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.

 

[Mister Funsky]

Well, as I said above I stopped using their card 'service' years ago. It is unfortunate for the upstart businesses that may want to use their platform for a quickie payment but credit cards, crypto and bank wire will suffice.

 

[equity78]

This is wrong without proof of wrong doing, was there any reason cited by Paypal Rob?

 

[jberryhill]

You can follow the progression of key letters

"Key letters"? Nonsense. It's your right to publish whatever one-sided screed you want, but the page is notable for the absence of any communication from Paypal.

I can say with certainty, having been the compliance backstop for a major registrar for several years, that inquiries from financial service providers about particular transactions are common. If you are handling, say, a time-structured purchase which involves repeated sub-$10k transactions involving a foreign entity, then, yeah, that is going to trigger an inquiry because it looks like structuring a transaction to avoid SARS reports.

And, yeah, once in a while, someone gets arrested and it turns out that they had some domain names and thus had records of transactions with a registrar. Law enforcement will typically ask questions about those sorts of transactions with the merchant and the payment processor. Getting combative, taking sides, or engaging in "philosophies", is not the role of neutral service provider in those circumstances.

There is zero, zero, justification for publishing spreadsheets of Paypal and GoDaddy employee email addresses and direct telephone numbers as an invitation to targeted harassment of them. You falsely label a roster of relatively low-level employees as "Executive Contacts". That is a lie. Don't even bother with whatever ridiculous rationalization you have for that stunt.

Like, "Oh, I'm curious to know what this is about. I guess I'll call someone at Paypal with the title of 'Director, Api Product' using their direct number who, I'm sure, knows all about this."

Despicable.

Someone who is, as noted in the Paypal spreadsheet, a user-interface designer or marketing manager is not a contact person for "interviews" on a legal matter at Paypal. You know that. Any adult knows that. Paypal has published contacts for "interviews" by legitimate media.

 

[frank-germany]

maybe they don't like epik claim to have approximately 2 mill domain names under management

while epik just have them in a database w/o any control over them

https://www.epik.com/blog/paypal

 

[DaveX]

This is wrong without proof of wrong doing, was there any reason cited by Paypal Rob?

I read somewhere that PP requested documentation and answers from Epik. Epik has not posted the letter from PP. Only an excerpt.

 

[DaveX]

I have to say, Rob Davis took a route in his response that is surprising. WTH does Hunter Bid*n have to do with the situation? That was some weird reading considering the situation.

 

[frank-germany]

I have to say, Rob Davis took a route in his response that is surprising. WTH does Hunter Bid*n have to do with the situation? That was some weird reading considering the situation.

on epik weird stuff the the normal way to go for

 

[DaveX]

on epik weird stuff the the normal way to go for

I mean seriously..."America is frankly tired of watching wealthy elitists brand patriotic citizens as racists and white nationalists"....WTH. Over a paypal account?

It's hilarious. Epik holds the knowledge of who is wealthy, who is elitist, who is patriotic, who is racist, and who is a white nationalist? Whoever is writing this stuff....just wow.

 

[DomainBanana]

Another Epik controversy and they try to make it political?

This is becoming annoying and tiresome.

I don't know what's going on here but I have a feeling PayPal did the right thing.

Epik does not help itself with all of these public tantrums.

 

[Intelliname]

Despicable

Thank you John. You have made many assumptions and accusations straight out the gate, which is to be expected I guess given your proximity to GoDaddy, and the knowledge shared in an attempt to "get ahead" of what is coming. All hands on deck indeed, but I understand given your personal obligations.

You don't think with a 20+ year relationship with GoDaddy I am not aware of your interactions there? I'm not sure this goes the way you are expecting, when you eventually discover how many employees of both these technology firms are absolutely fed up with the way they are being operated. You are grossly underestimating the degree of malfeasance behind the scenes, and how your own attempts now to add your own attacks will be historically viewed.

Here is some truth for you before you embarrass yourself further:

Firstly - you have now stated publicly in numerous places that you believe this is financially-based, attempted to damage us with snippets related to money laundering, and you intentionally took three lines out of three paragraphs to construct your view in an effort to manipulate others. I understand this is an attempt for damage control, but it is really transparent. It also does nothing to help our industry.

Secondly - and with no shortage of irony: The information collected on our PayPal page included two key lists, reflecting individuals that were each served a copy of the FTC complaint over the last 48 hours. This was due to their individual capacities to answer questions related to various events that constitute market abuse. Suddenly though you are across forums, Twitter and the Internet as an expert on their positions?

This list was not created for public consumption, but as a starting resource point of materials and resources to support FTC and DOJ introductions. As you run around the Internet telling everyone we are "doxxing" employees, I would ask you to keep one thing in mind:

It was you that posted the link and content first in Namepros - not Epik.

But you already know that. Because it was important to "get ahead" of it however you could.

There are too many bullies in this world. Traitors who will destroy lives with no regard for others simply to earn a paycheck. I count on more transparency in the future, and you should too.

Have a pleasant evening.

 

[jberryhill]

First off, I have zero relationship with GoDaddy.

Several years ago, I consulted on some issues with part of the Namefind portfolio which Godaddy purchased from my former client Marchex (which purchased it from my former client Yun Ye). That brief engagement ended due to the ongoing conflict at that time between Godaddy and another client of mine. When Godaddy bought Uniregistry.com they chose not to continue my engagement with Uniregistry, and I lost a substantial retainer engagement. Those sorts of things happen, but the notion I have any loyalty to Godaddy is laughable.

So your unspecified implication that I have some kind of loyalty to Godaddy is a flat out lie. Why you think Godaddy is responsible for PayPal shutting off your account is a mystery.

Here, take a look at how fond Godaddy is of me:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/go...what-r-my-options.1210088/page-2#post-7971616

You have no clue what you are talking about.

Bur, more importantly, you provide no reason or justification for publishing a roster of PayPal and GoDaddy employees email addresses - including several personal email addresses obviously unrelated to their employment - along with their direct phone numbers.

What is the purpose of those spreadsheets of contacts for “interviews”? Did you forget to include the names and contact information of random Epik employees for the same purpose?

it is a juvenile and gratuitously spiteful act. You know it, and you won’t even address it.

 

[jberryhill]

This list was not created for public consumption, but as a starting resource point of materials and resources to support FTC and DOJ introductions. As you run around the Internet telling everyone we are "doxxing" employees, I would ask you to keep one thing in mind:

It was you that posted the link and content first in Namepros - not Epik.

This is the weirdest thing I think I have ever seen.

YOU published an "Open Letter" on your freaking blog, and YOU included the employee contact spreadsheets, labeling them "for interviews".

It's right there on your site:

Both GoDaddy and Paypal have perfectly functioning legal departments to receive and respond to any inquiries they might receive from regulatory agencies. There is no legal rationale or justification for the publication of their employees direct phone numbers and email addresses.

You put the links to those files on your blog page. You are keeping them there. There is no legal reason or justification for it, other than to encourage targeted harassment of people who have had NOTHING to do with your issue with PayPal.

I posted a link to YOUR "Open Letter", and you are blaming me for that page having links to files which you, right now, could remove if you want to? Did I hack your site and put them there? That is the dumbest accusation I have ever seen - "Oh how dare you post a link to a page on our website, you awful person."

 

[jberryhill]

You don't think with a 20+ year relationship with GoDaddy I am not aware of your interactions there?

Spit it out, big boy. Be specific.

 

[tonyk2000]

As a matter of fact, paypal is not the most merchant-friendly supplier. Searching on G for "paypal account closed" will produce a lot of extra info. An important fact in our context would be that in many cases they also closed (or, at least, "reviewed") so-called linked accounts - who sent $$$ to an account in question or received $$$ from it. Mr. James received funds from somebody who paid with a stolen cc? Next day, James purchased something from mr. John using these funds? Paypal may close all 3 account involved - the original one, as well as the accounts of James and John. However, in Epik case there should be too many accounts they received $$$ from (customers) or sent $$$ to (marketplace sellers), so our paypal accounts are, hopefully, safe. In any case, after the service is restored (which should happen in one way or another!) - it would be more safe for the customers to use bitcoin both for Epik purchases and marketplace withdrawals. Imho.
As far as I remember, another registrar - internetBS - had their paypal account closed at some point of time. Unsure what was the reason (pharmacy domains regged maybe), but they are now accepting paypal again. Hope Epik will be able to do the same...

 

[Samer]

Paypal; “Godaddy of Payment Processors”

Use out convenience, few compete w/ Paypal.

Sad no surprise left “cancel culture“ rampart..
Pray this gets resolved; like two grown adults...

 

[jberryhill]

I’m not sure this goes the way you are expecting, when you eventually discover how many employees of both these technology firms are absolutely fed up with the way they are being operated.

Wow! Do you mean there are people who work at big companies who aren’t fond of their employers? Whoa, that’s heavy stuff.

Historically, not many people liked Bob Parsons, and Christine Jones was thoroughly oblivious to her close coworkers’ distaste for her personally indulgent posturing. As far as the current crew is concerned, yeah, anyone who is not Paul Nicks has gotten earfuls from people who work with Paul Nicks and wish they didn’t.

But so what? That kind of thing is normal in any organization. It does not justify your bizarre publication of employee email addresses and phone numbers and your even weirder attempt to claim that your “Open Letter” posted on your own site was somehow “not intended for public consumption”. How did it get posted on your website?

 

[tonyk2000]

Politics? It sounds too complicated. Must be something easier. What if they simply did not like the following, for example:

 

[Gube]

Politics? It sounds too complicated. Must be something easier. What if they simply did not like the following, for example:
Show attachment 171113

Oh, a TM name :D
They could get that name pretty easily with UDRP if they wanted I think, but not sure how Paypal is involved in housing

 

[tonyk2000]

Corporate lawyers would not necessary bother to understand the difference between registrant and registrar...

Our intellectual property or TM ? Is for sale? And the seller is accepting paypal? Fine. They will no more accept paypal.

(end of hypothetical quote)

... just saying.

 

[Gube]

Corporate lawyers would not necessary bother to understand the difference between registrant and registrar...

Our intellectual property or TM ? Is for sale? And the seller is accepting paypal? Fine. They will no more accept paypal.

(end of hypothetical quote)

... just saying.

The issue is likely more complex than that :
For example, (not to attack other MP) take paypal(.)im on Dan, Paypal(.)tv at GD, PaypalFees(.)com on Afternic..
And on Epik there are other examples than just paypal(.)realty
This is a true issue accross multiple marketplaces.

The question would be, Should marketplaces block TM names? But judjuging if a name is a TM or not can sometimes be complicated. And if it can't be automated, it won't be made manually.