discuss I got GoDaddy / Afternic "Boosted" in an $8k sale.

[DomainVP]

I had a buyer come in via a landing page that I host myself.

The buyer and I came to an agreement of $4000, however because they were older and already indoctrinated in the ways of GoDaddy they could not (would not) buy the domain any other way.

We even went to Escrow and they canceled it because they needed too much documentation and were shaking in fear behind the keyboard with every click. Mind you , these were corporate guys who tried to hide their identity. The main guy accidentally revealed his real name, and that was hilarious - just shows you the incompetence.

Anywhoo...

I told them if I MUST do business with GoDaddy then the price is $8000, because honestly I KNEW there was going to be some hot dog vomit that was going to emerge in dealing with them.

So I went online to find the latest and greatest nonsense for selling on Afternic. Added the domain, TXT verified ownership, set my NS to afternic.com addresses - buyer paid.

Transaction actually went fairly smooth (Minus the $1200 in commission, tf)

Oh WAIT... $1600 commission, that is 20% Wha, wai, what??

Turns out that over the years there is this "Afternic Boost" nonsense that GoDaddy enables on your account by default.

I informed them that boost didn't even have time to kick in because I listed the domain and the buyer, who I brought in, initiated contact within the hour.

Their response:

"Hello, we are sorry to hear that you feel that way. Please note you can disable to Afternic Boost option if you are not happy with the service provided and that will lower the comission by 5% on future sales."

Complete with the misspelling of commission.

I am now aware that they have this nonsense enabled, and that there is self-brokering now available if you want to pay $240/yr.

I could have just bought the membership and self-brokered with their guidance, but I had no idea and I left GoDaddy in the dust after they were stealing my closeout snipes and sending them to their NameFind portfolio telling me that I missed them by "a second to another buyer" when the buyer was them sniping their own domains.

I was okay eating $1200, but $1600 is outrageous on an $8k transaction.

I hope the extra $400 was worth it boys. The 1 domain I keep at GD with six-fig offers is being removed and the only confirms why I will never, ever-ever, ever-ever-ever, never tf ever, use Afternic or GoDaddy for a transaction - regardless if the buyer is completely myopic.

 

[Future Sensors]

Thanks for sharing.

I'll tag @GoDaddy as well, they may still be interested in your story (or should I say customer journey?).

 

[Mister Funsky]

some hot dog vomit that was going to emerge

Spit my coffee out on that one.

Sorry about the extra 400 in the wind but congrats on the sale.

 

[shaky]

Sedo isn't bad with its 15% commission.

 

[Future Sensors]

If you’re already in touch with a particular buyer, Sedo, Afternic, Atom, and other marketplaces let you generate custom checkout links at even lower fees.

 

[Future Sensors]

Atom.com 4.5%

https://www.atom.com/dashboard/account/create-payment-link

 

[DomainVP]

If you’re already in touch with a particular buyer, Sedo, Afternic, Atom, and other marketplaces let you generate custom checkout links at even lower fees.

I will have to look into these options; I've been using Escrow successfully for years
I've seen a lot of Atom usage but it's mostly from domainers trying to sell CheapAirfareNewYorkCityHeyimWalkinHere.net, so I wasn't sure of it's viability.

Looks like it's time to update the 2025 toolkit. Thank you.

@GoDaddy Afternic Transaction Assurance Agent continues to lean into the fact that "Boost" was active on my account.
I informed buyer we should use GD and set it up: Tue, Jul 29, 6:11 PM
"Lead created" on 2025-07-29 18:50

40 minutes...

yet the want to charge me and extra 5% BOOSTED

Ronald McDonald, Bozo, Krusty, Pennywise, and GoDaddy.

 

[Future Sensors]

@DomainVP A lot has changed; Atom.com has now established the necessary trust among buyers. Even for the largest transactions.

 

[biggie]

Hi

there was a lot of uproar here on the forum about that "boost" bs and the fact that they enabled it automatically in your account, so you had to login and disable to keep from paying extra fee.

still, when i use escrow.com, i'll typically ask buyer to pay the fee.
this way they rarely back out and pay more attention to the transaction.

sedo is also a first choice and fee is only 10% for BIN priced names and as low as 3% when doing transfers for an off platform sale.

imo....

 

[GoDaddy]

I had a buyer come in via a landing page that I host myself.

The buyer and I came to an agreement of $4000, however because they were older and already indoctrinated in the ways of GoDaddy they could not (would not) buy the domain any other way.

We even went to Escrow and they canceled it because they needed too much documentation and were shaking in fear behind the keyboard with every click. Mind you , these were corporate guys who tried to hide their identity. The main guy accidentally revealed his real name, and that was hilarious - just shows you the incompetence.

Anywhoo...

I told them if I MUST do business with GoDaddy then the price is $8000, because honestly I KNEW there was going to be some hot dog vomit that was going to emerge in dealing with them.

So I went online to find the latest and greatest nonsense for selling on Afternic. Added the domain, TXT verified ownership, set my NS to afternic.com addresses - buyer paid.

Transaction actually went fairly smooth (Minus the $1200 in commission, tf)

Oh WAIT... $1600 commission, that is 20% Wha, wai, what??

Turns out that over the years there is this "Afternic Boost" nonsense that GoDaddy enables on your account by default.

I informed them that boost didn't even have time to kick in because I listed the domain and the buyer, who I brought in, initiated contact within the hour.

Their response:

"Hello, we are sorry to hear that you feel that way. Please note you can disable to Afternic Boost option if you are not happy with the service provided and that will lower the comission by 5% on future sales."

Complete with the misspelling of commission.

I am now aware that they have this nonsense enabled, and that there is self-brokering now available if you want to pay $240/yr.

I could have just bought the membership and self-brokered with their guidance, but I had no idea and I left GoDaddy in the dust after they were stealing my closeout snipes and sending them to their NameFind portfolio telling me that I missed them by "a second to another buyer" when the buyer was them sniping their own domains.

I was okay eating $1200, but $1600 is outrageous on an $8k transaction.

I hope the extra $400 was worth it boys. The 1 domain I keep at GD with six-fig offers is being removed and the only confirms why I will never, ever-ever, ever-ever-ever, never tf ever, use Afternic or GoDaddy for a transaction - regardless if the buyer is completely myopic.

Hi @DomainVP,
We're sorry to hear about this. But, if you do decide to use Afternic to close another sale from your self-hosted lander, Custom Checkout Link at 5% might be for you.

 

[D Haynes]

Hi @DomainVP,
We're sorry to hear about this. But, if you do decide to use Afternic to close another sale from your self-hosted lander, Custom Checkout Link at 5% might be for you.

I doubt they're going to use your services again. Why not offer the 400 bucks back as a good will gesture? It's clear the "Boost" feature was not the cause of this sale.

Here's an idea and bare with me here because this might be hard for GD to wrap their head around...

make "Boost" an opt IN feature!??!?

I get it guys it sounds crazy doesn't it but just hear me out. No more confusion from sellers. No more disgruntled customers starting threads on popular forums. No more lost custom. It sounds insane but I think it might just work.

 

[DomainVP]

Hi @DomainVP,
We're sorry to hear about this. But, if you do decide to use Afternic to close another sale from your self-hosted lander, Custom Checkout Link at 5% might be for you.

So a 'broker' should offer these types of options at the POS for the seller where it's clearly evident that this was a self generated lead.

I listed the domain and the buyer contacted GD/Afternic within 40 minutes. I'm sure the topic came up on how they just absolutely had to use @GoDaddy to exchange the domain.

It looks like I had several options at my disposal, ranging from 5% to $250 membership to self-close a brought in lead.

However that's not what was done; not only did GD take the 15% like your platform worked some kind of magic spell, you guys then took and additional 5% claiming that it was "Boosted" by some hidden setting that nobody would ever see or know about.

It's shoddy work at best, deceptive at worst. Brokers are supposed to work for their client, me, the seller. Instead your team did everything in their power to make sure they took the most money they could for a few minutes of work.

After the fact you and your team has all kinds of 'solutions' and approaches. Should have said that in the beginning.

I doubt they're going to use your services again. Why not offer the 400 bucks back as a good will gesture? It's clear the "Boost" feature was not the cause of this sale.

I've had mom-and-pop operations do more to retain a customer than GoDaddy right now - this is why I will never use them again. To essentially 'too-bad' me because there is a shady default option that gives them and additional 5% is lunacy.

This is why I charged the buyer so much more to use GD, because I knew there would be some kind of issue...

6 Days ago to buyer...

"I would like to stay at the price that we agreed at however if it is a corporate mandate or absolutely essential that we go through GoDaddy I will have to adjust the price to $6500. They are an absolute nightmare."

I ended up adjusting the price to $8k to compensate for a 15% commission.

Then they took more.

Always a problem.

 

[alcy]

I had a buyer come in via a landing page that I host myself.

The buyer and I came to an agreement of $4000, however because they were older and already indoctrinated in the ways of GoDaddy they could not (would not) buy the domain any other way.

We even went to Escrow and they canceled it because they needed too much documentation and were shaking in fear behind the keyboard with every click. Mind you , these were corporate guys who tried to hide their identity. The main guy accidentally revealed his real name, and that was hilarious - just shows you the incompetence.

Anywhoo...

I told them if I MUST do business with GoDaddy then the price is $8000, because honestly I KNEW there was going to be some hot dog vomit that was going to emerge in dealing with them.

So I went online to find the latest and greatest nonsense for selling on Afternic. Added the domain, TXT verified ownership, set my NS to afternic.com addresses - buyer paid.

Transaction actually went fairly smooth (Minus the $1200 in commission, tf)

Oh WAIT... $1600 commission, that is 20% Wha, wai, what??

Turns out that over the years there is this "Afternic Boost" nonsense that GoDaddy enables on your account by default.

I informed them that boost didn't even have time to kick in because I listed the domain and the buyer, who I brought in, initiated contact within the hour.

Their response:

"Hello, we are sorry to hear that you feel that way. Please note you can disable to Afternic Boost option if you are not happy with the service provided and that will lower the comission by 5% on future sales."

Complete with the misspelling of commission.

I am now aware that they have this nonsense enabled, and that there is self-brokering now available if you want to pay $240/yr.

I could have just bought the membership and self-brokered with their guidance, but I had no idea and I left GoDaddy in the dust after they were stealing my closeout snipes and sending them to their NameFind portfolio telling me that I missed them by "a second to another buyer" when the buyer was them sniping their own domains.

I was okay eating $1200, but $1600 is outrageous on an $8k transaction.

I hope the extra $400 was worth it boys. The 1 domain I keep at GD with six-fig offers is being removed and the only confirms why I will never, ever-ever, ever-ever-ever, never tf ever, use Afternic or GoDaddy for a transaction - regardless if the buyer is completely myopic.

such shame nobody told u about afternic checkoit link.. 5percent fee total. for add lead with email only of course.. but u had it.... I use it for all my bodis inquiries always now... before I used dan add lead.. also 5p.... works like elon on ketamine... very happy.

next time u try it

ps or course boost doesnt apply here as u are finding your own lead. so same fee with boost on off... 5%

 

[carob]

sedo is also a first choice and fee is only 10% for BIN priced names and as low as 3% when doing transfers for an off platform sale.

Yes Sedo offer escrow-only service, costs about 3%, possibly a bit more depending on any fees applied to the payment method such as credit card, it works.

 

[alcy]

Hi

there was a lot of uproar here on the forum about that "boost" bs and the fact that they enabled it automatically in your account, so you had to login and disable to keep from paying extra fee.

still, when i use escrow.com, i'll typically ask buyer to pay the fee.
this way they rarely back out and pay more attention to the transaction.

sedo is also a first choice and fee is only 10% for BIN priced names and as low as 3% when doing transfers for an off platform sale.

imo....

afternic 5percent checkout link is the best option on earth now.

boost setting irrelevant

allelse is bs

u r so very welcome

 

[alcy]

Yes Sedo offer escrow-only service, costs about 3%, possibly a bit more depending on any fees applied to the payment method such as credit card, it works.

keyword .. possibly a little more lol

its bs

use afternic checkout link
5%

u are quite welcome

 

[pb]

Focus on the silver lining, thanks to GoDaddy you made an extra $2400!
No point stressing over matters that are out of your control, or, for that matter, out of anyone's control. A behemoth, once brought to life, won't stop until it devours everything, including itself.

 

[love4ever]

Maybe godaddy felt SHY to say that our broker did his best behind the scenes to convince the customer to buy this particular domain, So we deserve the $400 ! Lol


.

 

[DomainVP]

afternic 5percent checkout link is the best option on earth now.

boost setting irrelevant

allelse is bs

u r so very welcome

This is good info. Appreciated.

It's been a long time since I used Afternic / GoDaddy so in a situation where a buyer is afflicted by marketing and MUST use GoDaddy then I will use this approach. Thanks Alcy.

There is also an option to self-broker a lead if you are a GoDaddy domains pro customer for $250. So you could technically buy the membership, bring in the lead, and then the commission is what @GoDaddy ?

self-broker via GoDaddy Seems unclear, info?

 

[DomainVP]

Focus on the silver lining, thanks to GoDaddy you made an extra $2400!
No point stressing over matters that are out of your control, or, for that matter, out of anyone's control. A behemoth, once brought to life, won't stop until it devours everything, including itself.

Show attachment 280145

I was fine with them taking 15%, but the additional 5% is petty trickery.

Holding them accountable and bringing their activity, and customer service choices, to light is now my silver lining.