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Wanted Domain Liquidation Platform - Seeking input for new Epik project

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Dear Namepros,

The team at Epik is exploring the development of a project that aims to shift the painful domain name expiration process into a more profitable experience for domainers. Perhaps you have read my opinions about registrars selling expired domains and refusing to help registrants in recovery. The time to disrupt this with action has come!

In the meantime, since joining Epik last month, I decided to do something about it with the help of some amazing engineers. The goal of this "name liquidate" idea is to sell domains directly to buyers that may otherwise wait to acquire these domains at expired auctions or being filled as registrar backorders which pays zero to the registrant.

The planned solution addresses two domainer pain points,
1. Liquidation of expiring inventory brings much needed capital, meaning you can renew more of your portfolio.
2. Buyers get clear title and dont waste time bidding on names that can be recovered post-expiry.

Here is the process,
1. Submit your domains: you unlock your domains, provide auth codes.
2. Seller acknowledges that a fast-transfer of the domain will occur once domain has a bid.
3. Bidders agree to non-revocable change of ownership if their bid prevails.
4. Sellers receive a large portion (80%?) of auction proceeds.

The process begins with a 7 day reverse auction counting down hourly/daily, down to $1 plus renewal/transfer for delivery. The domain doesn't have to be expired or expiring. You can submit the name multiple times during the life of the name but not more than once per year. Once the auth code is verified:
β€’ Epik parks the domain with auction template with Make Offer pricing so retail bids can come in.
β€’ Wholesale buyers are informed of expired auction inventory update.
β€’ Domain goes through reverse auction in 7 days
β€’ Domains are fast transferred to Epik as soon as one bid is made.
β€’ If seller locks name, all domains will be removed and no further listings will be accepted from seller.
β€’ Domains already at Epik are pre-qualified for "name liquidate" services, but you must opt in manually.
β€’ External domains are eligible once auth codes are verified.
β€’ Data will include number of views, expiration date, and expected delivery.
β€’ Pre-set domain buys will give you the ability to buy any name when a price hits a certain target.
β€’ Once a bid is submitted, it cannot be revoked. All purchases a final non-refundable.
As for brand name, we are considering NameLiquidate.com β€” very descriptive name and targeted at a very specific audience. That said, open to considering other names. A separate brand naming project is coming shortly for what Rob describes as the β€œUltimate Digital Brand Marketplace”. This is separate.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
@Rob Monster Maybe it makes sense to send notification to the seller when someone places a bid on his domain. It will motivate the seller to remove the domain from other marketplaces as being eventually sold as well as cancel any ongoing negotiations and, thus, will help to avoid double sales and related issues.

It would be pretty helpful for those listing lot of domains.
 
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@Rob Monster Maybe it makes sense to send notification to the seller when someone places a bid on his domain. It will motivate the seller to remove the domain from other marketplaces as being eventually sold as well as cancel any ongoing negotiations and, thus, will help to avoid double sales and related issues.

It would be pretty helpful for those listing lot of domains.

Seems reasonable.

What do others think on this one? I could see pros and cons. I am actually 50/50 on showing bid activity since bidders may want the power of stealth.

The activity is strong but I think more people might use proxy bids if they felt they were not potentially tipping off others.
 
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Seems reasonable.

What do others think on this one? I could see pros and cons. I am actually 50/50 on showing bid activity since bidders may want the power of stealth.

The activity is strong but I think more people might use proxy bids if they felt they were not potentially tipping off others.

Thanks for Nay. what about notification when your outbid, and how much BIN was.

Rob.. it was like $700 BIN,, i deserve to know... add some sort of history dashboard..

DN can still be prevented from being indexed on NP, website offline, no clues, it's killing me.

Samer
 
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So even if you cant add it, and it's too much, would there be a way if I DMed,

Price lost? NOT IDENTITY<< IDC IDENTITY -- Dont understand rationale, cant know price, there cant possibily be an NDA for NameLiquidate. :xf.wink: this name will haunt me, Rob. lol

Samer
 
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Seems reasonable.

What do others think on this one? I could see pros and cons. I am actually 50/50 on showing bid activity since bidders may want the power of stealth.

The activity is strong but I think more people might use proxy bids if they felt they were not potentially tipping off others.

I feel the same way, that sort of perfect information (well almost perfect) means as a buyer I could just wait til it is just above the bid then click buy now and snipe it, but that also means that can be done to me too so I Iean towards it should not be public and think the unknowing could encourage higher bids. That said it would be nice to still get to see the bids as a seller on my names.

Also I do like the idea of a public sales report for transparency.
 
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Actually, the sales would be here:

https://registrar.epik.com/account/billing/masterbucks

For tax check out the Financial Statement feature:

https://registrar.epik.com/account/financial-statement/

However, we'll add a 3rd tab within NameLiquidate.com:

- Doman listings
- Offers made
- Sales completed

This would be natively on NameLiquidate.com for the logged in user.

Sound good?

Excellent! Thank you! I do not see anything under masterbucks but I guess it is because the domains have not completed the transfer yet? I've been out with the flu but I notice these two names are still in my account after seeing emails come in stating that transfers were initiated. Losing registrar for both are NameSilo.com
 
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Seems reasonable.

What do others think on this one? I could see pros and cons. I am actually 50/50 on showing bid activity since bidders may want the power of stealth.

The activity is strong but I think more people might use proxy bids if they felt they were not potentially tipping off others.

Privately I'd like to see as much detail as possible for my own curiosity and for finances/taxes. If you are wanting to squelch information on the public side then that is up to you of course but as seller (99% of the time for me at least) I would like to see details on every visit to my domain (just a count, date, time) and if it happens the bid (or bin). As @kriss05 stated, it would very helpful for us to remove the bid on names from another marketplace(s) -- which I need to do right now for the two that sold! :)
 
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Privately I'd like to see as much detail as possible for my own curiosity and for finances/taxes. If you are wanting to squelch information on the public side then that is up to you of course but as seller (99% of the time for me at least) I would like to see details on every visit to my domain (just a count, date, time) and if it happens the bid (or bin). As @kriss05 stated, it would very helpful for us to remove the bid on names from another marketplace(s) -- which I need to do right now for the two that sold! :)

Unfortunately the masterbucks account will only show the net amount paid to you. You'll have to reverse the commission calculation to figure out the total sales price.

@Rob Monster I too would like a more detailed view breaking down the total sales price, commission amount, and net amount paid.
 
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Excellent! Thank you! I do not see anything under masterbucks but I guess it is because the domains have not completed the transfer yet? I've been out with the flu but I notice these two names are still in my account after seeing emails come in stating that transfers were initiated. Losing registrar for both are NameSilo.com

As soon as the domain arrives, the system automatically closes out the transaction and pays out the redeemable proceeds.

As for the online reporting I shared, actually that tab is a tab for showing spend not revenue.

So, yes, we need a tab that shows you your sales history and, if you like, show financial performance, netting out the cost basis from the revenue.

I realize some folks use Efty do that but it is a trivial thing to add so we'll add basic project accounting in addition to the detailed existing expense reporting we already support.

@Ala Dadan
@vitigo
 
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As soon as the domain arrives, the system automatically closes out the transaction and pays out the redeemable proceeds.

As for the online reporting I shared, actually that tab is a tab for showing spend not revenue.

So, yes, we need a tab that shows you your sales history and, if you like, show financial performance, netting out the cost basis from the revenue.

I realize some folks use Efty do that but it is a trivial thing to add so we'll add basic project accounting in addition to the detailed existing expense reporting we already support.

@Ala Dadan
@vitigo

Thank you Rob, that would really round it out nicely!
 
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I have a little success story here to share for NameLiquidate.

Someone liquidated Soch.co on NameLiquidate for $15 -- it was an expiring domain on Dynadot. I happened to pick it up as a proxy bid on NameLiquidate and it immediately was set to resolve to a SSL lander when the domain arrived. The domain was purchased today for $1000 by an Indian buyer.

The price paid is actually on the low side of fair. According to @Pat8, the term "Soch" means "Think" in Hindi. So, arguably this domain is worth a good bit more. However, most people would not know that.

That is what makes NameLiquidate cool. The money stayed in the domainer economy and a boot-strap entrepreneur got the domain name for a price he could afford. This was really his max.

It was win-win-win:

- Registrant got something for his trash
- Quick flipper earned a quick $1K
- New owner got a deal

upload_2020-2-12_22-3-24.png


If I was a domainer with time, I would be trolling NameLiquidate for deals. I am 100% sure that there are expiry deals where the registrants are dumping names that others might spot value that they did not see.

Moral of the story: One man's trash is another man's treasure.
 
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According to @Pat8, the term "Soch" means "Think" in Hindi. So, arguably this domain is worth a good bit more. However, most people would not know that.
Congrats!!
It's very common term. All Indian used this term!! soch (ΰ€Έΰ₯‹ΰ€š) !!
But, Indian generally preferred (.com after ) .in/.co.in extension.
 
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Congrats!!
It's very common term. All Indian used this term!! soch (ΰ€Έΰ₯‹ΰ€š) !!
But, Indian generally preferred (.com after ) .in/.co.in extension.

I know we sold it cheap but the buyer will do a lot more with it than I would have done with it, and that alone made it worth unloading for less than some big strategic buyer might have paid a year later.

I remain a big fan of .CO. 4 -figure .CO exits are routine and 5-figure deals happen more often than I think many folks realize. If a business can't get the .COM, I think .CO is the next best thing right now.
 
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Would liquidated domains not fetch a potentially better / more fair amount if bids were in the dark?
Is showing a bid count but no amount favorable to buyers, sellers and the house?
Should bids be dark every time or would it be problematic as an option?
Share your thoughts on why or why not.
 
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Just got some fanmail from a member of the NP community.

He sold his domain ThePoker.com for $720 on NameLiquidate.com earlier this week. He decided to purge his portfolio of vice domains for personal and philosophical reasons. This was the efficient way for him to do it.

One man's trash is another man's treasure. Congrats to buyer and seller. It was a win-win. There is definitely something happening here. Big upgrades on the way.
 
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NameLiquidate is the best ways to let go of some domains and cash out when it's time to do it. (y)
 
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Would liquidated domains not fetch a potentially better / more fair amount if bids were in the dark?
Is showing a bid count but no amount favorable to buyers, sellers and the house?
Should bids be dark every time or would it be problematic as an option?
Share your thoughts on why or why not.

Your wish was our command -- the proxy bids are now concealed:
upload_2020-2-13_8-56-55.png


You might have to refresh the page.

We need to make it easy and safe for people with more money than time to go in once every few days and put in a bunch of proxy bids and then not worry about being sniped.
 
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the proxy bids are now concealed
It was wise.
Now, the next step might be the following - we are still in reverse auction, so proxy bidding means just an extra service for those who are not online 24/7/365. In other words, proxy bidder is asking the system to represent him since he may not be online tomorrow @ 3 am for example. It should be one-time "shot". Without an opportunity to remove the proxy bid, or, in this context, to change it (whether it is increasing or decreasing). A member who is placing proxy bid is supposed (and requested) to submit an amount he is willing to pay. Once. If he knows he would be online - then he can safely avoid proxy bidding. If not - then it is what the proxy service is for. So, let proxy bids be non-changeable. Without an opportunity to increase it, without reports "you were outbid" etc.
 
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It was wise.
Now, the next step might be the following - we are still in reverse auction, so proxy bidding means just an extra service for those who are not online 24/7/365. In other words, proxy bidder is asking the system to represent him since he may not be online tomorrow @ 3 am for example. It should be one-time "shot". Without an opportunity to remove the proxy bid, or, in this context, to change it (whether it is increasing or decreasing). A member who is placing proxy bid is supposed (and requested) to submit an amount he is willing to pay. Once. If he knows he would be online - then he can safely avoid proxy bidding. If not - then it is what the proxy service is for. So, let proxy bids be non-changeable. Without an opportunity to increase it, without reports "you were outbid" etc.

Aha, interesting.

I am going to disagree about the one-shot thing. I think if you are outbid, you can put in a higher proxy bid.

You are a smart guy but if you want to convince me, you will have to call me.

I think you have my digits. If not, PM me.
 
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Being able to update the bids increases sale prices when competing against another bidder.
 
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I tend to think you should be able to increase your bid and you should know if your bid is the highest or not but otherwise you should not know by how much you were outbid, again I think this would increase the final sales price as it creates competition.
 
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I like the idea of total darkness while the clock counts down one shot then reveal ...but all kinds would be best right?

Would it not be amazing to allow options for a few styles of auctions ?
 
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It was wise.
Now, the next step might be the following - we are still in reverse auction, so proxy bidding means just an extra service for those who are not online 24/7/365. In other words, proxy bidder is asking the system to represent him since he may not be online tomorrow @ 3 am for example. It should be one-time "shot". Without an opportunity to remove the proxy bid, or, in this context, to change it (whether it is increasing or decreasing). A member who is placing proxy bid is supposed (and requested) to submit an amount he is willing to pay. Once. If he knows he would be online - then he can safely avoid proxy bidding. If not - then it is what the proxy service is for. So, let proxy bids be non-changeable. Without an opportunity to increase it, without reports "you were outbid" etc.
I'd have to disagree with that. I don't think it's an optimal way to get the best price. I know I for one, on several platforms, will input a bid, then chew over it for a couple of days, and may decide to increase that bid. But a one-shot bid is not going to increase my bid from the start, thus the seller misses out on extra income (when I increase my bid) unless someone else outbids me.

It's good that the current bid prices are hidden though I wonder what people think about a column just showing that there is an active bid (just a tick in the column)? I feel that would be a good idea.

And there needs to be better notifications. A domain I was bidding on was bought at BIN but I had no idea. I'd much prefer to receive an email saying it was sold, then I know it should no longer be on my radar.
 
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I know I for one, on several platforms, will input a bid, then chew over it for a couple of days, and may decide to increase that bid
The beauty of a dutch (reverse) auction is that you no more need to do this. Bidders are expected to determite their max. bid from the very begining, and pay this exact amount as the public price is constantly decreasing. Yeah, it works - but in competing environments. NameLiquidate had little or no bidders in the first week or so, but now there are different buyers competing. Rob recently posted a NameLiquidate sale in high 3 figures range - a perfect example. We are no more in $1...$9...$10 sales range exclusively. As for proxy bidding, it was originally intended to help folks who many not be online in the moment of the decreasing price reaching their desired amount - so it is one time shot by nature. One cannot go back in time and change their decision if he is online but just lost the domain in reverse auction (somebody else accepted higher price), so, why should proxy bidding work differently?
 
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