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.

 

[Optinom]

Yes they still cancel these sales.
I really don't understand why do they allow that in the first place.

At least now they are informing the buyer about the reason of the cancelation, and that he can still buy the name without LTOs...

Yeah, they just responded. If the domain is outside Godaddy registrar, and more than 10 days from the end of lock period they'll cancel the transaction.

 

[Optinom]

I have a few suggestions for Afternic to handle these 60-day lock LTOs, without having to invest much in tech.

If a domain on 60-day lock is sold on LTO and there's more than 10 days for lock expiry, present these options to the buyer

Option A: Afternic escrows the domain in the current registrar like a normal escrow (Afternic already does this in case of BIN sales), but doesn't give DNS access to the buyer. Domain will not be sold to anyone else, but buyer can control DNS only after the lock period when the domain is transferred to Godaddy.

Option B: Give buyer the option to - pay the balance on full price, and take control in the current registrar (Or wait for x days to get it in Godaddy)

Option C: Cancel the LTO purchase

And then, let the buyer decide. In my case it's only a 4-month LTO. The buyer might've taken option A or B. Rather than forcing a cancellation .

 

[Traderas]

I once asked them to offer the buyer a 10% discount off the bin price, just trying to save my sale.

They refused of course!
They said they are not brokers...

 

[tom365]

Suggestions for Afternic boost

I think Godaddy should distinguish between domains sold through Afternic Boost and domains sold through a sales page, because if buyers directly access the domain through my domain sales page and make purchases, Afternic Boost will not have any effect at this time,but at this point, I wasted 5% of the cost.

This is the reason why I have not been using Afternic Boost. All of my domains use Afternic's sales page, and if buyers directly visit the domain to purchase, I am worried about wasting 5% fees.

 

[Jannes]

Suggestions for Afternic boost

I think Godaddy should distinguish between domains sold through Afternic Boost and domains sold through a sales page, because if buyers directly access the domain through my domain sales page and make purchases, Afternic Boost will not have any effect at this time,but at this point, I wasted 5% of the cost.

This is the reason why I have not been using Afternic Boost. All of my domains use Afternic's sales page, and if buyers directly visit the domain to purchase, I am worried about wasting 5% fees.

Only boosted accounts get ”premium” and ”verified domain” badges on landing pages so that Afternic can claim that the boost in fact had an effect.

 

[tom365]

Only boosted accounts get ”premium” and ”verified domain” badges on landing pages so that Afternic can claim that the boost in fact had an effect.

You didn't understand what I meant. Although the boost option is set, many domain names are purchased directly by buyers by visiting the domain parking sales page. In this case, the seller pays an additional 5% fee(seller waste this 5%)

 

[Jannes]

You didn't understand what I meant. Although the boost option is set, many domain names are purchased directly by buyers by visiting the domain parking sales page. In this case, the seller pays an additional 5% fee(seller waste this 5%)

I know very well what you meant. I just pointed out that they've tried to pre-empt your complaint by giving boosted accounts better-converting landing pages (if we assume those badges convert).

 

[tom365]

I know very well what you meant. I just pointed out that they've tried to pre-empt your complaint by giving boosted accounts better-converting landing pages (if we assume those badges convert).

yes.

 

[WW]

Suggestions for Afternic boost

I think Godaddy should distinguish between domains sold through Afternic Boost and domains sold through a sales page, because if buyers directly access the domain through my domain sales page and make purchases, Afternic Boost will not have any effect at this time,but at this point, I wasted 5% of the cost.

This is the reason why I have not been using Afternic Boost. All of my domains use Afternic's sales page, and if buyers directly visit the domain to purchase, I am worried about wasting 5% fees.

That is not how Afternic/GoDaddy operates LMAO If they could get away with it, they would take 50% off, including on your own sales... They are just too big, which is also why they can get away with a 25% fee if you are not using their landers, whereas the small guys cannot.

 

[Jannes]

fyi

https://twitter.com/x/status/2019464576081772631

@GoDaddy , you really need to advise sellers (and buyers) better.

 

[Future Sensors]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2019515519255425178

 

[Future Sensors]

Important.

 

[Garet]

I am again seeing a difference between prices set in Afternic to what is displayed on Afternic landing pages and from within GoDaddy when I search for the names. This seems to be an occasional but probably not overly rare glitch where price changes show within Afternic but not out there in the real world.

It makes sense to check your price changes. I sometimes run bulk availability at GoDaddy for this. I need to do it more often.

I will be deleting the names from Afternic and re-adding them to correct it. That worked last time.

I know that GoDaddy doesn't care but I have documented it with Afternic, lander, and GoDaddy screenshots and sent them to my rep.

 

[4L.com]

@GoDaddy When adding domains to the Afternic panel, if I try to add more than 20 domains that need verification, the verification button simply does not appear in the panel. Here is an example: I add 20 domains that need verification, and the verification button appears:

And here is an example where I added one more domain to the list (so 21 total), and the button is no longer there, so I cannot start verification.

That means I can try to add 25, 30, 40, or 50 domains, and the verification button still does not appear. But if I add 20 or less, everything is OK and it works.

 

[NameGroove]

@GoDaddy It appears you rolled out a new "premium domains" tab and all aftermarket names are being shown there. None are shown in the main flow, which now solely shows hand reg alt TLDs. (the 4th tab at the top of the screenshot).

Within that tab only boosted names are shown. If Boost is off you will not get your names shown - if this is a true rollout and stays the way it is now. Now this could be a test, but 3 of us checked and we all saw the same results (again, it still could be a test). Anyone else see something different? @GoDaddy is this a rollout or test?

imho, this will result in a dropoff of sales via GoDaddy cross marketing (other than direct type in via reg path and/or direct type in to your lander). Because there is no way buyers know or can find that "tab" easily imho. Perhaps if it were a different color and called out?

Also, maybe you can sprinkle in a link to the "premium domains" tab within the main flow results (not actually premium domains - but a link to premium domains). every 5th or 10th result... so buyers who are only seeing hand regs can understand there are premium options (that 4th tab is too hidden).

 

[Future Sensors]

@NameGroove I'm seeing my non-boost .coms shown in the main flow, without going to the 4th tab.

 

[NameGroove]

@NameGroove I'm seeing my non-boost .coms shown in the main flow, without going to the 4th tab.

ok, so it's a test. Thanks for confirming

 

[DomainBFF]

@GoDaddy It appears you rolled out a new "premium domains" tab and all aftermarket names are being shown there. None are shown in the main flow, which now solely shows hand reg alt TLDs. (the 4th tab at the top of the screenshot).

Within that tab only boosted names are shown. If Boost is off you will not get your names shown - if this is a true rollout and stays the way it is now. Now this could be a test, but 3 of us checked and we all saw the same results (again, it still could be a test). Anyone else see something different? @GoDaddy is this a rollout or test?

imho, this will result in a dropoff of sales via GoDaddy cross marketing (other than direct type in via reg path and/or direct type in to your lander). Because there is no way buyers know or can find that "tab" easily imho. Perhaps if it were a different color and called out?

Also, maybe you can sprinkle in a link to the "premium domains" tab within the main flow results (not actually premium domains - but a link to premium domains). every 5th or 10th result... so buyers who are only seeing hand regs can understand there are premium options (that 4th tab is too hidden).

Show attachment 294567

I've had this view for at least 6 months now

Edit: Went back to confirm and it happened for me around like July/August of 2025

 

[NameGroove]

This may help afternic sales

https://twitter.com/x/status/2021985171600449986

 

[Future Sensors]

This may help afternic sales

https://twitter.com/x/status/2021985171600449986

"Previously, our for sale landers were not accessible to Google’s search crawler. This was a deliberate decision, made for sound SEO reasons related to GoDaddy’s wider site architecture."

Lol.