Dynadot auctions, has it really come to this?

[kool1]

This has been discussed, in general, and most auction houses have stopped it:

Bidder 1 $50
Bidder 2 $55 - me
Bidder 3 $60

etc.etc.etc etc.

Bidder 2 - $410
Bidder 3 - $420

Dynadot ever so kindly offers me the domain at $410 when bidder #3 doesn't pay. When I decline bidder #1 gets it for $50.

Does my 'cousin' have to open an account and throw a bid in at $56 to keep things fair?

 

[tldboss]

@Dynadot

See https://www.namepros.com/threads/it...d-price-if-the-highest-bidder-unpaid.1151878/

Maybe you can send an email to [email protected], they can investigate & identify shill bids if any & remove them, which means if they were shill bids you will end up paying 55 only

 

[D Haynes]

It's this or the other way (which GD operates) which ends up with the scammers getting high value domains for peanuts.

What's the lesser of two evils?

 

[Fka200]

Unfortunately this is the current issue with these auctions. I have thrown tons of money away buying a name I want fully knowing shills are messing trying to grab it. Auction registrars don’t care… they stand behind saying that the bids are legit when most of the time they clearly aren’t.

 

[pb]

How about they do a private auction between bidder 1 and 2 to settle things?

 

[Caleb Tweed]

This has been discussed, in general, and most auction houses have stopped it:

Bidder 1 $50
Bidder 2 $55 - me
Bidder 3 $60

etc.etc.etc etc.

Bidder 2 - $410
Bidder 3 - $420

Dynadot ever so kindly offers me the domain at $410 when bidder #3 doesn't pay. When I decline bidder #1 gets it for $50.

Does my 'cousin' have to open an account and throw a bid in at $56 to keep things fair?

Hello! Sorry for the late response, I somehow missed this thread.

So we actually don't offer it to the third bidder ever to avoid this exact scenario! You are offered your highest bid, however you suffer no consequences for not paying, unlike the first place bidder who is instantly banned from our auctions.

We do it this way as opposed to removing all the bids from the winner as 2 accounts could be working in tandem then bid the domain up to a ridiculous price, not pay, then the other account would get it for a steal with no competition. While I don't think there will be a truly perfect system for it, we believe it to be the better of the two routes, as we also continuously check our auctions for signs of shill-bidding so we can ban them right away!

 

[Mikeyboy]

If just opened account, could verify accounts with ID proof or an initial deposit perhaps

 

[Caleb Tweed]

If just opened account, could verify accounts with ID proof or an initial deposit perhaps

We do require an initial deposit to participate in our auctions!

 

[kool1]

Hello! Sorry for the late response, I somehow missed this thread.

So we actually don't offer it to the third bidder ever to avoid this exact scenario! You are offered your highest bid, however you suffer no consequences for not paying, unlike the first place bidder who is instantly banned from our auctions.

We do it this way as opposed to removing all the bids from the winner as 2 accounts could be working in tandem then bid the domain up to a ridiculous price, not pay, then the other account would get it for a steal with no competition. While I don't think there will be a truly perfect system for it, we believe it to be the better of the two routes, as we also continuously check our auctions for signs of shill-bidding so we can ban them right away!

I think maybe you're looking at the bids wrong.

Bidder 1 $50
Bidder 2 $55 - me
Bidder 3 $60

etc.etc.etc etc.

Bidder 2 - $410 - me
Bidder 3 - $420

Are you saying in the exact scenario above, I bid $410, and stopped, someone else bid $420 and didn't pay. Then you'll offer me the domain for $55, my highest bid before the non-payer stepped in? Because it looks like it gets offered to me for $410, my highest bid.

Thank you.

 

[Caleb Tweed]

I think maybe you're looking at the bids wrong.

Bidder 1 $50
Bidder 2 $55 - me
Bidder 3 $60

etc.etc.etc etc.

Bidder 2 - $410 - me
Bidder 3 - $420

Are you saying in the exact scenario above, I bid $410, and stopped, someone else bid $420 and didn't pay. Then you'll offer me the domain for $55, my highest bid before the non-payer stepped in? Because it looks like it gets offered to me for $410, my highest bid.

Thank you.

Sorry I may have misunderstood your original post then, when you said "When I decline bidder #1 gets it for $50" I thought you suggested that we offer it to the third place bidder which we do not.

The Second place bidder is offered their highest bid (the $410 one in this scenario), but they are not penalized for not paying.

 

[kool1]

So in the exact example above, I actually paid $410.

What is the reasoning behind charging me $410 and not $55? There were only 2 legitimate bidders Bidder 1 was $50 and then Bidder 2 $55. That is when the default bidder stepped in and raised the price all the way to $420.

I understand I didn't have to pay the $410, but did to secure the domain.

If I didn't pay that, bidder 1 would have gotten it for $50.

In this situation, the only entity that benefits from the non-paying bidder is Dynadot.

Thank you.

 

[Caleb Tweed]

So in the exact example above, I actually paid $410.

What is the reasoning behind charging me $410 and not $55? There were only 2 legitimate bidders Bidder 1 was $50 and then Bidder 2 $55. That is when the default bidder stepped in and raised the price all the way to $420.

I understand I didn't have to pay the $410, but did to secure the domain.

The second place offer is only given to the highest bid. The reason we do so is to prevent scammers from bidding up our system and then getting the domain for much cheaper and getting rid of all their competition.

If I didn't pay that, bidder 1 would have gotten it for $50.

We actually don't offer it to the third bidder so they would not have gotten an option to pay $50!

 

[bmugford]

Hello! Sorry for the late response, I somehow missed this thread.

So we actually don't offer it to the third bidder ever to avoid this exact scenario! You are offered your highest bid, however you suffer no consequences for not paying, unlike the first place bidder who is instantly banned from our auctions.

We do it this way as opposed to removing all the bids from the winner as 2 accounts could be working in tandem then bid the domain up to a ridiculous price, not pay, then the other account would get it for a steal with no competition. While I don't think there will be a truly perfect system for it, we believe it to be the better of the two routes, as we also continuously check our auctions for signs of shill-bidding so we can ban them right away!

While there is no perfect solution, I think this is much better than what GoDaddy does for example with the rollbacks. That system leads to blatant fraudulent bidding because the bidders are rewarded with quality domains for pennies (or less) on the dollar.

You have the chance to buy the domain for your top bid, but there is no obligation.

@calebdynadot What happens to an auctioned domain if the secondary bidder does not want it?

Is it re-auctioned? Is it deleted?

Brad

 

[bmugford]

So in the exact example above, I actually paid $410.

What is the reasoning behind charging me $410 and not $55? There were only 2 legitimate bidders Bidder 1 was $50 and then Bidder 2 $55. That is when the default bidder stepped in and raised the price all the way to $420.

I understand I didn't have to pay the $410, but did to secure the domain.

If I didn't pay that, bidder 1 would have gotten it for $50.

In this situation, the only entity that benefits from the non-paying bidder is Dynadot.

Thank you.

It is to stop the nonsense like what happens with GoDaddy rollbacks. It would just incentivize people to place fraudulent bids in order to get the domain cheaper.

Again, it is your option to purchase the domain at that price. It is not a requirement.
If it was required, then there would be a big issue.

Also, you are just assuming you would have gotten it for $50 otherwise. There are likely other bidders who might have bid between $50 and $410, if two bidders had not pushed it up.

Brad

 

[Caleb Tweed]

While there is no perfect solution, I think this is much better than what GoDaddy does for example with the rollbacks. That system leads to blatant fraudulent bidding because the bidders are rewarded with quality domains for pennies (or less) on the dollar.

You have the chance to buy the domain for your top bid, but there is no obligation.

@calebdynadot What happens to an auctioned domain if the secondary bidder does not want it?

Is it re-auctioned? Is it deleted?

Brad

Hey Brad,

If the secondary bidder does not pay for it as well, it will be re-auctioned off in our Last Chance Auctions at a later date! https://www.dynadot.com/market/last-chance-auction

 

[jamesau]

IMO the preferred solution is to stop offering to second bidder. It comes across as offensive when you ask a loyal customer to pay for Dynadot's mistake (allowing shill bidders).

I personally prefer the GoDaddy setup because at least it's the corporation leaving money on the table. They are more incentivized to combat shill bidding because it is costing them dollars.

 

[D Haynes]

IMO the preferred solution is to stop offering to second bidder. It comes across as offensive when you ask a loyal customer to pay for Dynadot's mistake (allowing shill bidders).

I personally prefer the GoDaddy setup because at least it's the corporation leaving money on the table. They are more incentivized to combat shill bidding because it is costing them dollars.

For me the exact opposite of everything you said is true but I guess that's why it's so hard for auction platforms to please everyone as everyone has a different opinion/view.

Ultimately a company will do whatever makes them the most profit. GD leave thousands on the table through their blatantly shilled auctions.

 

[kool1]

...... the preferred solution is to stop offering to second bidder. It comes across as offensive when you ask a loyal customer to pay for Dynadot's mistake (allowing shill bidders).

Agreed.

Also, you are just assuming you would have gotten it for $50 otherwise. There are likely other bidders who might have bid between $50 and $410, if two bidders had not pushed it up.

Brad

Yes, there would have been other bidders, it was a LLLL.com and basically went right from $55 to $420 once bidder #3 got involved.

_____

The only real solution is to fully pay for your bid, at the time of the bid. Not convenient for many bidders, and probably a pain for auction sites with refunds etc....

 

[DNabc]

There is no perfect system, Caleb knows I often end up paying more because of deadbeat bidders HOWEVER I spend thousands on Dynadot while I spend $0 on Godaddy. I will not overpay on Godaddy because some scammers are trying to get domains cheap.

 

[AH555]

Too bad their servers are trash and always down. It happens all the time and also when bidding.