Domain in my GoDaddy cart – Can someone else buy it?

[DrJacoby]

When I've managed to find a premium domain name and put it in my cart at Godaddy, can someone else still buy it, or is it "reserved" for me?

If so, for how long?

 

[themavrick]

I don't think its reserved until you have paid for it.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I am not really sure, but if it is 'reserved' it is only for a very limited time, like 10 minutes or something, if you don't finish purchase. For sure just leaving it there overnight will not keep someone else from buying it.

 

[DrJacoby]

Ok, would be nice to know for sure. Maybe I'll contact Godaddy about it, because if I have a nice coupon code, I'd like to find more than one domain before checking out.

 

[CJ6]

If it's just a regular non-registered domain, it's not reserved at all. Anyone still can register it through other registrars or GoDaddy.

 

[DrJacoby]

If it's just a regular non-registered domain, it's not reserved at all. Anyone still can register it through other registrars or GoDaddy.

That makes sense. But what about closeouts?

 

[CJ6]

That makes sense. But what about closeouts?

I'm not sure about closeouts, but I wouldn't risk it. I would think that it's possible to get it even if it's in someone else's cart. Nothing is guaranteed until you pay for it... and have it in your portfolio.

 

[creataweb]

From my experience if you try to buy one from the auctions(.)godaddy(.)com it would not be purchasable for a couple of hours by anyone else. However, I wouldn't push my luck with that.

 

[CJ6]

I once registered a domain from GoDaddy and it was in my portfolio. They took it away the next day and said that someone registered it before me and it was put in my portfolio by mistake. (I don't believe it.)

 

[DrJacoby]

From my experience if you try to buy one from the auctions(.)godaddy(.)com it would not be purchasable for a couple of hours by anyone else. However, I wouldn't push my luck with that.

I was just in contact with GoDaddy support. Apparently, normal domain registrations are reserved for about 5 minutes in your cart.

Buy Now-closeouts are not reserved.

I once registered a domain from GoDaddy and it was in my portfolio. They took it away the next day and said that someone registered it before me and it was put in my portfolio by mistake. (I don't believe it.)

Ouch! That hurts.

 

[wwwweb]

Once you click purchase, it locks the domain for X amount of minutes, but if you release it back, it takes many hours, and you might lose it.

 

[sharfab]

If you truly feel that it is a good domain name for you to have, then don't procrastinate any longer because it just might not be there too much longer.....

 

[xynames]

I'm not sure if it is "reserved" for any amount of time. I haven't tried this with a premium domain, but with a hand registration I've put it in the GDiddy cart, and then found a better deal for the new reg at another registrar and been able to register it no problem, even while it is still sitting in the GD cart.

I've even been in situations with new regs where I have had it in the cart with more than one registrar at the same time.

 

[DrJacoby]

If you truly feel that it is a good domain name for you to have, then don't procrastinate any longer because it just might not be there too much longer.....

Yes absolutely. The problem is when you have a nice coupon code and want to use it to buy multiple domains.

 

[wwwweb]

Yes absolutely. The problem is when you have a nice coupon code and want to use it to buy multiple domains.

If your domain is that good, a coupon code can only reduce the renewal price of the domain, not the actual domain cost, I am not sure what scale you are talking about, but it sounds kind of petty.

 

[DrJacoby]

I'm not sure if it is "reserved" for any amount of time. I haven't tried this with a premium domain, but with a hand registration I've put it in the GDiddy cart, and then found a better deal for the new reg at another registrar and been able to register it no problem, even while it is still sitting in the GD cart.

Annoying! GoDaddy support just told me there's a 5 minutes reservation. I guess the lesson is to never trust random support staff...

 

[DrJacoby]

If your domain is that good, a coupon code can only reduce the renewal price of the domain, not the actual domain cost, I am not sure what scare you are talking about, but it sounds kind of petty.

It's the Domain Beginners scare.

 

[creataweb]

Maybe they changed their setup but I just last year did this with names from the Auction section and it was reserved for me for at least a couple of hours. Oh well, good luck either way.

 

[UXela]

Closeouts are reserved (and in your cart) for exactly 2 hours after you click the buy now button.
After the 2 hours are up the domain name is removed from your cart. From that moment it takes between 5 and 20 minutes for it to be back in the list = offered to other buyers.

 

[DrJacoby]

Closeouts are reserved (and in your cart) for exactly 2 hours after you click the buy now button.
After the 2 hours are up the domain name is removed from your cart. From that moment it takes between 5 and 20 minutes for it to be back in the list = offered to other buyers.

That sounds fantastic! Are you 100% sure?

 

[Kate]

@Joe Styler for clarification

 

[johname]

I believe Godaddy twinks the times a bit to keep people from gaming the system. So I wouldn't hold a stop watch to it.

 

[Joe Styler]

A normal registration can be registered by anyone anywhere at any time until it is purchased. Meaning if you see a name you want, buy it before someone else does.
A closeout auction with us normally puts a two hour hold on the domain once it is placed in the cart. This is not always true so again if there is a name you want buy it. There are a lot of caveats.

-Someone or multiple people can be trying to buy the same name at the same time at different registrars or here. This happens much more often than you would think. Say for instance the President says something that gets buzz in the news, a lot of people try registering it when they hear it. Or you just come up with the same idea as someone else, this happens a lot more than you would think.
- a closeout auction can end when the name is in your cart, then you are out of luck because you didnt pay before the auction ended. We can release the hold if someone calls in to ask us to, the hold is a courtesy. Or if we notice someone trying to game the system - continually adding domains to their cart over and over so no one can buy them and the price keeps dropping a dollar a day, normally we cancel all holds on the domain name(s) itself and ban the person from auctions for good, block the ips, etc. This doesn't happen much because we watch for it and have been heavy handed in dealing with offenders but the point is holds are not guaranteed and there are many ways they can be taken off systematically or manually.

Short answer is if you want a domain you should buy it.
If you are buying a lot of domains you should use the domain discount club it will give you the best pricing no matter when or how many names you buy and if they are new or renewal. https://www.godaddy.com/domains/discount-domains.aspx

If you are buying premium names there is no discount on the premium part, the renewal can be discounted. So at the end of the day we are talking about a domain registration fee. If you are buying a lot of names get the discount club. If you are not a few dollars shouldn't make any difference.

Here's what I mean -if you are buying really good names that you are worried someone else may grab, and it is really a good name then a couple dollars makes no difference because you are going to be able to sell it for a lot more than you are paying. If you are not buying good names then no one is going to try and race you to the checkout to buy them so take your time

After reading the thread, and I say this meaning to be helpful, I'm worried you are not buying the right kinds of names, ones that will sell. For me to pay another even 10-20 dollars on a name for 100 names wouldn't bother me one bit if I knew they were good and thought I could resell them for more and that someone else might be trying to get the exact same name as me. If I could pay a few dollars more and get it I would. But I would be pretty confident that it was good and I could resell it.

I would try and show some of the names you registered here if you are comfortable doing it so everyone can take a look and give feedback, in the spirit of helping not criticizing. If you don't feel comfortable doing that send me 10-20 of the names you have that you think are the best in a PM and I will take a look and give my 2 cents. I don't know everything of course but I have been doing this about 12 years and see a lot of names that sell. I'd much rather have someone buy smart then spend money and not get any return on the money spent. Hopefully this comes across in the spirit it is meant in, humility and an attempt to help you if I can.

 

[DrJacoby]

Thank you very much @Joe Styler! You completely answered my question.

I'm a beginner at this, and so far have only purchased 6-7 domain names intended for flipping (although I have developed a few websites over the last couple of years). I'm pretty sure I haven't found any gems yet, but that's ok as I'm trying to keep costs down while learning as much as possible.

I will definitely consider the Discount Domain Club once I feel confident I can make a profit.

Yes, I would really appreciate your opinion on the only semi-decent ones so far:

• Philippines.cc (haven't landed in my account yet)
• MakeAuction.com
• CigarMaking.com

Thanks!

 

[Joe Styler]

I dont like makeauction the other two are ok names. I think they are good for your first attempts. It is harder to sell a .cc domain but country domains are good. I would stick to .com at first if you can they are easier to resell and I would think before buying, how many people/companies would be interested in this domain for their business? What value would it add for them? How much money could they make if they had it or their competitors make? I also look at some other things when registering domains if I hand register them. How many other extensions are taken, or tlds such as net and org etc. Who owns these other extensions, who used to own the domain you are buying now (check whois history or archive.org) if it was another domain investor for a beginner I would avoid names already registered by other investors or where other extensions of the same exact word are taken by other investors and not businesses.

I like that you are sticking to generic terms that is the way it should be done. I wouldnt buy a domain to sell to one party or someone who owns a similar one, but I do look at the other extensions, if they are not registered it is probably because the name is bad and no one wants it. If someone does want your domain they can buy it from you or they can buy the .net for 12 bucks they have options. If they are all taken they have less options this makes the domain more in demand and valuable because it shows many other people think that that word combination is meaningful and useful for their business. If it is a bunch of parked pages in the other extensions then the buyer has all those other options they can buy if they ask those owners, and if investors are all parking them, guess what no one else bought them either so it's just us investors who think they are valuable If an investor used to own your domain when you check archive.org that means they didn't sell it so you probably wont either.

These are general guidelines and not hard and fast rules, but something to consider until you get your feet under you and can really decide this is a good name no matter what and buy it.

As a test I would try and sell the three names you have. Reach out to people and see if they are interested. Why or why not, what are the answers, that will help you understand what poeple are looking for or not when buying domains. And as an Afternic guy I would list them for sale there afternic.com it will get them in front of buyers all over the world and someone may be looking for them right now. If it were me I would price all those names between 1-2k and list them and see what happens.

Good luck.