discuss Lost sales after switching from Afternic BIN lander to Custom Lander

[markfromslo]

All my many thousands of names are listed at Afternic with their nameservers. I have always had my names priced as BIN with the Afternic BIN lander. About a month ago I switched all the names priced above $2,000 to the Custom Lander and added the installment payment option (6 months) to them. Sales have plummeted.

Has anyone else found much of difference in sales between the BIN Lander and Custom Lander? (Why is it a custom lander anyway, can't really customize it. LOL).

There is one difference that I think @GoDaddy / @Afternic should change, and it would take one of their dev's about 10 minutes to do it. The BIN lander has the phone number on it, while the Custom Lander does not. Why is this? They should add the phone number on there for retail buyers 1) who might be confused and need to speak with someone, 2) simply to instill trust, and 3) to perhaps submit an offer that I might accept or negotiate from. I know that I have made MANY sales from the buyer calling Godaddy and offering less; I usually end up selling these for 10% off the BIN price. Without the phone number, these sales are now out the window.

I can also say that the number of "Leads" in Afternic has dried up as well. Is this because there is no phone number (or chat ability) on the Custom Lander?

I am thinking about switching back to the BIN lander. This would stop any chance of installment program inducing the buyer. But it still might make me more money.

 

[DrJacoby]

I think it's connected to the launch of Boost and not the custom landers. I have the same issue and I'm using the BIN landers. My portfolio had been performing very well for its size for almost two years, but since opting out of Boost in early September, there are no new leads and no new sales. It's just completely dead. Coincidence? I think not.

 

[twiki]

I have been into Boost and got no sales since. So I opted out.

 

[Future Sensors]

I have been into Boost and got no sales since. So I opted out.

You can still change your vote here:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/poll-will-you-participate-in-the-afternic-boost-program.1333652/

 

[markfromslo]

I think it's connected to the launch of Boost and not the custom landers. I have the same issue and I'm using the BIN landers. My portfolio had been performing very well for its size for almost two years, but since opting out of Boost in early September, there are no new leads and no new sales. It's just completely dead. Coincidence? I think not.

I have spot checked putting my names into the Godaddy search for domains field, and even with just the SLD it still prominently brings up my domain and the price. So I don't see what would have changed for me without Boost.

 

[twiki]

You can still change your vote here:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/poll-will-you-participate-in-the-afternic-boost-program.1333652/

Maybe I will, still undecided.

 

[bmugford]

I think it's connected to the launch of Boost and not the custom landers. I have the same issue and I'm using the BIN landers. My portfolio had been performing very well for its size for almost two years, but since opting out of Boost in early September, there are no new leads and no new sales. It's just completely dead. Coincidence? I think not.

I sold a domain at Afternic yesterday. It was a .US using the Afternic BIN lander for $3K.

I still believe the vast majority of sales come directly via lander traffic and not via GoDaddy search, at least not from the "boost" options.

If it is from GoDaddy search it would be via the first, or at least top few results.

No one is scrolling down to the 15th position to see some "boosted" domain after .sucks, and all the other crap options.

Brad

 

[zomainhacks]

I have been into Boost and got no sales since. So I opted out.

I had 2 negotiated sales which most likely are not due to the boost. I've opted out yesterday

 

[DrJacoby]

I have spot checked putting my names into the Godaddy search for domains field, and even with just the SLD it still prominently brings up my domain and the price. So I don't see what would have changed for me without Boost.

Since launching Boost they seem to have problems with the shopping cart; loading time and other errors. If a buyer is timed out or gets an error message when trying to buy your domain, it will certainly affect your sales.

 

[Mister Funsky]

I can also say that the number of "Leads" in Afternic has dried up as well.

My first 3 quarters were not good...had a flurry in last couple weeks.

 

[GoDaddy]

All my many thousands of names are listed at Afternic with their nameservers. I have always had my names priced as BIN with the Afternic BIN lander. About a month ago I switched all the names priced above $2,000 to the Custom Lander and added the installment payment option (6 months) to them. Sales have plummeted.

Has anyone else found much of difference in sales between the BIN Lander and Custom Lander? (Why is it a custom lander anyway, can't really customize it. LOL).

There is one difference that I think @GoDaddy / @Afternic should change, and it would take one of their dev's about 10 minutes to do it. The BIN lander has the phone number on it, while the Custom Lander does not. Why is this? They should add the phone number on there for retail buyers 1) who might be confused and need to speak with someone, 2) simply to instill trust, and 3) to perhaps submit an offer that I might accept or negotiate from. I know that I have made MANY sales from the buyer calling Godaddy and offering less; I usually end up selling these for 10% off the BIN price. Without the phone number, these sales are now out the window.

I can also say that the number of "Leads" in Afternic has dried up as well. Is this because there is no phone number (or chat ability) on the Custom Lander?

I am thinking about switching back to the BIN lander. This would stop any chance of installment program inducing the buyer. But it still might make me more money.

Hi @markfromslo
Thanks for the feedback, there's a lot to unpack here. As a fan of the BIN lander, you'll notice the Custom Lander has a few added options (LTO and Make Offer) that you can leverage to your advantage if you want to either increase sales velocity with Lease to Own (which you're providing), or increase your lead count through inbound offers.

Your Afternic account rep has just replied to an email from you, but we'll say that the Custom Lander has been extremely popular with sellers across the board and it looks like your portfolio has been performing consistently.

As far as the phone number goes, we launched the Custom Lander with a clear aim to both replicate what sellers knew with the "Dan.com Lander" at Afternic, and focus on the call to action of purchasing the name.

There are many areas to experiment with, and contact options is one that'll be explored. Our team doesn't "just add" anything, we'll experiment and measure the success so that we know that we release the best designs and features for sellers.

We encourage you to test the landers (BIN vs Custom) and see what works best for your own portfolio. If you'd like help with structuring a test, we're happy to set up a discussion with us and your account manager!

 

[phaethon]

I have been into Boost and got no sales since. So I opted out.

Same here. I'm boosted, but no sales / new leads..

 

[markfromslo]

After looking at my sales history for the year, I see now that it's not exactly coinciding with switching to the Custom Lander. It started a little bit before that. After a tremendous first seven months, things really slowed starting with August. And I changed to the custom lander in September. But I'm still curious about one lander vs the other.

It's all a mystery.

I do wish @GoDaddy would add the phone number to the Custom Lander. But what do I know. I am curious as to their reasoning on not having the phone number on it.

 

[Name2go]

All my many thousands of names are listed at Afternic with their nameservers. I have always had my names priced as BIN with the Afternic BIN lander. About a month ago I switched all the names priced above $2,000 to the Custom Lander and added the installment payment option (6 months) to them. Sales have plummeted.

Has anyone else found much of difference in sales between the BIN Lander and Custom Lander? (Why is it a custom lander anyway, can't really customize it. LOL).

There is one difference that I think @GoDaddy / @Afternic should change, and it would take one of their dev's about 10 minutes to do it. The BIN lander has the phone number on it, while the Custom Lander does not. Why is this? They should add the phone number on there for retail buyers 1) who might be confused and need to speak with someone, 2) simply to instill trust, and 3) to perhaps submit an offer that I might accept or negotiate from. I know that I have made MANY sales from the buyer calling Godaddy and offering less; I usually end up selling these for 10% off the BIN price. Without the phone number, these sales are now out the window.

I can also say that the number of "Leads" in Afternic has dried up as well. Is this because there is no phone number (or chat ability) on the Custom Lander?

I am thinking about switching back to the BIN lander. This would stop any chance of installment program inducing the buyer. But it still might make me more money.

I can well understand your worries. Changing your vote in the boost poll will help as much as patiently testing occasionally dysfunctional landers.

I would support your perseverance with LTO. I have been able to win some good LTO deals at Afternic in a relatively short time. Six 12-24 month contracts, two of which have since been terminated by the buyers, provide me with a predictable monthly income. It's also nice that you don't lose any time with this model; just send the auth code for transfer to Godaddy to Afternic if not FT and you're done. If you're looking for a fly in the ointment, you'll find it in the initial liquidity. Every single deal as a sale would have benefited me more in the short! term. But that is understandable due to the system. Maybe you want to go from six to 12 months max. term to make it more attractive for buyers?

Incidentally, everything has been said about the current downsides of Afternic. Have any of the countless beta testers in the other threads received a bug bounty?

I still have one. My most recent lead, not a pushed up old lead but a new interest, was in “Qualifying” status for eight long days. I got curious and realized that the website was dead. One of the much-discussed cases of blank pages with https/domain/lander. Great to still receive inquiries in such cases.
Since I am a non-booster and hold many domains with Dynadot, I kept looking. It is a disaster. Many Afternic domains that were successfully cash parked just weeks ago are blank. I have moved the nameservers to other marketplaces, so there is no reason for alleged checks after PM contact.

 

[End User King]

Let's unpack this bold face lie
"the Custom Lander has been extremely popular with sellers across the board and it looks like your portfolio has been performing consistently."