nd time getting her and it's the same as the first.

 

[Mister Funsky]

@Afternic @GoDaddy can I get a specific broker removed from touching my leads,
this is my 2nd time getting her and it's the same as the first.

I just had a broker, that I like a lot, lose a xx,xxx sale for me.

I say he lost it because I can not see any of the series of exchanges they had. We agreed on a price, I waited for payment but it never came.

Since I do not know what happened in those exchanges, I have no choice but to shift the blame to the broker.

What is the problem with letting me see the exchanges? I've got a theory...

 

[love4ever]

What is the problem with letting me see the exchanges? I've got a theory...

Broker : Are you sure you want this domain ?
Buyer : Yes
Broker : But this domain belong to a blood sucker greedy domainer !
Buyer : What do you mean ?
Broker : It is expensive as hell !
Buyer : Then what's the solution ?
Broker : Don't worry i can find better alternative for you .
Buyer : Really ! are you sure ?
Broker : Yes of Course i can handreg a domain for you only for $11 .
Buyer : Wow ok i accept .
Broker : But promise me you will not comeback to this domainer anymore .
Buyer : Sure sir .

.

 

[SpareDomains]

Broker : Are you sure you want this domain ?
Buyer : Yes
Broker : But this domain belong to a blood sucker greedy domainer !
Buyer : What do you mean ?
Broker : It is expensive as hell !
Buyer : Then what's the solution ?
Broker : Don't worry i can find better alternative for you .
Buyer : Really ! are you sure ?
Broker : Yes of Course i can handreg a domain for you only for $11 .
Buyer : Wow ok i accept .
Broker : But promise me you will not comeback to this domainer anymore .
Buyer : Sure sir .

.

Broker : Are you sure you want this domain?
Buyer : Yes
Broker : But we probably have a similar domain in our namefind portfolio for like 25% of this price.
Buyer : What is namefind?
Broker : It's our in house portfolio of domains that we bought from famous domainers for pennies on the dollar who wanted a cash out retirement.
Buyer : Really! are you sure?
Broker : Yes of course these domainers send all their domain traffic to us anonymously so they see none of our conversations.
Buyer : Wow ok i accept .
Broker : Once the deal is done I just go into their Afternic account and mark the lead Confused or Buyer didn't wanna pay the price it's pure genius how many leads are are delivered to us by other domainers domain traffic and they have no clue.

 

[NicTraders]

this was a request i made at dynadot as they offer the option to list via their panel at afternic, sedo and of course their marketplace. So if a name eg sold at Afternic they could remove next second from sedo as API permits it and of course from their marketplace. Chance for duplicate sale, same day at 2 different places is not so possible, but you never know.

So, have they implemented this, or was it just a suggestion you made, but it's not been implemented?

 

[Timkh]

A week ago, I moved part of my portfolio back to Afternic, around 200 domains, and changed the nameservers to Afternic. But in the end, most of the landers never started working. So 2 days ago I switched them back to Spaceship.

I'm not sure how to explain this, but I noticed that this issue only happens with domains that previously used Spaceship nameservers. Yesterday and today I changed the nameservers of some other domains from Sedo and Dynadot to Afternic, and everything is already working fine. But the domains that were pointed to Spaceship, after switching them to Afternic, didn't work and I switched them back to Spaceship after 5 days...
The domains registered with Dynadot, Porkbun, Namecheap, Sav, GD.

 

[br1ll1on]

I just had a broker, that I like a lot, lose a xx,xxx sale for me.

I say he lost it because I can not see any of the series of exchanges they had. We agreed on a price, I waited for payment but it never came.

Since I do not know what happened in those exchanges, I have no choice but to shift the blame to the broker.

What is the problem with letting me see the exchanges? I've got a theory...

I just don't understand it, the buyer already reached out to afternic back to back and it's just silence on the broker's end plus it's not the first time for this particular broker

 

[Yanosh]

Got a 12 months LTO sale couple days ago.
The buyer already paid for the 1 installment and Afternic asked me to transfer the domain.
Domain transfer completed successfully couple minutes after and got the “we are working on sending you the proceeds” message right after.

Today i reach back to ask why they are taking so long , and the TA informed me that the transaction is “Under Review” with no more info available.

Are you supposed to review it before or after I transfer my domain @Afternic ?

 

[Dane]

...I noticed that this issue only happens with domains that previously used Spaceship nameservers.

Not just Spaceship. I switched 200 names from Atom to Afternic and 51 of them did not work. Blank page, error message, etc. Afternic can't figure out what the problem is. So after a few days I had no choice but to move them back to Atom. All 51 of those names are working correctly again.

The problem is that if any of these 51 names sell via the Afternic network I will be penalized for not using Afternic nameservers and @GoDaddy will charge me extra commission. This, in my opinion, is not right -- but of course there's nothing I can do about it.

 

[DomainRecap]

Broker : Once the deal is done I just go into their Afternic account and mark the lead Confused or Buyer didn't wanna pay the price it's pure genius how many leads are are delivered to us by other domainers domain traffic and they have no clue.

This is the danger of forwarding your traffic to a huge corporation with myriad product and service lines, not to mention allowing GD employees to negotiate for you.

That's why self-brokerage is behind a paywall. GD wants to tout the service as a marketing tool, but they don't really want anyone to use it.

 

[dr manos]

So, have they implemented this, or was it just a suggestion you made, but it's not been implemented?

not implemented yet but Caleb wrote they are looking into it

 

[dr manos]

Generally responsiveness and speed of brokers seem low lately.

Had a accepted offer with no payment after a month, i sent 5-6 messages to broker to cancel so i can relist but not even a reply.
Also at incoming leads even if set fast BIN and floor, message from broker can be after weeks so i assume potential buyer will search elsewhere.

 

[DomainRecap]

Generally responsiveness and speed of brokers seem low lately.

Agreed and while Afternic brokers have always been slow, the recent response times have been absolutely glacial.

 

[ultradog]

Not just Spaceship. I switched 200 names from Atom to Afternic and 51 of them did not work. Blank page, error message, etc. Afternic can't figure out what the problem is. So after a few days I had no choice but to move them back to Atom. All 51 of those names are working correctly again.

The problem is that if any of these 51 names sell via the Afternic network I will be penalized for not using Afternic nameservers and @GoDaddy will charge me extra commission. This, in my opinion, is not right -- but of course there's nothing I can do about it.

Yes, I keep checking names and I find that anything pointed to Afternic landers will NOT be visible to Verizon users -- phone or internet -- and is also invisible to internet isps in at least one other country as well. I discovered this from someone in S. America, we were testing it out.

The domains I point to Sedo or Atom are of course have working landers, visible using any isp.

But Afternic is not listening.