Is Pheenix Still Alive?

[jideofor]

Pheenix used to be the bride of block.

Since they embarked on an upgrade, they hardly got anything caught these days when compared to their earlier days.

Is anyone experiencing same?

 

[Paul123]

What a shame. Are there any half decent DCers out there that don't do this ?

Best,
Paul

 

[Joseph Green]

@gorilla_bob, you may want to weigh in on this thread.

 

[Name Trader]

@jideofor - From my memory Pheenix used to beat SnapNames sometimes. Not all the time. They do still beat SnapNames on quite rare occasions (from what I've seen on NP). But it seems to be a rarity these days.

 

[Name Trader]

What a shame. Are there any half decent DCers out there that don't do this ?

Could you please expand your post? Don't do what?

 

[Paul123]

Unfortunately it's not really commercially viable to do this. There are definitely services out there where only one backorder is taken, but these are for consumers and not for domainers. If a backorder service with an auction process even had one interested party it would be quicker every time.

Flat-fee backorder services have certainly existed but they all eventually realise they only make money if they run auctions. It sucks but it's the way it is.

Best bet if you're not going for competitive backorders is to use something like DesktopCatcher. It's probably going to be quicker than any of the non-auction backorders. Unfortunately if you want a fast backorder it has to be via an auction platform.

Thanks for the tip JRayers. I had a look at DesktopCatcher and it looks interesting. Have you personally had any experience of this type of software ? I assume it only has a limited success rate ? I would be interested to hear from other members if they have used this type of service before I part with my 200 bucks.

Best,
Paul

 

[xull]

Thanks for the tip JRayers. I had a look at DesktopCatcher and it looks interesting. Have you personally had any experience of this type of software ? I assume it only has a limited success rate ? I would be interested to hear from other members if they have used this type of service before I part with my 200 bucks.

Im curious to know too.

 

[xull]

Thanks @JRayers .

 

[Plato]

I backordered 3 domains yesterday.
Results:

Pheenix: 0
Dynadot: 0

BTW: dynadot shows revenue on the auctionlist. where does this data come from?

 

[Omar Negron]

As of right now, they suck pretty bad. No denying that.

But I just like to try my luck and put my orders in and say a little prayer that I hopefully land one. It doesn't hurt to just throw some domains you may not be crazy about and don't want to pay a Snapnames or Namejet higher price for but still nab it. They never charge initially. Only after they catch the domain for you.

Your odds are you aren't ganna get it. Heck, I even had GD backorder beat out a pheenix backorder the other day (and we all know how GD backorders are lol).

Like I said it doesn't hurt to try, it takes 10 seconds. I nabbed a name a few months back from Pheenix and sold it for $500.

So take the extra few seconds and place a backorder with them. Ya never know.

-Omar

P.S. Their customer service is pretty good also.

 

[Omar Negron]

But I don't like the fact that DropCatch backorders go to publlic auction, which ends up costing you too much...

Yep, which is why it doesn't make sense to place a Backorder with Dropcatch. If they wind up getting it, you can just jump on into the auction and make a bid.

-Omar

 

[Paul123]

I have been using the desktop catch software for a few months. Also, I think that you can get a code pretty easily making it only a $100 purchase. Anyway, DTC works well if you aren't going for top tier names. It just can't compete with those and makes no claim to be able to. But there are still lots of second tier names that are worth catching. I use it on weekends so i can be present, but it can run unattended with a built in scheduler. over all its a great piece of software and well worth the investment. Support is top notch.

One thing to consider with the software that I hadn't. You will need to establish an API account at different registrars. the more you do, the better your chances. I'd say the DTC product supports like 10 or a dozen accounts. At each account you will need to make a deposit and prepay for your domains. Most only need like $25, but a couple need more. But even at $25, that's an extra $250 you need to have for deposits before you can get busy catching. Something to remember and budget for.

Thanks for the info Cocaseco. Can you give a few examples of the domains you have caught with DTCatcher please ?

Best,
Paul

 

[wayne wooldridge]

2 2nd tier names each ordered at pheenix and dynadot.

Snapnames caught both....

 

[ApeXX]

I picked up a LNL.com with Pheenix a couple weeks back -- had I want to say 15-20 bidders in a private auction. So it can still grab tier 1 names, but I'd say it probably gets 1-5% of those names compared to the big players.

 

[gr8trfoo]

Catching the names might not be the end of it. Domainers shoud be more worried about keeping what they catch.

Granted I was late paying for some drops they caught but when I discovered the situation I went in and did pay for them. But they still wont hand over the names. Not only that they took all my other names from the account (except 1). The owner is well known for being a domainer.

Use this "company" at your peril.

 

[Name Trader]

@gr8trfoo - Which company are your commenting on? Which owner is well known for being a domainer? Are you saying they took all your domains except one, which all had nothing to do with your late payments? They were all bought and paid for? How many domains did the take? As far as I know you cannot pay late for auction wins? Actually. I'm quite confused by your post? What does the company involved say?

 

[gr8trfoo]

pheenix.

about a dozen fully paid names. maybe 20 drop caught that i was late in paying. but they did accept the late payment.

just really sad. dont know why companies think they can get away with this kinda crap

 

[gr8trfoo]

the issue has been settled satisfactorily. many thanks to gorrila_bob for swiftly making it right.

 

[Arca]

After about 50 unsuccessful backorders with Pheenix, they finally caught 1 (out of 4) domain for me yesterday! One other bidder, so it entered into a private auction.

I usually just use Pheenix for lower quality names, but it’s hard to catch even second-tier names without backorders elsewhere, since they all seem to get caught by DC for Huge Domains. Their automatic BO filter/algorithm is able to detect almost anything worth grabbing (and lots of stuff not worth registering too).

Recently started placing all Pheenix orders at DynaDot too, but havent caught any domains there yet.

 

[Paul123]

I think that 'don't put all your eggs in one basket' applies to DCing. Use more than one drop catcher for an 'average domain'.

My thoughts are that you can (maybe) catch 1 in 10 on a good day.

Best,
Paul

 

[indiegrind]

Pheenix has caught 3 I have backordered in the last couple of days.

One today that surprised me. I'd backordered it at Dynadot, Snapnames, Namejet and Pheenix and Pheenix caught it.

Unfortunately, I am still going to have to compete for the name today, as there are 20 of us in a private auction now.

 

[NameOmnia]

In my experience Pheenix catching ability has decreased over the past months and I am not seeing any sign of positive change.
A month or so ago I have sent them an email asking what was going on as they haven't been able to catch anything and they replied they were adjusting their system ( or something like that ) and that I should have seen improvements in the following weeks. Basically the same reply they have given to anyone who wrote them an email in the past 6 months.

I haven't been backordering much with them lately but what I backordered hasn't been caught.

 

[Arca]

Pheenix has caught 3 I have backordered in the last couple of days.

One today that surprised me. I'd backordered it at Dynadot, Snapnames, Namejet and Pheenix and Pheenix caught it.

Unfortunately, I am still going to have to compete for the name today, as there are 20 of us in a private auction now.

Not sure if it's the same name, but out of my 3 backorders with Pheenix yesterday, they caught the one I was least expecting (since it got a lot of orders at NJ and elsewhere before closing). 24 other bidders at Pheenix. One other backorder got caught by SnapNames, while the last got caught by myorderbox.com.

 

[Sheogorath]

Pheenix is still alive.
Yesterday it caught a premium 2 word .com domain and it went to auction.
Today it caught a good generic single word .com domain(also went to auction) which had many backorders at Namejet.

Success rate 2 out of 2 for me in only a couple of days.
It seems they improved their systems.

 

[jideofor]

Pheenix is still alive.
Yesterday it caught a premium 2 word .com domain and it went to auction.
Today it caught a good generic single word .com domain(also went to auction) which had many backorders at Namejet.

Success rate 2 out of 2 for me in only a couple of days.
It seems they improved their systems.

I know the two domains you are talking about. I guess this thread may have done a magic as the news may have gotten to them. Impressive!

 

[Name Trader]

Nope. I never saw that email. I wondered what was going on with all those new backorder boxes in their control panel.