I built a marketplace for quickly buying and selling domains.

[mjhcodes]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a project I've been working on called SwoopDomains. It's a marketplace for buying and selling domains quickly and easily.

Just like every founder and entrepreneur, I have a bunch of unused domains sitting around that have been bought then forgotten about. I wanted to sell them, but when I looked into existing marketplaces, I ran into a bunch of issues:

1. Many charge listing fees just to put your domain up for sale
2. Auctions often drag on for weeks or even months
3. The interfaces felt clunky and outdated
4. You have to sell on your registrars marketplace

I figured there had to be a better way, so I created SwoopDomains.

How it works​

• No listing fees - it's completely free to list your domains
• Quick 72-hour auctions - every auction starts at $1 and lasts just 3 days, driving up bidding activity
• Modern, user-friendly interface
• Instant payouts once a sale is completed - straight to your PayPal or bank account

Whether you're looking to offload some unused domains or pick up some new ones at a good price, I'd love for you to check it out and let me know what you think. You can find it at swoopdomains dot com

I'm happy to answer any questions or hear your feedback. Thanks for checking it out!

 

[Jannes]

Don't quit your day job @mjhcodes

I believe this is just a showcase of their day job.

 

[mjhcodes]

A well-run and smooth, bugless, rollback-less, shill-less auction house is always welcome for domains... if you can avoid all that.

However, the huge elephant in the room is: are you a licensed escrow service?

Because for the transaction system, you are acting as an escrow... you take the buyer's money, hold that payment in your account (personal or business account?), and when the transfer completes, you pay out to the seller.

Only problem with that is: without being a licensed escrow service, then as Epik/Masterbucks show, the security of the payout is all up to one person: you. If you have a heart attack, or Covid, or end up in hospital with a spoon stuck through the side of your head (this represents random accidents that you can in no way predict), or get hit by a Mack truck, or you see you have tens of thousands of dollars in your account waiting for you to payout, and you figure what does it hurt if you use just a teeny teeny bit of that for a vacay to Australia, because there will be more in the account later and you can pay it back eventually, right?

Not saying any of those things will happen. You might be a very honest guy, even when the chips are down, and might never run into an injury, accident, illness, or natural catastrophe with yourself or your computer system. But I am saying: since you are providing an escrow service... what security measure do you have in place (other than, "Hey, I'm an honest guy, plus no accidents or disasters will happen to me, so your funds are safe with me!"), so that we know our pay-ins (from buyers) and pay-outs (to sellers) are safe?

At a glance, I like your site. Functionality looks good so far, layout looks clean... take that with a grain of salt, as I have not signed up nor tried out an auction yet.

But function and service only go so far; we ****ABSOLUTELY**** need to know your escrow security. I bolded, redded, underlined, capitalized, and asterisked 'absolutely', so you may infer how important it is and not sidestep answering this directly.

Good luck. I, for one, do welcome a good new auction platform if it is run properly and securely.

Thanks

Thank you for the feedback! Will implement Escrow.com API this week instead of managing it on my end.

 

[D Haynes]

A well-run and smooth, bugless, rollback-less, shill-less auction house is always welcome for domains... if you can avoid all that.

However, the huge elephant in the room is: are you a licensed escrow service?

Because for the transaction system, you are acting as an escrow... you take the buyer's money, hold that payment in your account (personal or business account?), and when the transfer completes, you pay out to the seller.

Only problem with that is: without being a licensed escrow service, then as Epik/Masterbucks show, the security of the payout is all up to one person: you. If you have a heart attack, or Covid, or end up in hospital with a spoon stuck through the side of your head (this represents random accidents that you can in no way predict), or get hit by a Mack truck, or you see you have tens of thousands of dollars in your account waiting for you to payout, and you figure what does it hurt if you use just a teeny teeny bit of that for a vacay to Australia, because there will be more in the account later and you can pay it back eventually, right?

Not saying any of those things will happen. You might be a very honest guy, even when the chips are down, and might never run into an injury, accident, illness, or natural catastrophe with yourself or your computer system. But I am saying: since you are providing an escrow service... what security measure do you have in place (other than, "Hey, I'm an honest guy, plus no accidents or disasters will happen to me, so your funds are safe with me!"), so that we know our pay-ins (from buyers) and pay-outs (to sellers) are safe?

At a glance, I like your site. Functionality looks good so far, layout looks clean... take that with a grain of salt, as I have not signed up nor tried out an auction yet.

But function and service only go so far; we ****ABSOLUTELY**** need to know your escrow security. I bolded, redded, underlined, capitalized, and asterisked 'absolutely', so you may infer how important it is and not sidestep answering this directly.

Good luck. I, for one, do welcome a good new auction platform if it is run properly and securely.

Thanks

I'm sure I read the only fully licensed escrow company in the domain field is escrow.com?

 

[Future Sensors]

I'm sure I read the only fully licensed escrow company in the domain field is escrow.com?

Don't forget https://escrow.domains/

 

[Bannen]

I'm sure I read the only fully licensed escrow company in the domain field is escrow.com?

I would assume also Sedo and Afternic. But perhaps I should not have assumed…?

 

[Future Sensors]

I would assume also Sedo

Sedo used the term escrow in the past, but has since moved away from it for legal reasons in some jurisdictions.

 

[D Haynes]

Don't forget https://escrow.domains/

They don't appear to give any accreditation on their site (although I'll take your word for it).

My point was that the huge majority of domain marketplaces (Godaddy, AN, Dan, Atom etc) are not licensed escrow companies.

 

[Future Sensors]

My point was that the huge majority of domain marketplaces (Godaddy, AN, Dan, Atom etc) are not licensed escrow companies.

True. Domain Investors often use the term when they decribe services at some marketplaces, while it's not escrow in reality.

 

[Future Sensors]

Here's the promo thread for Escrow Domains.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/di...domain-ip-attorneys-in-washington-dc.1257680/

 

[Bannen]

Thank you for the feedback! Will implement Escrow.com API this week instead of managing it on my end.

Or perhaps offer a choice. Many domainers, especially dabblers and newbies, don’t or won’t or can’t sign up with escrow.com. You might offer to act as fast, informal escrow-like service for small sales.

Then give the option to use escrow.com for any substantial sales?

Just more thoughts

 

[D Haynes]

I would assume also Sedo and Afternic. But perhaps I should not have assumed…?

 

[D Haynes]

Anyway, I completely agree about using a licensed escrow company or a reputable marketplace but just wanted to highlight a common industry misconception.

 

[Bannen]

Show attachment 261340

Ah ha!

Funny I never checked for myself. Just assumed.

 

[Future Sensors]

https://www.namepros.com/threads/sedo-com-official-thread.408817/page-113#post-8896807

 

[D Haynes]

https://www.namepros.com/threads/sedo-com-official-thread.408817/page-113#post-8896807

Thanks!

 

[Future Sensors]

Thanks!

In the case of Sedo, the word 'escrow' was mentioned in many places on their own website, but in the meantime Sedo denied that they provided escrow services.

I have not checked the current status, but it is clear that Sedo does not consider itself an escrow service provider.

 

[D Haynes]

To keep the thread on track (sorry) I like the clean look of the site.

As I've mentioned in another thread, getting a new marketplace off the ground is somewhat of a paradoxical situation in that you need lots of visitors to attract the good names, but good names to attract lots of visitors.

 

[D Haynes]

In the case of Sedo, the word 'escrow' was mentioned in many places on their own website, but in the meantime Sedo denied that they provided escrow services.

I have not checked the current status, but it is clear that Sedo does not consider itself an escrow service provider.

Lol the funny bit was you reeling off all the places they claimed escrow. I wonder if the term "escrow" is protected all over the world or just the US as someone like Sedo or Undeveloped (way back when) who are European based could play hard and fast with the truth otherwise (as you've already demonstrated with Sedo).

 

[Molly]

Apologies for being dense, but what is the website? I googled SwoopDomains and the first thing I saw in results is a Brandpa link.

 

[Future Sensors]

Apologies for being dense, but what is the website? I googled SwoopDomains and the first thing I saw in results is a Brandpa link.

Just add .com to it.

 

[alcy]

Apologies for being dense, but what is the website? I googled SwoopDomains and the first thing I saw in results is a Brandpa link.

I think u just supposed to type it in address bar. worked for me lol

 

[D Haynes]

Just add .com to it.

My assumption was it would be a .com and so went straight to the address bar and entered the name to go straight to the website where as @Molly s default setting was to Google it which I find fascinating. I don't know how old Molly is etc but there is something to unpack here.

Are peoples (maybe younger etc) default methods starting to be to search something instead of assume or at least try a direct route? What effect does that potentially play in the domain game looking to the future? Is SEO the biggest factor over TLD?

I find that small interaction here very interesting.

 

[Inframan]

I mean your Chamber of Commerce details, not team info.

 

[Armageddon]

Good job & good luck with project

Maybe i try

 

[Inframan]

The real issue is, the members have more to say than the founder.

If Future Sensors and Bannen hadn't brought up the issue of full transparency, would there have been any disclosure of being licensed and accredited?