GoDaddy auction and bots

[BrandChimp]

Hi all,

Since last week I am trying to bid on domains that I would easily win for $12. Now these names are going from $12 to $500 in like 5 minutes.

Like today, I forgot to place a bid on a brandable .com. There was no bid and only 1 minute left. I was sure there was nobody else interested in that name... I place my $12 bid then another bidder automaticly jumped in the auction... This person/bot is hard to beat. Names that should go for $12 to $50 goes to $300 or $500! There's no way to beat him.


Am I the only one who as notice this?

 

[D Haynes]

I've offen wondered about this too. I just assume that there's another person watching it the same as myself. The only way to win is leave it to go to closeout and try to get it first.

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

wait wait. with respect to Godaddy or Sedo. I'm a big conspiracy theorist and paranoid everything. don't trust anyone.

so. I gotta ask. what's stopping the marketplaces from secretly using bots to bump up the prices?

shoot. I'd pay extra for THAT SERVICE. although marketplaces get paid anyways regardless of the final sale price. it would be in their favor to manipulate the bids right?

anyone think marketplace do this sort of thing secretly?

show of hands?

 

[NameClerk]

Check out the number of views on the auction. If it's really low, under 10 for instance, you might be the only person interested in it. If an auction has a lot of views but no bids, you can bet there are plenty of watchers waiting to jump on it as soon as it hits closeout and they'll drive the price up if someone makes a last minute bid.

It would be suspicious to me if an auction had low views and then suddenly received many bids just before closing. Then again, there are people who watch for domains that receive last minute bids and then jump in those auctions instead of doing their own research.

 

[Pierre Barnard]

Interesting topic...makes you wonder indeed.

 

[BrandChimp]

Check out the number of views on the auction. If it's really low, under 10 for instance, you might be the only person interested in it. If an auction has a lot of views but no bids, you can bet there are plenty of watchers waiting to jump on it as soon as it hits closeout and they'll drive the price up if someone makes a last minute bid.

It would be suspicious to me if an auction had low views and then suddenly received many bids just before closing. Then again, there are people who watch for domains that receive last minute bids and then jump in those auctions instead of doing their own research.

0 Views for the name today

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

Check out the number of views on the auction. If it's really low, under 10 for instance, you might be the only person interested in it. If an auction has a lot of views but no bids, you can bet there are plenty of watchers waiting to jump on it as soon as it hits closeout and they'll drive the price up if someone makes a last minute bid.

It would be suspicious to me if an auction had low views and then suddenly received many bids just before closing. Then again, there are people who watch for domains that receive last minute bids and then jump in those auctions instead of doing their own research.

INTERESTING!!!!
Thanks for that input. I've been meaning to ask this here on NP. perfect timing of this thread.

I've been monitoring 4.cn's marketplaces. I've said this plenty of times on NP.


4.cn kinda rocks. The commissions on BIN price is lower than Godaddy or Sedo.

but you have to pay a yearly of $149 to "play".

but you get unlimited amount of domains to list.

what I have noticed is:

1. obvious Valuable short domains with BIN prices set at very high in the 5 to 6 figures get the most views with plenty of offers.
2. but there are other "questionable" value domains that if they were on SEDO or Godaddy. would never get any views or bids or offers.
3. somehow domains with obscenely high pricing for NO REASON. get tons of views tooo AS IF they were ACTUAL valuable domains.

The question?

if you say that there are people who hang around marketplaces and know and assume that domains with high views probably have people "watching it" and waiting to grab it for cheap.

that once that domain goes to auction. will those "viewers" and "watchers" follow it to auction and will there by a bidding war at last minute?

I've seen some domain auctions on there like hours before close that hover at $100. to be honest i never sit and wait to check to see how much the final winning bids are.

could they have sold for nice profit or what? if that many viewers were watching it?

I do check namebio later to see the domains and what they sold for and never find it. maybe because 4.cn doesn't report the sales?

we are talking about China after all. many impulse buyers. and uninformed Domain speculators.

bidding on stuff just because there are tons of "views" on it.

 

[Arca]

Why didn’t you let the name expire and snipe it for $11 as a closeout a few minutes later?

No good domains ever expire under the radar @ GoDaddy. While many auctions end without anyone placing a $12 bid, there are always a minimum of 1-5 other domainers there watching, ready to snipe it when it returns as a closeout name. Placing a last minute auction bid always leads to a bidding war between all the domainers who were waiting to snipe the name. A selling price of $500+ is common (even though someone would have gotten the domain for $11 if everyone had just taken their chances trying to snipe the name instead).

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

Why didn’t you let the name expire and snipe it for $11 as a closeout a few minutes later?

No good domains ever expire under the radar @ GoDaddy. While many auctions end without anyone placing a $12 bid, there are always a minimum of 1-5 other domainers there watching, ready to snipe it when it returns as a closeout name. Placing a last minute auction bid always leads to a bidding war between all the domainers who were waiting to snipe the name. A selling price of $500+ is common (even though someone would have gotten the domain for $11 if everyone had just taken their chances trying to snipe the name instead).

as you can tell I haven't sold on Godaddy yet. what about domains not hosted by Godaddy? does the whole system still operate the same way?

so all domains that don't get a bid at auction? even if not hosted by Godaddy MUST go to Closeout?

i had paid for an auction listing on Godaddy a while ago. got no bids. and that was the LAST time I tried to sell on Godaddy. very disappointing. either that or my domain was just crap.

 

[Pierre Barnard]

i had paid for an auction listing on Godaddy a while ago. got no bids. and that was the LAST time I tried to sell on Godaddy. very disappointing. either that or my domain was just crap.

Same here.

 

[BrandChimp]

Why didn’t you let the name expire and snipe it for $11 as a closeout a few minutes later?

No good domains ever expire under the radar @ GoDaddy. While many auctions end without anyone placing a $12 bid, there are always a minimum of 1-5 other domainers there watching, ready to snipe it when it returns as a closeout name. Placing a last minute auction bid always leads to a bidding war between all the domainers who were waiting to snipe the name. A selling price of $500+ is common (even though someone would have gotten the domain for $11 if everyone had just taken their chances trying to snipe the name instead).

I usually don't like to wait for closeout. I prefer catching the name right before closeout.

Thank you for your comment. Now I have a different point of view about this situation.

 

[NameAcquisitions]

Smart buyers don't bid early. People search domains by # of bids, and it only takes 2 bids I think to get on the active domains list.

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

Smart buyers don't bid early. People search domains by # of bids, and it only takes 2 bids I think to get on the active domains list.

is that on all marketplaces?

almost makes you wonder. if you can "game" the system AND NOT GET CAUGHT. lol

I'm sure many have tried.

I wouldn't risk being banned from one out of three marketplaces. that would suck.

 

[NameAcquisitions]

Not sure about the others.. Nothing wrong with working like this. It isn't gaming the system, but not drawing attention to your interest.

GoDaddy (like many auction places) adds time to the auctions for last minute bids, so you really can't snipe them.

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

Not sure about the others.. Nothing wrong with working like this. It isn't gaming the system, but not drawing attention to your interest.

GoDaddy (like many auction places) adds time to the auctions for last minute bids, so you really can't snipe them.

no you misunderstood. I was talking about people shill bidding those 2 bids just to get on the "active domain" list.

 

[Arca]

Not sure about the others.. Nothing wrong with working like this. It isn't gaming the system, but not drawing attention to your interest.

GoDaddy (like many auction places) adds time to the auctions for last minute bids, so you really can't snipe them.

Unfortunately most domainers who buy GD expiring names seem to love overpaying for names though.

I'll never understand all the domainers who start bidding on GD expiring names days before the auction ends (instead of using the watchlist function, and bidding as late as possible, or sniping it as a closeout if possible). Starting to bid days in advance ensures that you'll never get a good price for that name, as names with bids get so much exposure across a number of venues (from expireddomains to the list published by people like domainshane).

 

[NameAcquisitions]

no you misunderstood. I was talking about people shill bidding those 2 bids just to get on the "active domain" list.

Yes, understood. I was just explaining the behavior. GoDaddy has better things to do (I'm sure) than shill bidding on expired names. I'm more inclined to think this is just smart behavior on the part of other buyers, who also noted value in the names and waited to bid.

 

[ZapNano]

I have been a member on eBay since 2009; Watchers does not always mean they will bid on an item. The one that's invisible is the one normally will jump in; in a 5 second left...

 

[BrandChimp]

I have been a member on eBay since 2009; Watchers does not always mean they will bid on an item. The one that's invisible is the one normally will jump in; in a 5 second left...

if you bid when there's less than 5 minutes to go godaddy adds an additional 5 minute to the auction

 

[WhoaDomain.com]

Check out the number of views on the auction. If it's really low, under 10 for instance, you might be the only person interested in it. If an auction has a lot of views but no bids, you can bet there are plenty of watchers waiting to jump on it as soon as it hits closeout and they'll drive the price up if someone makes a last minute bid.

It would be suspicious to me if an auction had low views and then suddenly received many bids just before closing. Then again, there are people who watch for domains that receive last minute bids and then jump in those auctions instead of doing their own research.

I wonder too if you priced a domain high on purpose. then auction. and when it gets close to end of auction. and you want more bids. you drop the price or reserve price.