GoDaddy Pre-Release Events

[Sparhawke]

I am currently looking at a pre-release domain right now that I can bid on for $12 but I have always been confused by it, even after all this time...what is the sequence of events that lead me to winning the domain?

Say I bid on goatbellrock.com for $12 in pre-release, does it then go to open bidding for a week or three to see if anyone further bids on it or straight to closeouts?

I am watching a particular domain in pre-release and would really like a final answer on it, one that I have never been able to find elsewhere

I don't want to bid in pre-release and find out that I have to suffer the agony of waiting months for someone else to randomly bid on it (even though it is only $12 it is my money and something I don't like to leave to chance)and then have to outbid them again and time again, lol, I want to know that if I am the only one in pre-stages that I will get it

(GoDaddy is confusing at the best of times lol)

Thing is, I have an angel investor who will back my purchase and further development but I need to explain the GoDaddy process fully, yet I have never really understood it lol. Closeouts are easy, I bid, I win if it is not reclaimed in the time specified. Pre-release are something else :D

 

[Name Trader]

If you win the auction, then after you've paid, the domain will be in your account in approx 7 days. It's that simple. In that 7 days the original owner still has the right to reclaim the domain by paying GoDaddy's Redemption Fee.

 

[Erdy]

Hi Sparhawke,

Unlike snapnames and namejet prerelease that will start at a certain time, Godaddy pre-release auctions have already started and they will end at the mentioned time.

I like to display time as time left on my site to make it easier. Let's say you found a namejet or snapnames pre-release and on namecatch and it says 6h 15m left. This means you have that much time left to place a pre-bid and after 6h 15m there will be a 3 day auction between those people who placed a pre-bid unless you are the single bidder.

Let's say you found another domain that says 6h 15m left but this time the domain is Godaddy pre-release. This means the auction is already running and it will close when that time is over. If you place a bid within the last two minutes the auction will extend for a further 2 minutes.

Theoretically the best thing you can do is to place a bid when 2m 01s are left. I usually wait until until the last 2m 30s to place a bid. I set up my alarm clock 10 minutes prior to auction end. I spend a few minutes to decide what my highest bid should be.

Today was a very exciting auction for helpyourself.com. Only three people spotted that domain at Godaddy pre-release. One of them wasn't around at auction end. I have competed with the other guy for 20 minutes because of all the 2 min extensions. At the end I gave up when the price went high. It is pretty exciting however not as exciting as Dynadot.

By the way, godaddy pre-release auctions run for 12 days. I suggest checking auction lists at least every 10 days.

Dynadot has similar pre-release auction to Godaddy. However they don't do the extensions. The auction end time is sharp.

I think the Godaddy method is much better than what snapnames and namejet are doing. Especially snapnames is crap because they keep changing the deadline to place pre-bids for pre-release domains.

Edit:
I forgot to mention what happens when nobody bids on a Godaddy pre-release auction at the given time. In that case the domain is instantly transferred to Godaddy closeouts which is a buy now category and you will able to buy the domain for $10 instead $12. If for some reason you have missed the Godaddy pre-release auction end, the link for the original auction page will remain the same if the domain gets moved to Closeouts. Let's say you bookmarked the link and you are a few hours late. Still check that link for up to 5 more days. (Closeouts run for 5 days).

 

[GoQuickly]

As mentioned above the pre-release runs for 10 days. After these 10 days you will have a period that the domain is still in registry redemption with the original owner, I believe another 7 days.

The owner will either let the domain go or pay the $12 to renew and $80 to the registry to release the domain back to GoDaddy.

So there are odds that you still might not get the domain.

Beats NJ and SN :IMHO because they are vendors to all there domains dealing with 100s of different registrars the auctions aren't even a guarantee they have the names. GoDaddy only pre-releases domains in house.

I wish I could do GD auctions and Premiums... my domaining would do a lot better.

 

[Sparhawke]

Thanks guys, thats brilliant information

And Erdinc, I love your namecatch, I use it almost exclusively