GoDaddy Auction Seller Backing Out

[clarkemarketing]

Anyone ever won a GD auction just to have the seller claim they no longer own the domain? I won BlockchainLegal.com BlockchainTrust.com and BlockchainStack.com on GoDaddy a few weeks ago, paid, and then had the seller contact me to see if I received the domains yet (which I had not). I noticed that one of the domains was developed in the meantime, and wouldn't you know it today the seller contacts me to say he made a mistake and no longer owns all 3 of them. They are all still registered at GoDaddy btw (doesn't GD verify ownership of domains that are being auctioned?). Seems to me like I was "freerolled"... auction a name on GoDaddy, if it goes for a high amount sell it, if it doesn't just claim you no longer own the domain. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I've got to be one of the biggest buyers on GoDaddy auctions lately and other than never buying on that platform again I'm not sure what recourse I really have? I know people make mistakes, and I have overlooked such situations many times before, but this involves multiple names that quite frankly sold for significantly less than I was expecting to pay and now the seller is clearly trying to back out.

 

[equity78]

I just listed 555 domains on sedo and a ton of them were already listed there by the previous owner. So yes the auctions do not verify ownership because those domains obviously belong to me and I had not listed them.

I'll be listing another 500 in the next few days because I'm really liking Sedo.

I'll have to keep an eye open to see if I get as many domains not hitting my account when I purchase them. I got some serious offers there right now.

I intend to do a full Sedo vs Godaddy review in the near future.

Yeah it gets frustrating, Sedo really needs to do something about the old listings, now they verify new names added better, but there is some old names that are developed still showing $1,999 for a 3L.com.

 

[MapleDots]

So I can put my Namesilo and Namecheap domain into Godaddy auction?

They do verify ownership of the domain to whois as far as I know.

If you are the owner you can list

 

[equity78]

They do verify ownership of the domain to whois as far as I know.

If you are the owner you can list

Well if you look at one of the three names Clarke won, it was under privacy so no real way to verify. It looks like all 3 names have different owners.

 

[bluemeteor]

I realize those godaddy auction domains come from afternic

 

[equity78]

They got a mulligan, and then some.

It was amazing, supposedly they did a big price update, and it did not go as planned, I guess maybe it was slow, or delayed, but over a few hundred bucks, they wouldn't honor a sale on a name they had maybe a few hundred into. The value of their relationship must be into 8 figures by now. In terms of auction buying, and commission on their listed inventory.

They effectively found a cop out for not allowing them to honor a listed BIN purchase, it was a thing of beauty.

@Joe Styler @Paul Nicks would love to hear your comments on that.

 

[equity78]

Names might have been added when they owned them, at somepoint they moved, and were never removed by the owner. The one still in her name, if in the same matching account should have a lock, and move when payment verification is completed. Unless they were pushed into a different account.

I purchased a $2,700 domain thru godaddy auctions, that was owned by huge domains, huge domains claimed they repriced, and the update failed, and they wanted $3,300, godaddy said there was nothing they could do to get them to move the domain to me, even though I bought it at bin, and paid. They cannot force them to hand over the domain, they will either warn, or ban them. Not sure what you paid, but sure their inbox has some nice offers, so maybe some are sold, and the ones they still own they want to keep for a bigger payday. Given they own the foresight to own such names going back they must have some insight into the space.

Godaddy domains linked to the same selling account, are supposed to auto lock, and transfer once payment verification is completed. Your best is to get godaddy to contact them.

Seems like @Joe Styler got some explaining to do.

 

[Coinking]

@Joe Styler

 

[DomainRecap]

I just listed 555 domains on sedo and a ton of them were already listed there by the previous owner.

Are you sure it was the previous owner?

I ask because Sedo is rife with scammers who literally have tens of thousands of domains in their portfolio, but own none of them, and just hope to get a juicy offer (Sedo pre-holds funds on offers) so they can hit up the *real* owner with a lowball and just send the transfer code they get to the actual buyer.

If not, they just refuse the offer and wait for the next one to hit. Rinse and repeat.

 

[MapleDots]

Are you sure it was the previous owner?

I ask because Sedo is rife with scammers who literally have tens of thousands of domains in their portfolio, but own none of them, and just hope to get a juicy offer (Sedo pre-holds funds on offers) so they can hit up the *real* owner with a lowball and just send the transfer code they get to the actual buyer.

If not, they just refuse the offer and wait for the next one to hit. Rinse and repeat.

Could be but I happen to know who I bought these from and I know some of them were listed on godaddy and sedo. A lot of times the owners sell the domains and forget to remove them.

I'm sure your scenario does come into play but I'm pretty tight with a lot of the folks I buy from.

 

[MapleDots]

Actually our terms of service say you cannot do that and if we find out we normally ban you for life so I wouldn't recommend people try that.

You would think that banning will fix the issue, instead it makes it worse because now there is even more reason to contact directly. In the end godaddy cannot control what people do and the more people they ban the more persistent the problem becomes.

Why do you think godaddy want to hide contact information so badly, they say because of spammers but it's really to protect their auction profits.

I'm going to have an article about that soon, I've just purchased some GDname domains to talk about some interesting things I cannot discuss on this forum.

 

[Joe Styler]

You would think that banning will fix the issue, instead it makes it worse because now there is even more reason to contact directly. In the end godaddy cannot control what people do and the more people they ban the more persistent the problem becomes.

Why do you think godaddy want to hide contact information so badly, they say because of spammers but it's really to protect their auction profits.

I'm going to have an article about that soon, I've just purchased some GDname domains to talk about some interesting things I cannot discuss on this forum.

It has nothing to do with that. You can easily check whois information at who.godaddy.com and get the full data.

 

[MapleDots]

It has nothing to do with that. You can easily check whois information at who.godaddy.com and get the full data.

Yup you said it.... Now remember that

YOU HAVE TO CHECK AT GODADDY

I'll be blogging all about that soon

 

[Joe Styler]

So I can put my Namesilo and Namecheap domain into Godaddy auction?

Yes

 

[Daniel Owens]

Well, considering I've bought domains off NP and other platforms then found out someone had them up for auction at GD (even though they hit my account) your problem doesn't shock me. Most likely they sold the domain and godaddy didn't end an auction, they probably had on there 30+ days and maybe even forgot. There is a reason many domainers say remove it from all platforms, that is so buyers like you don't win a domain only to find out they can't get it!

 

[Joe Styler]

Joe one of the names @clarkemarketing mentioned was BitcoinStack.com that was one of Jane Both's domains, that name has been at GoDaddy and did not change like the other two he purchased. Thankfully that one didn't expire like that batch of names that netted GoDaddy over $100,000 a few months back.

How would he have not gotten that name, been at GoDaddy for years.

It is the same as I said, the original listing party no longer owns that domain.

 

[Joe Styler]

Go daddy auctions can be viewed by anyone so you cannot impose your TOS on the general public. If you publish it and don't wan't it to show up then put it behind a password protected barrier. One can go incognito, not signed in, and view all domains for sale.

Are you telling me I have less rights as a regular consumer if I am a member of your auction? If I have not bid and decide the domain is too expensive it is my right as a consumer to contact who I see fit.

Just because you find out still should not give you the right to ban someone when they then want to place a bid on auction. It looks to me like godaddy wants to control the part of the aftermarket that does not even belong to them.

If you are advocating that people use our auction marketplace to find potential domains to purchase and then purchase them outside of the auction that is a problem.

 

[tonyk2000]

@Joe Styler - for the sake of completness (thread subject) can you please also confirm that GD auction seller who really owns the listing, and decided to re-price it, but failed to do so in timely fashion or at all, still has an obligation to honor the shown price if the domain is sold (and will have their account banned if they refuse to sell)?

 

[tonyk2000]

Joe Styler reads the topic and the ban hammer comes down

I think that @Joe Styler does not actively monitor Namepros member-to-member sales...There are too many sales promoted here, but Joe still has time to respond in GD/Afternic related threads (thanks Joe).

 

[equity78]

It is the same as I said, the original listing party no longer owns that domain.

Whois shows it was created in 2014, and the same owner owns it since.

 

[equity78]

No you do not have any way to know if the buyer is coming because they saw your domain listed on the auction. You would not be at fault.
I am simply saying that what Maple Dots is advocating is against our terms of service, finding domains on the auction and after looking for them for the purpose of buying and then going outside our marketplace to complete the transaction.
His comments seem to indicate this as he quotes our commission and stated that there are names he found there and then went to the owner directly.
So for instance a name he saw listed for sale for $20k and then went to the owner to get for $16k seemingly to save himself the $4k by not buying it on the marketplace.
I could be wrong but it seems that he is advocating using our marketplace to locate domains and get an idea of the seller's pricing and then use that information to go outside our platform to complete the deal.
You as the seller if you have no idea of what is happening are not at fault.

To be fair there is no way you would know any of this unless the person specifically said, "Hi I am ****** I see your name on GoDaddy, want to sell it privately?" And that person contacts you.

I am sure there are plenty of emails sent to owners where the name is also listed at GoDaddy but the person never checked GoDaddy. Without someone putting that qualifier in there that they found you on GoDaddy there is no way to prove anything or ban anyone.

 

[Name Trader]

Not a chance, trust me they are in bed together.

If I get time I'll pm you some links to read about all the shenanigans.

I'd appreciate some links too.

 

[anantj]

If you are advocating that people use our auction marketplace to find potential domains to purchase and then purchase them outside of the auction that is a problem.

Does that extend to expired domains as well? Say I see an expired domain on auction and decide I'd like to wait for it to drop and hand register it. By your logic (and ToS, IANAL), I'm in violation of GD's ToS since I did discover the domain on GD Auctions

 

[Daniel Owens]

@stub I guess it is a rather difficult process or it would be implemented @Joe Styler am I right?

 

[Name Trader]

I have domains listed on several marketplaces (Afternic, GD Auctions, Sedo, Undeveloped etc). Now if I receive an inquiry which I decline and then the buyer goes and purchases the domain on another marketplace where say I had a lower offer price or BIN, am I in violation of GD's ToS?

Apparently not. Since this is what GoDaddy allowed HugeDomains to do.

 

[Name Trader]

We say in our terms of service that if you find the domain on our auctions you cannot circumvent the auction. I am not a lawyer so I will refrain from saying what we can and cannot do and simply point you to the terms of service. https://www.godaddy.com/agreements/showdoc.aspx?pageid=dna_member
Specifically: Should GoDaddy determine (which determination shall be made by GoDaddy in its sole and absolute discretion) that you are circumventing the Services, GoDaddy reserves the right to terminate your account and cancel all of your listings.

This is different from finding a great name on your own and contacting the person directly. This is searching for and seeing names on our auction and then trying to cut us out of that auction which is sounds very much like Maple Dots is advocating in his comment. Find the name contact the owner directly and save them 20%. This behavior will get you banned. No one is saying you cannot find domains on your own and contact people as you please.

Could you define the words "our auctions"? Are fixed priced listings are/are not covered by the same policy?