Discuss your Epik Experience!

[Dandelion]

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.

 

[karmaco]

We send one domain per year but should review with engineering about sending bundled notices where the same WHOIS pattern exists.

@vitigo

Thanks a bulk mailer would be nice .For example, last Thursday I got 10, Monday 8, Tuesday 15, today 5 etc.

 

[Rob Monster]

Thanks a bulk mailer would be nice .For example, last Thursday I got 10, Monday 8, Tuesday 15, today 5 etc.

Fair point.

For guys with really large portfolios that log in regularly, we can turn those off completely.

These emails are due to ICANN compliance, which is ironic because RDAP and GPDR made WHOIS increasingly meaningless.

I am tempted to stop sending them but we have been audited before on ICANN WRDP compliance. We were compliant, obviously.

 

[Grilled]

Thanks a bulk mailer would be nice .For example, last Thursday I got 10, Monday 8, Tuesday 15, today 5 etc.

Agreed.

I got four separate emails in the last hour or so.

Not to say this isn't important, or that this is an example of crying wolf, but when I continually see emails stating important notice regarding my domain, it makes me less concerned of any email from epik that might actually be an important notice, and I may have disregarded it as one of the many WHOIS emails. I can probably avoid this by sending whois @ epik emails to a specific folder, but IDK if I would miss any actual important email, that needs responding to, that may have also been sent from whois @ epik to a generally unmonitored due to excess folder.

 

[wwwweb]

I agree best thing to do is to list all the domains in one email for that week, or month , as majority have the same whois. Otherwise there is a flood of emails that totally overtake an inbox.

 

[Rob Monster]

Are you guys ready for some big news of the week?

The Epik engineering team has been CRANKING and is delivering the year-end deliverables. Here are 3 to share with you today.


#1 The promised NameLiquidate.com is online:

https://nameliquidate.com/

It is super easy to add domains, including non-Epik domains. The 3-day auction ends at just $9. The commission rate is a rock bottom 9%.

This has been led by @vitigo following the inspiration of @DanSanchez here. It is now fully operational with some rapid improvements to follow.


#2 A very cool free domainer tool suite is online:

https://nameinvestors.com/

This is being led by @Gube. Drag and drop dashboards with awesome tools for finding the perfect domains.


#3 We have been incubating another killer service under the brand name NameBrokers.com.

We are assembling an international team of high-impact, no-nonsense, strategic-thinking brokers. ICYMI, @DanSanchez and I are handpicking these brokers all around the world with brokers in place for:

- English
- French
- Indonesian
- Portuguese
- Spanish
-Turkish
- Vietnamese

Much more on the way.

With Epik you have a one stop shop for:

- Registration
- WHOIS Privacy / Compliance
- SEO friendly landing pages
- Development
- Cloud Hosting
- Inbound inquiry management
- Outbound brokerage
- Name Liquidation
- Escrow and Transaction Clearing

As for transactions, this is all private, with super-fast payout, all with the lowest fees in the industry.

You heard it here first. The PR and social media coverage will follow but giving the friends at NP the early look so you know what's up.

 

[SuperBrander]

@vitigo @DanSanchez @Rob Monster Cool new features. Thanks. I just finished chatting about NameLiquidate with your chat. A few things that I think could be improved:

1. Prices from NameLiquidate.com should be seen at the marketplace and be in the registration path.

2. The starting prices should probably be much lower. I guess if they appear in the registration path and listed at the marketplace- there will be a chance end users will buy them. But for domainers- it's highly unlikely someone will pay high $XXX or even mid $XXX for an expiring domain that's being liquidated.

3. Something I forgot to discuss in the chat. It would really be helpful if you guys will add some search filters like age, length, keyword position etc.

Thanks for the consideration.

 

[DanSanchez]

@vitigo @DanSanchez @Rob Monster Cool new features. Thanks. I just finished chatting about NameLiquidate with your chat. A few things that I think could be improved:

1. Prices from NameLiquidate.com should be seen at the marketplace and be in the registration path.

2. The starting prices should probably be much lower. I guess if they appear in the registration path and listed at the marketplace- there will be a chance end users will buy them. But for domainers- it's highly unlikely someone will pay high $XXX or even mid $XXX for an expiring domain.

3. Something I forgot to discuss in the chat. It would really be helpful if you guys will add some search filters like age, length etc.

Thanks for the consideration.

Thanks for the input! The marketplace is still in test mode, so we have time to make edits as we go. Here are my responses:

1. We wanted to segregate the two to avoid skewing the retail buyers' perspective on pricing. But some integration may work together with parking at some point in the future.

2. The pricing is changing on an hourly basis, this helps sellers get max for their liquidation and avoids fraud by doing it reverse auction style. We may shift the pricing higher or lower, depending on the quality. But the auctions only last 72hrs, instead of the usual 7 days. This means prices will adjust quickly to a place where anyone can pull the trigger and still have room for great returns.

3. Advanced search is coming, I structured the filters based on some of the most effective searching I know, expireddomains.net, but it still needs to be constructed and implemented. We are also working on automatic buy triggers and watch list to keep names you liked on the side while they pass through the price stages.

Looking for more feedback and ideas on how to improve, anyone is able to list already. Just be aware of the existing limitations and that we are working to add them as we go.

 

[SuperBrander]

@DanSanchez Cool. Thanks for the answers. What happens at the end of the 72 hours? Are the domains really dropped without waiting for the end of the expiration cycle? If the domains are dropped- that's kind of a waste since they have more time to possibly sell.

 

[DanSanchez]

@DanSanchez Cool. Thanks for the answers. What happens at the end of the 72 hours? Are the domains really dropped without waiting for the end of the expiration cycle? If the domains are dropped- that's kind of a waste since they have more time to possibly sell.

Auction ends, domains are not relisted. We may change this if there is feedback on it. But the purpose is to liquidate voluntarily before the names are taken by other registrars or redemption.

 

[SuperBrander]

@DanSanchez Thanks. If they don't sell within 72 hours and they're continuing to expire- I think it makes sense to relist them automatically- but up to you guys. Also, the 'Hour To Drop' column (or at least its title) doesn't seem to make sense if they're not really dropping when the auctions end.

 

[Rob Monster]

@DanSanchez Thanks. If they don't sell within 72 hours and they're continuing to expire- I think it makes sense to relist them automatically- but up to you guys. Also, the 'Hour To Drop' column (or at least its title) doesn't seem to make sense if they're not really dropping when the auctions end.

We'll edit that column heading -- it should say "Auction ends".

As for re-listing, I think the idea is to keep the inventory fresh. So, perhaps 90 day minimum interval to re-list. Reasonable?

As long as the auth is valid, the domains that end without a bid could sit for $9 in a special "Bargain Bin" list but not as featured inventory. Like that?

 

[SuperBrander]

@Rob Monster Thanks. I thought the platform was meant to liquidate expiring domains. A domain will be long dropped before 90 days pass from the day it was listed until it can be listed again if it wasn't sold the first time- so unless I'm missing something, I don't understand the logic. As for the bargain bin- yeah, if they aren't being relisted then I think a bargain bin makes sense.

 

[Rob Monster]

@Rob Monster Thanks. I thought the platform was meant to liquidate expiring domains. A domain will be long dropped before 90 days pass from the day it was listed until it can be listed again if it wasn't sold the first time- so unless I'm missing something, I don't understand the logic. As for the bargain bin- yeah, if they aren't being relisted then I think a bargain bin makes sense.

Two main use-cases:

- Domain is expired or expiring and seller is trying to salvage some value before he/she gets zero.

- Domain is not expired or expiring but seller needs urgent cash.

The second scenario is common, e.g. a recent case of a client who passed and whose brother is now managing the estate and gave orders to liquidate.

Either way, there will be bargains for buyers and liquidity for sellers.

Confirmed on "Bargain Bin" where finished auctions will go as long as the auth works.

 

[SuperBrander]

@Rob Monster Thanks. IMO it's a very risky move putting a valuable domain in a reverse auction, especially on a new platform that's meant for domainers. Selling assets like that, without a reserve, will probably yield the least amount of money for the owner or beneficiaries.

Liquidating expired/expiring domains will probably be the main use of the platform and 90 days won't be helpful in those cases. Regarding the bargain bin- I think you guys should consider having an option to opt out of it or have to agree to it before a domain lands there.

 

[Rob Monster]

@Rob Monster Thanks. IMO it's a very risky move putting a valuable domain in a reverse auction, especially on a new platform that's meant for domainers. Selling assets like that, without a reserve, will probably yield the least amount of money for the owner or beneficiaries.

Liquidating expired/expiring domains will probably be the main use of the platform and 90 days won't be helpful in those cases. Regarding the bargain bin- I think you guys should consider having an option to opt out of it or have to agree to it before a domain lands there.

I think the use-cases are clear.

We have had a lot of positive feedback already. The marketplace part of this is very mature so transactional fulfillment should be very smooth. I think it will blow away the likes of NameJet and Snap.

Also, there won't be big problems with domain clawbacks because the sellers are opting in rather than having their domains pulled for non-renewal. This should lead to sales with clear title.

Lastly with clear title, most domains will not have 60 day locks of any kind so long as the buyer does not trigger fraud review, for example.

Give it a try, and let us know the feedback. We'll be paying out some bug bounties and rewards for folks who help make it better plus we'll be buying some names along the way.

 

[SuperBrander]

@Rob Monster Thanks. Yeah, I already put a dozen or so domains there. We'll see how it goes. I hope the search functions will be added soon. I'm definitely rooting for you guys. NameJet has become unreliable, Flippa is in the dumps and Snap usually forces people to use Networse Solutions, a horror show masquerading as a registrar. So if you guys can make this work... it'll be awesome.

 

[Grilled]

Due to my frequent typing of "Epik" I misspelled my initial YouTube search of "epic"

As watching an episode of Fugget About It, and the frequent mentioning of epic, reminded me of, well, Epik.

The searched for video (turn volume down, as the YouTube uploader edited and dubbed the video to make one part louder than the orginal errr)

 

[JoeCanadian]

Took at name at NameLiquidate.com. Couple of comments:

- would be nice to have ability to download a .csv file to review/filter names.
- how about ability to put in a bid below the current price? Bid gets triggered if no one else scoops up the name before it reaches specified price.

 

[Rob Monster]

Took at name at NameLiquidate.com. Couple of comments:

- would be nice to have ability to download a .csv file to review/filter names.
- how about ability to put in a bid below the current price? Bid gets triggered if no one else scoops up the name before it reaches specified price.

Great input.

Will discuss with @vitigo -- I like both of those requests. We'll also be handing out some Epik credit for the folks who bring the good ideas and bug reports so keep that coming.

I will ask @DanSanchez to round up the account info for the folks who contribute materially.

 

[blockhead]

Anyone from Epik support online?

My client's website is down. Someone PM me. Need to get back online ASAP!