GoDaddy Auctions - Winner Didn't Pay

[Namebrand]

I lost an auction at GoDaddy where the winner ended up not paying. I received an email giving me the option to buy the domain name. The language is vague so that it's unclear on whether I MUST buy the domain name, or whether I have the option to BUY OR NOT BUY the domain name. Even the support team isn't giving me a clear answer. For other folks who have been in this situation, do you know if being the 2nd highest bidder obligates you to buy the domain name when the winner didn't pay?

Email Notification
You had the second highest bid of (dollar amount) and now this domain auction has been moved to the "Won" section of your GoDaddy Auctions account. You must complete the purchase of the (domain name) within 24 hours of this notification or the domain may be offered to others for purchase.

If you are still interested in registering this domain name, please log in to your account and complete purchase for the domain.

Auctions Membership Agreement
If the winning bidder does not complete their purchase, you may be offered the Expired Domain Name for purchase. You must complete the purchase of the Expired Domain Name within twenty-four (24) hours of notification of the Expired Domain Name being offered to you. If you elect to purchase the Expired Domain Name, you acknowledge the Expired Domain Name must be renewed upon purchase. A one (1) year renewal fee will be added to the purchase price for each Expired Domain Name purchased. Your bid amount plus the one (1) year renewal or transfer fee (from the end of the domain name’s previous registration period), plus ICANN fee, if applicable, is due within twenty-four (24) hours of the notification of option to purchase the Expired Domain Name and if payment is not received within twenty-four (24) hours, GoDaddy may offer the Expired Domain Name to others for purchase. If the Expired Domain Name is reclaimed by the original registrant, GoDaddy will refund the full purchase price.

 

[Namebrand]

For everyone's benefit, I got clarity from GoDaddy support that you do NOT have to purchase a domain if you were the 2nd highest bidder and the winner didn't pay. But you have the option to if you want.

 

[CS85]

Just out of curiosity, if you didn’t want to buy the name why were you bidding?

 

[Namebrand]

I set a weekly budget for acquisition. When a domain I'm bidding on exceeds my maximum price, then I end up bidding on & winning other auctions. In this case, I used up my budget on other domains, since I wasn't expecting to win this one.

 

[QUAD DOMAINS]

@Namebrand, it’s good to know you were able to get some clarification. We can definitely see where your initial uncertainty about how to proceed came in. After all, the email did state “You MUST complete the purchase….”.

🕳 One would imagine GoDaddy uses this language to drive a desired result. In this case, the domain being purchased. We could go down the rabbit-hole about this tactic; but we’ll simply opt for “Kudos to you for gaining some clarity”.

Wishing you well moving forward.

🗣 Mel
QUAD Domains

 

[forge]

This still has the markings of being potential shill bidding, the "winning" bidder put in place to drive up the sale price. I'm raising the possibility, not making accusations.

Proceed with extreme caution.

 

[D Haynes]

It depends on how they price the name to you as second highest bidder. They should remove all bids from the highest bidder and offer it to you for that although I suspect they only remove the highest bid which as stated above is a shill bidders wet dream.

 

[The Durfer]

this happened to me with the domain, demat.com. I ended up buying it but they said you dont have to. ty.

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

It depends on how they price the name to you as second highest bidder. They should remove all bids from the highest bidder and offer it to you for that although I suspect they only remove the highest bid which as stated above is a shill bidders wet dream.

That does make the most sense, allowing the option of the lower bidder purchasing AND allowing only the lowest bid that excludes the activities of the "highest bidder" that bailed.