Is namesilo frontrunning

[robert widener]

just so you all know .... namesilo is frontrunning , checked a domain yesterday & today i went to get it & it's gone ...... guess who owns it NAMESILO . so dont be checking any domains at namesilo because if you dont buy it right then it may be gone the next day . does president michael goldfarb have an account here ? ...would he like to respond ?

 

[Arca]

@Eric Lyon - Can you please clarify the relationship between the @robert widener and @marthak? Was the latter banned for being the former?

 

[namesilo]

Similar situation just happened to me earlier today; placed a max bid on a domain < 1 hour prior it completely expiring and now its suddenly renewed and parked with Undeveloped; will investigate privately ...

*Not saying this is the case, but the chance of the previous owner to (finally) renew < 1 hour prior a VERY LONG expiration cycle is strange. Perhaps NameSilo pushes redemption fee's if bids are placed with hopes to rake in expensive revivals of expired domains? No matter how you slice it, something is off here.

**Not accusing anyone.... yet.

Hello. I can let you know this is absolutely not the case. As with many other registrar expired domain processes, our Registrants can wait until the last minute to renew to gauge domain valuation as a significant percentage of bids in our system for expired domains occur within the last 24 hours (and many within the last hour to few minutes) of the expired domain auctions concluding. We make more money if an expired domain is auctioned than if it is renewed, so not sure the implication of us "pushing redemption fees" or anything else.

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

I watched a domain name expire every year at namesilo. Every year the person renews in final minutes.
Yes i remember the name quite well
Sorry domainauction but the chances of the owner renewing at last minute are pretty good.
Investigate and come back with your findings

 

[Arca]

Hello. I can let you know this is absolutely not the case. As with many other registrar expired domain processes, our Registrants can wait until the last minute to renew to gauge domain valuation as a significant percentage of bids in our system for expired domains occur within the last 24 hours (and many within the last hour to few minutes) of the expired domain auctions concluding. We make more money if an expired domain is auctioned than if it is renewed, so not sure the implication of us "pushing redemption fees" or anything else.

DynaDot and GoDaddy have recently tried to implement changes to make more expired domain auctions complete, and not have owners intentionally let domains expire just to renew them at the last moment.

At name.com, we receive expired domain purchases instantly upon purchase (they deliver 100% of won expired auctions).

Have you considered changing your expired domain auctions system? For example, instead of running a 25 day auction, how about doing 5 day or 10 day auctions starting on day 26, where the domain will always be delivered to buyer? Or extending the auction time to 30 days, where former owners can only renew the domain on the first 25 days? Right now the system is set up in a way so that more domains that get bids get renewed than what I have seen on any other platform.

Sending notification emails to former owners telling them that their domain is getting bid on also seems to invite domainers to let their names expire to let the market determine whether any of them have value, and then renew all of those that get bids. Many users are clearly abusing the system to let the "crowd" determine which of their domains are perceived to have value, and then proceed to renew all of those. I saw one guy let something like 30 domains based around a new tech expire. I bid on two of them. He renewed those two and let the other 28 that didn't get bids expire. There is a lot of activity like this. Also, domainers let valuable domains expire, they get bid on ($X,XXX), and then renewed at the last moment. This is just a way of drawing attention to their domains, in the hopes that the same people bidding will come to them after they have renewed the domain and attempt to acquire it from them privately. All these games played by people who let their domain expire with the intention of renewing them wastes a lot of time for legit bidders who spend time researching and bidding on these expired domains.

 

[TC27]

Time for this thread to be closed I think. Sounds like the domain was renewed and someone is a little bitter.

 

[ben pedri]

lol , NOTHING from namesilo ? ....doesnt shock me .

I sold a name for 3k a few years ago to a European company gaming related ,one day I looked up the domain and was dropped and no-one reregistered and was just nonexisant for 2 years ,I signed it back up and parked it , It sold 2 months later for 7k , these things are just bingoballs and the better balls you have with no holes have a better chance of getting sucked up eventually

 

[creataweb]

basically what namesilo & any other registrar doing this is giving bidders the middle finger ...lets be honest , its UNETHICAL & GREEDY.once it hits auction its up for grabs. if owner wants it let him bid on it

Then don't bid there, problem solved.

There are certain MPs I don't like bidding at, and guess what, I don't bid there. Problem solved!

 

[Kate]

 

[CJ6]

I can respond.
I trust NameSilo.
I don't trust Network Solutions and I stay away from them even when they have domains for $1.

 

[creataweb]

Hmm never happened to me any of these years at NS.

 

[Dmytro]

never happened it on Namesilo for 3 years. maybe the coincidence?

 

[NamesCost]

Better safe than sorry. Don't put a name out there into the world until you are ready.
There are a million points at which observation might have occurred or not but you can be more sure if you follow my advice above.

 

[NamesCost]

Sound like a classic case of "I had the shot Tony and I blew it"
still...
Nobody can ensure 100% that their search data will not be observed by those with bad intentions. Personally I think it happens more than registrars want to imagine but magnitudes much less than users think.

How much is that exactly? Well we may never known for sure but you can be 100% sure you did not contribute to any leak by simply remembering that if you are going to play, play with your cards close to your chest and leave the searching for when you are ready to make the purchase.

Personally I think it is not probable that this claim is accurate but it doesn't mean that something similar is impossible or that it never happens. Despite the reality or non-reality of this particular case we should remember to practice safer reg.

 

[NamesCost]

There is nowhere in that process in which an "outsider" could see what was being searched for

Who said it has to be and "Outsider" this speaks to what I meant by "more than registrars want to imagine"

I still I agree it is much more likely

some type of vulnerability in their system/browser/network

I hope all the hoopla doesn't derail from my primary point: Play it safe pros. Practice safe reg.

 

[karmaco]

In certain hot niches people are registering names every single day. Every thought you’ve had someone very often beat you to it. (Hello Coin & Crypto Names) It’s not particularly odd for a name you saw open yesterday to be gone today.

Op opened this thread to do a smear campaign on @namesilo that is obvious. I hope this thread gets taken down as he has not even come back to provide proof of his accusation.

I have typed many things at NS with no such issues but I generally don’t check unless I am ready to buy.

 

[tldboss]

i never did hear back from namesilo president michael goldfarb & doesn't marthak bring up an interesting point about when a domain in question being suddenly gone "why is it always regged at the registrar where person looked up domain name at & never some other registry " the registrars like to tell us it's always a coincidence but nobody else finds it .... oh i dont know ....ODD. has anyone else noticed that namesilo or any other registrar reps are so EERILY QUIET & have avoided this remark like the plague

What's the name?

 

[creataweb]

No offense but I'm sure Namesilo couldn't give 2 sh*ts about the hand regs lol

 

[Furquan]

@namesilo its better to talk with Mr @Eric Lyon & get this thread closed. I don't think there is any point which requires this threads to be in open status. Not only all the claim by OP which started this thread is truthless but also it seem op wont be able to provide any proof.

 

[jaydub]

I can say I personally have let names go right to the wire at namesilo before renewing..... usually I see the reminder email which I have held in my mailbox

I agree it might be time to close this as the OP has responded in over a month

 

[NameVisual]

Namesilo is great! They offer free parking and you keep 100% of the revenue, free marketplace website and great prices. Namesilo will be #1.

 

[marthak]

Hello,

To be perfectly blunt, this accusation is an outright lie. We have never, would never and will never engage in front-running. We do not even log domain searches. We have been active on NamePros for quite some time, and I would venture to guess not even one other person has ever had this happen. We do not appreciate having our name tarnished with accusations such as this on a public forum. The OP cannot offer any proof as it is not possible to prove something that has not happened.

lol , of course you don't do it ..... godaddy doesn't do it , you don't do it , (name of registry) doesn't do it .....NOBODY DOES IT ? yet we all know it's going on , anybody remember the fan duel / draftkings scandal where employees had inside information & was winning contests & some of them walked away with hundreds of thousands of dollars before being busted ? . wether it's the registries holding back ( as in DOMAIN TASTING ) or an employee regging or the selling of domain searches or a leak somewhere that 's being seen in" real time " something is going on , their's alot of money involved when it comes to domains ....let's be honest , no matter how much the registries scream at the top of their lungs " WE DON'T FRONTRUN DOMAINS " while trying not to laugh we all have to wonder if their telling us the truth . & can namesilo or any other registry tell us why when someone complains about a domain that they searched for is suddenly gone ...WHY IS IT ALWAYS regged at the registry where the individual looked the domain up at ? I KNOW ... I KNOW ...IT'S A COINCIDENCE , funny how it's never regged at some other registry . something for everyone to think about . i think namescost said it best "practice safe regging "

 

[carob]

I believe the OP can edit the thread title and possibly the first post.

Why not change it to "Is Namesilo Frontrunning?"

That asks a question and invites responses and lets people hear other people's experience and draw their own conclusions.

Some registrars, not Namesilo, have been suspected of selling whois searches on, and Network Solutions used to register any name you searched for and try to sell it for $39 for the next 5 days. So this question could come up sooner or later at any registrar.

If I understand right, OP found a name he wanted was rapidly taken. Has happened to most of us - you can have different intepretations of how that happens, and if you want to jump to making accusations without checking and considering the possibilities, there are still multiple parties you could accuse, not just the registrar.

 

[Arca]

Similar situation just happened to me earlier today; placed a max bid on a domain < 1 hour prior it completely expiring and now its suddenly renewed and parked with Undeveloped; will investigate privately ...

*Not saying this is the case, but the chance of the previous owner to (finally) renew < 1 hour prior a VERY LONG expiration cycle is strange. Perhaps NameSilo pushes redemption fee's if bids are placed with hopes to rake in expensive revivals of expired domains? No matter how you slice it, something is off here.

**Not accusing anyone.... yet.

What you outline here is extremely common at NameSilo. There are many owners there that let domains expire and go to auction, and renew just before the auction is about to close. Why they do this, I don't know.

Another thing is, once somebody places a bid on an expired domains, NameSilo emails the owner to notify them that there is a bid and that the domain will consequently be sold upon the end of the auction (at least I got those emails last when I let some names expire that got bids in the expired domain auctions). It seems that "most" owners that had decided to let a domain expire will change their mind and go to renew that domain after they are notified that somebody has bid on it.

Based on my own experience I'd say that about 80-90% of the expired domains I bid on at NameSilo got renewed after my bid. With the way their expired domain auction system works it's mostly a waste of time to bid on expired domains there.

 

[imadoer]

I watched a domain name expire every year at namesilo. Every year the person renews in final minutes.
Yes i remember the name quite well
Sorry domainauction but the chances of the owner renewing at last minute are pretty good.
Investigate and come back with your findings

I wouldn't waste my time trying to buy expired domains from namesilo. I spent $1,600 on a domain. The guy renewed it within the last few hours. Namesilo took my money within minutes to pay for the domain and took me months to get my money back after tons of arguing and calling my bank and calling namesilo. It caused me so much frustration. Also I can't stand how they're expired domain auction is structured. So I just steer clear of them when it comes to expired auctions