Epik API support

[twiki]

These days I've finally decided to try out Epik, having domains about anywhere else.

Registered about 40 domains in 2 days, but now I am REALLY disapointed. Side note the context is drop catching and using their API for regging expired domains.

First off, as a note, I was not able to contact support at all. It's like trying to reach a black hole. All calls never reached a rep. I can see they also don't reply to emails. Tried calling many times - it's impossible. You just wait for 2 minutes then the call hangs up on you. No I won't leave a message, sorry; the whole experience makes me suspect nobody will ever call me back. The site is also made BTW so you don't actually find how to contact them, apart from calling the numbers nobody replies to.

Side note if I could call support, OR find any kind of documentation answering my problems listed here, this post would not have existed. But I'm left to my own devices with this. Hence this post.

First day, 2 domains didn't go through. Yeah, perhaps someone else was quicker, that's alright, I understand. But the funds were taken from the account. I mean, what? The inability to register the domains should automatically cancel the transactions, Paypal supports that. And they know instantly they couldn't reg the domain.

I can't really watch if each transaction is matched by a correct domain registration. Have better things to do. Any other registrar automatically sees such errors and reverts the transactions without me having to manually point each to them.

Mailed their support, received note somethone actually received it, and later that day the funds went into account credit. No email replies regarding problem solved, no warning that they actually did this. You have to discover on your own that actually something went into credit. Fortunately I took a look at it.

The worst thing by far is the API.

As a domain investor, I watch for expired domains and I use registrar API to quickly snatch what I need.

Unfortunately, that is not possible with Epik. Their API will not register any freshly dropped domain, although the manual bulk register interface allows for it. This is because, as I can see, the domains ARE NOT AVAILABLE IN REALTIME VIA THE API. While at the same time any other registrar I'm using shows them as available so you can register now. I could register 0 domains via their API. ( Edit: manual regs work though, but not freshly expired ones).

I have given up trying registration after a few minutes so then I'm doing manual regs via the bulk manual search. This meant for me, pointless work for hours at something that any other registrar API offers. Even GD is quicker than this and a more or less functional thing by comparison.

I suspect they only offer CACHED registrations via the API. Yeh, you can definitely register the same domain next day... if it's a crappy one therefore still left available. Sorry - but for a domain investor, 30-60 seconds later anything still worth picking (and not sniped by DropCatch/SnapNames) is looong gone.

Furthermore, you are limited to 10 domains max per API call. (edit: when searching for available domains, cause for registration it's obviously individual).

I mean, seriously? I often monitor up to 60 domains per day, this will likely go soon to hundreds (as I'm currently expanding), so what can any serious investor do with a 10 domains limit?? They know I'm that kind of user cause I've told them on signup. Okay, so be it - disabled search completely and broken the list in batches of 10 or less and tried even that as direct reg attempt. No luck. It won't reg anything. Even if it's just 1 domain call via the API. Minutes later, the domain is still not available. And yeah, it is available via any other registar's API already... sometimes for minutes already... (watched that unfold) but not on Epik.

I'm sorry but this is NOT how the swiss bank of domains should perform.

I'm not sure right now exactly who will actually use this API, who is this for? Us domain investors, certainly not - given the situation.

I hope that Epik takes this post as it should and as intended (as positive criticism from a domainer), and fix their service.

 

[twiki]

@JB Lions .. I am indeed a user of GoDaddy .. and I'll be the first to say that most of the gripes against them are either unreasonable or unfounded. I appreciate GD specifically because of the size of their expiration aftermarket, say what you want about the technical side of the platform, but in terms of getting good expired domains at great prices, GoDaddy auctions literally can't be beat because they have about 50% of all expiring .com's pass through their aftermarket each day). But at the same time, you can't honestly say their platform isn't a glitchy mess!

I won't comment on any ongoing security issue, but in the past I was able to see other bidders secret proxy bids (so if the current bid was $40, and the proxy bid was $200, I could have bid up the competition with my own $199 bid knowing that I would never need to pay it). This backdoor info was there for months and possibly years, I wasn't an active domainer at the time, but this bug could have cost domainers countless thousands if not millions in aggregate .. while at the same time going to profit GoDaddy. The only reason that bug was closed was when they moved to a revamped platform (so they never actually fixed the bug).

With the last generation of platform I had tons of bugs ... including one where some of my bids would actually be placed on a different domain than was showing. When I told them about it AND showed how to duplicate it, I was told I had to pay for the domains or I would lose access to GD auctions. Then no follow up or even thanks for reporting the crucial bug. Again, this bug was only closed with the platform level upgrade in Dec 2017 (or was it 2018).

There were certain parts of my portfolio that could not be accessed on mobile, so I lost a couple of domains while on vacation a couple years ago because some extremely messy/flawed menu logistics.

There are so many technical issues at GoDaddy .. that for a company that size is just inexcusable. Their big problem is that there is a brick wall between departments. Because indeed if it's something simple, then yes I'll agree 100% they have fantastic customer service. But for cross-department issues it's like your issues are deliberately lost and forgotten. Now obviously GoDaddy is a significantly large ship to navigate and control than any other registrar. I most definitely do not expect them to be perfect .. but it's their culture of sweeping things under the carpet that annoys me almost as much as their disastrous mess of a platform.

But .. at the end of the day, once I hit a bug/problem there, I am usually able to work around it .. so yes .. I do continue to use GoDaddy because of their aftermarket expiration stream .. that's a no brainer .. but it doesn't change the fact their platform is a mess! lol

Got a bug recently at GD where I could not see any of my domains there (the main list in Domain Manager ran for a minute then was throwing some error).

Unsure what it was but a quite stubborn one. With this I had the chance to look at their UI internals, and to me it looked way too sofisticated and prone to errors. Their Advanced team got me to send countless snapshots, HAR files from different browsers etc.

But anyway, they fixed it but it took a few days. I've been patient waiting for the fix. As a coder, I knew this was a deep one. And it was not showing to them, just to me for some reason. And in the end, after the fix the UI is much faster for me right now. Support replied fast and been onto it since the first second.

 

[Ategy]

@JB Lions (continued) .. to be very clear .. I have also found multiple issues, glitches, UX problems, etc at Epik. With their explosive growth it would be ignorant for anyone to say Epik's platform was perfect.

But the HUGE difference is that when I see something, I send an email to @Rob Monster .. which either he tackles, or c/c forwards to members of his dev team and the issue is usually addressed. It's not perfect, there are still a few issues here and there .. but for the most part over 80-90% of the things I reported are dealt with within days or even hours, or for a few things related to growing pains, that were at least put into a medium term action plan.

That's why it bothers me when people attack @Rob Monster of being too active as the face of Epik here at NamePros. Sure I would agree if it was just that .. but the big difference for me is that he does take feedback to make Epik better for domainers .. and more importantly, he is engaged with the community and participates in discussions beyond a level that is simply self-promotion. Because yes .. there is self- promotion there to some degree .. he's the freaking CEO of Epik .. how he's expected to participate in discussions with any other viewpoint or lens is just silly .. not only that, but actually I want to see the POV of registrar CEOs and executives .. there are obviously some cons .. but why people just blindly ignore the significant number of pros is frustrating. When looked at objectively there are more pros than cons for having @Rob Monster participate the way he does.

I don't give Rob a blind pass. I confronted him on the Gab issue and have had some really good discussions on Free Speech. I've also talked with him since and can say beyond any doubt that his views have changed on some tihngs (whether that change is enough for some is obviously each person's own personal decision .. lol). More importantly there are probably some things were I will never see 100% eye-to-eye with him .. but I do very much value the fact he takes time to both clearly explain his points of view .. and more importantly .. unlike most people .. he DOES listen to what you have to say (if it's done logically) AND .. even more importantly .. he WILL change his mind if presented with relevant information/data.

If he ever ran for government in my country he'd very likely not get my vote (unless he moved a few more miles to the left .. lol) .. but as the CEO of Epik .. I have no issues moving my domains there .. I think he's doing good things for the domainer community as a whole. Would all of the above praise on Epik be enough for me to move my domains if it cost me more? No .. but on top of all the features, support and community engagement, Epik also has fantastic prices .. so put it all together .. and yeah .. I think people critical of Epik simply haven't given them a fair objective chance.


Now .. if people want to hate on Epik because of Rob personally and/or something he's done .. then that's a personal choice .. and nobody's stopping anyone from doing anything for such reasons. I see some who don't like Rob personally try to disparage and complain about Epik .. when in fact I think Epik is a pretty good choice of registrar .. and then the more such people complain blindly about Epik, it's unfortunate that legitimate and constructive criticism (like this thread) often stirs up comments and debates (on both sides) that aren't fair or accurate from both supporters and detractors of Rob.

(That being said .. I do think the topic title was a little over the top considering the circumstances of expecting API integration help over Thanksgiving Weekend .. lol)

 

[DaveX]

Other registrars and service providers have taken the brunt of frustration and this is no different. Just ask Joe Styler.

Rob has taken the opportunity to respond publicly. And with a service oriented attitude. Not with fluff.

Seems a win win even with the post title. I dont think its rude. It wasnt a personal attack. Rather, an opinion.

Hopefully the op is satisfied in the end.

 

[Ja Kai]

I still don't think the OP knows the first thing about API's or drop catching. I think he/she blamed Epik - instead of looking within at his/her deficiencies - not understanding/recognizing his/her ignorance of limits placed by registry when attempting to catch a domain.

 

[twiki]

Post title has finally been changed to "Epik API Support".

Mods, thank you!

 

[frank-germany]

Although my post has been indeed quite critical, they say there's no such thing as bad publicity.

you are
"carrying coals to Newcastle"

( "Eulen nach Athen tragen")

 

[frank-germany]

My mass-exodus migration is almost complete. Godaddy holds me hostage, even pushes, forced hold 60 —delayin inevitable (gd =titanic) unless i keep prev WHOis info same. I gave up

i’m just waiting out 60 day lock to get out GD!

there’s No-one i’d trust more than Rob,

Samer

Godaddy is my last choice of registars
( no wait .. there is the likes of 1&1 - and netsol -- even worse )

but that doesn't make epik my prefered registar.

I don't suffer from Alzheimers disease

 

[frank-germany]

It still baffles me how GD got this big. My thought so far is, has to be related to their $1 deals, including new $1 registrations.

they have a nice face that promotes their business
and I'm not talking about the guys face....

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

1and1 is improving every year...
Even 2 years ago it was significantly different than it is as of today.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

API dropcatching of .COM is dead for many years already, except domains with ~0 value.

 

[twiki]

API dropcatching of .COM is dead for many years already, except domains with ~0 value.

That's your opinion. See my last post in the sales thread. I get and sell quite a bunch that way.

Edit: Got back in to add more info.

What I see is people flocking all the time on the same niches. Everyone is deep in crypto, weed and the sorts. Yet there are countless other niches that aren't touched for the sole reason that they are not aware there's money to be made.

There's always gold in the road, but it's covered in mud so not everybody looks at what's shining there.

Edit 2: The same kind of myth is running around handregs. It's difficult, but not dead. I also do handregs from time to time, when I get inspiration. Usually get offers on them before the month ends. Note, usually check about 1M names before registering like 5 or something. So there's work to be done, but it pays off.

No, it's by far not dead. It's just not for everyone to see.

Edit: see the example a bit below, domain snatched today among many others

 

[Rob Monster]

That's your opinion. See my last post in the sales thread. I get and sell quite a bunch that way.

Edit: Got back in to add more info.

What I see is people flocking all the time on the same niches. Everyone is deep in crypto, weed and the sorts. Yet there are countless other niches that aren't touched for the sole reason that they are not aware there's money to be made.

There's always gold in the road, but it's covered in mud so not everybody looks at what's shining there.

Edit 2: The same kind of myth is running around handregs. It's difficult, but not dead. I also do handregs from time to time, when I get inspiration. Usually get offers on them before the month ends. Note, usually check about 1M names before registering like 5 or something. So there's work to be done, but it pays off.

No, it's by far not dead. It's just not for everyone to see.

I tend to agree here.

There is the point of building programmatic software that finds exploitable niches and then registers available names. It may be trending keywords on Twitter or whatever but if there is a way to programmatically identify patterns and register the associated names, it can work.

The API is already good, but in light of helpful feedback, expect some fast-track upgrades.

@vitigo
@Gube

 

[twiki]

I tend to agree here.

There is the point of building programmatic software that finds exploitable niches and then registered available names. It may be trending keywords on Twitter or whatever but if there is a way to programmatically identify patterns and register the associated names, it can work.

The API is already good, but in light of helpful feedback, expect some fast-track upgrades.

@vitigo
@Gube

Agreed. I must observe, however, that success with programmatic software when domaining still depends a LOT on inspiration and knowledge of the user.

Without extensive knowledge of many niches, even with software, tough job. Cause you don't know what to look for, and therefore you can't even configure your software properly.

 

[twiki]

Here is an example of what is up for grabs (via API or even manual "dropcatch"):

Couple hours ago I snatched EnterpriseDMS.com (just dropped), among a set of other domains.

DMS stands for Document Management System and it is a highly sought combination. People are familiar with CRM and ERP, but fewer know what DMS is. So here was an opportunity for the taking.

This is a valuable domain, can be either sold to a software maker or built from the ground up either with own SaaS OR simply a reseller of an existing DMS, white label. I even know the companies I can hit with an email and sell it like cheese cake.

Estibot values it at $80. Makes me laugh.

This is even a nice score - most domains I sell for 4 figs are valued like ~$0. Everyone is using Estibot, DomainIndex or whatever nowadays, to see what are the most valuables domains, they put it in Dropcatch or other backorders. And this is the reason value isn't in such appraised lists anymore.

So yeah, "dropcatching via API is dead for years"... right.

 

[Rob Monster]

Here is an example of what is up for grabs (via API or even manual "dropcatch"):

Couple hours ago I snatched EnterpriseDMS.com (just dropped), among a set of other domains.

DMS stands for Document Management System and it is a highly sought combination. People are familiar with CRM and ERP, but fewer know what DMS is. So here was an opportunity for the taking.

This is a valuable domain, can be either sold to a software maker or built from the ground up either with own SaaS OR simply a reseller of an existing DMS, white label. I even know the companies I can hit with an email and sell it like cheese cake.

Estibot values it at $80. Makes me laugh.

This is even a nice score - most domains I sell for 4 figs are valued like ~$0. Everyone is using Estibot, DomainIndex or whatever nowadays, to see what are the most valuables domains, they put it in Dropcatch or other backorders. And this is the reason value isn't in such appraised lists anymore.

So yeah, "dropcatching via API is dead for years"... right.

Estibot is a dull knife, especially for brandable names.

The fact is we need more intelligence in these appraisal engines that looks at things like:

- Traffic growth trends of logical buyer (s)
- Enterprise value of logical buyer (s)
- Social media footprint and trend of logical buyer(s)

We are not there yet but @Gube is looking at this, e.g. making use of private subscription API data to evaluate domains. That info should eventually be made public.

Appraise.epik.com is currently Estibot re-heated but I am inclined to release a smarter appraisal that more accurately portrays fair value based on known structured data.

 

[twiki]

Estibot is a dull knife, especially for brandable names.

The fact is we need more intelligence in these appraisal engines that looks at things like:

- Traffic growth trends of logical buyer (s)
- Enterprise value of logical buyer (s)
- Social media footprint and trend of logical buyer(s)

We are not there yet but @Gube is looking at this, e.g. making use of private subscription API data to evaluate domains. That info should eventually be made public.

Appraise.epik.com is currently Estibot re-heated but I am inclined to release a smarter appraisal that more accurately portrays fair value based on known structured data.

Appraisal tools need to move forward indeed. But I still have little hope they will indeed hit the nail in the head anytime soon. It's much more complicated I'm afraid. You really have to know the niche well, the companies, the people and the inclination of any potential buyers, make a full persona beforehand etc.

Give you an example.

There is a highly lucrative industrial niche I deal in. I know the companies as I've traveled all across Europe in the last 10 years (dealing in several industrial verticals and this is one of them; each is different).

The trick is, nobody in this industry will buy a related domain. They won't touch it with a long pole. They don't buy domains at all. They even won't buy a website that brings leads daily, when an individual lead can bring an 100K or 1M sale. They say to you, use the website and bring us the orders, not leads.

It's common in that industry. So whoever buys this kind of domain by growth, enterprise value etc. is at a loss.

 

[frank-germany]

Appraisal tools need to move forward indeed. But I still have little hope they will indeed hit the nail in the head anytime soon. It's much more complicated I'm afraid. You really have to know the niche well, the companies, the people and the inclination of any potential buyers, make a full persona beforehand etc.

Give you an example.

There is a highly lucrative industrial niche I deal in. I know the companies as I've traveled all across Europe in the last 10 years (dealing in several industrial verticals and this is one of them; each is different).

The trick is, nobody in this industry will buy a related domain. They won't touch it with a long pole. They don't buy domains at all. They even won't buy a website that brings leads daily, when an individual lead can bring an 100K or 1M sale. They say to you, use the website and bring us the orders, not leads.

It's common in that industry. So whoever buys this kind of domain by growth, enterprise value etc. is at a loss.

which industry is that?

 

[Ja Kai]

Appraisal tools need to move forward indeed. But I still have little hope they will indeed hit the nail in the head anytime soon. It's much more complicated I'm afraid. You really have to know the niche well, the companies, the people and the inclination of any potential buyers, make a full persona beforehand etc.

Give you an example.

There is a highly lucrative industrial niche I deal in. I know the companies as I've traveled all across Europe in the last 10 years (dealing in several industrial verticals and this is one of them; each is different).

The trick is, nobody in this industry will buy a related domain. They won't touch it with a long pole. They don't buy domains at all. They even won't buy a website that brings leads daily, when an individual lead can bring an 100K or 1M sale. They say to you, use the website and bring us the orders, not leads.

It's common in that industry. So whoever buys this kind of domain by growth, enterprise value etc. is at a loss.

HUH?

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

That's your opinion.

Not only mine.
But also of other catchers with over decade experience in this field.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

And not only .com
Against valuable .ORG you also have no any chances via API regardless of registrar.