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.

 

[Molly White]

[Editing to add: I'm the Wikipedia editor who goes by the username "GorillaWarfare" and who created and helps to maintain the article about Epik. Realized that's a bit of an important detail to include up-front!]

Didn't expect to find myself back here, but I saw the Mashable article about Epik too. It came up in my news recommendations and when I saw the intro sentence that "PayPal, Hunter Biden, Bloomberg News, and several Avengers were targeted in a series of unhinged open letters from Epik after PayPal terminated its account" I went to read them since that sounded amusing, if nothing else. I was surprised to see that Epik decided to use these letters to attack me personally, as well, with a whole slew of false claims. Given Epik had stopped their threats against me here and in other venues, and given I hadn't made any substantive changes to the Wikipedia article since the insanity from April, I was pretty floored to see it. From the letter to Bloomberg:

Two years later, Wikipedia still maintains 24 hour surveillance by a user named GorillaWarfare, who has already proclaimed that the content will never come down, regardless of the truth coming out. To date, roughly 170 attempts at changes – by dozens of industry professionals – have been reverted. Their weaponized user base has openly mocked anyone who has tried, and one of Wikipedia’s top editors (also responsible for the Satanic Bible), has literally posted Swastikas on our own social media feeds and statements against racism. The editor still posts taunts in trade forums and personal social media pages, with the reaffirmation that no one has the power to stop them.
​

It's a pretty bizarre statement given I think I've been nothing but clear in my comments that the article can always be updated to reflect new information that is published in independent, reliable sources. The comment about how I am "responsible for the Satanic Bible" is, I assume, meant to convey that I have contributed to the Wikipedia article about The Satanic Bible, and presumably not that I am somehow personally responsible for the existence of a book that was first published twenty years before I was born. Oddly enough they never mention that I also created an article on a Roman Catholic basilica... As for the accusation that I have "literally posted Swastikas on our own social media feeds and statements against racism" is presumably a reference to a tweet of mine in which I included a screenshot of an Ars Technica article about Epik that included as its lead image a screenshot of the swastika-laden front page of Nazi publication The Daily Stormer, because AT was writing about how the site had just come back up thanks to Epik.

Anyway, I just wanted to post here to say that I certainly hope my attempts to explain how Wikipedia works and defend myself from attacks from Epik staff, which I did at the express invitation of members of this forum (see my first post here), did not come off to the rest of you as "posting taunts in trade forums" or as an intrusion.

I hope you're all well,
Molly White

 

[Samer]

The problem there, Rob, is that's not true:

Show attachment 171326


And the very page which had the "Tax Advantages" check mark, STILL, TODAY, includes this discussion here:

Show attachment 171328 I just took that screenshot. It's not from an archive.

So, sure, earlier this year you removed the "Tax Advantages" item from the checkmark box, but the page, RIGHT NOW, suggests that Masterbucks can be used to avoid income and capital gains taxes.

I like the new page.

It is new-and-improved. Tone-down in rhetoric is good, yes?

The "suggestion" feels like splitting hair.

Good they are listening to constructive feedback.
"Tax benefits" is under attack, @Rob Monster.

Even if they omit it,still see many advantages to using Masterbucks;

My problem remains, and continues to remain the name; "Masterbucks"
Call it something better!

"Tax advantages"....

 

[jberryhill]

This guy seems to have gotten to the bottom of it all...

 

[s.g]

We had no idea our today's first experience with Epik was negative due to Satanic vibes, deep political manipulation, corrupt and/or nonobjective media and PayPal execs, and perhaps a wiki-powered secret society here and there.

We just thought their website layout, page propagation and accidental deletion of submitted forms, and especially their not-so-Epik servers sucked.

Now we know there is more to it. (Rob, Monster #1 in the right upper corner, is this how Epik's data centre looks like this time of year? Perhaps Bloomberg should get invited to this press conference. It's not that different from other corporate presentations. Hope you will mention the Catholic basilica this time instead of Epik's favourite Satanic Bible.)

Credit: Scream Factory's Thirteen Ghosts; The Movie Isle

 

[Embrand]

This guy seems to have gotten to the bottom of it all...

Show attachment 171368

Thank God PayPal only want to extermiante white people, not exterminate.

 

[wwwweb]

I don’t really get what the fuss about masterbucks is, it is essentially an internal balance in a closed platform much like namesilo, dynadot, moniker, and every other register has.

One minute crypto was evil to PayPal, and they would lock accounts for attempting to purchase it with PayPal, but now they are ok with it since they can profit from it. PayPal has some of the worst exchange fees, most PayPal accounts are linked to a credit card, or bank, why not use your cc and get points. Crypto is on the cusp, so hopefully PayPal can’t sidetrack online sellers, and companies much further with their policies.

Pound for pound epik offers the most diverse options for domain sellers under one roof, totally impartial after using every other company, and finding certain limitations within each. Namesilo has been trying to follow in their footsteps, but they have really upped their social game in the past year, and I guess other competing registers have taken notice, it’s not unusual for companies to conspire against each other when competing in disruptive spaces. I don’t want to speculate on what has transpired, but epik are innovators from being the first with built in payment plans from your domain manage menu, to various other tools, they will get thru this also.

 

[DomainBoxio]

Free .realty domain=really cool
.realty domain renewal=really scary??

 

[Samer]

We had no idea our today's first experience with Epik was negative due to Satanic vibes, deep political manipulation, corrupt and/or nonobjective media and PayPal execs, and perhaps a wiki-powered secret society here and there.

We just thought their website layout, page propagation and accidental deletion of submitted forms, and especially their not-so-Epik servers sucked.

Now we know there is more to it. (Rob, Monster #1 in the right upper corner, is this how Epik's data centre looks like this time of year? Perhaps Bloomberg should get invited to this press conference. It's not that different from other corporate presentations. Hope you will mention the Catholic basilica this time instead of Epik's favourite Satanic Bible.)

Credit: Scream Factory's Thirteen Ghosts; The Movie Isle

Epik has history legendary customer service.
You’re just (happily) piling on.
Still waiting for Rob Monster’s response.
In Rob i trust!

 

[s.g]

I don’t really get what the fuss about masterbucks is, it is essentially an internal balance in a closed platform much like namesilo, dynadot, moniker, and every other register has.

One minute crypto was evil to PayPal, and they would lock accounts for attempting to purchase it with PayPal, but now they are ok with it since they can profit from it. PayPal has some of the worst exchange fees, most PayPal accounts are linked to a credit card, or bank, why not use your cc and get points. Crypto is on the cusp, so hopefully PayPal can’t sidetrack online sellers, and companies much further with their policies.

Pound for pound epik offers the most diverse options for domain sellers under one roof, totally impartial after using every other company, and finding certain limitations within each. Namesilo has been trying to follow in their footsteps, but they have really upped their social game in the past year, and I guess other competing registers have taken notice, it’s not unusual for companies to conspire against each other when competing in disruptive spaces. I don’t want to speculate on what has transpired, but epik are innovators from being the first with built in payment plans from your domain manage menu, to various other tools, they will get thru this also.

Most of your points are valid, but have you not faced numerous technical issues with their site? Logical issues too, like not providing an in-house whois shielding option. No other big player signed up for their multi platform concept. Why don't they just dump it and make everything seamless?

They might be innovative and smart, but our first test hour with them was a nightmare. With GD we wouldn't even fill up the same form three times. With them we did. The details were requested again a few minutes later. Not that we messed up. The submission was accepted, but their system simply deleted all the details and acted offended that we never provided them in the first place.

If this didn't happen we would have probably discovered those incredible payment plans but their layout is weird and bugs are omnipresent. Innovators or not, how can you and @Samer like them this much. Dyno...(something) and name.com don't make users suffer at all. First one based on what others told us, second one being our chosen provider.

We are trying to understand this, not to offend their supporters. Why don't they just fix those easily fixable issues and stop deterring new users in the process?

 

[karmaco]

I don’t really get what the fuss about masterbucks is, it is essentially an internal balance in a closed platform much like namesilo, dynadot, moniker, and every other register has.

One minute crypto was evil to PayPal, and they would lock accounts for attempting to purchase it with PayPal, but now they are ok with it since they can profit from it. PayPal has some of the worst exchange fees, most PayPal accounts are linked to a credit card, or bank, why not use your cc and get points. Crypto is on the cusp, so hopefully PayPal can’t sidetrack online sellers, and companies much further with their policies.

Pound for pound epik offers the most diverse options for domain sellers under one roof, totally impartial after using every other company, and finding certain limitations within each. Namesilo has been trying to follow in their footsteps, but they have really upped their social game in the past year, and I guess other competing registers have taken notice, it’s not unusual for companies to conspire against each other when competing in disruptive spaces. I don’t want to speculate on what has transpired, but epik are innovators from being the first with built in payment plans from your domain manage menu, to various other tools, they will get thru this also.

Not true —its not the same as other registrars who use real dollars. I feel alot more safe doing a sale for $15,000 DOLLARS than for $15000 MASTERBUCKS. And why do you have to put a request in and be approved to take your own money out? It should be automatic.

 

[s.g]

Epik has history legendary customer service.
You’re just (happily) piling on.
Still waiting for Rob Monster’s response.
In Rob i trust!

Same here, plus for @Sedo about that scam email "from Sedo" you commented on elsewhere. It would be logical for these companies to have someone standing by to answer things in real time. Especially when it comes to fraud and financial/security issues. For a few days during a crisis, perhaps once or twice a year; they don't do this. Illogical. The damage can truly harm their PR and is totally not worth the money they might save by not having a dedicated chat specialist standing by.

 

[s.g]

Epik has history legendary customer service.
You’re just (happily) piling on.
Still waiting for Rob Monster’s response.
In Rob i trust!

Not the case. One hour of hell. Not piling on, just saying they suck for real.

No new user will call their fabulous customer service reps just because something which should work isn't working. Most will just go elsewhere. At least we let them know why they suck. Hopefully they will fix the issue so we can give them another try.

 

[wwwweb]

Not true —its not the same as other registrars who use real dollars. I feel alot more safe doing a sale for $15,000 DOLLARS than for $15000 MASTERBUCKS. And why do you have to put a request in and be approved to take your own money out? It should be automatic.

Not true —its not the same as other registrars who use real dollars. I feel alot more safe doing a sale for $15,000 DOLLARS than for $15000 MASTERBUCKS. And why do you have to put a request in and be approved to take your own money out? It should be automatic.

With two clicks you withdraw it to various options, as it pays out instantly when a buyer checkouts.
I don’t see it as a major hurdle, as some might want to use funds to renew, or buy other names, and they have the option to do so.

 

[thedotsol]

Not the case. One hour of hell. Not piling on, just saying they suck for real.

No new user will call their fabulous customer service reps just because something which should work isn't working. Most will just go elsewhere. At least we let them know why they suck. Hopefully they will fix the issue so we can give them another try.

Come on man, get over it. It was a bad timing/luck. They just had an issues like other registrars have. I consider Dynadot one of the best options, but their site is down frequently.

 

[wwwweb]

Not the case. One hour of hell. Not piling on, just saying they suck for real.

No new user will call their fabulous customer service reps just because something which should work isn't working. Most will just go elsewhere. At least we let them know why they suck. Hopefully they will fix the issue so we can give them another try.

Looks like your having a bad day with certain services, unfortunate but the platform does work for it’s intended uses. It takes a while to get used to the various menus, and functions. The tools enabled within the platform are a great asset to new domain investors if they use them properly.

 

[wwwweb]

Most of your points are valid, but have you not faced numerous technical issues with their site? Logical issues too, like not providing an in-house whois shielding option. No other big player signed up for their multi platform concept. Why don't they just dump it and make everything seamless?

They might be innovative and smart, but our first test hour with them was a nightmare. With GD we wouldn't even fill up the same form three times. With them we did. The details were requested again a few minutes later. Not that we messed up. The submission was accepted, but their system simply deleted all the details and acted offended that we never provided them in the first place.

If this didn't happen we would have probably discovered those incredible payment plans but their layout is weird and bugs are omnipresent. Innovators or not, how can you and @Samer like them this much. Dyno...(something) and name.com don't make users suffer at all. First one based on what others told us, second one being our chosen provider.

We are trying to understand this, not to offend their supporters. Why don't they just fix those easily fixable issues and stop deterring new users in the process?

I appreciate your feedback, I have given a good majority of their services a go around, check my history, check my feedback, I am not here to sell anything, but just state the facts based on my experiences. You signed up less than a month ago, you have already gotten yourself restricted from various namepros services, so just take a deep breath and slow down. All the sudden day 1 it’s all going wrong for you, click the chat button, and walk thru it with their support team. Could just be new account signup issues, their platform has some complex options that take a bit of learning curve, but if you want the option to offer simple two click payment plants, along with marketplace listings, and instant access to your sales to purchase other names, or renew names stay the course. PayPal is one issue, but the tools embedded into the platform are solid, and necessary for many newbie investors to be successful in getting faster access to funds, and being able to offer payment plans without complications. I’m not supporting, or denying any outside services provided to groups labeled by the public as extreme, but simply the services offered within the platform.

 

[s.g]

Come on man, get over it. It was a bat timing/luck. They just had an issues like other registrars have. I consider Dynadot one of the best options, but their site is down frequently.

If it was just about a bad server/code day for them, we would not be calling each other about the mess. All they needed to do was to flash a message saying something was wrong.

Instead they saved our details, basically saying Thank you, that'll be all. The moment a pushed domain needed to get accepted, they said Wait, you have to fill up your details. And again, and again. Messy, 1990s- Namepro-like layout, and constant mistakes. Mostly unannounced. No, we don't think that should be accepted by even newbies, nor should their loyal custoemrs and supporters get blind to allergic to criticism.

 

[s.g]

Looks like your having a bad day with certain services, unfortunate but the platform does work for it’s intended uses. It takes a while to get used to the various menus, and functions. The tools enabled within the platform are a great asset to new domain investors if they use them properly.

They are various menus and functions at name.com too, and we simply discovered and used them as we needed them, but THEY WORKED! We cannot wait to try another provider. Then we will likely tell you it was much easier than Epik. Most websites are easier than Epik. Even the most complex stock exchange platforms are easier.

Yes, they might be amazing deep in but what's the point if people who show up for the first time end up rolling their eyes and walking away? Hire some user interface specialists, Rob (sorry, @epik) and make things look, work and give OK or Not OK messages like fully functioning sites do.

Then people actually won't bother opening and filling up HUGE treads about why the service is GREAT/HORRIBLE, because everything will simply work and there will be no need for either.

Your line, if they used them properly, is like: I know things are buggy, completely messy and well hidden, but I figured it out after [enter number of days/weeks/months] and I am happy. No, this is not how user interface of truly great providers work. Regardless of its complexity, it should not fail when it comes to being intuitive or at least easy to navigate.

 

[Bertrell]

The only gripe I have about using Epik as a registrar is when it asks for my 2FA "Google Authenticator" code.

I use Authy.

 

[s.g]

I appreciate your feedback, I have given a good majority of their services a go around, check my history, check my feedback, I am not here to sell anything, but just state the facts based on my experiences. You signed up less than a month ago, you have already gotten yourself restricted from various namepros services, so just take a deep breath and slow down. All the sudden day 1 it’s all going wrong for you, click the chat button, and walk thru it with their support team. Could just be new account signup issues, their platform has some complex options that take a bit of learning curve, but if you want the option to offer simple two click payment plants, along with marketplace listings, and instant access to your sales to purchase other names, or renew names stay the course. PayPal is one issue, but the tools embedded into the platform are solid, and necessary for many newbie investors to be successful in getting faster access to funds, and being able to offer payment plans without complications. I’m not supporting, or denying any outside services provided to groups labeled by the public as extreme, but simply the services offered within the platform.

Saying various services (we got the badge because of a single wrong paste into the chat room by one of us) is like saying that Epik is user friendly. We both know that if they hired more than just coders and geeks, their site would not have 80 pages worth of comments about these banalities. Forget name.com, they are at least five to 10 big registrars that provide 85-97% of features of Epik, and they have managed to get things working. More then three or four pages worth of NP comments? Well, @epik, redo certain things from ground up, but this time with people beyond your closest circle of geeks.