Moniker, wth are they thinking?? (On a rant)

[Ziggery.com]

To go further with the title, I'm talking about the T.R.A.F.F.I.C auction thats coming up in 2 weeks.

The people who know me, know that I'm a calm person who doesn't get worked up easily BUT this has got me mad enough to type this out!

Take a look through the list, there are names in there that people wouldn't give a reg fee for and they are let in to the auction out of the 110k names submitted. Personally, I think its time to fire some people who pick some of those names.

http://marketplacepro.moniker.com/auction/index.html

I think whoever picks these names should be true domainers and unbiased.

Man o Man, I'm as mad as hell over this, not because mine didn't get accepted into the auction, in fact a couple of mine did, but if you look at some of the names left out of the LIVE auction and put into the extended auction I think Moniker submissions department has their head stuck where the sun doesn't shine! To have a double premium LLLL.com in the auction listed between 1k-5k is just nuts!

If Moniker wanted to get more attention by broadcasting this live, well, they got my attention but I won't be watching it live. In fact, I've already sent a request in to have my names pulled from the auction because it's obvious they have no idea what's going on and couldn't run a drunk-fest in a brewery! Unbelievable!

I watched it last time and I was hoping they would have a different auctioneer, nope...well, I'm going to stop my rant there before I say something I'll regret because it's right on the tip of my tongue and I'm just not going there!!!

I apologize if I offended anyone who has names in this auction, that was not my intention!

Moniker Submissions Department: Replace them.....
Auctioneer: Replace him too
Snapnames: Do your homework

Thanks

Rhinoz on a Rant :td:

 

[MaguirePhD]

Moniker Hmnnnnnn....

Have some with Moniker for Paris. Missed Orlando. Not happy with reading these posts, though.

Gives a lot of room for skepticism, now.

Thanks,

Doc

 

[gazzip]

Pulling names is almost impossible as far as I can tell. I asked Monte to pull my domains from the last TRAFFIC. I was in the hospital for 3 weeks on morphine drip (not as much fun as it sounds). I explained this to Monte and said I just wanted one thing less to worry about while trying to save my life. He said "NO", unless I paid commission. He insisted on sticking to the contract. This was BEFORE the auction list was announced! Nobody knew about the submitted names but Moniker.
.

Damn, no compassion eh ! WTH is wrong with these people ? A very sad way to act.


ps - Hope the doc fixed you up good :tu:

pps - I actually enjoyed my morphine experience :tri: :blink:

.

 

[SharonTucci]

This list isn't any different from ones in the past except there are more non-com's than usual. There's actually MORE I'm interested in myself as a buyer than I have been for the past few Traffic auctions. They accepted 12 out of 50 or so domains we submitted.

Not to defend Moniker here (I have posted my negative thoughts and experiences in the other Moniker thread) but selection of domains isn't just about the domain itself but also the reserve. A reserve should be set to stimulate interest in a domain. If you look at my other posts recently, I posted in the Roundtable auction thread some tips on submitting to auctions.

 

[DomainBuyerBroker]

For what it's worth, I sold a name at the Round Table live auction and it was a great process from start to finish.

 

[yandig]

I'd like to put my two cents in...

The Orlando auction will be my third TRAFFIC auction in which I've had domains up for bid. (I sold one in the November auction, none in the February) I have had nothing but praise for Moniker so far, and my rep (Don) has been excellent and responded quickly to any emails.

Now, I agree that their terms are a little bit constricting. It's hard to hold domains (without selling them to outside parties) while waiting to see which names are chosen for their auctions. I believe that's a call that each seller has to make --- is it worth inclusion in the auction to either hold all your domains or pay Moniker a commission on any sale? To me, the answer is "Yes, it's worth it", but that may change if I don't see any results at the Orlando auction or future auctions.

I think Moniker has to have the rigid exclusivity agreement to protect the integrity of their auctions. If buyers are bidding on domains that aren't in the "owner's" possession any more, then that creates a BIG problem for Moniker. They are obviuosly making a lot of money on these auctions, and don't want to lose their customers. Of course, they stand to alienate domain sellers, but I think that's a risk they are willing to take. There are a lot more potential sellers than buyers at this point.

I feel bad for those who have had negative experiences with Moniker. Hopefully, they are listening to all of the complaints to refine their auction practices. I look forward to seeing better relations between domainers and Moniker in the future.

 

[Rob J]

So moniker charge insane commissions with ridiculous auction terms, bad customer service and stupid decisions

Sedo is in bed with 1&1 who are at best borderline criminal scam artists and have proven in the past they are not trustworthy

So where is someone with a conscience supposed to go to auction domains? Unfortunately there are a lot of jerks and scammers in this business, could we please have just one honest and fair company to deal with, or is it always the scum that rises to the top in this industry?

 

[upbeat]

When I got the rejection e-mail from my Moniker rep, he enclosed a list of the silent auction domains that were accepted for auction. In all my 9 years of domaining, I have never seen such a terrible list for a major auction. Many of the domains had no commercial value at all. There were weird one-word domains with "words" that are not in common use and have strange spellings; three-word-domains with no type-in liklihood; and a lot of 2-word domains that just looked like newbie domainers just threw together. As a domainer who has sold at past major auctions at Moniker and elsewhere, this is really disappointing. It tends to make me believe that there's a trend away from choosing domains for the right reasons. I hope this industry is not going down the currupt path with favors being done. Between this situation and the ppc rates being down with the Google feed problem, it will soon become impossible to function as a legitimate domainer.

 

[Len]

There should be no penalty for withdrawing before the list is made public IMO. To still be expected to pay the commission is daylight robbery! There is absolutely no reason for this and, who decides the commission? How is that calculated being that the domain has not been sold?

 

[yandig]

TRAFFIC Auction Domains

There's actually MORE I'm interested in myself as a buyer than I have been for the past few Traffic auctions.

In all my 9 years of domaining, I have never seen such a terrible list for a major auction.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

It looks like Moniker may be targeting their domains to buyers based on which types of names they've been able to sell at previous auctions. I've noticed that they seem to have good success selling two-word .coms with good Google or Overture results, and that's where I've recently concentrated my acquisitions.

 

[npcomplete]

There should be no penalty for withdrawing before the list is made public IMO. To still be expected to pay the commission is daylight robbery! There is absolutely no reason for this and, who decides the commission? How is that calculated being that the domain has not been sold?

yep. In my case you have to wonder about the wisdom of Moniker getting commission for a single $17,500 sale, and losing a customer for life that has a lot of these types of domains. For the record, I emailed both Don and the CEO Monte, and the same response, regardless of the situation, before the list is announced, the contract is firm and no exceptions, morphine drip or not. In the last 6 months I have sold over $100k in domains through Moniker, and you would think for this one sale they would cut me some slack... but no. So they lost a customer and gained 15% of $17,500 on the LAST sale through their "service".

Marc

 

[mcahn]

auction list for TRAFFIC

I find some of these complaints puzzling....especially after receiving more positive emails on how good the quality and diversity this list is compared to other auctions. In addition, there are some huge big hitter names here that are making the news already.

We had more than 150K submissions for this event and there are tons of great names in all three venues. we are also making tweaks and adjustments to the list but wanted to get it out early for buyers to do their research.

We expect a great event and everyone should be supporting the auction, the names, the sellers and the buyers. This event is important and critical for our industry and we need to show unity, support, and stability and prove that the domain investment opportunities are good ones while other parts of the economy are in question.

More to come this week and next on the list.

Thank you for your support

 

[Ziggery.com]

Instead of saying that you find some of the complaints puzzling, tell us the complaints you don't find puzzling and that are a reality!

Please tell me you agree 100% with whats on the list!

 

[mcahn]

auction list

Rhinoz - it sounds like you are a disgruntled seller but you have names in the list? of course its not 100% but its probably the best quality list of names between all three (both live auctions and the extended for this event) that we have EVER had....that's not a bad thing but a good thing.

You are free to express your opinion, however, the slaughter language you are using here is totally not justified in my opinion and having reviewed and evaluated more names than probably anyone on any forum, I feel good about the list.

its the economical environment that we all have to battle at this point.

also please note that the combination of Moniker and SnapNames auction submission, sales, processing, and marketplaces will make this all improve throughout the summer and into the fall.

 

[Ziggery.com]

Hi Monte, I thank you for answering personally, and if you read into my post that I am disgruntled seller, then you read it wrong. I am disgruntled at the fact of the quality of names that are listed, especially when you go down the list and some names are worth reg fee. I'm not going to say which ones because that would not be fair to both the seller and the potential buyer. One of things main things that did bug me last night and I didn't post it was that quite sometime ago I asked for an appraisal from Moniker and it was rated at $4200 BUT it did not even get considered. I would just like to know what the criteria for picking the submissions are BECAUSE when I look down the list and see some names that are just plain crazy to be even considered and then I see a prime one word domain sitting in the extended auction when in fact it would draw Moniker/Snapnames and the seller much more recognition by being in the live auction, I just wondered what was being considered at all.

Now I don't want to turn this great forum into a slagging match, your rep has my phone number if you wish to answer my concerns 1 on 1, as I stated in the beginning of this thread I am a calm and mild mannered person but I feel fully justified in what I have said so far.

 

[mcahn]

Rhinoz - the names are a variety so that we cover as many niche markets and pricing segments that we can to be fair. The premier auction is not filled with ANY name not worth registration...nor is the low or no reserve auction so I would say that I do not agree with your evaluation or assessment in any way.

There may be less desirable and even more desirable names in the extended auction. The extended auction also has a variety of names and price points...always has. Yes there may be some names that do not make sense to some people and some may make more sense than others. Its not perfect nor are we and I am the first to admit that, however, I would say based on experience, previous sales, and auction success, we do a pretty good job....better than most if not all other companies in keeping our market strong which benefits each and every one of you whether you participate in the auction or not.

I respect and appreciate your feedback and comments and we will continue to try to get better names in at every event.

 

[JMJ]

I would have to agree with the OP. We submitted .coms where all extensions are taken and you have a name like cooltattoos.org where .info .biz .us and who knows what else are available. Here's another great selection
downloadnewringtones.com
Created: 2007-03-13
Expires: 2008-03-13
Registrar Status: redemptionPeriod

 

[wot]

I think part of the problem is lack of competition, we need new blood with new ideas, different viewpoints in the auction market place.

As domain sales gain more and more exposure hopefully big business will jump on the bandwagon, they will probably appoint independant "appraisers" to choose quality names with realistic reserves- I believe this was tried with an auction house but advice was apparently ignored? lost the thread. Targetting end users not predominately domain resellers as is the case atm.

I agree with Reece, Sedo is currently the best place to sell domains and maximise exposure, but again almost a monopoly in the field- oh for real competition.

One market that is gathering real steam is idn, but if they are asian characters, Chinese, Japanese etc ("not for sale") there is no sales platform at Sedo - the number one online auction house does not cater for a potential market in excess of 2 billion people, one third of the world's population- incredible

 

[mcahn]

well that is what we will have with the combined SnapNames and Moniker marketplace and sales system. I promise you all that it will get better for everyone.

 

[YAYnames.com]

Beauty IS in the eye of the beholder, and at the risk of getting completely and totally shredded here, I'll add my two cents as a relative newbie.

I think that the folks who are hard-core domainers have a very unique and often very warped perspective on value. There seems to be an almost unhealthy obsession with 2,3,4 letter names, many times with almost complete disregard to the usability of the short names -- i.e. they are short, therefore they must be really, really valuable.

There's also, in my humble opinion, way too much emphasis on earliest registration date, WordTracker, Overture, Google results, and Alexa rankings instead of good old common sense evaluation of the marketing value of names.

And in the end, that's what it's all about -- marketing. All those tools have their uses in evaluating names; anyone who thinks otherwise would be a fool. But my point is that hard-core domainers sometimes can't see the forest for the trees in evaluating the quality of names. Hopefully, the audience of a big auction is not by and large domainers, but marketers, advertisers and investors.

Blast away... I'm not thin skinned.

 

[wot]

well that is what we will have with the combined SnapNames and Moniker marketplace and sales system. I promise you all that it will get better for everyone.

Appreciate your comments Monte and hope that is the case, but personally still feel that more quality competition will be the biggest shot in the arm for our business.

Congrats on being one of the first in the field to create more demand and exposure., It does appear that Moniker/Snap have the right attitude but as always with business you can't stand still or somebody will come up and bite your b--s off.