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discuss Has Anyone Had HugeDomains Purchase their BrandBucket Names?

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This actually happened to a domain that I had listed on BB for a fair price. I say "fair" because I would have actually liked to have listed it for higher, but obviously BB puts a limit on the price for any particular domain. For obvious reasons, I won't disclose the domain, however, I'm curious if anyone has recently had any of their BrandBucket domains purchased by HugeDomains? When this happened to me, immediately after they purchased the domain, it was then listed on their Hugedomains marketplace for literally 3X the price than what was allowed to be listed on BrandBucket.

Things are really beginning to look increasingly wicked in this industry as of late. If others have experienced this, it would make me wonder how often they deploy this type of strategy. After reading this thread, it certainly appears that we need more transparency regarding TurnCommerce. With the (alleged) business practices of bidding up their own listings at DropCatch using foreign bots or whatever else, if proven true, would really explain how they would be able to pay higher prices for other domains, in addition to bidding up auctions on both GoDaddy and paying "premium" prices on BB.

We should be greatly concerned that literally 50-60% of the active, expired GoDaddy inventory is being snatched up (and artificially bid up) by TurnCommerce. With those type of numbers, this ain't capitalism at this point, folks. It would simply be a rotten monopoly at best (and at worst) potentially violating antitrust laws if any of the other alleged business practices are ever found to be true.

Thoughts?
 
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When this happened to me, immediately after they purchased the domain, it was then listed on their Hugedomains marketplace for literally 3X the price than what was allowed to be listed on BrandBucket.

so, if I had bought it and did the same by listing it on Sedo, Afternic, UniReg, etc. then would it be such a big deal?

BB puts a limit on the price for any particular domain.
that's not HD fault because you chose to list it on bb, which imposes a price limit

Thoughts?

if it was me, i be happy that somebody bought the name, and would take the money and move on

imo....
 
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Who cares? be happy that they bought your domain, otherwise, you might have it for a longer time, maybe never getting sold.
let them try to sell it for 3x, and even if they do, why do you care?
 
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so, if I had bought it and did the same by listing it on Sedo, Afternic, UniReg, etc. then would it be such a big deal?


that's not HD fault because you chose to list it on bb, which imposes a price limit



if it was me, i be happy that somebody bought the name, and would take the money and move on

imo....

Firstly, the fact that you (and apparently a few others) so quick to jump in and defend HD, is quite odd. Secondly, that wasn't my point of this post. The point (as stated in the title) was to find out whether in fact, others have experienced this. If so, then that would be indicative of a pattern and/or strategy used by HD (aka Turn commerce).
 
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Who cares? be happy that they bought your domain, otherwise, you might have it for a longer time, maybe never getting sold.
let them try to sell it for 3x, and even if they do, why do you care?

It's incredibly short sided and naive to conflate the fact that I was "oh-so-lucky" to sell a domain on BrandBucket with a potentially much bigger issue that could be potentially in play.
 
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If so, then that would be indicate of a pattern.

even if it was a pattern, all that would mean is that they are buying names and repricing higher than what previous owner did

it's done everyday, by other domainers, here, there, and everywhere else
so why should hd be faulted for practicing in the game like others?

that's my point on that issue.

imo….
 
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All people are saying is that it was listed at a price and they decided to buy it. Why bother what they do with it.

A lot of people are working hard to sale their listed names at give away prices on slack channel and equally here on NP. I wouldn't mind their buying my entire portfolio on all brand market.

Enjoy your sale.
 
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even if it was a pattern, all that would mean is that they are buying names and repricing higher than what previous owner did

it's done everyday, by other domainers, here, there, and everywhere else
so why should hd be faulted for practicing in the game like others?

that's my point on that issue.

imo….

Incorrect. Artificially (allegedly) inflating your own domain auctions on your own platform as a means to have deeper pockets to acquire other domains that you would normally not have the funds to do so, isn't a practice used by other domainers.
 
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All people are saying is that it was listed at a price and they decided to buy it. Why bother what they do with it.

A lot of people are working hard to sale their listed names at give away prices on slack channel and equally here on NP. I wouldn't mind their buying my entire portfolio on all brand market.

Enjoy your sale.

Try and look beyond the fact that I was "lucky" to sell something on BB. That isn't the issue. Stop looking at this on a mirco scale. That type of response and scarcity-filled, desperate mentality is precisely what that enables companies like TurnCommerce to (allegedly) abuse the system
 
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(allegedly) inflating your own domain auctions on your own platform

so, this really isn't about them buying your name on bb and whether it's a pattern or not?

I haven't used dropcatch, so they don't get my money to buy your names off bb
and if you use it, then you are contributing to whatever issue you think is going on

just saying....

imo...
 
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so, this really isn't about them buying your name on bb and whether it's a pattern or not?

I haven't used dropcatch, so they don't get my money to buy your names off bb
and if you use it, then you are contributing to whatever issue you think is going on

just saying....

imo...

Sure, I would love for people to chime in and confirm whether they have or haven't had a domain purchased on BB by hugedomains. Afterall, that was my opening question, right? However, thus far, people have merely chimed in to defend the fact that HD has a legitimate right to purchase the domain. I agree, of course they have a right. That wasn't my point. However, as soon as anyone goes out of there way to defend HD, I will happily remind them that perhaps it isn't whether they had the "right" to buy my domain over at BB, rather the question should be how were they able to buy the domain.
 
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It is an interesting observation if HugeDomains are now purchasing names from the brandable marketplaces. In some ways I see both sides of this. They really are just doing what everyone else is, buying at lower prices what they feel they can sell for more. And more potential buyers helps us do what we all want to, sell domains.

I can also, though, see concern if one player were to become so dominant that they would become essentially the one place to buy domain names, or in some other way a monopoly unfairly push out others.

But overall I share the first view, as long as they have no unfair advantage, I think we should defend their right to purchase just like anyone else.

Bob
 
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It is an interesting observation if HugeDomains are now purchasing names from the brandable marketplaces. In some ways I see both sides of this. They really are just doing what everyone else is, buying at lower prices what they feel they can sell for more. And more potential buyers helps us do what we all want to, sell domains.

I can also, though, see concern if one player were to become so dominant that they would become essentially the one place to buy domain names, or in some other way a monopoly unfairly push out others.

But overall I share the first view, as long as they have no unfair advantage, I think we should defend their right to purchase just like anyone else.

Bob

Good points. However, I think one of the concerns here, is again the question of both "why" and "how". The why question comes into why is HD (TurnCommerce) deploying this apparent strategy to buy domains on retail marketplaces such as BB, when there modus operandi has always been to scrape up lesser quality domains for cheap prices? Which then taps into the "how" question. How they are able to purchase a $2000 domain on BB? Surely that isn't sustainable right? Could it in fact be related to (again the alleged) practices of using domainer funneled revenue directly form their own DropCatch platform? That's where things get interesting...

The point is, without such alleged practices, perhaps TurnCommerce likely wouldn't have the ability to consistently purchase 60% of the active expired domains on GoDaddy, much less the opportunity to purchase domains over at BB merely list them on HD. I think people here need to think a little outside of the box instead of always focusing on whether they have been "lucky" enough to have had as domain purchased on BB or not.

It's really disappointing and troubling when fellow domainers show no concern as to how a single company has been able to literally own over 1K+ Registrars and consistently purchases 60% of the GD expired inventory, and yet refuses to question "how" they are doing this or how this is affecting the industry. Antitrust laws exist for a reason. I mean, I don't know about everyone else, but if the allegations turn out to be true, then obviously most folks would not be cool with HD bidding up their own domain prices on DropCatch. If that is indeed true, then many of us are unknowingly funding our own competition at this point. At the very least, it's awfully suspect when you take a quick look at how so many poor quality domains are consistently bid up on DropCatch. Obviously, I have no direct proof of any "wrongdoing" nor am I directly accusing HD of any foul play. What I am saying, is that I have read dozens of threads that alleged that this may be in fact, what they could be doing, and how they are able to have such deep pockets. My personal opinion, is that there seems to be enough smoke surrounding TurnCommerce on various blogs and forums, that there should probably be some oversight at this point.

With all of that said, if anyone has had a BB domain purchased by HD, feel free to chime in. I think it's very likely many who have sold a BB domain don't even realize it could have been purchased by HD.
 
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I suspect you are right that most would not even know if they had bought one of their names that sold.

I wonder if it means that they see the future in brandable names of high quality, and therefore are moving into these venues (probably in parallel of other ways like use AI to suggest unregistered or dropping brandable names that have value). Buying at BB prices means though, with uncertainty of resale probability, that there is some significant risk to them I would think.

I understand not disclosing the name, but was it a strictly made up word or something close or even exactly a dictionary word/combo?

It would be really interesting to know if any SquadHelp names were bought by them.

Bob
 
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I suspect you are right that most would not even know if they had bought one of their names that sold.

I agree, that's why I posted. I'm really curious if anyone is even aware of this.


I wonder if it means that they see the future in brandable names of high quality, and therefore are moving into these venues (probably in parallel of other ways like use AI to suggest unregistered or dropping brandable names that have value). Buying at BB prices means though, with uncertainty of resale probability, that there is some significant risk to them I would think.


Perhaps they simply have deep pockets because we're unaware of some huge financial backers that they have acquired? Who really knows. Either way, I'm merely wondering why hasn't anyone look into it deeper. I mean, if they weren't purchasing brandbucket names and literally half of the active expired listings on GoDaddy, then I wouldn't care at all. However, seeing the volume of GoDaddy expired domains that they are acquiring really should set off some alarm bells, which is the reason why I care. I can't honestly imagine them selling enough revenue from HugeDomains to support the habit of regularly buying BrandBucket domains. When I see one of my domains sell on BrandBucket for 2,500, only to be immediately listed on HugeDomains for 7K, it does make me really wonder just what the hell is going on. Like you said, surely that ain't sustainable in the slightest...unless of course those funds are being paid by other domainers, by proxy which is what others have alleged. I really hope that is not true.

I understand not disclosing the name, but was it a strictly made up word or something close or even exactly a dictionary word/combo?

It was just a dictionary word that dropped the last letter.
 
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My personal opinion, is that there seems to be enough smoke surrounding TurnCommerce on various blogs and forums, that there should probably be some oversight at this point.

and who is going to oversight it or rule over it?

and... when they oversight that, then what's next for them to oversee?

just asking...

imo....
 
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It's really disappointing and troubling when fellow domainers show no concern as to how a single company has been able to literally own over 1K+ Registrars and consistently purchases 60% of the GD expired inventory, and yet refuses to question "how" they are doing this or how this is affecting the industry.

@The Rover - Just do a search on nP for Huge Domains and you will see multiple threads about HD - it's not that we have no concern - most here certainly do. It's just that in your case, they aren't doing anything other domainers would do. If I saw a good name on BB and thought I could sell it for more, I would buy it and do just that.

But instead, you just continue to debate every response to your post. You aren't getting responses to your question about HD buying their domain on BB because most domainers don't care who buys their names from them at BB - if their name sells on BB they are happy with it and move on.
 
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and who is going to oversight it or rule over it?

and... when they oversight that, then what's next for them to oversee?

just asking...

imo....

I'm just a fellow domainer asking difficult questions. Obviously, there's a chance they are doing absolutely nothing nefarious. I'm not in a position to answer those questions. However, the idea that it's completely normal for a single company to purchase 50% of all active GoDaddy expired listings should be troubling t you (and anyone else who respects this industry), no matter how you slice it.

Again, I'm merely reading what others have posted and what others have alleged. Since I found it strange that HugeDomains purchased one of my BrandBucket domains, I am simply asking if anyone else has experienced the same.
 
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@The Rover - Just do a search on nP for Huge Domains and you will see multiple threads about HD - it's not that we have no concern - most here certainly do. It's just that in your case, they aren't doing anything other domainers would do. If I saw a good name on BB and thought I could sell it for more, I would buy it and do just that.

But instead, you just continue to debate every response to your post. You aren't getting responses to your question about HD buying their domain on BB because most domainers don't care who buys their names from them at BB - if their name sells on BB they are happy with it and move on.

Thanks for your opinion. As I have stated, the very reason I'm posting is precisely because of the various other threads and allegations revolving around TurnCommerce and HugeDomains. I thought that I'd open a thread up asking how many others have had a BB domain purchased by them, and perhaps engage in a convo of both why and how they are able to do so.

To be fair, the only "debating" going on, are to those who seem to have a knee jerk response to deflect my questions regarding BB names being purchased by HugeDomains, and at the same time ignore a potentially destructive practice which affects all of us. (if proven true). Again, I'm merely asking a simple question. I have absolutely no idea whether TurnCommerce is doing anything terrible. There are some very surprising facts regarding the sheer volume of their acquisitions, though, which I think is worthy of a discussion.

Also, your reply is a perfect example of why there's any debating in the first place. Instead of simply contributing to the thread and posting whether you have or haven't had a domain on BB purchased by HugeDomains, you took the time to insinuate that my question is a waste of time and that no one will likely reply. I find that weird. As a domainer, it would take 30 seconds to find out whether a domain sold on BB was indeed purchased by Hugedomains. I also suspect that there are many who do care whether our industry is being unfairly dominated by a single company, or not.
 
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However, the idea that it's completely normal for a single company to purchase 50% of all active GoDaddy expired listings should be troubling t you (and anyone else who respects this industry), no matter how you slice it.

I think one should have been troubled long ago, when gobaddy and other registrars first got in the business of auctioning off expiring names, instead of letting them drop from the registry.

nor do I think this "industry" is being dominated by a single company.

also, my replies aren't knee jerk
I thought about what i wanted to say in response to what you posted
however, I don't cater to allegations or spread rumors of such, and I don't overlook the facts.

and so far, the only factual information is that you sold a domain and the people who bought it, repriced it higher.
and since i don't know the actual name, then basically, i'm taking your word that, that is what actually happened.


imo….
 
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I think one should have been troubled long ago, when gobaddy and other registrars first got in the business of auctioning off expiring names, instead of letting them drop from the registry.

nor do I think this "industry" is being dominated by a single company.

also, my replies aren't knee jerk
I thought about what i wanted to say in response to what you posted
however, I don't cater to allegations or spread rumors of such, and I don't overlook the facts.

and so far, the only factual information is that you sold a domain and the people who bought it, repriced it higher.
and since i don't know the actual name, then basically, i'm taking your word that, that is what actually happened.


imo….

As I have stated many times over, I am not directly accusing anyone of anything. I am merely discussing the many allegations that I have read (and you have no doubt read) on many other threads and whether the same company accused of these odd practices have now begun to make a habit of purchasing BB domains.

Here are the facts:

1.) HugeDomains purchased a domain from me via BB. It would be interesting if others had this experience.
2.) TurnCommerce has been repeatedly accused (via other threads and blogs) of acquiring a shocking % of active GoDaddy Expired auctions.
3.) Many domain names with higher bids on DropCatch seem to be of shockingly poor quality.
4.) Many here on NP (and other blogs) have expressed their concerns about TurnCommerce
5.) After reading these threads, I am now equally concerned and I wonder whether there's any validity to the accusations that others (not I) have directly accused them of.

If you're content with a single company consistently purchasing a large % of all GoDaddy expired listings on a daily basis, then good for you. However, if that particular allegation is indeed true, I can tell you that many here would not be content.

That's literally this post in its entirety. So what exactly is the problem?
 
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Why not disclose the name? What does it matter, let the detectives here help you.
 
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In all, it's still about your opinion and other people equally have theirs. Insisting that your opinion is correct, well you have the right to believe what you like.

There are many domains I dropped HD snapped, I dropped it because I changed my opinion about. They probably caught it because they see some value in it.
 
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What obvious reasons, I don't see any?
For the same reason many domain investors don't report sales. I'm under no obligation to divulge sales data on a public forum if I choose not to. Also, since I've already stated that they had in fact required one of my domains via BrandBucket, I'm curious as to what the significance would be in you knowing the specific domain?
 
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