Circumventing GoDaddy Expiry Auctions

[411domains]

Has anyone noticed the thousands upon thousands of Godaddy expired auctions ending without bids that never return to the market as a closeout?

Someone has discovered a way to circumvent the regular expired auction process.

They appear to be using an API that places backorders within seconds of auction close. Thus eliminating all competition, auction extensions and closeout conversion times for the cost of a backorder. (In their case, thousands of backorders.)

Although the auctions are already closed, these after the fact backorders are being counted as bids.

In my opinion, any bid that comes in after the auction closes should be automatically canceled and refunded.

What are your thoughts?

BTW, this has been a known issue for awhile.

 

[wwwweb]

Wasn't this backorder bot beating out everyone who tried to use the loop on domains they targeted?

Most active users who knew how to snipe the closeouts has a chance, but when this came to light, they should have used this to their advantage, as by closing it, the bots will now certainly have the ultimate advantage again. It would have been better if godaddys just left it alone, since everyone knew, and it was now fair game.

Nope, big misconception, not on backorders, human element had the advantage, as you could count down the countdown, and submission, and submit your backorder a few seconds before the auction ended, as by the time it processed it would be first in que. With the backorder loophole gone, the bots have advantage in sniping closeouts, as there is no specific release countdown.

 

[UXela]

No

 

[trelgor]

No

Care to elaborate?

 

[UXela]

I was answering "no" to this:

"Wasn't this backorder bot beating out everyone who tried to use the loop on domains they targeted?"

 

[Ategy]

No one with API can see anything like this. Publicly means what it means any member of the public or our customers. I am not going to comment on what GoDaddy has or does not have, we do a lot of tests and have a lot of competition watching us etc. If you really want to know what happens here internally come and work for us we are a great company. I wouldn't be here 12 years if we weren't. We even have a slide.

Thanks for that clarification.

As for your 2nd point .. if I ever worked at GoDaddy half your staff would love me for helping fix issues .. but the other half would want to kill me for having them fix issues! lol .. Seriously .. I'm quite confident I've reported more bugs than any of your clients and quite probably most or even all of your staff. While it is frustrating .. I also understand the GD platform is a monster sized ship to steer where tons of things can slip through the cracks .. and I also realise that as a power user trying to get the most through those cracks, it's normal that I find more issues than just about anyone. I do have to admit the thought of being able to look under the GD hood seriously intrigues me .. lol. That being said .. not sure any of us would ever work at GoDaddy unless you can answer yes to the following 2 questions ...

1- Are we still allowed to buy domains in the aftermarket/auctions/closeouts as employees?

2- Are your offices and slide SteamieTheHotDog.com friendly?
(ok .. maybe that last one is just for me .. )

 

[SouthernDomains]

This is my first post on NamePros, I have been a long time browser but signed up today.
This thread has intrigued me simply because I am after a particular domain and I am hoping I can snag it before a bot beats me to it.

A bit of history.

• A few years ago I hand regged a domain for a business, no other business in the world had this name (from what I could see at the time).
• I made a rookie error and it expired while not keeping an eye on it or the reminder emails.
• It got picked up somewhere by someone that listed it on a domain brokerage site
• I contacted the site and was given a massive, unrealistic price. I turned down two of their offers
• I kept an eye on the renewal date and sure enough it wasn't renewed (which shows the broker didn't contact the owner when I was negotiating)
• GoDaddy now have this listed as a Premium domain at auction for a crazy amount

So my questions are:

• Are Premium auction listings treated the same way as what has been mentioned so far on this thread?
• If the >$1,300 threshold is indeed true (I know it hasn't been proven) then is it likely I haven't got a chance at all in competing for it after the auction has ended?
• If I place a backorder on it and the bots automatically counter bid is there a perceived limit in which they will stop bidding? I am actually happy to pay a couple of hundred dollars for this domain but beyond that I am also happy for it to pass (I am currently using the .net version without any issues)

This has been a great thread and I have learnt a lot, but it is also scary that the average person/domainer doesn't seem to be able to compete on a level playing field based on what has been posted here.

Thanks in advance.

 

[domainer111]

Hey @stub and @Ategy.com -- wondering if you could help -- if you place a Godaddy backorder on an expired domain, does that now count as a bid in the auction i.e. is made public?

 

[Ategy]

I know things have changed a bit recently .. but as far as I know it has always been that way.

The only difference is that before there was a window where the backorder would go through after the end of the auction .. but that "loophole" has since been closed as far as I know.