GoDaddy Auction Ripoff?

[gartherarth]

I watched a domain, backordered it from Godaddy, it expired and went to auction, placed an auto bid of $10 on the name, about 6 other bidders came to the table, I was prepared to swoop in at the last minute and beef up my offer substantially, BUT - the auction ended 3 hours earlier that stated!

I called GoDaddy, they said the domain was purchased as Buy It Now - but that was never an option. This was a bidded domain, Godaddy could have made 3 times what it sold for as Buy It Now.

I feel severely shafted by GoDaddy - does anyone know anything about this?

 

[Domainace]

I don't know what to say about the "buy it now" explanation, but even if you win a Godaddy auction, you are not guaranteed to get the name. The owner has the option to renew until about a week after the auction ends (I think it's 42 days after the domain officially expires). In other words, GD auctions names that don't yet belong to them.
As Bob Parsons said on one of his podcasts (I paraphrase, but he did say "dirty"), "the domain business is a dirty business."

 

[Domagon]

And to add, reportedly, some other dropcatchers will do the same thing for domains that haven't truly dropped (as in not going through the full delete cycle), if the original registrant comes out of the woodwork and demands their domain be renewed.

Ron

 

[mwzd]

As Bob Parsons said on one of his podcasts (I paraphrase, but he did say "dirty"), "the domain business is a dirty business."

And bobby can get dirty with the best of them :D

The registrars lead the charge towards making this business as bad as it is. And there are no saintly registrars.

Domainace is spot on, tdnam auctions for 'expired' names are just another way to squeeze out money from unsuspecting buyers. If the person renewed the name, he used a buy it now option :D

 

[verbster]

If the person renewed the name, he used a buy it now option

the owner probably just paid the $80 redemption fee, as GD auctions the domains reg'd with them when there are 7-10 days left in the pending delete phase before dropping. That's why they make you wait until a certain date before they are added to your account.