news Farewell from Dan.com

[silentg]

From the beginning, Dan.com set out to redefine the domain selling experience, making it simpler, more accessible, and more transparent for everyone.

What started as a bold vision quickly grew into a transformative movement. Today, as we announce the closure of the Dan.com brand, we reflect on the milestones we achieved, the challenges we overcame, and, most importantly, the vibrant community that stood with us every step of the way.

Dan.com - a GoDaddy brand @Undeveloped June 18, 2025

To every customer, partner and team member: you made Dan․com more than a platform - you made it a movement.

As we close our doors on June 27 2025, we want to say thank you for sharing this journey with us: medium.com/@dancom/farewe…

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https://dancom.medium.com/farewell-from-dan-com-eb8256625430

Someone buy it please

 

[forge]

Dan's de facto swan song...

 

[Altetra]

Thanks to Dan I got 2 sales, but the Daddy came and took him from the playground.
I suspect that as soon Godaddy began it's Dan acquisition my sales dropped, it is possible they found out who is who on NP and on their marketplaces, then they block your sales or hide your domains in some way, this if you have say something bad about the GoDaddy.

 

[Future Sensors]

Curious to learn their secret sauce in the eyes of domainers because nothing they did seemed that impressive, from a technical standpoint.

To summarize, I think it was all about the exceptional user experience, for both Sellers and Buyers. Don't focus too much on the underlying tech stack, as it is becoming less and less of a distinguishing factor. Sure, a robust technical foundation is essential, but this alone won't set your marketplace apart.

 

[skshogun]

Received my last LTO payments since I opted out of migration to Afternic.
Thanks for the sales and good memories.

 

[biggie]

1.

What made Dan.com so great?

Hi

dan wasn't great, it seemed great because it came on the heels of the demise of unireg.
it filled some of the void, and became an alternative to gd, so it got support from community.

but unireg had "free self brokering", direct messaging with potential buyers and pay per click, as well as being a low cost registrar, which was owned by a fellow domainer.
they had everything a domainer needed.

imo...

 

[Future Sensors]

In general, I've noticed that marketplaces featuring genuine interactions with Sellers on this forum, tend to innovate at a significantly quicker pace than those with less engagement, or no engagement at all. It also helps if a marketplace has a clear strategy and a small, efficient team, allowing it to innovate (or "disrupt") at a rapid pace.

 

[DomainRecap]

dan wasn't great, it seemed great because it came on the heels of the demise of unireg.

That's not really true, as a lot of us were fans from back when they were Undeveloped, before the rebrand to Dan in 2019. And Uni didn't get bought by GD until 2020, which it then closed in 2023.

I do admit the 0% self-brokerage was sweet, though you did get hit a bit on the backend when you withdrew funds. But other than that, Uni never really impressed me that much.

I also remember testing out Uni landers, but all my inquiries were sent to brokers. Others had similar experiences, and I found this quote by alcy from an old thread:

I remember once wanting to use their sale lander redirects.. but then I discovered despite my self broker setting... all inquiries were going to broker.. when I Called them to ask what is up.. they said unwillingly that there are several background settings not for us, which will cause lead to go to broker... it was confusing complex stuff like whether same buyer made another offer within last 30 days.. on your names or someone else... or some other nonsense like this... in short, your not in control. they are.

So while the 0% was a nice potential benefit, unfortunately it was unattainable by most sellers due to the background machinations of Uni.

 

[pb]

In general, I've noticed that marketplaces featuring genuine interactions with Sellers on this forum, tend to innovate at a significantly quicker pace than those with less engagement, or no engagement at all.

Doesn't GD have a domainer investor liaison person here on the forum?

 

[Future Sensors]

Doesn't GD have a domainer investor liaison person here on the forum?

They absolutely have! But they killed the popular DAN, and their lean and efficient team, which was the second part of my posting.

The GD account is mainly for reporting bugs, unfortunately. There's no real innovation. It's basically trying to reinvent what's killed by them.

 

[internext]

GD have a domainer investor liaison person here

Even if they did, what can they give us other than lip service?

Not a very domainer-friendly company. GD does what GD wants to do. Period.

 

[Gabriel360]

Doesn't GD have a domainer investor liaison person here on the forum?

That position is just some kind of expedited tech support with very little influence within the GoDaddy Empire.

If GoDaddy actually treated him like a liaison with domain investors, Dan.com would not be dead.

Instead, GoDaddy do whatever they want and tell you it's the best thing that's ever happened to domainers.

For instance, consider the issue with jacking up the price of DDC. There is zero benefit to domainers. It's a money-grubbing scheme that actually hurts domain investors who subscribe to the membership.

My point is GoDaddy's Liaison is a joke.

 

[phaethon]

it was not marketplace
and 99 percent never got a sale or offer directly from market.

to most dan was a place for landers... nice quick payment and payout... and cheap addlead.

a marketplace was last thing dan was

Exactly, Dan has been as dead as Sedo for me. Nothing at all. I'm scratching my head while I see domainers crying for Dan.

 

[Daniel Owens]

Everything at dan seems to function still and yeah I will miss them.

 

[biggie]

So while the 0% was a nice potential benefit, unfortunately it was unattainable by most sellers due to the background machinations of Uni.

That's not really true,

Hi

yeah, that's not really true either -
just because you and another member couldn't manage to execute self brokering option properly,
doesn't make it unattainable for "most sellers".

still, i feel that if uni didn't sell out, then dan probably wouldn't even be in the conversation?

imo...

 

[DomainRecap]

just because you and another member couldn't manage to execute self brokering option properly

Sure Luthor, it was just us two that ever had problems with Uni. Only two people out of the billions on Earth.

Seriously, I had self-brokerage enabled, and I never received a lot of offers from Uni (forwarding traffic elsewhere) but I don't think I ever received a non-broker offer there, In fact, I'm sure of it, and I've talked to other people in a similar boat.

At a certain point I think the "0% commission" was really not working for their bottom line, so Uni "adjusted" it to create a greater flow of revenue.

 

[alop]

I forgot about uni until biggie said summ

 

[alop]

what can they give us other than lip service?

I just re-signed up

 

[likemike]

Bravo they just grew a big market share to sell out. Nothing unusual in this day and age to make big money. Good for them.

 

[DomainRecap]

Bravo they just grew a big market share to sell out.

Exactly, and GD wasn't buying Dan, it was buying their customers and their data. And it's clear the Dan founders were only in it for the short money so I will never trust any of them ever again.

Reza keeps talking about "coming back" to the domain industry, but he'll never get another penny from me. 'Fool me once, fool me twice-level' NEVER getting another penny from me.

 

[HotKey]

I'm really getting tired of saying bye to Dan it's the longest Italian goodbye ever