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]

Yes that's him.

He got the GoDaddy reg path search bug fixed that wasn't showing my afternic listed domain.

 

[Future Sensors]

Well, all info is in this thread already, and @GoDaddy is reading along.

 

[Jeff_Libert]

AFAIC, I just got a classic "first line" response, as in "the problem isn't with us, it's with you".

Multiple browsers (Chrome, Fire Fox, Safari), Verizon FIOS network, different Mobile Network -> Same issue. Hello? Anyone out there getting this? It's NOT my browsers.

Anybody of any intelligence and authority reading this? Anybody give a feck? WTF is going on? What's the fix? Argh.

 

[love4ever]

Yes that's him.

He got the GoDaddy reg path search bug fixed that wasn't showing my afternic listed domain.

You are lucky to discover it and get it fixed ! Imagine how many domainers have the same issue and waiting a sale !!

.

 

[Future Sensors]

153.161.83.99.in-addr.arpa. 173 IN PTR a2b7bf3398455f345.awsglobalaccelerator.com.

One important piece to add here is that these AWS Global Accelerator IPs are anycast addresses. That means the same IP, in this case 99.83.161.153, is advertised simultaneously from dozens of AWS edge locations around the world. When a user connects, BGP steers their traffic to the nearest AWS edge, where the TLS handshake takes place before the session is carried over Amazon's backbone to the configured backend.

The certificate a client sees doesn't come from a central server but from the endpoint their connection is routed to. If Afternic's setup is inconsistent (some endpoints using the correct customer cert and others falling back to the default *.awsglobalaccelerator.com) then users in one region may connect cleanly while others hit a mismatch. That explains why TLS failures can appear regional rather than universal.

This is the double‑edged sword of anycast: it gives you global reach and low latency with a single IP, but it also means that every edge location must be kept in sync with the right configuration. If even one region lags behind in certificate deployment, users routed there will see errors. The root cause isn't Global Accelerator itself, but the way Afternic is managing certificate propagation across all of Amazon's anycast edge nodes.

AWS Global Accelerator uses a global network of 130 Points of Presence in 95 cities across 53 countries.

https://aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/features/

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/latest/dg/introduction-components.html

https://aws.amazon.com/global-accelerator/faqs/

 

[Future Sensors]

My reference domain BostonFall.com owned by joe joe( big things coming to afternic in 2021)
His domain loading super fast.

It likely depends on your location, because of anycast, see posting above ^

bostonfall.com. 3600 IN A 99.83.161.153
bostonfall.com. 3600 IN A 166.117.110.61

 

[Future Sensors]

A practical step for @GoDaddy would be to carefully audit the AWS edge locations where these TLS issues occur, and then work toward identifying and fixing the root cause.

 

[Future Sensors]

Afternic's landers today resolve to IPs from AWS Global Accelerator, meaning @GoDaddy is now relying on Amazon's anycast edge network to front Afternic landers.

It's worth remembering that GoDaddy once promoted its own CDN solution, though in practice this was largely powered by Cloudflare under the hood rather than a true, proprietary global edge.

Now that they've shifted to AWS for Afternic landers, the reliance on Global Accelerator introduces new challenges (and expertise!), especially when the configuration isn't consistent across all edge locations. The recurring TLS certificate errors some Afternic Sellers encounter in certain regions are a direct symptom of that. If even one AWS edge is serving the fallback *.awsglobalaccelerator.com certificate instead of the correct Afternic domain cert, visitors in that geography will see TLS/SSL browser warnings (as first reported by @Dane and also by other Afternic Sellers in this thread).

It's somewhat ironic. GoDaddy has moved from a white‑labeled CDN to AWS's world‑class backbone, yet misconfigurations at their end are undermining reliability.

This pattern of execution gaps is uncomfortably reminiscent of the long‑standing issues with Afternic lame DNS, which also took far too long to be properly resolved.

 

[love4ever]

Afternic's landers today resolve to IPs from AWS Global Accelerator, meaning @GoDaddy is now relying on Amazon's anycast edge network to front Afternic landers.

I am not knowledgeable of technical things in general, But if was in the place of amazon i will not help until godaddy add the .now extension

.

 

[Future Sensors]

GoDaddy is sipping cocktails somewhere.

 

[Garet]

GoDaddy is sipping cocktails somewhere.

Reports are that GoDaddy was spotted sipping cocktails at the lounge located on the corner of Apathy Blvd and Arrogance Ave.

 

[Future Sensors]

Reports are that GoDaddy was spotted sipping cocktails at the lounge located on the corner of Apathy Blvd and Arrogance Ave.

 

[Timkh]

Hi @Future Sensors,

If people like you worked at GoDaddy, I would gladly pay even a 25% comission.

I just want to sincerely thank you for everything you do for the domain community.

Thank you very much, my friend!

 

[GoDaddy]

Yesterday and the day before, I pointed the nameservers to Afternic again, hoping the issue was already resolved, but nothing works. Now I'm switching everything back to Spaceship and have to "unlist" all domains on Afternic again. Since I'm not going to pay 25% for nothing. It's a pity. I hadn't used Afternic for half a year, but decided to return because autumn is here, and GD reg path matters now.

Sorry to hear that. Let's chat via DM.

153.161.83.99.in-addr.arpa. 173 IN PTR a2b7bf3398455f345.awsglobalaccelerator.com.

Afternic's landers are currently being served through AWS Global Accelerator, which means the TLS handshake is handled at Amazon’s edge before traffic is routed to GoDaddy's backend. When people see certificate errors on those landers, it usually isn't because Global Accelerator itself is broken, but because of how it has been configured.

The accelerator by default presents a certificate for "*.awsglobalaccelerator.com", which is fine if you're connecting directly to that domain, but not if you’re visiting an Afternic customer domain like "sellerdomain.com". In that case, the browser expects a certificate valid for Seller's domain, and if the wrong one is presented, you'll get a mismatch warning.

This can happen if the custom certificate for Afternic Seller domains hasn't been properly attached to the listener, or if the Server Name Indication (SNI) isn't being passed correctly so that the accelerator falls back to its default AWS certificate. Another possibility is that the ACM certificate for Afternic expired or wasn't renewed because DNS validation records weren't maintained.

Because Global Accelerator routes traffic to the nearest AWS edge location, it's also possible that only some regions are affected if a particular edge has a stale or mis‑deployed certificate. That would explain why some users report no problems while others consistently see TLS errors. In short, the issue isn't with AWS itself but with how Afternic's configuration is set up on top of it. The fix would be for GoDaddy to ensure the correct Afternic certificates are deployed to all Global Accelerator endpoints, that SNI routing is working as intended, and that the certificate chain is complete and valid everywhere.

@GoDaddy FIX!

I doubt first‑line support has the context or expertise to grasp the bigger picture here, let alone debug it effectively. This TLS cert issue clearly requires deeper technical knowledge from the team responsible for configuring AWS Global Accelerator. Unfortunately, that team seems unreachable, and @GoDaddy doesn't appear to be escalating matters to them despite repeated complaints from multiple sellers.

Hi @Future Sensors,
James here -- I am just back in the office after being out on a family emergency. Let me review these messages, and chat with the team today.

 

[GoDaddy]

Afternic has released a new column in the Portfolio view to check your domains are pointed to GoDaddy Aftermarket nameservers!

With the new GoDaddy NS column, you can confirm your names are pointed to GoDaddy landers.

This also comes with a filter option to quickly identify listings that are, or aren't pointed to GoDaddy Aftermarket nameservers!

 

[DN_Hunter]

Afternic has released a new column in the Portfolio view to check your domains are pointed to GoDaddy Aftermarket nameservers!

With the new GoDaddy NS column, you can confirm your names are pointed to GoDaddy landers.

Show attachment 284019

This also comes with a filter option to quickly identify listings that are, or aren't pointed to GoDaddy Aftermarket nameservers!

Show attachment 284020

How often is this updated? I moved a name to AN Nameservers Wednesday morning (EDT), and it currently has
GoDaddy NS = No

More importantly, if this sells at Afternic, would they use this flag to determine the commission rate, or do they check the actual name to see where it is pointed at the time of the transaction?

 

[NicTraders]

When people see certificate errors on those landers, it usually isn't because Global Accelerator itself is broken, but because of how it has been configured.

Surely you're not suggesting GD/AN has something configured sub-optimally? Gee, that would be most unusual. lol

 

[Dane]

Surely you're not suggesting GD/AN has something configured sub-optimally? Gee, that would be most unusual. lol

If only they had recently acquired a domain marketplace with an already perfected infrastructure that they could have taken advantage of. Oh, wait...

 

[Future Sensors]

Surely you're not suggesting GD/AN has something configured sub-optimally? Gee, that would be most unusual. lol

Let me try a different approach this time. Afternic should actually monitor whether everything is working properly in all regions. That requires quite an advanced setup, but I trust them with that.

 

[NicTraders]

I trust them with that

You are a very honourable person, oh wise one.