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HugeDomains.com is Buying 50%+ of Expiring Domains at GoDaddy.com

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I've been wondering about the competition in auctions for expiring domains over at GoDaddy.com, because somebody is paying hundreds for seemingly every domain that gets a few bidders.

I’ve also noticed a clear pattern, with the last bidder (or one of the last bidders) entering the auction winning most of the time, which made me think that there is one large corporate buyer piggybacking of whatever domains other people find and bid on. Turns out that is the case: HugeDomains.com is buying most domains over at GoDaddy.com expired auctions. I looked up the WHOIS of the past 150 auctions I have lost at GoDaddy.com, and 84 of those are now owned by HugeDomains.com and listed for sale on HugeDomains.com.

While 50%+ may not be representative of overall domains bought at GoDaddy, they do seem to buy far more domains than anyone else. The 66 names not bought by HugeDomains.com were bought by a number of different individuals and companies (BuyDomains.com bought 6 of those 66, for example), so 50%+ were taken by HugeDomains, while "the rest" of the auction wins were by a number of different individual domainers and companies.

This might not be news to some, but I've never seen anyone mention that HugeDomains is this active over at GD expired auctions, so I thought it might be interesting for some people to know who is outbidding everyone in the lower range over at GoDaddy. I've read people mentioning that HugeDomains buy names in close-out status over at GoDaddy, but never that they buy most of the domains in auctions too.

HugeDomains absolutely dominates all auctions below $5XX, and they only picked up a single name above $5XX (cakemart.com) in my sample of 150 names, so $5XX seems to be a self-imposed limit for them. If I only checked domains sold below $5XX, the percentage bought by them would be even higher. I've been the second highest bidder in lots of auctions that HugeDomains.com won, and in my experience they will keep bidding until you give up or until the price passes $5XX. By outbidding most bidders in the lower end, and acquiring more than half of the domains other people also have interest, it leaves a far smaller pool of names for the rest of the domainers to compete for, so I guess that's part of the reason why the reseller prices for names keep increasing so much for names in this range.

The only way to buy cheap domains at GoDaddy auctions now seems to be to let domains expire with 0 bids, so that they go to close-out status, and then try to snipe them as soon as that happens. However, some domainers seem to think it's smart to bid $12 on any decent name when there is 1-15 minutes left, hoping that nobody else is going to place a bid, so fewer and fewer decent names are let to expire with 0 bids. However, that strategy never seems to work (I've tried it myself lots of names, and it did not work even one time), because there are always other people watching and waiting for the name to go to close-out, and they jump in and bid if you make a $12 bid, and most of those names are eventually won by HugeDomains.com. What experiences do other people have at GD recently? Anyone else have any good strategies for buying expiring domains @ GoDaddy.com these days?

Some examples of expired domains bought at GoDaddy.com auctions by HugeDomains:
Domain: skillsharing.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $540
Asking price (at HugeDomains): $2995

Domain: ledmaster.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $537
BIN price (at HugeDomains): $2195

Domain: cyberstrategies.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $262
Asking price (at HugeDomains): $2895

Domain: crablab.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $320
Asking price (at HugeDomains): $1895

Domain: dailyportal.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $560
Asking price (at HugeDomains): $2895

Domain: fivesecondrule.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $42
Asking price (at HugeDomains): $2695

Domain: deltacloud.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $365
BIN price (at HugeDomains): $1795

Domain: itace.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $499
BIN price (at HugeDomains): $2595

Domain: sunnykitchen.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $200
BIN price (at HugeDomains): $2595

Domain: baristaschool.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $449
BIN price (at HugeDomains): $2895

Domain: cakemart.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $695
BIN price (at HugeDomains): $3495

Domain: visuala.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $315
BIN price (at HugeDomains): $2795

Domain: massanalytics.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $130
BIN price (at HugeDomains): $2095

Domain: edusport.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $535
BIN price (at HugeDomains): $2995

Domain: acneguru.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $52
Asking price (at HugeDomains): $2495

Domain: stylefolio.com
Purchase price (at GoDaddy): $195
Asking price (at HugeDomains): $1995



Related: HUGE DOMAINS SNIPING GODADDY CLOSEOUTS
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
I think they don't mind overpaying at GD because they average down their acquisition prices with all the drops they get on the cheap with their dropcatching system.... But better to make them overpay so their profit margins shrink and they get more conservative at GD. They are the biggest bully these days so lets make them pay!
 
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I think they don't mind overpaying at GD because they average down their acquisition prices with all the drops they get on the cheap with their dropcatching system.... But better to make them overpay so their profit margins shrink and they get more conservative at GD. They are the biggest bully these days so lets make them pay!
They end up losing more than they win, but they push prices higher. Agree with the average down scenario, thing with huge names most of their names are like in a $1500 - $3500, don't think they are hitting many 5 figure outliers like the likes of Mike M. Their payment plan model probably serves them very well, with probably high default rates, which isn't exactly a bad thing, as they still get to keep the name. It just doesn't add up why they are on every decent auction. Even some off beat auctions that you bid on at the last 5 minutes, their hound bot seems to get a scent, and attacks with a mid $xxx proxy for a name someone would throw $20 at? It takes long enough to sell 6 million names, enough for many lifetimes, why spend all your profits acquiring more. People that think they are going to bid up Huge Domains usually get stuck with one bid to many, and end up overpaying themselves if you are chasing their proxy.
 
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They end up losing more than they win, but they push prices higher. Agree with the average down scenario, thing with huge names most of their names are like in a $1500 - $3500, don't think they are hitting many 5 figure outliers like the likes of Mike M. Their payment plan model probably serves them very well, with probably high default rates, which isn't exactly a bad thing, as they still get to keep the name. It just doesn't add up why they are on every decent auction. Even some off beat auctions that you bid on at the last 5 minutes, their hound bot seems to get a scent, and attacks with a mid $xxx proxy for a name someone would throw $20 at? It takes long enough to sell 6 million names, enough for many lifetimes, why spend all your profits acquiring more. People that think they are going to bid up Huge Domains usually get stuck with one bid to many, and end up overpaying themselves if you are chasing their proxy.


In my opinion, they are not "theoretically" using their own money... They are using domainers money funneled from dropcatch imo. They let you overpay at dropcatch so they can then overpay at godaddy. They weren't that big before on godaddy auctions until they started their dropcatch service but at the same time huge domains grew a lot so not sure if it's a combination of both (probably). I believe that if all domainers stopped using DropCatch, their empire will crumble down fast as they have a lot of overhead. But that's not going to happen, unless the whole industry crashes down, and that would be bad for all of us not just them. In summary, domainers are funding their own competition...
 
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In my opinion, they are not "theoretically" using their own money... They are using domainers money funneled from dropcatch imo. They let you overpay at dropcatch so they can then overpay at godaddy. They weren't that big before on godaddy auctions until they started their dropcatch service but at the same time huge domains grew a lot so not sure if it's a combination of both (probably). I believe that if all domainers stopped using DropCatch, their empire will crumble down fast as they have a lot of overhead. But that's not going to happen, unless the whole industry crashes down, and that would be bad for all of us not just them. In summary, domainers are funding their own competition...
I dunno about the funding but dropcatch has a lot of crazy Asian bidders who just keep bidding. If you ever see a domain that is dropping, and previously sold at dropcatch, it usually yields like 50
Percent less on most cases.

Yes, dropcatch people overpay, as they stumble against each other over 8-12 top auctions. Still can’t get over fivenines.com at $36k, Sitting parked at afternic, I bet that bidder wishes he can get his money back.

Agreed, domainers need to stop feeding the eco system that uses their own money to outbid then, as silly as it sounds, people are lining up to overpay.
 
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Here's my two cents:

Everyone knows how the domain industry has always been rife with unethical businesses. We've seen it for nearly two decades now. However, there are growing rumors that TurnCommerce (aka: HugeDomains and Namebright, DropCatch) allegedly has a very incestuous and unethical business model that is unhealthy for the industry. if proven true, then clearly this is no longer "capitalism". It's common knowledge that TurnCommerce owns the infamous HugeDomains, thousands of registrars and the increasingly popular domain dropping platform "DropCatch". The problem is that people in this industry are stating that there is growing evidence that strongly suggests TurnCommerce is artificially bidding up domains not only on their own platform (Dropcatch) but also on GoDaddy expiring auctions.

As someone who typically believes in the least amount of Government oversight as possible, I never thought that I'd actually suggest that this industry needs more oversight. That's usually the last thing any industry needs. However, the moment that you attempt to compare TurnCommerce's alleged business practices to other businesses in other industries, you will quickly find that (if true) they would be skirting awfully close to many other corporations that has been (or is) investigated for antitrust laws. Again, it may not be their rapidly increasing "market share" (although that is certainly alarming) that is the most troubling - rather it's this idea that they may been involved in some very, very unethical business practices. Afterall, there's a reason why it's GoDaddy's strict policy to prohibit their employees to bid on domains in a GoDaddy auction. However, where's the transparency when it comes to DropCatch?

TurnCommerce has incredibly deep pockets and perhaps they have been able to create these deep pockets by taking advantage of this industry's infancy and lack of transparency. Let's get one thing clear: If this is true, artificially inflating domain auctions (and their own auctions at DropCatch) is 110% unethical and destructive. If proven true, this strategy affords them to "overpay" on virtually any other auctions and/or platform, and it won't affect them if they over pay, because of the direct revenue they are receiving from artificially inflating bids on their own platform (DropCatch). Should someone get stuck overpaying a domain at DropCatch, they are then likely to keep the aforementioned overpaid domain at NameBright, instead of transferring the domain out, which results in even more revenue for TurnCommerce. In other words, it seems that they are "double dipping", which enables them to float this type of unethical practice without actually "overpaying" on any external auctions or marketplaces. So much so, there have been reports that they are even snatching up domains directly from end-user marketplaces like BrandBucket, only to immediately list them on HugeDomains.

If all of this is proven true, then anyone with half a brain cell should be able to definitely this as a "huge" problem. So, the question is what now? Does anyone where think there needs to be some transparency with TurnCommerce?
 
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Thanks for the advice. Appreciate it. Anyway, even if that's the case the closeout period for this name ended hours ago, so it is gone anyway whatever I do now. Tough luck.

And back to the main subject, I think the expired domain auction needs far more transparency regarding process, bidders and conditions depending original registrar. As I said in my previous post, it's all quite shady.

As long as this transparency is lacking the shadow of doubt will always be there.

100% agree. This industry's lack of transparency combined with ratio of potential profits has always been unprecedented when compared to other markets. (Perhaps with the exception of crypto)
 
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it seems like they have set their goal to buy any hardly to low-value domain.
Checking my history for GD Auctions this year, I lost every .com which was not 4L to HugeDomains

No idea how high they would have gone on this, but at least I cost them a few bucks on these nsXX.com which ended today, which they all took.

upload_2019-8-4_22-33-18.png
 
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it seems like they have set their goal to buy any hardly to low-value domain.
Checking my history for GD Auctions this year, I lost every .com which was not 4L to HugeDomains

No idea how high they would have gone on this, but at least I cost them a few bucks on these nsXX.com which ended today, which they all took.

Show attachment 125342
I’m sure their proxy was much higher, probably about 10 percent of the appraised value. Sometimes I just bid once on random names, willing to buy if I win, which I never do, but bidder 91932 is on every auction. It’s like a halvarez bot.
 
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Now, they take almost 2 worlds .com domain in Close Out.
Human vs Bot
Poor vs Tycoon
 
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Now, they take almost 2 worlds .com domain in Close Out.
Human vs Bot
Poor vs Tycoon
They own the closeouts, you can’t outbid a bot.

Also they will bid you up if you try to bid on a $12 domain heading into the closeouts. They will make you pay $100-$300 for it.

You can’t win either way, not sure what is up, but they could care less if they win or lose, they are just making everyone overpay.
 
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They own the closeouts, you can’t outbid a bot.

Also they will bid you up if you try to bid on a $12 domain heading into the closeouts. They will make you pay $100-$300 for it.

You can’t win either way, not sure what is up, but they could care less if they win or lose, they are just making everyone overpay.
The main problem is : you have to have a domain before you pray to sell it.
NameJet is down now.
DropCatch is terrible with shill bidding
GoDaddy is dominated by HugeDomains.
And what's next ?
 
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The main problem is : you have to have a domain before you pray to sell it.
NameJet is down now.
DropCatch is terrible with shill bidding
GoDaddy is dominated by HugeDomains.
And what's next ?
It’s amazing how many people are over paying, and over bidding on these marketplaces, but nobody is making offer on domains in owner accounts, or just lowball all offers. In all these exchanges everyone jumping over each other to outbid each other, how amazing is this.

Your right the markets are ripe with some bad apples, and you have to be very careful otherwise they will make you pay much more than the domain is worth.
 
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Another big shark in this game is AwesomeDomains.
They have snapped many domains in Close Out and then forwarded them to DAN.com
Surely 100% they use bots to snap.
 
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Another big shark in this game is AwesomeDomains.
They have snapped many domains in Close Out and then forwarded them to DAN.com
Surely 100% they use bots to snap.
Good find, everyone fighting for garbage closeouts lol, let the games begin.
 
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Another big shark in this game is AwesomeDomains.
They have snapped many domains in Close Out and then forwarded them to DAN.com
Surely 100% they use bots to snap.


Start putting the min $12 bids on all so Awesome and Huge bots fight. We will then bet on who wins each auction and make money that way lol.
 
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Recently, I was lazy to perform my normal "human review" filtering and simply added a bunch of domains to the watchlist. I mean those that were just potentially ok (as per 1 or more automated criterias). Normally, I'd exclude 90% or more from such auto-generated list on the last stage (manual review). I was literally shocked - a lot of domains that are obviously not good (if reviewed manually) did receive bids and/or were grabbed as closeouts by various bots. No, I would not post "bad domain" criterias in this thread or in any other thread. Folks are not yet able to determine and apply "negative" criterias? Let it be so. More $$$ wasted by competiton - it can only be appreciated. At least one bot (or somebody with multiple arms) is doing this so frequently that he seems to be programmed to fail, and soon.
Maybe they all trust godaddy appraisals?
 
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This is all artificial supply, and demand manipulation based on lipstick on a pig appraisals. Slap two silly keywords .com, and a $1500 value, next to an $11 price tag, and these suckers are going to be buying it all day long.

I guess it’s a good thing that consumers can’t hand reg these drops, and must pay a min of 4 figures for them, but some of these catches are just like what are they thinking.

As stated above you want to have some fun at the expense of the bots, place then $12 bids, and they will squeal up into $1xx.

If you are interested in a name, and don’t have an API connection, and it’s semi decent, you are going to have to bid, otherwise you will lose it.
 
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Seems the moral of the story here is I should just make my own bot to compete.
 
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Seems the moral of the story here is I should just make my own bot to compete.
You can compete, but they will run the bid up, so your overpaying. It doesn't make a lot of sense from an investment point of view. Newbies keep walking into it.
 
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