Fed Up With AFTERNIC

[Joe drake]

Man, I’m seriously frustrated with Afternic lately. I’ve been getting 3–4 offers every single day, mostly coming from their lead pages. At first, I thought things were going ok —until I realized how their system actually works.


Just had one of my freshly hand-registered domains rejected for listing because, get this, it was listed two years ago by someone else. Even though I’m the new owner, their system still treats it like it's owned by the previous guy. I tried using that third box with the code, but seriously, it’s a total hassle every time.


It’s honestly ridiculous. The whole system feels like it's working against sellers, not with us. Feels like they’re playing both sides, and it’s just pathetic. Just no sense of urgency by brokers very very unresponsive.


No surprise that my self-brokered sales at Atom are up like 400% compared to GoDaddy’s so-called “brokers.” I mean, why the hell am I paying double the commission for half the quality? These Afternic brokers won’t even tell you what continent the buyer’s on, let alone give you any helpful info. Meanwhile, over at Atom, I’m making real deals with transparency.


I’ve started moving my 7,000 domains off Afternic. Thinking I’ll just set a minimum bid on what’s left there so I can eventually switch the landers before they hit me with that brutal 25%+ commission. But honestly, it sucks. I’m losing out on a lot while I make the switch.


I heard Paul Nicks on Sherpa saying they’d be more open… Yeah, sure. I’m done. I even dumped my GoDaddy stock a few months back when it was over $200. This beast is bloated, outdated, and ripe for someone like Atom to eat their lunch. Or who knows—maybe GoDaddy will do what they always do: buy out the competition instead of fixing their mess.


Anyway, just needed to vent. Curious if anyone else has been feeling the same way.

 

[D Haynes]

I think this is becoming a common sentiment on the forum (at least from what I see).

You can't keep giving a crappy overpriced service and not expect people to notice eventually.

 

[Gabriel360]

This beast is bloated, outdated, and ripe for someone like Atom to eat their lunch. Or who knows—maybe GoDaddy will do what they always do: buy out the competition instead of fixing their mess.

This is inevitable.

GoDaddy competes by buying and killing their competitions. So far, it's been a successful strategy for them.

Nobody will eat GoDaddy's lunch. At least, not for long. GoDaddy would buy and nuke the kitchen.

Speaking of which, it's only a matter of time before they come for Atom.

Atom have differentiated themselves from other brandable marketplaces. In fact, I'd argue that it's no longer a brandable marketplace. But a marketplace that also specializes in brandables.

And they got $10 Million investment a couple of years ago. So the investors would be looking to recoup their investments with a decent ROI.

When GoDaddy comes knocking with that decent ROI, it's the gallows for Atom.

So I'd advise people to get used to GoDaddy's shitty services.

 

[enterscope]

If Godaddy buys Atom, I'm building my own marketplace.

 

[DomainThrive]

Agree feels like working against us. Total lack of transparency with Brokers and slow to follow up.

For example whats the point of showing me that 'Email received from buyer' if you not giving some context for me to act.

Often I have been told that brokers have actually followed up but when I check the lead center it doesn't show anything. So who am I to trust?

 

[Joe drake]

This is inevitable.

GoDaddy competes by buying and killing their competitions. So far, it's been a successful strategy for them.

Nobody will eat GoDaddy's lunch. At least, not for long. GoDaddy would buy and nuke the kitchen.

Speaking of which, it's only a matter of time before they come for Atom.

Atom have differentiated themselves from other brandable marketplaces. In fact, I'd argue that it's no longer a brandable marketplace. But a marketplace that also specializes in brandables.

And they got $10 Million investment a couple of years ago. So the investors would be looking to recoup their investments with a decent ROI.

When GoDaddy comes knocking with that decent ROI, it's the gallows for Atom.

So I'd advise people to get used to GoDaddy's shitty services.

Curious about GoDaddy’s new self-broker service
Does anyone know how GoDaddy’s new self-broker model works? Is it similar to what Atom offers? Specifically, do they disclose who’s on the other side of the deal? If not, it’s hard to justify paying double the commission compared to platforms like Atom, which offer more exposure and transparency.


There seems to be a bit of a double standard in the industry. Independent sellers often get left in the dark, while high-profile players seem to have access to information most of us don’t.


I remember a DomainSherpa episode where Andrew Miller- Hilco global mentioned leveraging a personal Friendship at Sedo to find out who was involved on the other side of a negotiation. That’s a surprising thing to say publicly, and it raises questions—if that sort of thing happens at Sedo, what’s stopping similar behavior at other major platforms?


In another Sherpa episode, Miller gave a shoutout to a GoDaddy broker while discussing the sale of vaninsurance.com for around $150K. It makes you wonder—would a deal like that have gone through at that level without a bit of behind-the-scenes assistance?


To be clear, I’m not accusing anyone of wrongdoing. But from the perspective of an independent domainer, it often feels like there are two different sets of rules—one for industry insiders, and another for everyone else. Greater transparency and fairness would benefit the whole domain community.

 

[789.xyz]

AFTERNIC is truly an arrogant and garbage company. And it's not just the company—their employees are just as arrogant. I hope that from now on, whenever people discuss AFTERNIC on forums, they'll consciously add the tag #AFTERNICTrash.

 

[Qezdabo]

I’ve been getting 3–4 offers every single day,

I’ve started moving my 7,000 domains off Afternic.

Unrelated to the topic. But that's a 0.04% ratio. isn't it low ? or am I missing something.

because if I'm calculating right, you have few good names compared to the bad. no ?

 

[Joe drake]

Unrelated to the topic. But that's a 0.04% ratio. isn't it low ? or am I missing something.

because if I'm calculating right, you have few good names compared to the bad. no ?

Sell-through rates really don’t apply to domains that involve broker assistance.
They’re mainly relevant for domains that are priced correctly and listed with a Buy It Now option.


Honestly, if I had to rely on Afternic brokers to close sales, I’d be starving. As I’ve mentioned before, most of my success comes through Atom (formerly Squadhelp), where I personally close most of my inquiries — I’d say about 2 out of every 7. That might not sound like a lot, but it's because I have enough information and confidence to know when not to undersell a domain that could potentially go for 5x the price.


On the flip side, GoDaddy tends to side with the buyer — even when the buyer isn’t paying — just to secure the commission. It’s frustrating.


That said, I did manage to sell a $31K BIN at Afternic last week. But honestly, if it hadn’t been a BIN listing, I’m pretty sure any offers or interest would’ve just dried up. Their brokers are just… not good.