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warning Namecheap.com's Marketplace Questionable Policy

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silentg

DomainRetail.comTop Member
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I was part of a domain auction and ended up losing the auction to another bidder. That winning bidder tried to sell the domain before paying for it and didn't pay for the auction at the end since they couldn't find any offer within 2 day time period.

I was offered the domain for purchase but the problem was that the winning bidder had 17 bids in total and they only voided the winning bid. They wanted me to pay $2915 without removing the other bids. I went back and forth with their customer service team and they wouldn't see the issue. Worst of all their customer service team wasnt even reading the support ticket properly before sending the reply.

See the screenshot: Winning bidders bids are highlighted:

Screenshot 2022-03-21 at 11-01-09 meta.coupons is listed for sale - Place your bids now - Name...png


It took a twitter post and couple of days for them to notice the issue:


when they asked me to pay for it, they said there wouldn't be any penalty:
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and then when they cancelled the auction the next day, they sent me the opposite e-mail:
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This is their policy not to cancel bids.

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This post is to warn others when you're offered to buy a domain that winning bidder didn't pay. Check the bidding history before paying.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Dynadot auctions do this too if I am not mistaken. You have the option to pay for it or let it go.
Everyone else dropped out at 799 - that is really what you should get it for in a fair process. Their auction, their rules though. Been there. I usually just walk rather than feel some kind of way about it. Especially with a $$$ gap this much.
 
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Thanks for sharing that. It's amazing that someone would be selling the domain even before they bought it?! Curious things, these domain auctions.....
 
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Dynadot does not do this,, you all know me as someone who speaks his mind and truth. Namecheap is definately strating to follow in Godaddy foot steps. Fed up with sham & scam Need others to talk to me via pm.. I have an answer.
 
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Thanks for highlighting this @silentg.

I have just had my account (customer since 2004) banned today due to these bizarre business practices.


So I can assure you there is a (harsh) penalty.

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I have been asked to pay my top proxy bid in a number of auctions where the other bidder was non-paying.

I understand the Namecheap marketplace is new and not perfect, but despite numerous attempts I was unable to reach a support team member who could understand why this was unacceptable.

Perhaps we can get an official response from Namecheap as to why it is a policy to force users to pay for proxy bids when the other bids are not legitimate.

@tamar Would you be able to get an answer on this?
 
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Faced same issue yesterday, Was bidding on a name. I was the first bidder, a guy came and keep outbidding me. Yesterday I received a mail about the non payment of auction. His all bid should be void, since there are two of us. Namecheap told me to pay my highest bid. I did not want to lose the domain. SO I PAID.
 
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Keeping the shill bids in the price in unethical. Your thread title is way too polite, but thank you for the warning.
 
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Faced same issue yesterday, Was bidding on a name. I was the first bidder, a guy came and keep outbidding me. Yesterday I received a mail about the non payment of auction. His all bid should be void, since there are two of us. Namecheap told me to pay my highest bid. I did not want to lose the domain. SO I PAID.

Thanks for sharing Avijit. This definitely sounds frustrating when you want the name but don't get a fair price.

I have been in this situation and even though I wanted the name I did not pay.

Amazingly the domain was re-auctioned a few days later and the very same bidder (who did not pay the first time) was able to win the auction again.

By the end I just did not bid against this user because the outcome was always the same. They bid me up to the top of my proxy, then a few days later I get the bill as the second placed bidder.

And yet this account is still active when I know they have skipped the bill on at least a dozen auctions.
 
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That was NamecheapCEO bidding on his own domains :xf.laugh:
 
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Just bumping this to ensure any ongoing problems can be relayed.
 
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I had the same issue. I didn't even know and have paid for a couple names before but I got two runner up bids today by the same bidder.

Worse, they don't penalise the first bidder soon enough but will penalize the runner up.

This is highly unfair.
 
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While I agree NameCheap should ban non payers and not force 2nd bidders to pay, this kind of nonsense happens everywhere by unethical domainers. Bid your max and walk away. Don’t engage in a bidding war.
 
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This stuff happens in the real world boys! Good luck on the next auction!
 
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Same experience, terriable on NameCheap.
They need to leart to Godaddy, to remove all bids that the giving up payment bidder.
 
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Same experience, terriable on NameCheap.
They need to leart to Godaddy, to remove all bids that the giving up payment bidder.
According to this thread their CEO says that should no longer happen, contact him
 
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I'll chime in and say I think their whole auction process is suspect, at best. I tried it today after reading the various posts here and on Twitter.

In one instance I submitted a bid with over a minute to go on the auction, there were no other bidders registered on the system, it didn't take. Went to submit it again with over 30 seconds to go, and still nothing. Third time, oh sorry, auction has ended. And it showed an "ended" status (as one would suppose it would, if there were no bidders). Note that other bids I was placing on other domains were taking just fine during this time period.

On other auctions I was watching for domains with no bidders, after the auctions had ended certain names (some were valuable ones imo) went to a "cancelled" status.

1domaina.png

I asked their Customer Service about this, and was told, all domains go to a cancelled status if the bid wasn't paid on time - but there were no bidders reflected and I was watching them all morning long. But the one where my bid didn't take didn't go to a cancelled status ever.

Perhaps there's a glitch. Perhaps they show as "ended" first and then flip to "cancelled." But the process just feels off, as do the explanations.
 
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Sounds like a bug. If you bid under 5 minute mark then auction gets extended. Timer resets and starts from 5 minutes.

If a domain gets no bids then it goes into cancelled status. Some domains do get relisted for another 10 days auction and others go to the drop.
 
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Sounds like a bug. If you bid under 5 minute mark then auction gets extended. Timer resets and starts from 5 minutes.

If a domain gets no bids then it goes into cancelled status. Some domains do get relisted for another 10 days auction and others go to the drop.
As I mentioned, I'd buy that it's a bug - but they weren't offering that as an explanation so....
 
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Can anyone explain this? This is on a live auction with several days remaining...
Looks a like the shill has taken this guy all the way to his maximum, then somehow cancelled the bid?

nc.jpg
 
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This is still happening at NameCheap. 2nd Bidder has paid for the auctions.


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Another auction without paying bidder. This domain got relisted for auction again.
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This bidder "b9d2acc80da8" is still an active at NameCheap. Even though the bidder should've been banned, he/she is allowed to bid up auctions. Reported it to them yesterday and no action has been taken.

Screenshot 2022-09-18 at 20-27-44 i.p is listed for sale - Place your bids now - Namecheap.png

Screenshot 2022-09-18 at 20-27-26 nfts.pro is listed for sale - Place your bids now - Namecheap.png

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  • Screenshot 2022-09-18 at 20-27-36 i.p is listed for sale - Place your bids now - Namecheap.png
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