Dynadot — .com Transfer

Domain Liquidation Platform - Seeking input for new Epik project

SpaceshipSpaceship
Watch

DanSanchez

Templars.comTop Member
Impact
3,572
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:
• Epik parks the domain with auction template with Make Offer pricing so retail bids can come in.
• Wholesale buyers are informed of expired auction inventory update.
• Domain goes through reverse auction in 7 days
• Domains are fast transferred to Epik as soon as one bid is made.
• If seller locks name, all domains will be removed and no further listings will be accepted from seller.
• Domains already at Epik are pre-qualified for "name liquidate" services, but you must opt in manually.
• External domains are eligible once auth codes are verified.
• Data will include number of views, expiration date, and expected delivery.
• Pre-set domain buys will give you the ability to buy any name when a price hits a certain target.
• Once a bid is submitted, it cannot be revoked. All purchases a final non-refundable.
As for brand name, we are considering NameLiquidate.com — 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 “Ultimate Digital Brand Marketplace”. This is separate.
 
31
•••
The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
GoDaddyGoDaddy
Have some questions, I've listed 7 domains, 2 sold. Have very little info about what sold, for how much, and what didnt. Would be really cool to get that info especially sales for tax reasons next year. @Rob Monster is this something that can be found somewhere?
 
2
•••
Have some questions, I've listed 7 domains, 2 sold. Have very little info about what sold, for how much, and what didnt. Would be really cool to get that info especially sales for tax reasons next year. @Rob Monster is this something that can be found somewhere?
Not sure about the online interface, however emails are sent out. Like this:

From: "Epik Support"
Subject: Congratulations! <...> sold at NameLiquidate by Epik

Epik.com

Legendary Customer Support: 425-366-8810

Building Domains. Building Markets.

Hello <me>,

Congratulations! Your domain <...> has been sold for <...> through a 'Buy Now' listing you created at NameLiquidate.com. Epik will start transfer for <...> automatically. Please approve this transfer on the current registrar. Your funds will be released upon successful transfer.
 
2
•••
Have some questions, I've listed 7 domains, 2 sold. Have very little info about what sold, for how much, and what didnt. Would be really cool to get that info especially sales for tax reasons next year. @Rob Monster is this something that can be found somewhere?

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?
 
4
•••
Great work. @Rob Monster @DanSanchez

lost;high bid for a while, how see list won lost add “favorites” # of favorites and email me
# BIN name bidding against was sold

think high-end $xxx. no way know cuz i lost...!
only found out sold, if look up and find it gone!
there way to monitor lead and history of bids ones bid on & how much sold by BIN (if lost)

Samer
 
Last edited:
0
•••
Why price secret #2 auction, led while?) not identity— just ask price, “recent sold”even

email how much sold or least email say “sold” you were outbid/ even when you were outbid no BIN!, timestamp email help price, w/o say.

Seriously, no way to know by email i lost!
and BIN was hit when it was $700? $500?
you can still mask names here, just show ur personal order history only u can see NL panel
 
Last edited:
0
•••
@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.
 
3
•••
@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.
 
3
•••
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
 
Last edited:
0
•••
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
 
Last edited:
0
•••
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.
 
Last edited:
2
•••
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
 
2
•••
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! :)
 
2
•••
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.
 
2
•••
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
 
3
•••
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!
 
1
•••
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.
 
6
•••
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 (सोच) !!
But, Indian generally preferred (.com after ) .in/.co.in extension.
 
1
•••
Congrats!!
It's very common term. All Indian used this term!! soch (सोच) !!
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.
 
3
•••
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.
 
0
•••
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.
 
8
•••
Dynadot — .com TransferDynadot — .com Transfer
Appraise.net

We're social

Spaceship
Domain Recover
CatchDoms
DomainEasy — Zero Commission
  • The sidebar remains visible by scrolling at a speed relative to the page’s height.
Back