Concerned about Fast Transfer

[Peak.Domains]

INTRO

This has been something that's made me a bit anxious, figure it's time I ask about it, maybe I'm missing something super obvious and there's nothing to worry about.

Sometimes, I like to remove my names from Afternic and then re-add everything. Maybe I'm re-pricing in domain.io and want to re-upload my list, maybe I've forgotten to remove some expired names of the past few weeks and forgotten to add a few new ones and just want a fresh start, etc.

In any case, inevitably after adding these names to my portfolio, the fast transfer requests start to pour in. I understand some people don't want to use fast transfer at all, but let's assume I want to use it...

EXAMPLE

Say I added 100 names to my Afternic account, and I get the emails to confirm them from a handful of different registars.

What happens if someone else had put in a request to add Fast Transfer via THEIR Afternic account, and I accidentally approve it since I'm doing this in bulk? Maybe it was an old request and they sent a reminder at the same time, maybe it's a new one and they just coincidentally happened to do it at the same time as I was cleaning up my portfolio/listings.

Maybe someone else forgot to remove a domain they sold me from their list, and they happen to trigger a Fast Transfer request around the same time I do, and I approve it because I'm approving 99 others at the same time.

SCENARIOS

What happens if one of my names is approved for Fast Transfer in someone else's Afternic account, and the name SELLS? The domain would be pulled from my registrar account since fast transfer was enabled + approved, so by default I imagine the payment/sale would be credited to the other person's Afternic account since they had it approved for Fast Transfer through their account, without owning the domain.

Does Afternic adjust this and redirect the funds to me? Do I have to notice this, that the domain was removed, and reply before the funds are paid out to someone else? Is the transaction just cancelled? Or do I somehow lose the domain and not get paid for it?

Also, what if I accidentally approve a domain for Fast Transfer based on someone else's request, and they change the price to $100 and buy it themselves, then it gets fast transfered to them?

Help me go through the worst-case scenarios here, and what I can do, other than adding and approving names one at a time.

SOLUTIONS?

I guess one option would be to go into each of my registrar accounts, disable fast transfer from every domain, then re-add them and make sure the total number of requests that I approve matches with the total number of submitted names...

I'd really love to avoid having to check these 1 at a time.

Just feels like there's a lot of room for error here, especially when adding/editing/maintaining names in bulk.

With all the hassle of changing nameservers away from Dan to get my sedo verification done, adding the new Afternic code to verify, then changing the nameservers back, or sometimes using Domain.io, etc etc etc - there's so many moving parts and I just want to make sure nothing gets lost in the shuffle.

Without Fast Transfer, if someone else has one of my domains listed in their portfolio, and it sells - I imagine I would have a lot more control over the situation. I tell them it's mine, tell them to transfer the sale over to my account if I like the price, and then transfer the domain to the buyer. But with a mis-listing in Fast Transfer, feels like I'm just at the mercy of a company that might or might not reply in time.

Please let me know if any of my assumptions are wrong, and I'd love to hear any stories you have that might relate to this and how it turned out.

Thanks in advance

 

[lotk]

I've been wondering the same things for a few years.... I only approve fast transfer for domains I am adding to Afternic right then. Some registrars take hours to enable the option for Afternic Fast Transfer so I just leave those disabled.

 

[korganian]

Ditto here. I had some price requests from Afternic customers for some of my domains and added a BIN for them. I then quickly got an email from Namesilo requesting approval of fast transfer for them. That email requested me to just auto approve the request. I was cautious instead and scrolled down to the link at the bottom of the email that then showed which domains the approval applied to and then had to copy and paste each one into my Namesilo account search. I found that 2 of those 8 domains this email wanted me to approve for fast transfer where in fact not even listed in my Afternic account and I was not allowed to add them to Afternic because they were in someone else's Afternic account.

So it's not safe to trust those fast transfer emails even when you only approve a fast transfer email immediately after adding a BIN at Afternic.

 

[mdent]

Ideally, afternic should add a unique id code to every account, and forward this code to the registrars. The registrars' email & control panel could then include the afternic id code, making it clear we're approving the domain for the correct account. Optionally registrars would be able to add automatic afternic id filters, warnings for new/unapproved ids, etc to make it completely seamless and safe.

It takes some work on afternic's side, sure. However it's absolutely insane to me that this hasn't been implemented in the system by default.

 

[Gabriel360]

Very valid questions.

One way Afternic combats scenarios like the ones you described above is by reviewing names whenever there is a change in the Whois details.

I've had to delist and re-list some of the names on my Afternic account just because I transferred them to a different registrar.

 

[anantj]

I had a similar incident occur to me. I bought a domain that I added to my Afternic account (along with a BIN). I received a FT opt-in e-mail but the price listed was different from what I had set as the BIN. Thankfully I noticed it and did not approve the FT. On contacting Afternic, they simply apologized for the issue and said that they have removed the old listing.

There were TWO listings for the same domain on Afternic. It is possible that the new listing/my listing wasn't made visible - when I searched for this domain, it only showed me the old listing with the old price.

 

[zomainhacks]

I had a similar incident occur to me. I bought a domain that I added to my Afternic account (along with a BIN). I received a FT opt-in e-mail but the price listed was different from what I had set as the BIN. Thankfully I noticed it and did not approve the FT. On contacting Afternic, they simply apologized for the issue and said that they have removed the old listing.

There were TWO listings for the same domain on Afternic. It is possible that the new listing/my listing wasn't made visible - when I searched for this domain, it only showed me the old listing with the old price.

Sometimes this BIN price discrepancy happens due to an outdated listing on GoDaddy

 

[anantj]

Sometimes this BIN price discrepancy happens due to an outdated listing on GoDaddy

Yes, but it was an active listing which means if I'd accepted the FT auth, my domain might have sold from another account and they'd have been paid!

 

[carob]

Sometimes this BIN price discrepancy happens due to an outdated listing on GoDaddy

Earlier in another thread I reported that my Afternic listings, as presented via Godaddy searches, sometimes did not implement my price changes - for months. And on looking you could see their ToS made clear there was no commitment to implementing or propagating updates in real time or even within a set time period such as 24 or 48 hours. Always a good idea to export a .csv of all your domains at Afternic so you can check later if you need to.

Just another risk to run.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

In my opinion, you raise valid concerns @Peak.Domains. Perhaps it almost never happens that a sale actually goes through incorrectly, I suspect that is the case, but it is worrying that anyone can list a name on Afternic without verification (if the name is not already listed by the real owner), and with the delayed email approval mess of most registrars it seems to me all too possible that the scenario you describe could happen.

When I complained about someone having listed on Afternic names that I owned and did not want on Afternic (they were at SquadHelp under exclusivity), eventually I got an answer from Afternic that what I should do is to briefly add them to my Afternic using self verification, then set them unavailable for sale on Afternic, and that would prevent someone else from listing them. Going forward, I am planning to do that on all names I do not wish to list on Afternic.

I wish the registrars had better ways to activate and deactivate FT. I far prefer the Dynadot system which is fast (minutes after adding to Afternic), is done from within the registrar control panel, allows me to deactivate at the same place, and readily shows which are activated for Sedo and Afternic.

Thanks again to all for the discussion.

-Bob

 

[MHExplorer]

If you add domains in bulk, you will get those same domains in bulk for approval. IF someone else will add your name to their account, you will get separate email for that because that is from separate afternic account.

This is just my opinion and i am not representative so just sharing my view.

 

[korganian]

If you add domains in bulk, you will get those same domains in bulk for approval. IF someone else will add your name to their account, you will get separate email for that because that is from separate afternic account.

This is just my opinion and i am not representative so just sharing my view.

The fast transfer approval emails I get from Namesilo contain a mix of names both in and not in my Afternic account, all in the same email.

 

[MHExplorer]

So this is not something which Afternic alone can fix. Registrars like Namesilo will also have to play their role. The best thing i can think of is to add additional field while asking for approval and while mentioning the domain and the price listed, the username of Afternic account should also be displayed.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

The potential problem arises because it is possible to list a name on Afternic without verification of ownership, in cases where the actual owner does not have it listed on Afternic.

And the confirmation for fast transfer on the name goes to the registrant contact, so if they are not careful, every now and then FT will get approved on a domain name listed by someone else.

It seems to me there are two simple ways to solve this:
1. Require verification at Afternic for all domain listings, not just ones that no one has previously listed. Also, require verification after any registrant change; or
2. The verification of FT email should make clear the domain name, date listed on Afternic, and most importantly the name of the Afternic account that made the listing. This means that it would jump out if you see an Afternic account name other than your own.

It does not seem to me that either or both of these would be difficult to do. Clearly there are other possible solutions, in terms of how FT is approved.

Afternic already have a verification system, so why not use it for all listings?

I presume the answer is they don't want the flack from the big sellers who don't want to be bothered by needing to do it.

-Bob