OUCH!

[Name Trader]

I just sold a domain at GoDaddy which I had dropped and it was picked up by HugeDomains. Had to go and buy the domain back from HugeDomains. Lost about $300 on the whole transaction. I'm usually super-careful about checking I still own the domain when negotiating a price at GoDaddy. This one seemed to have slipped thru the net. I actually went through the negotiations, accepted a counter-offer, went to Dynadot to transfer it back to GoDaddy, and found I didn't own it any longer. Gulp!

I was on my first and final warning from GoDaddy about this. I never actually sold another domain. I got the enquiry, checked the whois, made a counter offer of $1M and told them I didn't own the domain anymore. Please check the whois for the new owner. Seems the buyer didn't like the counter-offer and reported it to GoDaddy. So now if I get an offer on a domain I no longer own, I just let the offer expire, and then quietly delete the domain.

 

[forge]

Tell the buyer you will gladly handle the registrar transfer for... wait for it...

ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

 

[Name Trader]

Tell the buyer you will gladly handle the registrar transfer for... wait for it...

ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

I'm not sure if this was a joke or if you still do not understand that the $1M was for the domain which didn't sell, and invoked the first and final warning from GoDaddy.

 

[Cheryl Arbury]

I'm a total beginner and I understood- clearly- your first post.

 

[Beezy]

What kind of spreadsheets do you guys keep to keep track of your domains, where it's for sale, etc?

I should probably start a new thread for this, but I'd love to know how people are keeping track of their domain business.

 

[Name Trader]

I don't use any spreadsheets for that because all my domains are listed at all my sales venues. So don't waste my time following that. Yes you should open a new thread and not to disrupt somebody else's thread.

 

[thekiller]

I hand reg a domain and found out that the domain is listed on GD auctions. :P

 

[Domainace]

Thanks, Stu. This is dangerous territory, and reminded me to look again. I have had people inquire about names simply because they see their domain name (which they probably bought from me) is listed for sale and want to stir up some trouble.

I, too, don't understand why the various auction houses don't scan the whois for changes and remove names automatically. In fact, I would love a piece of software that compares my portfolio with my listed names at various venues, and alerts me when I am listing a name I no longer own.

It's bad enough getting a serious offer on a domain you've dropped and can't recover without worrying about this other stuff.

 

[domainhacks-931385]

HugeDomains is very very sneaky. There was a domain on my expiring auction watchlist. I was thinking at picking it up. It dropped below $5 on expiring auctions (no one picked it up). HugeDomains snapped it at pending delete and now lists it at $2395.

That's domaining in a nutshell.

No one wants to pick it up at $5 freaking dollars.

Then two weeks later its no less than $2395.

 

[forge]

HugeDomains is very very sneaky. There was a domain on my expiring auction watchlist. I was thinking at picking it up. It dropped below $5 on expiring auctions (no one picked it up). HugeDomains snapped it at pending delete and now lists it at $2395

Which is why I simply cannot fathom purchasing a name from them only to recover it, not to mention lose money in the process. I'd prefer to be banned from GoDaddy. But I know Stu's situation is a lot different than my own.

By the way, I have nothing against HugeDomains specifically. It's how this stupid game is played all across the board. I have had names drop by error or otherwise and been up against having to pay thousands of dollars to recover it. No thanks.

 

[DU]

Because if I'd done that, GoDaddy would have cancelled my auction account, if they followed thru on their warning. GoDaddy provides about half my sales in a year. So I could not afford to be barred by them.

This is what proxies and multiple accounts are for...

I don't know whether to commend you for your good character or condemn you for giving every scammer a new way to scam (I've suggested it before though...) I would probably have walked away, truth be told. Over low $ it's not worth anyone's effort and non-payment isn't exactly unusual

But i guess you are of higher moral character than me.

 

[billp3]

I genuinely thought I had checked that I'd owned the domain before I countered

Where do you normally check your whois info? If you did a search on who.is to verify you were the current owner, it might have shown you an old record. It doesn't always auto-refresh unfortunately.

 

[Name Trader]

@Grace Delete - I guess so.... or maybe richer... or maybe less frugal with my money... or don't want to tarnish any reputation I have left... or just plain stupid. If I had to guess at one, I guess at the latter

BTW. Multiple accounts wouldn't work very well with all my domains locked down in the banned account. AFAIK.

Approx half of my annual sales come thru GoDaddy Auctions. I definitely need them more than they need me.

 

[Mr.Natwarlal]

happened with me to but it flashed in my mind at the time of offer that I have already sold it to one np mate here. It was my first and only flippa domain catalog offer received so far..

 

[Name Trader]

Thanks. It not over yet. The domain is still "Funds received - authorization pending" at GoDaddy, and the domain has a 60 day transfer lock at NameBright.

Ok NameBright support is in the toilet as far as I'm concerned. As I said. After I logged into NameBright I couldn't unlock the domain because it had a fresh 60 day lock. It's a long story, but to cut it short, HugeDomains told me a I could request it to be unlocked If I sent them ID. I did that, and very quickly they said it was unblocked. Not half an hour later they emailed me back to say NameBright, because it was a change of registrars, there was a 60 day lock (WTF is that all about). NameBright weren't even aware that this was a HugeDomains DropCatch, registered at NameBright, which should have been pushed to me, thereby not incurring any further lock. Well after another few rounds of tooing-and-frowing with me, they appeared to reluctantly change their minds and unlocked the domain. So for now, the domain is only locked for 1 more month, rather than 2.

NameBright were absolutely clueless and brainless throughout this support process.

 

[discobull]

Ok NameBright support is in the toilet as far as I'm concerned. As I said. After I logged into NameBright I couldn't unlock the domain because it had a fresh 60 day lock. It's a long story, but to cut it short, HugeDomains told me a I could request it to be unlocked If I sent them ID. I did that, and very quickly they said it was unblocked. Not half an hour later they emailed me back to say NameBright, because it was a change of registrars, there was a 60 day lock (WTF is that all about). NameBright weren't even aware that this was a HugeDomains DropCatch, registered at NameBright, which should have been pushed to me, thereby not incurring any further lock. Well after another few rounds of tooing-and-frowing with me, they appeared to reluctantly change their minds and unlocked the domain. So for now, the domain is only locked for 1 more month, rather than 2.

NameBright were absolutely clueless and brainless throughout this support process.

I wonder if the lock is because of their 30 day refund policy?

Does the lock prevent you from pushing the domain to another account?

 

[Name Trader]

OK. Andrew reached out to me via PM. The lock is imposed from all purchases from my country because of the amount of fraud they've had from my country. So they weren't picking on me It wouldn't have prevented me transferring to another NameBright account, but the the new 60 day lock would have been carried over (because of the fraud thing). I actually managed to get the 60 day lock removed, which only now has the new registration lock to complete. And I transferred it to my main account without any further problems. So I'm satisfied, even though it felt like pulling teeth, at times. Andrew is going to speak to his staff today, from what he has learned.

 

[hookbox]

I have been meaning to do this too. But I was waiting for a break in my sales there before doing it because I was not sure how it would affect ongoing negotiations. At this time, I have 3 current uncompleted sales at GoDaddy and about 10 ongoing negotiations.

What I did was a big mistake. Now the names that are 90 days from expiring I can't re-list on GD auctions until I renew them even though they are 3 months from expiring. So if I want to list them in GD auctions again I have to renew all the ones that are still 3 months from expiring. That sucks.

 

[Name Trader]

Alls well that ends well. The buyer refused (by not answering) my initial contact via GoDaddy telling him to open a NameBright account for a quick push. Now almost 3 weeks later, after some intervention by GoDaddy, they open an account at NameBright, the domain has been pushed, and I have been paid. End result, I haven't tarnished my reputation at GoDaddy Auctions and I'm lighter by $300 I'm actually surprised the buyer didn't wait until the lock was removed in just over 1 weeks time.

 

[Name Trader]

What I did was a big mistake. Now the names that are 90 days from expiring I can't re-list on GD auctions until I renew them even though they are 3 months from expiring. So if I want to list them in GD auctions again I have to renew all the ones that are still 3 months from expiring. That sucks.

OK. Lesson learned. I'll just go thru my sales for the last three years and delete them individually. This doesn't clear up domains I've dropped. So the problem still exists, and it could still happen again.

 

[greggb]

After reading these stories, and knowing that GoDaddy has virtually unlimited access to whois information, I don't know why they don't do more to ensure problems like these don't arise. All it would take is a simple whois query at the time of a bid or offer to make sure the domain belongs to the seller. IMO this is pure, unadulterated laziness on their part. But I guess GoDaddy is big enough it can be that lazy/sloppy.

Sedo and Flippa demonstrate considerable laziness as well. I mean, seriously. These are some of the leading technological companies in the world, and their basic functionality sucks.