information GoDaddy to increase closeout starting prices to $50

[JudgeMind]

Godaddy will be increasing their starting price of closeouts to $50. The pricing structure will go as follows:

Day 1: $50

Day 2: $40

Day 3: $30

Day 4: $11

Day 5: $5

This news is causing a stir in the industry and some are pretty upset. You can read in more detail about the price increase here, courtesy of domainnamewire - GoDaddy to change closeout auction pricing - Domain Name Wire | Domain Name News

 

[Mister Funsky]

- in case the reason of this decision was to prevent sniping, why just not block API access for everyone?

Exactly.

They are blowing smoke up our collective skirts (I don't wear them, publicly or privately, it's just a saying) with their sniping story. It is a money grab and there may be a little behind closed doors deals going on as well.

I've spent a couple hours running numbers and considering as many options as I can come up with and there is one path where this will eventually backfire on them, but it will take time. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Compassion]

Seems par for the course for GD.

 

[wwwweb]

Like how many people have completely or like scaled back even participating, or checking godaddy auctions?

Any bid you place is countered by some sort of auto sensing bot, the closeouts are auto bidder by bots before you can blink. Really one major vendor has a monopoly on an auction platform?

Do they sense that active regular bidders has just checked out, not like it matters as prices are still sky high, and it just takes 2-3 constant parties who seem to be outbidding each other.

Who really enjoys bidding over there because you have a bot that drops a min bid on every countdown clock, opportunity cost of time of completing an auction taking hours per day. Sure you can drop your max bid, and the bot can keep tapping your max bid, until it bids it up, and bails.

The experience has become a soured one, and I really find it surprising that auctions are very scared, and impartial but some parties have been given tools to give them Demi God advantages.

 

[twiki]

Godaddy will be increasing their starting price of closeouts to $50. The pricing structure will go as follows:

Day 1: $50

Day 2: $40

Day 3: $30

Day 4: $11

Day 5: $5

This news is causing a stir in the industry and some are pretty upset. You can read in more detail about the price increase here, courtesy of domainnamewire - GoDaddy to change closeout auction pricing - Domain Name Wire | Domain Name News

Cool. Then I'm done with this.

Bottom of the barrel, already pricey before their increase. No thanks.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

While Dutch auction formats have some fairness, it seems that the main effect of this will simply be domain investors paying more for domains that passed auction without bid. The automated bids make the auctions challenging as is, and now one pays much more for closeouts, in most cases. And if you don't have a discount cost membership, high renewal/transfer tacked on as well.

Instead of this route, why not go full Dutch auction and dispense with the normal auction first? Start at some price, maybe based on their estimate of worth, then have the auction count down steadily in price by the hour. This down auction only would mean that as far as I can see the bots with API access would lose most of their advantage in that system. Once someone meets the price it has gone down to, the domain is sold. If the increments were small, then any speed advantage of the bot would largely dissipate. Anyone could place a private bid that would be placed once the price reached that level. Everyone on equal footing.

To make it really fair, a portion of the proceeds should go to the person/business/organization who held the domain prior to expiry, who created it in many cases. But now I am dreaming...

Someone should invent a system like that. Oh wait a minute, someone did! Thanks @DanSanchez !

Bob

 

[garptrader]

Publicly-traded companies are pressured to grow revenue and earnings. However, if customers feel they are being taken advantage of, they will go elsewhere. Domain name investing has been promoted by the industry as a motive for drop catching services, mass development, hundreds of New competing extensions and attending conferences. What percentage of domain investors actually make a living off domains? We don't even have reliable reporting of the size of the industry (sales) by the the very platforms that have the data. Wy? Because they know the truth - the average investor is losing money with domains. There are other places to deploy capital with more consistent returns.

 

[bmugford]

Like how many people have completely or like scaled back even participating, or checking godaddy auctions?

Any bid you place is countered by some sort of auto sensing bot, the closeouts are auto bidder by bots before you can blink. Really one major vendor has a monopoly on an auction platform?

Do they sense that active regular bidders has just checked out, not like it matters as prices are still sky high, and it just takes 2-3 constant parties who seem to be outbidding each other.

Who really enjoys bidding over there because you have a bot that drops a min bid on every countdown clock, opportunity cost of time of completing an auction taking hours per day. Sure you can drop your max bid, and the bot can keep tapping your max bid, until it bids it up, and bails.

The experience has become a soured one, and I really find it surprising that auctions are very scared, and impartial but some parties have been given tools to give them Demi God advantages.

Yeah, I have not been an active bidder in quite some time. The math does not make sense when it comes to sell through rate.

I would like to see an entirely new process when it comes to expired domains. These registrars act like it is their God given right to insert themselves as the middle men and make profits on "pre-release" domains.

They did nothing but be the registrar. They did not come up with the idea, they did not registrar the domain, they did not pay renewals. It is pretty unreasonable in my view that they are the ones keeping all the profits.

I have almost my entire portfolio at GoDaddy, but what I consider their greedy moves lately are concerning to me. Starting with their high stock registration rates, doubling the cost of DDC, doubling the cost of buy service, now this.

Brad

 

[BrandingGo]

interesting pricing strategy why $11 why not $10?

 

[domain hacks]

GoDaddy stock was $25 four years ago. It is $85 now. GD stockholders couldn't care less if a domainer on Namepros cries about Closeout price on GD Auctions. Only thing they are interested in is how many dollars they earned in these 4 years. On each invested dollar they earned more than $3.

 

[Ostrados]

People started uninstalling WhatsApp and switching to other Apps, what happened next? WhatsApp reversed its decision and it is no longer needed to accept the new privacy terms.

If Domainers stop buying from Godaddy auctions, what will happen next?

 

[bmugford]

GoDaddy stock was $25 four years ago. It is $85 now. GD stockholders couldn't care less if a domainer on Namepros cries about Closeout price on GD Auctions. Only thing they are interested in is how many dollars they earned in these 4 years. On each invested dollar they earned more than $3.

There is a difference between market cap of a company and financials. The valuation itself can largely be attributed to an irrational valuation based on their actual financials.

According to Seeking Alpha they have had 3.2B total revenue in the last (12) months, and a net income loss of 507M.

In 2017, 2018, and 2019 they had very small net income profits of 136M, 77M, 137M.

As a stock itself they have a bloated valuation based on their current financials.

Brad

 

[alop]

I wonder if their auction membership will stay $5 or what

 

[alop]

GoDaddy stock was $25 four years ago. It is $85 now. GD stockholders couldn't care less if a domainer on Namepros cries about Closeout price on GD Auctions. Only thing they are interested in is how many dollars they earned in these 4 years. On each invested dollar they earned more than $3.

That focus will bring them to the ground

 

[alop]

Or mentality I should say

 

[wwwweb]

Yeah, I have not been an active bidder in quite some time. The math does not make sense when it comes to sell through rate.

I would like to see an entirely new process when it comes to expired domains. These registrars act like it is their God given right to insert themselves as the middle men and make profits on "pre-release" domains.

They did nothing but be the registrar. They did not come up with the idea, they did not registrar the domain, they did not pay renewals. It is pretty unreasonable in my view that they are the ones keeping all the profits.

I have almost my entire portfolio at GoDaddy, but what I consider their greedy moves lately are concerning to me. Starting with their high stock registration rates, doubling the cost of DDC, doubling the cost of buy service, now this.

Brad

That focus will bring them to the ground

Stock market as a whole in the technology sector is up quite a bit across the board. They are the 800lb gorilla in their space, and they are riding that wave.

 

[alop]

Stock market as a whole in the technology sector is up quite a bit across the board. They are the 800lb gorilla in their space, and they are riding that wave.

I didn’t even know GoDaddy was publicly traded ..the foundation is the company it self before the stock ...

 

[alop]

If you want to invest in invisible companies there is a lot of companies on blockchain that have some crazy goals

 

[TycoonDomainz]

I personally feel they increased the prices a bit too much. I think a $10 or $15 increase would be more understandable and reasonable but this is almost a 5x increase which is a bit too much imo. If I buy domains from closeouts, it would generally be in bulk but this changes things.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I wonder if their auction membership will stay $5 or what

They have already announced that auction membership fee is now approximately double the old price. However, those who do not let their auction membership lapse, can renew at old price I believe (thread somewhere on NamePros that Joe S said that).

 

[Fadi H]

OK GoDaddy we are all trying to make money and i don't think we gonna meet here, I'm out.