Premium listing purchase at Godaddy showed up in my account in less than 15 minutes.

[hookbox]

Today I purchased a premium listing at Godaddy and it showed up in my account in less than 15 minutes. I have checked the history on the name and the last one I could find was from 2013. Nothing from 2014 or 2015. I find it odd that the whole process from start to finish only took less than 15 minutes. I know sometimes Godaddy has names in their system that show up as registered when they are clearly available because they have not been removed from their auction or premium listings.

I'm wondering if I paid a premium listing price on a name that actually was available to be hand registered because it was not removed from their system. Possibly @Joe Styler could chime in on this one.

 

[Joe Styler]

The names showing as being registered when they are not does happen from time to time due to various things, such as technical issues or bad data from the registry etc. I have not seen anyone pay a premium price for a new domain that is a hand reg ever, with the exception of the new gtlds, some of which charge a premium price on the new registration of the domain and subsequent renewals. If you want me to check in depth on your domain just let me know the name and I will be able to give you more information.

 

[Jasonn]

simple whois check will let you know if the domain is freshly regged...

 

[Joe Styler]

Right whois should show the domain name as being registered already with a history but he said he checked and it did not so I am not sure if it is bad data on the whois or if there is an issue. I don't think there is an issue because the way our systems work I don't see any way it would be possible even if there was a technical error of some kind for someone to pay a premium price for a new hand reg (with certain exceptions such as the Gtlds I mentioned above). So I would be almost certain this domain was registered already and listed as a premium but I am happy to look into it more.

 

[S-B]

Premiums seem to show up instantly. I've had it happen on a couple of occasions.

 

[Joe Styler]

Yes premiums can move in minutes so I really think that is the case, the way we fulfill names I don't see how this could happen any other way but I am happy to look into it further. I like domaintools.com and also checking the registry whois create date, like verisign's whois if it is a .com would help. I think that will pretty much solve this but if not ping me.

 

[carob]

It is supposed to be instant, at least for the buyer. The ones I sold left my account at once it seemed. Then you wait 7 days to get paid.

 

[hookbox]

When I first purchased the name I decided to check the whois and it returned a blank whois like it was never registered. It must have been updating the whois instantly when I bought it. Then the name landed in my account so quickly and it made me really question what was going on. I didn't realize it would land in my account within minutes.

The quick transfer of the name is an added bonus that should be added to the homepage under the listing in my opinion. Maybe something like, "Buy this domain and have it in your account within minutes" would be a nice sales pitch for the buyer. Most buyers would assume that it's a long drawn out process that takes many days to complete.

Thank you @Joe Styler and all the other members here for commenting.

 

[Joe Styler]

It is a good selling point but sometimes the names aren't instant and we'd rather over deliver than overpromise.

 

[carob]

The quick transfer of the name is an added bonus that should be added to the homepage under the listing in my opinion.

It is a good selling point but sometimes the names aren't instant and we'd rather over deliver than overpromise.

Interesting - I had always assumed it was instant, that is, once payment cleared, with maybe some fine print for taking back a name sold in error. But Godaddy have made a lot of changes in the past year, so I checked one of my premium listings there to see what the listing says when you just put the domain into the searchbox on the front page of Godaddy.

Below the domain and price it says:

For more information on this domain, call 020 7084 1810 Learn More

Clicking on Learn More reveals this text:

What's a premium domain?
Premium Domain Names are more valuable than other domains because they are based on common words or phrases people often use in their online searches.

While GoDaddy does not own these domains names, we are one of a select group of registrars that can introduce you to the sellers.

For more information on this domain, call 020 7084 1810

 

[Joe Styler]

right on names registered with Godaddy and listed as a premium name in the domain control center the sales happen pretty quickly. They can also happen very quickly if part of a fast transfer network such as Afternic. But there are exceptions to that for various reasons.
The more common thing I want people to avoid is that there are many types of domains labled as premium. So for instance a GTLD domain not being sold at their base price by the registry or an auction BIN name, if you look carefully at the purchase screen it will say what it is, but it does say premium and people can confuse one premium name for another that is not instantly moved.