Afternic will – Sedo won’t

[equity78]

One site will allow you to opt out of registrar markups the other won't. Here is a follow up to the story I posted last week about some domain registrars marking up your names (for their profit) when you list at Sedo and Afternic. Joe Styler reaffirmed what Bob Mountain wrote two years ago. You can contact Afternic and have your names not show at the markup registrars. We also understand … [Read more...]

 

[fatter]

I don't think there is a better selling opportunity then an enduser searching for a name they want at there registrar and having a sales price to buy now. Most endusers aren't even aware sedo exists, or other aftermarket venues. they are to busy trying to run a business. so for me even at marked up price I would still prefer it be shown, If given the choice I wouldn't opt out of this.
Joet

 

[Sheogorath]

To be honest, I do not care about how they split their commissions or if the domains have markups.
My domains receive a lot more promotion due to the many registrar partnerships and if they sell at markup prices it is fine by me.

$115K registrar markup buy now or $100K normal buy now does not mean anything since I will still get my share from the $100K minus commission.
The extra $15K is not part of the equation and the registrar earns it.
I don't justify their actions, but it doesn't bother me at all.

 

[Name Trader]

This is the reply I got from Afternic from opting out of sales where domains are marked up over our selling prices

As you have requested we have removed your domain listings from all Afternic resellers that are adding a markup to your BIN price. Your domains will no longer be provided to markup test resellers from Afternic.

We appreciate you sharing your concerns. We are using this test to determine our long-term policy to reseller markups. As a customer we’d like to share some background on this exercise with you:

• The markup test involves a small number of resellers, less than 5% of our reseller network by sales volume.
• Afternic does not receive any of the markup revenue, 100% of proceeds from the markup go to the resellers.
• The data shows that while markup resellers experienced a slight decrease in unit sales growth, sales increased in other channels. It appears customers are searching multipe sites for the same domain name, or are contacting domain sellers via the for-sale link on the domain landing page. This means overall sell through rate is largely unchanged but shifted away from markup resellers to other channels.
• The markup test was in response to long-standing demand from Afternic resellers. Many resellers themselves have sub-resellers selling Afternic domains. By the time they were to get their commissions, it wouldn’t be economical for them to carry the Afternic names unless there was additional margin made available via the markup. As a result of the markup we’ve seen an overall increase in sales by this sub-reseller category.

Long story short – our main goal is to help our customers sell domain names. To do that, we need to be in front of as many potential customers as possible. Sometimes, that’s means testing things like enabling third party markups. You still receive the contracted commission associated with your stated Buy Now price.

While this is standard practice with some other players in our industry, it’s something we have delayed implementing. We understand not everyone likes this practice, which is why we are enabling customers to opt out.

Please allow 24-48 hours for the changes to fully take place with our partners.


Feel free to reach out with any further questions.


With best regards,


Afternic Support

It provides some useful other information.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

The most important thing to note while opting out which Afternic forgot or purposely didn't inform is this:

"When you opt out, your domains will no longer display on their partners' websites that mark up their pricing."

The above message is confirmed by Afternic team member.

 

[Name Trader]

@AbdulBasit.com

What is the difference to that and what I quoted in their letter in their first paragraph they say...

As you have requested we have removed your domain listings from all Afternic resellers that are adding a markup to your BIN price. Your domains will no longer be provided to markup test resellers from Afternic.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

@AbdulBasit.com

What is the difference to that and what I quoted in their letter in their first paragraph they say...

Sorry, my mistake. I just misread of missed reading that paragraph. It's the same meaning.

 

[pokainc]

The counterpoint to those who are saying that they don't care if there's markups is the following:

Scenario 1 (when opted IN to markup)
Search randomdomain546.com , boss it says price is $4400.
- That's too much, let's check for another name (real price maybe was $3700).

Scenario 2 (when opted OUT if markup)
Search randomdomain546.com, boss it shows registered already (no price).
-Type it in see what shows up.
There would be your landing page and a potential offer or deal.


Yes it will have more exposure if you're opted in, but not all publicity is good publicity despite how the popular saying goes.