Namecheap Garbage Auctions - Something Shady

[Lauren Stephens]

So, I have been bidding on namecheap auctions. Namecheap owns all these names, they are not privately owned. I won an auction for a domain name and then I noticed that the screen now says that they extended it (presumably so they could get more money!). Has anyone else had this happen? Is this normal? I have done a lot of auctions and have never seen this on any other platform! ps namecheap extended the auction time TWICE.

 

[Kai W.]

In reality, an auction is an open and fair way of bidding. But this is not the case in the Internet, and at least so far no perfect solution has emerged. In real life, auctions are real-name or membership-based, and buyers are able to see each other. But this information is not available in the Internet, and 'auction APIs' are like off-site bids here. Perhaps a better mechanism will be created in the future, but for now this is the common practice of every online auction platform.

 

[pablohc86]

Try godaddy auctions. You will be very very very happy if the time get extended 20 minutes xD

Btw from what i see things, if they describe the time extension for every bid in the last 5 minutes in their rules, it's our decision if join that kind of marketplace or not.

 

[Sutruk]

You should thank them for extending the auction for 5 minutes in case of a last bid in that time frame.

If not, that last "sniper" bid would have won that auction in the last second, you would have lost that domain for $5 more, and you would be way more pissed off, believe me.

their claim that they do it to avoid snipers is bogus

Their claim for extending the auction to avoid snipers is a very very valid one.

Extending the auction for 5 minutes if a last bidder appears in the last 5 minutes is one of the fairest things every online auction should have.

 

[JB Lions]

It should never be extended. It was extended nearly 20 minutes total.

As many have pointed out, that's common practice with domain auctions. GoDaddy, Namejet, your auction etc. 20 minutes is not bad, I've been in some that were extended hours, some threads here at NP with some going on all day long. I prefer this than snipe type auctions. Haven't been in any ebay auctions in years but they don't extend, so lots of last second (literally) sniping going on. You can always set your max and proxy bid.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

No warning of this practice whatsoever

I'm sorry to correct you, but it is absolutely clear in the Namecheap guide to auctions.

• If a bid is placed in the last five minutes of an auction, the auction’s remaining time is extended to five minutes.

Also, as others have pointed out, the practice is widespread in domain auctions at other venues. Here on NamePros usually auctions get extended by bids (details depend on how the person setting the auction sets it).

-Bob