discuss Has Anyone Had HugeDomains Purchase their BrandBucket Names?

[The Rover]

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?

 

[The Rover]

I don't think this is a matter of honesty. More of a quest to understand what happened.

Either it's exactly like you believe it to be.

(Assuming you checked all historical NS/ WHOIS records to ensure the domain went directly from you to HD, and that there wasn't an unknown third party in between)

Which isn't that hard to believe considering several domain investors and hobbyists regularly check BB for either an underpriced domain, or a quality domain that interests them, despite the price, because unlike most NPer's, some investors hardly ever handreg or buy cheap domains. Why wouldn't the biggest buyer of domains be interested at BB inventory? Tagging @Rebies @Jeff Reberry as an invitation to join this discussion.

Or, if there was a third party intermediary, then the question becomes how did HD get ahold of the domain?

Drop?

Expired Registrar auction?

The BB buyer sold it to HD?

Thus, why the dates and facts are important.

Was the domain pushed from your registrar account to the buyers registration account? Thus not adding an additional year of registration time. And making an expiration based acquisition much more likely opposed to a transfer out which adds an additional year of registration time.

Nope, it was definitely a direct purchase made by HugeDomains. No delay, no in-betweens, no funny business. Simply an immediate, direct acquisition that was quickly thrown into their inventory. Which, let me clarify that I actually don't have a problem with in and of itself. I would normally care less which company purchased my domain.

What I do have a problem with, is when a single entity is edging closer to literally controlling a particular aftermarket. As it stands, it could be easily argued that they dominate the GD expired aftermarket and by a large margin. So, regardless of whether it be brandables or keyword domains, what I am concerned with, is market domination and manipulation by a single entity. It would seem mighty reckless much to have that happen. If you disagree, then I would assume that you would also disagree with antitrust laws? If not, then feel free to state your position on why this is any different. Hugedomains is one of the only companies in existence that is acquiring the number of domains on the aftermarket (namely GD expired auctions) on such a high level. Sure, we all know that hundreds of small to mid-sized companies in the industry are constantly acquiring domains for their portfolio. Sure, there are obviously tens of thousands of individual investors (like members here) attempting to acquire domains on the auctions as well. However, I challenge anyone here to name a single corporation other than TurnCommerce, that acquires the sheer volume that they do, on GoDaddy.

So, why is this a problem? Ask yourself (with a straight face) what could hypothetically happen to the domain market as a whole, should TurnCommerce one day go belly up (because of their own mistakes) and they're forced to rapidly dump or liquidate their entire inventory? This isn't exactly a far fetched premise. Do you not think that this would have a negative impact on domain values across everyone's domain portfolios? I would suggest that many people may be grossly dismissing the sheer volume of acquisitions that TurnCommerce is involved in.

For example, today I just looked briefly at the last 20 domains that I have attempted to bid on over at GD and literally 60% were won by HugeDomains. Think about that...Despite there being thousands of people/companies bidding on GD expired auctions at any given time, are you telling me that it's perfectly healthy for 12 out of 20 domains to be purchased by the same company on a consistent basis? This isn't just anecdotal - this has been the recurring finding among many others who have bothered to look into it. So again, this isn't purely whether I "liked or disliked" the fact that HD acquired a BB domain from me. That was never the point of the post. My concern is that if they even remotely acquire BB or similar domains at the same degree to which they already acquire expired domains, their market influence and weight would only continue to grow beyond what would be considered healthy for the market. Let's be honest here, I doubt HugeDomains has any intentions of halting their acquisitions. The problem is that nothing lasts forever and markets are always cyclical. Sometimes they fall hard, especially if the catalysts involves monopolies or artificial scarcity. Should they ever have to liquidate, yes, the market would eventually adjust and recover. However, the gravity of the impact that all of our portfolios may endure during such a process, could potentially be quite significant. Even if you grossly disagree, I certainly don't see why anyone should receive negative pushback for simply pointing these concerns out. As for the more "darker" rumors pertaining to DropCatch, yes, this is very very concerning to me and (clearly others). Again, as everyone can re-read above, I never directly accused TurnCommerce of any wrongdoing. I was simply asking opinions on the subject, since so many others have stated that this could be going on. Should that ever be proven to be true (hopefully it is not), I can assure you that there would be a huge (pun intended) upset in the industry. Either way, I should not be receiving any pushback for simply discussing these legitimate concerns, no different than the other threads that already exist.

So, in my opinion, this is why it's dangerous for a single entity to ever dominate/own/control any type of market, particularly when it reaches these seemingly apparent levels. I can't say I'm speaking in tongues here. This is all relatively basic economics and market fairness. Sure, it sucks to not be able to acquire domain for own portfolios when up against HD. However, I think greater concern is simply maintaining a fair and healthy market, overall.

At this point, this is the last post that I will contributing to this particular thread, since I find myself having to repeat myself over and over. Everyone else is obviously welcome to continue to contribute!

 

[lock]

Just everything I used to own is now theirs.

 

[hookbox]

Huge Domains doesn't buy anything to make only 3 times their money when most of the time they are making 400 times their money on a regular basis. Maybe they bought it for a personal project and decided it wasn't the right name and listed it to get their money back.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

I don't blame OP for being 'wrong'

I don't blame OP for being 'wrong' either. Seemingly an honest mistake. However...

If the name would have been provided up front, it would have saved a lot of other peoples time. And the claim would have been quickly debunked by an extra set of eyes. That one action, or inaction, caused a trickle down effect to unnecessarily waste a lot of peoples time and/or energy. An issue all too common on nP.

he actually raised (again) some concerns that cannot be ignored

Such as what happens if the buyer didn't intentionally let the domain expire (e.g. didn't receive the renewal emails and wasn't aware of the expiration), and he/she finds out the domain he/she just spent $2,000 is now being offered for sale by HugeDomains for $6,000, less than a year after their $2,000 purchase?

 

[xynames]

Why worry about what the Other guy might make reselling it?

 

[branding]

Lol, I was waiting for you to chime in

 

[The Rover]

On the contrary! I agree nobody wins in a debate like this but it makes for an interesting read! No waste of time and energy at all.

I don't blame OP for being 'wrong' and he actually raised (again) some concerns that cannot be ignored. Love he manned up and dealt with the fact that his initial assumption was a tad off in a very mature way.

I think this thread was a fine example of how most debates should go. Both sides of the party eventually looked at the facts and drew their conclusion without getting overly aggressive.

I appreciate your kind words. It was definitely an honest mistake on my part. I should have dug deeper before assuming it was a direct BB acquisition. Also, thank you for at least trying to, yet again, highlight my other concern regarding HD's increasing acquisition rate. Unfortunately, nearly every time that concern was brought up in this particular thread, it was continually ignored or immediately diverted by others with comments like "if you're interested in that conversation there are plenty of other threads you can search for". In any event, thank you for admitting that you share similar concerns in the long run. Totally off topic, but I also really dig that logo of yours!

 

[The Rover]

totally agree

the myth that hd is buying up 50% of expiring names there, doesn't mean all or even half of them are high quality.
it's an assumption, until the list is published, an assumption because of who there are seen as.



imo….

Nope. Go look at the other threads that actually do publicize detailed analysis on that very subject. Afterall, that's what I have been told to do, anytime I bring up the subject.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Again, that's why I originally included my own thoughts about those concerns in this thread as it pertained to what I thought (at the time) was a new strategy possibly being developed by TurnCommerce. Even though now it looks like TC isn't acquiring BB domains directly, if there is indeed a genuine problem regarding their market share or acquisition rate, I don't think it does anyone any good to keep it wrapped up into one thread where others may never see it. If we're being open an honest here, if it's a problem that needs to be addressed, then the more eyes the better.

I know you are aware of the thread. You've posted in it twice. My question was if you had read all 930 posts? Because it seems this issue has charged you. Yet, I'm concerned you don't have a full scope of the situation, especially if you haven't been reading that thread since day one and/or have yet to get caught up on all 930 posts.

Now we find ourselves in a situation where you created a new thread under the guise of a false premise, refused to show ANY evidence to support your claim, all to discuss what may have already been discussed at length already?

So tell me, are we truly trying to keep things efficient and professional here or are we not?

I was trying to. But your responses indicate otherwise.

Nobody really wins an internet debate. It's all a waste of time and energy.

Anyways... back to being on topic. Regarding the domain that you thought you sold to HugeDomains, but apparently HugeDomains acquired it at expired auction...

It would be interesting to know if OP received the renewal notice emails.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

In one breath you speak about being efficient, not wasting time and getting quickly to the facts, and then a second later you're casting broad stereotypes across the people of an entire country.

This was more of a comedic punchline to my earlier joke, that some may feel was made in poor taste.

In an attempt to lighten the mood, seeing how you were wasting everybody's time by depriving us the ability by withholding the necessary facts to verify your claim and to come to the viewpoint you had reached, I made this joke in jest...

Look, you don't have to share the details. Just as President Trump isn't obligated to share his tax returns, but if you or him, would like to gain the support of the people, you're going to have to try and be as transparent as possible.

And now, seeing how it turns out you didn't fact check, and your claim turned out to be false, yeah, I saw a punch line joke. President Trump knows himself it's not all about the facts. Take that for what it is. Good or bad. He just wants a discussion. Headlines and One-Liners start debates/conversations. You know those click baity threads?

...But I guess that's an issue most Americans struggle with, seeing how we ended up with a president who is fact checkingly challenged.

Please though, continue spinning what some may feel was a poorly tasted political joke, to deflect from the situation at hand.

Title: Has anyone had HugeDomains purchase their brandbucket names?
First Sentence: "This actually happened to a domain that I had listed on BB for a fair price."

^^ Headlines + No Fact Checking = This thread.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

1.) I offer a genuine apology for my honest mistake.

Don't kid yourself. Failing to fact check, or provide facts for others to verify, is not honest. Especially when you continually insist on your facts being factual, and we have to take it at that. Nobody is mad at your mistake. It seemed to be your lack of transparency that bordered somewhere between delusion and dishonesty that rubbed some folks the wrong way.

Person 1: "I have the greatest scientific breakthrough known to man"

Person 2: "That's awesome. Let me verify it."

Person 1: "No. Just trust me. Now that I've discovered it, let's talk about how it can change the world."

Person 2: *sneaks into person one's office, and fact checks.*.... "Ummm Person 1, with respect, your theory is false."

Person 1: "Wow thanks. Glad we didn't try to save the world with that theory. The world would have laughed at us. Let's try again tomorrow because this is a real issue. I respect how you let me know, rather than let me continue on with my foot in my mouth. Can I count on your help tomorrow?

Person 2: "Sure you can, because that's what NPers do. Just don't keep us in the dark next time. No reason to waste others time when they're only trying to help."

And yet I'm the one who's deflecting?

It would be interesting to know if OP received the renewal notice emails.

regarding

OP said the domain sold 10/23/2018. It expired 01/31/2019. And the NameServers changed to HugeDomains on 03/25/2019. The domain expired roughly 100 days after the sales date. And it's unknown if the new owner received renewal notices.

From a consumer standpoint, it would be pretty upsetting to spend $2,000 on a domain, and unknowingly find out roughly 150 days after purchasing it, that it had expired, is no longer in your account, and is being offered for sale for $6,000.

I also wonder if there was any wording, or notice to the buyer from BB that he/she will need to renew the domain soon. Just saying, for non domain specialists who hand reg, they may be accustomed to one year registration times, and renewal emails.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

False, and you keep bringing it up again, and again, and again, and again, as an obvious attempt to avoid criticism.

No, I brought this up to support the theory that Americans, really though you in particular for this instance, as not having the greatest ability to discern between real and fake news. Case and point, you spreading an unverified claim to raise a greater concern. President Trump would certainly call this fake news seeing how you were using a false claim to benefit the argument of a greater concern. He might not disapprove of it because it might spark energy to the more important conversation. Nonetheless, it is what it is.

You're not "better" than anyone else here on the basis that you've convinced yourself to have secret agent fact checking abilities.

Really? After your incredibly negligent mistake, you still have the audacity to say my "fact checking skills" aren't better than yours. Maybe today that's the case. But you could learn, and improve to better than me, or others. As of right now you haven't exactly set a very high bar for your fact checking abilities. And by no means am I better than everybody here at fact checking.

In fact, I learned a lot of what I know from others here. People like @biggie @hookbox and others always giving me a hard time when I was wrong, and taking the time to correct/teach me. This is why everybody wanted to know the name. So it can be verified by some of the better fact checkers, not necessarily by me. I would have preferred to never have entered this thread. But the continuous nonsense you were spewing about the name not being important drug me into this pit of a chaos.

This has to be one of most self-entitled, self-important statements that I have read in a long time.

What do you expect when you ask a veteran to apologize for "unamerican" statements from a fake news generating machine otherwise known as "The Rover."


Without respect,
Have a nice day!

 

[The Rover]

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.

 

[myfavorite]

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.

 

[The Rover]

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?

 

[The Rover]

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.

I was actually asking who else has had a domain purchased by HugeDomains, directly from BrandBucket, not whether they had picked up dropped domains.

 

[The Rover]

Verifying what you said.

Again, I don't have to disclose anything. However, if others wish to contribute and disclose a domain that was acquired by Hugedomains via BrandBucket, then they are obviously welcomed to. However so far, this thread has turned into "Hey, let's be skeptical of the very person who is asking honest questions". So in other words, it's a regular sh*tshow and business as usual.

Honestly, the mere fact that you and others seem so "skeptical" are actually validating my reasoning of why I even started this post. I too, found it a little odd..which is why I opened with asking if anyone else had experienced the same. Pretty straightforward.

 

[The Rover]

Here people mostly want information based on verifiable facts. I'm not necessary referring to you, but there are occasion where claims made by some were later discovered to be false.

Understandable, but is it really that difficult to believe that HugeDomains purchased a domain from BrandBucket? Sure, I find it a little odd, which is again why I was asking if anyone had the same happen to them. But at the end of day, I don't feel as if I have to have them validate or disclose the exact domain in order to validate the premise or possibility of other odd things going on.

 

[The Rover]

above, you don't have to disclose anything, when asked "what domain was sold"

yet, no one should be skeptical about what you're saying



you feel your questions are honest, but they are based on allegations posted by others who did not substantiate them or prove them to be true, as being a fact.

I haven't seen a posted list of names they supposedly won in GD auctions, or seen a list of names they supposedly bid the prices up on, within their platform.
so, there is reason to be skeptical



one has to be skeptical of the allegations, until they are proven to be true.
it's like convicting someone for a crime, without evidence.
and there is nothing reasonable about that




no, it not hard to believe that HD bought or even buys names from bb
nor is it hard to conceive that other domainers, may have purchased names there too
so, taking that into consideration, I find noting odd about that, especially since BB is a marketplace for anyone to buy names from.

what's odds to me, is that you seem to think they don't have right to buy names from wherever they see one that they like.
and because they bought yours from BB, then we should be suspicious of their motive for buying it and for buying it from that place, in particular

that's something i don't get.



it's not selfish, naïve or short sighted for one to be happy they got a sale

strategies are sometimes made public, but very few will divulge their own strategy for what they have their eyes on and how they go about getting it.
their buying strategies may be as closely guarded as their selling tactics.
i'm sure you can agree that statement can apply to anyone in the domaining community.

therefore, if HD has a new strategy or has put their eyes on a different group of prizes, then it is inline with the evolution of domainer tactics.
and with most means of accomplishments, once known, they will be copied.

there is no monopoly in buying, because if you have the money, then you can always outbid.
but if you don't sell what you buy then you either have to renew or drop.

if HD is buying 50% of GD expiring names and buying in it's own auctions and buying from bb, they they will have more decisions to make if those names don't sell when it's time to renew.

imo...

You seem to be having difficulty grasping basic economic concepts, or worse, you have an agenda to blindly defend a company that may (or may not) be a monopoly. You also seem to not be able to get your head beyond "making a sale" on BrandBucket. It's almost as if you're nearly trolling at this point. You're certainly not adding any substance to this thread, and you're not definitely not contributing by indicating whether you have had a domain sold on BB that was purchased by HD, or not. Afterall, that was the opening question, right? Right. Instead of walking away, you seem really hellbent on defending TurnCommerce. It's actually becoming kind of weird. I, on the other hand, have not acted in a way that is out of the ordinary when compared to the dozens of other threads right here on NP that have similar concerns regarding TurnCommerce. I simply opened a post asking legitimate questions. That is all.

As for the "allegations" of whether TurnCommerce is or isn't buying a large % of the expired listings, is that up for debate still? Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't. Either way, I'd suggest that you do your homework before attempting to act like I am behaving like some lone individual posting outlandish, nonsensical questions or statements. There are plenty of other threads that go into great details about that very topic, along with detailed analysis of specific domains that were allegedly acquired.

As I have already stated multiple times above, this has nothing to do with whether they have a "right" to purchase domains or not. Yet here you are, acting as if I said that they don't have a right. Try reading what I have typed as opposed to spouting the same tiring retorts that don't even address the specifics of what I have stated above.

In a final summary (because I'm done repeating myself to you) I was simply wanting to engage in a conversation that discussed whether anyone else has has a domain purchased on BB by TurnCommerce. PERFECTLY legit question and yet here you are, injecting nonsense into the thread and acting as if I'm some loon asking an outlandish question. I was also wanting to discuss the strategy of both "why" and "how" they have possibly changed their buying strategy, and perhaps how they are able to sustain such a strategy, if that is indeed true. I was also open to discussing whether anyone had any more insights into many of the alleged accusations of TurnCommerce behaving nefariously on their own DropCatch auctions. Yet here you are, swooping into the thread attempting to throw down a blind defense of this company. You literally typed that
"there is no monopoly in buying, because if you have the money, then you can always outbid." Do you know how asinine that statement is? Personally, I have no idea whether they are a monopoly or not. I need more evidence. Which is again, precisely why I wanted to engage with others to hear more about their experiences. Judging from other threads, things certainly look a little concerning, I will say that much. Another member here even stated on this thread "yeah that's not news, they have been a monopoly for a while".

Let's not get things twisted here. There is always a chance for monopolies to form, in virtually any industry. That is a simple fact. Regardless if you personally think that TurnCommerce is or isn't, when studying the history of other corporations that have turned into legitimate monopolies, I would suggest that you learn more about their origins, sales patterns, strategies, acquisition rates, and tendency to often funnel funds via unethical means. However, according to you, everything is 100% fine in this industry, right? Just be happy you made that sale and move on, right? Nothing to see here, right? That's hysterical stuff.

 

[The Rover]

If you're not going to disclose the name it is difficult to gauge the "practice" you speak of. Let me explain using the following scenarios, why disclosing the name matters:

1) If HD bought brandidlydoo.com for $2,000 and have it on sale for $6,000, then we might conclude that there is no dodgy practice going on here and you probably got a good deal.

2) Conversely, if HD bought a very good 3 letter .com for $20,000 and are listing it for $60,000 then we might investigate to see whether there is a similar pattern with other names as the name should have been listed for higher and HD got a great deal and they have a very good chance of making $40k in a short space.

If you just want to know who else has sold a domain to HD via BB then fair enough but I thought the whole point of the questions is to figure out if there is a systematic methodology behind this.

Thanks for replying but again, that's not really the point here. I have already addressed why disclosing this specific domain isn't necessary for engaging in this discussion. Also, I have already stated the pricing difference in regards to what they bought it for and what they are now selling it for on HD.

 

[The Rover]

Since I keep having to repeat myself, if anyone has had a domain sold via BrandBucket that was purchased by TurnCommerce, feel free to say so on this thread. If you'd like to post the specific domain, that's completely up to you, but obviously not needed in order to have a general discussion. As others have stated, most folks don't wish to disclose sales data, including myself.

For those skeptics out there, feel free to spend your time using one of the many nameserver history tools out there, and it's possible that you may find a few specific domains that were in fact acquired by TurnCommerce, or you may find more than a few. I don't have the data on this, which is why I even opened this post to begin with.

For anyone who wishes to propose any theories as to how TC could hypothetically sustain the strategy of buying "retail" en masse (if that's even true) considering their overhead, I'd be interested in hearing your opinions.

I'm also interested in hearing whether you think that they are purposely overpaying on GD auctions and/or whether you think they are able to do so via upping bids on DropCatch or not. Again, i want to be crystal clear that these are all allegations not by me, rather these are allegations that have been made by others on NP and various blogs etc. Personally, I don't have a solid opinion as of now, in regards to TurnCommerce. If some of the data found here on NP and other blogs is indeed true, then yes, I do think things look a bit concerning. I also understand that it's not really new "news" (which that in and of itself should be concerning). However, I am simply wanting more information, as I have noticed an sharp increase in strange activity on the auctions. Feel free to search other threads if you're needing more analysis specifically pertaining to the % of domains that are being acquired by TC via of the GD auctions.

 

[The Rover]

"Macro View" -

HD's aggressive acquisition strategy is creating scarcity and with scarcity (on a macro scale) will be a catalyst for market pricing increases over time. (sort of like in coin collecting)

@The Rover - Is this not a positive?

I agree - on the buy side it makes it more difficult to acquire inventory, but this economic impact would develop a vacuum and would increase prices in parallel on the sell side of a market.

The odds of HD imploding is more likely than the odds of HD becoming the only single source provider. (not in our lifetime)

Now if HD acquired BB and ALL the sales channels available on the market to us and THEN locked us all out from advertising on any available site on the internet, now that would be a concern.

Inventory acquisition does not constitute a monopoly, that's called a "collection".

However, sales channel access and the inability to participate (advertise or sell) in a market would be more concerning.

-Cougar

Interesting points and I truly appreciate your comments.

On the flip side, I'm not entirely sure that creating the perception of scarcity is actually healthy for any market. Since .com's are a finite commodity (TC mainly seems to acquire .coms), it's a concern when one company is acquiring such a large % of the inventory. If one entity is acquiring 50% of the GD expired auction inventory, it can be argued that they are manipulating the market by creating the illusion that many lesser quality domains are worth much higher prices than they actually are.

Some of the accusations that have been thrown around, is that they are intentionally overpaying for this inventory. Which begs the question how and why would they do that? Organically speaking, a company would prefer to pay no more than they have to, and therefore wouldn't really be able to consistently artificially inflate prices en masse...unless there is a more dubious method to the madness.

There are several threads here on NP which claim to have evidence to believe that they are intentionally posting extremely high bids on very average names on GD auctions, and that the only reason they can afford to pay such ridiculously high prices, is directly due to the additional revenue TurnCommerce receives by unethically bidding up their own auctions on DropCatch. If that's true (again this is alleged) then essentially many domainers are funding their own competition and I can't see how anyone would be "ok" with that. Now, whether that is indeed true or not, there's no arguing that 50% of GD inventory is substantial.

I appreciate the discussion!

 

[The Rover]

@The Rover -

I agree - it's an interesting discussion.

Overpaying does not create scarcity, nor does overpricing..

Scarcity is based on supply, not pricing.

Along those lines, HD's collection of domains is like Jay Leno's collection of antique cars. Enviable - yes, but as long as the "collecting" practices does not prohibit others from selling their inventory, I don't see it as a limiting my assets value.

From my view, this is a simple Supply & Demand model. If they continue to collect, then scarcity (on a macro level) will likely increase the value of our assets, not reduce or hinder their value.

HD's acquisition of BB inventory would have a positive impact to those listing and selling on the BB site. It would not reduce the value of the remaining inventory on BB.

If, however, HD purchased every sales channel that existed and then kicked us off every single site and, in the process, prohibited us from selling then oh-snap, that would be monopolizing access to customers (unfair benefit to HD and antitrust worthy).

Sales channel access is the kingdom. Inventory is an asset, not a market.

-Cougar

Although I don't necessarily agree with every one of your points, I do appreciate your insight. When bidding up domain prices, if one particular company is found to be continuously posting ridiculously high bids (often times 2-3x the last highest bid when the clock is under 4 minutes) then I'm not sure I'm ok with that; mainly because that doesn't reflect an organic free market. You have a single company literally scooping up domains at prices that nearly everyone else is either not capable or willing to pay. If they are truly doing this, then I think you're skirting into dangerously close territory where antitrust laws would normally come into play, particularly If you compare those types of actions with the actions of corporations that have been historically slapped.

Do you have any opinions in regards to the allegations as to whether the only reason they can afford to pay such high prices and buy 50% of the inventory, is directly due to their alleged funneling via artificially increasing bids on their platform? (ie: DropCatch)

 

[The Rover]

you would probably like for me to just walk away
but I won't, until I've had my say
and I may keep coming back, depending on what you post after

I could care less what you do, this a public forum. imo, you're just acting like a child.

it's about defending the principle, that you don't convict people based on allegations or rumors.

No one here on this thread is "convicting" anyone. WTH are you even talking about?

if you was the one that all the posts were about and folks were slinging unsubstantiated allegations against you and your practices, how would you like it?
maybe you would appreciate someone who said wait "lets get the facts first", before we condemn him or shun him or have someone oversee him

Again, what exactly are you talking about? Would I "like it" if allegations were being discussed about me? What kind of question is that? Of course I wouldn't "like" it. I would make every attempt to be transparent about my operations the best that I could, in an effort to mitigate such controversy. However, that being said, if you genuinely read anything that I have posted, I have stated numerous times that I personally am not accusing TurnCommerce of ANYTHING. I have stated (feel free read above once again) that after having learned of these allegations made by others, I am simply wanting to discuss these claims in a public forum. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing so, and myself and others have stated, there are many other threads that actually do directly accuse TurnCommerce of such practices, using all sorts of alleged analysis. This thread isn't an example of that. Yet here you are, injecting yourself into this thread like some sort of mini dictator claiming that I shouldn't be discussing a particular topic.

what you're alluding to, by comparing tc with what other companies do or have done or may have done, and by use of phrase "often channel funds via unethical means" is, to again, make an unproven association in how they may be doing business. i'm no lawyer, but i'm pretty sure that in a court of law, such statements would be objected to and certainly wouldn't be allowed in the record, without proof.

So I am "alluding" now? I thought you said I was "accusing and convicting" a minute ago? Again, you seem to be unable to grasp what has been stated. I personally did not make any claims. How many times does this need to be repeated before you grasp this? These claims were made (and have been made) on various other threads here on NP and various other sources. There is nothing wrong with me asking others "HEY DO YOU THINK THIS CLAIM IS TRUE?" I don't know if you've noticed, but it's a rather important question. So now I'm suddenly now allowed to ask the question? It's a simple discussion. It's legitimate commentary. I'm not accusing anyone of anything.

Just because I am legitimately asking for opinions of the concerns that have been posted by others, doesn't mean that I am accusing or even alluding. I am simply a concerned domainer. If they are purchasing 50% of the GD inventory, am I happy about that? Likely not. However, if everything is done legally, there's really nothing that me or anyone else can do about it, right? As far as I know, TurnCommerce could be as pure as the driven snow. I have admitted that I don't have all the facts, and that's why I wanted to ask others of their opinion about the rumors that are floating around in the ether. You have already made your opinion. Loud and clear. So, stop trying to turn this thread into something that it's not. If you're really wanting to attack th

 

[The Rover]

You refused to give us the name that HD bought from you so we could verify if you are speakit w the truth - I doubt and think you have a different agenda, so maybe you should follow your own advice.

On another note, HD is welcome to buy all my BB names I don't care who buys my names as long as they pay

You're really conflating things. Rather sad. Btw, the only "agenda" I have was to merely find out the opinions of others and what they thought about TurnCommerce, and whether they have indeed had any domains that were acquired via BB. That's all.