Discuss your Epik Experience!

[dande]

I think Epik is building the best ever Domain Lander in the history of domaining, and it really needs to be talked about extensively. That's why I am creating this discussion thread. A lot of thought process really goes into the project. And I can see (for the first time) a landing page that is built from the stand point of domainers rather than for just the marketplace itself.

Everything you have ever dreamt of getting or seeing in a professional landing page can be found in the new Epik marketplace landing page design.

Some of my Favorites Features:

1. The ability to optimize your "domain for sale" landing page to actually rank on Google, displaying your sales pitch/domain description. I just did that with few of my generic domain names such as ASAP.TV, targeting certain keywords, and they are showing pretty well on Google. That's a huge plus in my marketing effort.

2. Being able to change background image is another huge one for me. If you are good with pictures and images, you will surely find this very useful. I did that with Nagasaki.org and the result was truly amazing, showing the city of Nagasaki right at the background.

There are too many positive features and I don't want to mention all of them, all alone

So I am leaving you guys to share and discuss what you loves most or dislike about the new Epik marketplace and the landing pages.

The only negative for me is the checkout process. There are too many terms and conditions buttons to tick before checking out. It will be nice if they can streamline those into one beautiful big button

They also need to place the checkout button directly under the payment options. Right now it is awkwardly place somewhere below at the sidebar, which I don't find cool at all.

Sales experience is also welcomed in this discussion. I haven't had any sells so far at Epik because I started using the marketplace just recently, but the future is looking so bright.

 

[frank-germany]

@frank-germany What is Sedo for sale page DNS?

here is an example
( redirect your domains )

https://sedo.com/search/details/?partnerid=19589&domain=pkws.com

replace "pkws.com" with your domain ( listed at sedo )

 

[Bob Hawkes]

here is an example
( redirect your domains )

https://sedo.com/search/details/?partnerid=19589&domain=pkws.com

replace "pkws.com" with your domain ( listed at sedo )

You can if desired take out the partnerid part as the following works too:
https://sedo.com/search/details/?domain=YourSedoDomain.xyz

To make them into a lander you can use the URL forwarding command at the registrar where they are registered (i.e. you don't do it through DNS settings). And yes, they do work with blockers such as Brave browser.

Bob

 

[Larion]

Check any Sedo domain:

https://securitytrails.com/list/ns/ns1.sedoparking.com

This is what you get in the Brave browser for example:

I just checked on my end:
SEDO Landing-Pages are actually working/looking fine with Brave-browser.

 

[Rob Monster]

I just checked on my end:
SEDO Landing-Pages are actually working/looking fine with Brave-browser.

Sorry, but not seeing that. If you have Ad-blocking on, you get this in BRAVE:

 

[Larion]

Sorry, but not seeing that. If you have Ad-blocking on, you get this in BRAVE:

Show attachment 124851

it is showing fine on my end with this domain you show in your screenshot, with Brave and Ad-blocking on.

 

[frank-germany]

Sorry, but not seeing that. If you have Ad-blocking on, you get this in BRAVE:

Show attachment 124851

this is a sedo parking page:

this is a sedo "for sale" landing page

 

[Sumeeth]

Thanks for the invitation here.

I am also going to invite @Ala Dadan to join us on this thread -- he is the genius designer behind this marketplace and I am sure will great appreciate the feedback.

I like what you did there with SSL lander: https://nagasaki.org/

As you know, the SSL is a unique 4096-bit SSL which helps with SEO but also with conversion. The trust seal in the upper right is a known boost for conversion with more improvements on the way.

Let me suggest what else can be done there:

- You can add content with the WYSIWYG editor. This is actually important for original content value for ranking in organic search.

- You can add your own Google Analytics code. This is useful for serving re-targeting ads where people who land on your domain lander can be re-targeted elsewhere.

- You can add more cosmetic enhancements like a custom Favicon.

There are more enhancements possible but those are the top 3.

We are working on an upgrade that will give every domain the option of a unique DNS, rather than sharing the Epik DNS. We run our own Anycast DNS and Global CDN so this is easy. Yes, SEO is KEY.

As for streamlining the checkout, that is great input. We'll get that done soon.

As for sales on these landers, earlier this morning, a sale for $69,995 was completed -- entirely through the parking lander. We don't usually announce sales, but there are many happy sellers.

These parking landers WORK. They work even better if domain owners tune them up but that is optional.

Keep that feedback coming. In the meantime, thanks for the opportunity to tap the collective intellect of the amazingly knowledgeable and discerning NamePros community.

Hi Rob,

I need steps to setup epik sales landing page for my domain at Epik. Please help!

Thanks,

 

[Rob Monster]

Hi Rob,

I need steps to setup epik sales landing page for my domain at Epik. Please help!

Thanks,

Follow the steps here to activate the SSL landers:

https://www.epik.com/support/knowledgebase/enable-a-coming-soon-or-domain-parking-page/

The unique 4096-bit SSL certificates take a few minutes to provision

And then also, you can list domains for sale, make offer or lease here:

https://www.epik.com/support/knowledgebase/selling-and-leasing-domains-on-epik/

if you are not enabled for selling non-Epik domains just ask and we'll approve you as a NamePros member.

Have fun with it -- it is very versatile. If folks want to share examples of what they built or what is working for them, that's great.

If folks have specific ideas for improvement, that's great too.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I need steps to setup epik sales landing page for my domain at Epik. Please help!

This Knowledge Base article may be helpful. Let me know if you have specific questions as I have set them up for most of my Epik registered domains.
https://www.epik.com/support/knowledgebase/enable-a-coming-soon-or-domain-parking-page/
Bob

 

[Sumeeth]

Follow the steps here to activate the SSL landers:

https://www.epik.com/support/knowledgebase/enable-a-coming-soon-or-domain-parking-page/

The unique 4096-bit SSL certificates take a few minutes to provision

And then also, you can list domains for sale, make offer or lease here:

https://www.epik.com/support/knowledgebase/selling-and-leasing-domains-on-epik/

if you are not enabled for selling non-Epik domains just ask and we'll approve you as a NamePros member.

Have fun with it -- it is very versatile. If folks want to share examples of what they built or what is working for them, that's great.

If folks have specific ideas for improvement, that's great too.

Hi Rob,

Tried to change sale settings for my domain but now when I access domain name, it shows error as shown in attached screenshot.

How to revert the setting to make my domain shown with contact owner page?

Thanks in advance

 

[mAd MaX]

Show attachment 125292
Hi Rob,

Tried to change sale settings for my domain but now when I access domain name, it shows error as shown in attached screenshot.

How to revert the setting to make my domain shown with contact owner page?

Thanks in advance

Though the question was meant for Rob, I am taking the liberty to answer it to my best knowledge.

It's just taking a little bit of time, happens for some Domains...pls give it some time...it will work and your preferred page will be visible

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Yes I briefly sometimes got that message. Just give the settings a little while to propagate I think. I never get it now that time has passed.

 

[Sumeeth]

Yes I briefly sometimes got that message. Just give the settings a little while to propagate I think. I never get it now that time has passed.

I am still getting that message, for long time more than 3 hours. Not sure if I have done anything wrong..

Thanks,

 

[Rob Monster]

I am still getting that message, for long time more than 3 hours. Not sure if I have done anything wrong..

Thanks,

I found your domain:

https://signodoc.com/

It looks fine though there are a lot of customization tools beyond text with which you can experiment for SEO and visual effect.

I also see you did not list it in the Epik markeplace, which you are able to do if you like. See here:

https://www.epik.com/support/knowledgebase/selling-and-leasing-domains-on-epik/

As for the provisioning delay for the unique SSL, this is normally about 10 minutes though you may need to clear your browser cache to see it.

We can produce about 20,000 unique 4096-bit SSL certificates per day, and can scale that as needed.

We are working on an update that will simply render an attractive non-SSL site while the SSL is being provision. That should be deployed this week.

 

[phelo1]

I am still only a newb in the domain game and I have been making tons of mistakes and will make plenty more. My biggest mistake so far was not using Epik.com from the get go! When I started I tried a few different services and settled on Dynadot who are great as my registrar of choice and the paid version of Efty to manage the portfolio (turns out that was a mistake). While I had signed up at EpiK a few weeks ago, I did not get around to trying it out until I registered EventTx this morning. I was amazed at the features and I am pretty sure I have not even scratched the surface of what they can provide. I will try my best to list some of these that I have liked in my first 24 hours of using EpiK. So far Epik seems to be the best bits of Dynadot and Efty combined plus more.

The process of adding my full list of domains which I have hosted on other registrars was seamless in fact I think for some of them they had them added under my account already do not ask me how. I think Epik automatically went out and somehow found any domains registered with the details I provided and added them. I do not know really.

So then I go to set up a landing page expecting the bare minimum but I couldn't have been more wrong. First off the premium lander offer free SSL, I had to pay for to get that at other providers, you can change the background , add search engine optimization, google analytics tracking ID, and my favorite part is you can embed videos, images and links! I feel it makes a massive difference and can make the difference if a potential buyer can get a visual representation of your vision for the domain.

You can also add a customized Favicon the little image that appears in the tab bar at the top of your browser window, unfortunately I didn't have time to add one to EventTX this morning but going forward I will be it looks easy to do. In addition in case some really interested potential buyer saves a shortcut to your domain on their desktop you can upload the custom image that will be displayed. I really think these finer details are great.

Aside from the landing pages, I also really like the way Epik pulls in the estibot valuation for your domains saving you the hassle of having to check it yourself if your like me playing with uploading and downloading multiple excel documents this is a major plus.
They also seem to have a feature that can tell you how many times the who is data was checked up on each of your domains and if it was performed multiple times by the same IP address this could be very useful to gauge interest and decide if you want to hold onto a domain or something like that. I didnt even know checking something like that was possible!

On one single page they can tell you the total "estibot appraised value" of your domain, how many different registrars they are held on, if you have any due renewal, how many parking visits you have, how much parking revenue you may have and multiple other items of data that I used to have to look in multiple place to gather saving me time which I love.
The warning feature at the top of the page telling me about domains that might expire soon even on other platforms seems like it could be a life saver some day.

So not only are they a good place to manage your domain portfolio but you can do all your buying and selling there too. Regarding the buying of domains I was able to use bitcoin which is great and instant not sure if that feature is available at others.

I have not gotten around to selling on Epik yet so cannot comment on that, however as a new domainer most of my domains are still on 60 day lock from registrar transfer and I have been manually calculating it trying to figure out when I can move my domains. I searched google for a simpler solution no luck. Then on Epik i hover my mouse over the transfer button on any of my domains even those listed at other registrars and voila what do you know it tells me instantly how long before I can transfer. Another time saving feature seems small but they all add up.

There a few things I would suggest to tweak the landing page further and it may already be possible I do not know. Moving the video/logo up above the offer section so it is the first thing people see. I also couldn't figure out how to get the video to size correctly for phones but that is probably down to me.

This is getting a bit long so I will just wrap up and say thank Rob for taking the time to mention me in his post today, hopefully he and his team keep up the excellent work they are doing trying to make our lives easier!

Thanks

Brian


PS..For anyone interested some of my domains available for sale are currently available to view here.

Fyi for those not using Epik here is what the single glance page with all that handy info looks like:

 

[frank-germany]

I am still only a newb in the domain game and I have been making tons of mistakes and will make plenty more. My biggest mistake so far was not using Epik.com from the get go!

I bet you made bigger mistakes ...

 

[phelo1]

I bet you made bigger mistakes ...

Lol.... Well I did register gangaweed.com very late one night thinking I had made a good purchase until another namepros member kindly pointed out the typo and I am sure you are right I probably have made bigger mistakes that I just haven't even realised yet. However I am being honest when I say if I had started using epik sooner I could have made more efficient use of my time as they automate lots of the things I was doing by hand or have paid efty for. I will still continue to use dynadot as epiks backorder fee of $199 dollars seems excessive and I wont be transferring my already reg'd domains there purely because of the 60 day lock it will incur. I will however be registering all hand reg with them in the future and using their landing pages for all my future domain listings. I will also use them to just manage my portfolio in general.

 

[Kassey Lee]

I moved my domain EZ44 in king from Namesilo to Epik as a test case. After the transfer, I followed the procedure (https://www.epik.com/support/knowledgebase/selling-and-leasing-domains-on-epik/) to create a landing page. It does not resolve. I checked and the nameservers are still Namsilo. What nameservers should I use? Is that the only problem? Thanks.

 

[Embrand]

I moved my domain EZ44 in king from Namesilo to Epik as a test case. After the transfer, I followed the procedure (https://www.epik.com/support/knowledgebase/selling-and-leasing-domains-on-epik/) to create a landing page. It does not resolve. I checked and the nameservers are still Namsilo. What nameservers should I use? Is that the only problem? Thanks.

You need to use ns3.epik.com and ns4.epik.com. You can do that manually if it was not done during the marketplace listing process.

 

[Cal2]

My experience so far with Epik has been pretty epic. Hopefully that can continue as Epik grows.

 

[karmaco]

Lol.... Well I did register gangaweed.com very late one night thinking I had made a good purchase until another namepros member kindly pointed out the typo and I am sure you are right I probably have made bigger mistakes that I just haven't even realised yet. However I am being honest when I say if I had started using epik sooner I could have made more efficient use of my time as they automate lots of the things I was doing by hand or have paid efty for. I will still continue to use dynadot as epiks backorder fee of $199 dollars seems excessive and I wont be transferring my already reg'd domains there purely because of the 60 day lock it will incur. I will however be registering all hand reg with them in the future and using their landing pages for all my future domain listings. I will also use them to just manage my portfolio in general.

I agree on the backorder fee— ridiculously high and you have to prepay it. Why pay when they might not get it.

 

[phelo1]

I agree on the backorder fee— ridiculously high and you have to prepay it. Why pay when they might not get it.

Maybe they offer a first come first serve so if they catch the name and you were first to pay for it its yours no auction. I have seen many people pay $4,000 for a domain that they paid $79 to backorder on snap names or other competitor. If Epik do that then I understand

 

[phelo1]

I agree on the backorder fee— ridiculously high and you have to prepay it. Why pay when they might not get it.

http://www.domainpicks.com/12041/an-epik-backorder-on-an-epic-domain/

an old article so not sure if this is still the practice but might explain it, so at least if you win it you wont be bidding against others. I wonder what their catch rate is like.

Most names go in this order from what I have seen in the last month

No	Backorder service Ranking	Pro	Con
1	Drop catch	Best at catching/price can be less than $59	Public auction open to anyone if multiple backorders, Price $79
2	snapnames/namejet (same company)	Private auction to those who backordered	An auction is still an auction
3	Dynadot	Good for .io & "lower rank TLD", Price $24 normally	Public auction open to anyone if multiple backorders
4	Anyone any suggestion?	??	??
	To easily input tables into name pros posts follow instructions here	www.TheWebBrokers.com	To easily input tables into name pros posts follow instructions here

I suppose for the real big names there must be specialists who swoop in and take those before Drop catch even get a whiff of it. If you really want a name back order everywhere it costs you nothing if you dont win at the majority of places. Godaddy back order seems pointless I think I can hand reg faster than them

 

[Rob Monster]

I moved my domain EZ44 in king from Namesilo to Epik as a test case. After the transfer, I followed the procedure (https://www.epik.com/support/knowledgebase/selling-and-leasing-domains-on-epik/) to create a landing page. It does not resolve. I checked and the nameservers are still Namsilo. What nameservers should I use? Is that the only problem? Thanks.

Use these:

NS3.EPIK.COM
NS4.EPIK.COM

When domains are transferred, the default status is to inherit the DNS of the former registrar. You can automate the process of optimizing your domains for Epik by using Domain Profiles:

https://www.epik.com/support/knowledgebase/how-to-create-and-apply-domain-profiles-to-domains/

It lets you set WHOIS, DNS, Host records, Marketplace listing, parking status, etc. You can have multiple profiles.

 

[Rob Monster]

http://www.domainpicks.com/12041/an-epik-backorder-on-an-epic-domain/

an old article so not sure if this is still the practice but might explain it, so at least if you win it you wont be bidding against others. I wonder what their catch rate is like.

Most names go in this order from what I have seen in the last month

No	Backorder service Ranking	Pro	Con
1	Drop catch	Best at catching/price can be less than $59	Public auction open to anyone if multiple backorders, Price $79
2	snapnames/namejet (same company)	Private auction to those who backordered	An auction is still an auction
3	Dynadot	Good for .io & "lower rank TLD", Price $24 normally	Public auction open to anyone if multiple backorders
4	Anyone any suggestion?	??	??
	To easily input tables into name pros posts follow instructions here	www.TheWebBrokers.com	To easily input tables into name pros posts follow instructions here

I suppose for the real big names there must be specialists who swoop in and take those before Drop catch even get a whiff of it. If you really want a name back order everywhere it costs you nothing if you dont win at the majority of places. Godaddy back order seems pointless I think I can hand reg faster than them

This is a good topic on Backordering.

We are very close to deploying a large update to Backorder pricing. Currently we offer an exclusive backorder for a fixed fee. We are going to also add the non-option of a non-exclusive backorder which is basically a watch list on steroids using dropcatch technology but it will only charge the payment method on file if the domain is delivered and it will do it at a standard reg-fee but with no assurance of exclusive.

Also, in terms of the dropcatch market, we have decided not to join the Dropcatch arms race. Many years ago, I briefly considered to buy Snapnames. That is how I got to know Ron Wiener. In the end, they did not accept my offer, but I did get to learn a lot about that industry which is how we got to know Intrust Domains which we did acquire in 2011, and which gave us a phenomenal engineering team in Russia.

We do also run our own expiry action. We call this Daily Diamonds. It is a daily revertse auction which I highly recommend:

https://marketplace.epik.com/daily-diamonds

The prices drop to $9 in the last hour of the 24 hour reverse auction. People find some great deals there.