Futura Domains - domain name auction site

[Kpett]

We have our new domain name auction platform up and running. Starting with a special $2 listing fee per domain name. Try us out and feel free to leave any feedback you may have.

 

[DanBingham]

Why not offer this out for free to the first few sign ups? Or free to list but pay a small % on completion price?

 

[Kpett]

We talked a lot about pricing - decided on a combination of a nominal listing fee and low (5%) commission on successful auctions. A nominal listing fee would keep us from getting flooded with domain names that probably should never have been registered in the first place. And we are discounting our listing fee by 50% until the end of the year as incentive.

 

[DanBingham]

How are you going to market the site?

 

[Nattydomain]

Good luck but honestly it is going to need a lot of work and marketing. Tons of competitors and you should realllllyyyyyyy got one of the big heavy hitters to either endorse it or list some of their names on it. These used to be a dime a dozen back in the days but again maybe you see something on the horizon that I dont.

 

[Kuffy]

I have always thought that Dutch auctions are the best way to sell domain names as there may be only one buyer

 

[DanBingham]

I have always thought that Dutch auctions are the best way to sell domain names as there may be only one buyer

Really? Not so sure.....

 

[Kpett]

Our development team sees a market opportunity here. With Futura Domains, we aim to answer many of the complaints domainers have about other domain auction sites - which even have been discussed on countless threads here on NP:

- Integrity - although schill bidding will be a tough one to monitor, we believe we have systems in place to minimize these opportunities ... as well as not having anonymous bidders
- Price of doing business - other sites are 12%-20% commission ( or more if you add on required transfer fees and/or an additional year of registration ).
- Payment risk - many domainers have reservations about making Paypal (or other) payments directly to people they don't know, relying on the honor system to have the domains transferred to them. Futura acts as your agent to facilitate the domain name transfer process, holding funds until the domain name is successfully transferred. The parties could still elect to use an escrow service if they wish, but that is an additional fee, outside of Futura Domains (escrow.com, Payoneer, etc.).
- Marketing - our plan is to leverage social media and other marketing platforms to promote domain names being auctioned on Futura Domains. Now that the website is live, we are starting our marketing endeavors.

 

[Ategy]

Wow .. I really don't like the look of the website, the logo, and whatever that is on the homepage .. lol

*BUT* ... that really doesn't matter to me ... all that really matters is the end is quality of domains vs prices. Unfortunately aside from one or two there isn't much worth noting. You really should try to get better domains. Your launch is critical .. if people come for the first time and see bad domains they just aren't ever going to come back .. it's better to wait and launch with quality .. then rush and open with little of interest.

Also .. PLEASE allow a compact search listing without the logos (they are really needlessly distracting btw)

Finally .. you have all sorts of sort options .. but not the ability to sort by # of bids? Some of the other sort don't even seem to work or be relevant .. you should add # of bids .. or have "popularity" better defined and actually working.

Anyhow .. I realise it's all still new .. so just giving some constructive feedback .. I sincerely wish you luck as we need more viable options as domainers .. I might add a name or two just to help out if I see a little more action!


NOTE: I'm viewing the site on a computer .. haven't checked on mobile yet.

 

[Kuffy]

I couldn't see the options for sales control. Do you have a reserve price feature? Is there a buy it now option? Can we link to a landing page from the listing? Does payment have to be routed through the site, or can we use a registrar pay and push option?

 

[Kpett]

@Ategy.com - we're trying to have the website be more of an experience rather than just a list of names - thus the graphics with each domain name listed. We'll look at adding a sort by # of bids. We're still working on the mobile site menu structure - it's almost all there. Thanks!

 

[Kpett]

@Kuffy - you need to register to see each domain name listing in detail (trying to keep out spammers). Yes, we have reserve price and buy it now options. Landing page can be linked - however, at this point others would need to register with the site to see it. We'll be reviewing that option in more detail.

We're open to other payment options but, at this time - payment for the domain listing and for those who win auction, it's through the site. Receipt of payment as the seller can be paypal, wire transfer, or other arrangements can be made. Thanks!

 

[Kuffy]

I won't touch PayPal - it's the scammer's friend. Payoneer and Bitcoin would be useful. I'm in the UK, so US dollar payments are a nuisance. I prefer to sell through the Name Silo site - they have lots of options for both buyers and sellers, and the methods don't have to match.

I was considering offering to list some names to help you get started, but with closed listings, I can't see many potential buyers viewing the lists. It will also block the search engines.

 

[Kpett]

@Kuffy - we just updated the site so listings can now be seen by everyone. Thanks for the feedback! We'll look into other payment integrations, but we think most buyers can live with the choice of paypal or credit card. We have much more flexibility in how we distribute funds to the sellers after the domain name transfer.

 

[Kuffy]

How are you going to handle buyer's remorse after transfer with PayPal. Will you stand the loss?

 

[Kpett]

Yes - we take the risk with Paypal, and are confident in our approach.

 

[Kuffy]

I've just had another look. I think it would be worth dropping the images for the list format - they make it hard to run a quick scan over the names.

I had list format for page 1, and then I went to page 2, and it flicked me back to grid. I may not be a standard viewer, but I hate the grid format - it really does slow things down if you are having a quick look.

 

[Kpett]

@Kuffy - we've updated the site so the default is List View - and the alternate option is now Grid View. We think we'll keep the grid view option and we'll see what the other feedback is ... thanks for the input!

 

[ResoluteDomains]

Very nice! Best of luck! As a developer I know all of this is very hard work..... Its like an iceberg where most of what is unseen is the meat of the thing.

 

[Kpett]

Thanks @AGAME - yes, its great to see it all come together after all of the time spent - and decisions made along the way!

 

[ResoluteDomains]

I have always thought that Dutch auctions are the best way to sell domain names as there may be only one buyer

I remember the old/original Afternic had something called the "Bazaar"... I bought some domains using that facility.