STOP holding domains hostage

[robert widener]

most registries work with domain agents , a company that holds domains hostage for 199 $ or more . you look up a domain & see its available , you want to think about it , come back 10 minutes later to reg it & da wants 199 $ for it . da & the registry split the profits . VERY UNETHICAL & GREEDY

 

[Joe Styler]

Happened to me one time with Godaddy

We do not share any data with other companies or do anything in any way remotely related in any way to what is being stated on this thread. If you look up a name to buy we don't buy it or tell anyone else to buy it period. That is quite an accusation.

 

[Ategy]

This is a regular accusation. The solution is simple .. register the domain at another registrar .. or don't buy anything from that registry if you think it's at that level.

One important thing to note is that prices do change sometimes because of database connection errors. Meaning that a premium domain will show at regular price if the registrar is having issues connecting to the registry pricelist database. This has happened to me in the past (before I was actually "domaining"). It's an unfortunate fact that this happens MUCH more often than it should.

Finally .. do not take offence .. but your accusations are pretty meaningless unless you share the specifics. If you want to generate awareness to actually get some pressure to make things better then you need to be constructive and post facts. Just posting baseless accusations is done every single day in the domain industry .. and you'll find most domainers at this point more annoyed by empty accusations like yours than by anything else.

What is the domain? (at the very least post the TLD, although I'd want to know the specific domain before assuming any potential wrongdoing)
What is the registry you tried to buy the domain at?
When exactly did the two searches take place?

 

[kam]

most registries work with domain agents , a company that holds domains hostage for 199 $ or more . you look up a domain & see its available , you want to think about it , come back 10 minutes later to reg it & da wants 199 $ for it . da & the registry split the profits . VERY UNETHICAL & GREEDY

You should always use official whois server to check domain availability.

 

[NYJimbo]

most registries work with domain agents , a company that holds domains hostage for 199 $ or more . you look up a domain & see its available , you want to think about it , come back 10 minutes later to reg it & da wants 199 $ for it . da & the registry split the profits . VERY UNETHICAL & GREEDY

Never seen this before. Any proof ?

 

[urlurl]

i dont think its the registries that are doing it - i think its spies and/or bots. i most cases if you dont respond or buy, it will be available to reg a few days later. happened to me once.

 

[Joe Styler]

You can also Google - Sightings of Bigfoot, or using pixie dust to fly like Peter Pan if you are interested. I think you will find them about as accurate as us buying searched domains. I have stated over and over we do not.

 

[alcy]

notice how no registry reps will respond to this ? i'd love to hear from them .

im pretty sure their reasons not to respond are different

 

[creataweb]

Do you mean registrars?

@namesilo @Dynadot @NetworkSolutions @Epik.com @Joe Styler @name.com @namecheap @DotsterInc

 

[golan]

you look up a domain & see its available , you want to think about it , come back 10 minutes later to reg it & da wants 199 $ for it

You should always use official whois server to check domain availability.

@robert widener i remember clearly you have already got this same advise in some other thread. But you keep going around and whining. Maybe try to find another hobby, domaining seems to be very difficult for you... Good luck

 

[.X.]

No tricks, only treats @namesilo, straight forward and customer service is Tier 1, I am not an employee or affiliated with NameSilo except as a customer, a no BS solution to people that are looking to pack their portfolio in a safe place, not to mention , you can use 3 steps of verification on your account.

 

[anantj]

in defense of registrar reps , if you repeat something long enough your bound to start believing it yourself

Applies to you as well

 

[iAchilles]

Never seen this before. Any proof ?

Right here. I'm the boogieman, the guy who has inside info on domain searches, specifically at namecheap.com apparently. Just ask the guy who called me every name in the alphabet who had the name in his cart but had an issue with their card.

I'm still waiting for the lawsuit.

 

[tldboss]

Can you provide proof? that Godaddy are front running domain names.

I guess most NP members wont take you serious, unless you provide proof.

 

[alexatopper]

most registries work with domain agents , a company that holds domains hostage for 199 $ or more . you look up a domain & see its available , you want to think about it , come back 10 minutes later to reg it & da wants 199 $ for it . da & the registry split the profits . VERY UNETHICAL & GREEDY

Happened to me one time with Godaddy

 

[frostify]

Some registrys can register a domain name for up to 3 days I believe (for free) and then they can essentially "refund themselves" after 3 days and release the domain name. It might be worth it to check back on your hostage domain in a few days and it might be freed up but otherwise I'd recommend using a whois service to perform lookup requests. I personally use Whois.com and Whois.net. You can also search for domains somewhere more reputable such as GoDaddy, NameCheap, or NameSilo (all ones I've had success with).

 

[Windoms]

Sometimes there's problems with price updates. It shows the sale price for example 29$, then it updates the system and you get the normal price like 200 - 300$ for some extensions.
Maybe you were not dealing with .coms

 

[urlurl]

its not the registers that do this - its a program bot or spyware watching what you search and reg it - they list it for cheap in hopes you buy it from them, if you dont they just get a refund on the name.

 

[Foggy]

i once met a chic in a bar in iowa city ( home of the hawkeyes ) who worked at a registrar & she said that the industry standard when confronted about domain frontrunning was to DENY DENY DENY

That’s some pretty heady stuff there. How high up was she in the Iowa City’s domain industry nexus? Did you even get her business card? All pretty absurd.

 

[anantj]

so basically your calling "alexatopper" a liar ? please correct me if im wrong .

Looks to me like @Joe Styler is correcting @alexatopper and your understanding of their service!

 

[Ategy]

i’ll say it loud & clear ...... YOUR A LIAR

Instead of making serious allegations that quite honestly can't be proven either way, why do you actually ask productive questions.

Like perhaps what security steps registrars take to ensure rogue employees can't access your data (search or otherwise).

GoDaddy most certainly does collect your data (they send you emails remind you to buy it if it's still available, so the data is being collected), but it's a big step to accuse them of using/selling it to benefit anyone other than yourself.

At the end of the day, ANY registrar that does collect such data is open to security breaches .. from hackers .. but mostly for employees .. and the truth is .. that there is no way to be 100% sure either way without the registrar allowing you to go in and audit their code .. which something tells me isn't likely to ever happen ... (Correct me if I'm wrong @Joe Styler and @Paul Nicks .. lol .. or should I call you Big Foot and Peter Pan?)

So the only answer is .. if you don't trust a registrar .. don't use them. As there simply is no way to ever prove to you that there isn't some leak.


Also don't forget that GoDaddy doesn't make much money on domains compared to their add-on products .. so as a corporate policy, it really wouldn't make sense for them to sell that data to domainers who would only buy domains without any add-on services. Again though .. rogue employees would have that consideration.

 

[winst]

The alternative theory is even scarier...

The registrars did 't do it. Your computer was compromised and the hacker installed a key logger.
The hacker knows you were interested in the domain by reading your search history and quickly buys it and tried to sell it to you.

But all seriousness, I just don't think registrars would(or should) do this because it is just so much development work and very little upside (most people do not fall for it), and risk alienating and lose customers forever.

 

[Gube]

The alternative theory is even scarier...

The registrars did 't do it. Your computer was compromised and the hacker installed a key logger.
The hacker knows you were interested in the domain by reading your search history and quickly buys it and tried to sell it to you.

But all seriousness, I just don't think registrars would(or should) do this because it is just so much development work and very little upside (most people do not fall for it), and risk alienating and lose customers forever.

And at the top of that, it's prohibited by the Registry Agreement
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/registries/registries-agreements-en
Specification 9
"register names in the TLD or sub-domains of the TLD based upon proprietary access to information about searches or resolution requests by consumers for domain names not yet registered (commonly known as, “front-running”); or"

Gube

 

[robert widener]

notice how no registry reps will respond to this ? i'd love to hear from them .

 

[robert widener]

This is a regular accusation. The solution is simple .. register the domain at another registrar .. or don't buy anything from that registry if you think it's at that level.

One important thing to note is that prices do change sometimes because of database connection errors. Meaning that a premium domain will show at regular price if the registrar is having issues connecting to the registry pricelist database. This has happened to me in the past (before I was actually "domaining"). It's an unfortunate fact that this happens MUCH more often than it should.

Finally .. do not take offence .. but your accusations are pretty meaningless unless you share the specifics. If you want to generate awareness to actually get some pressure to make things better then you need to be constructive and post facts. Just posting baseless accusations is done every single day in the domain industry .. and you'll find most domainers at this point more annoyed by empty accusations like yours than by anything else.

What is the domain? (at the very least post the TLD, although I'd want to know the specific domain before assuming any potential wrongdoing)
What is the registry you tried to buy the domain at?
When exactly did the two searches take place?

lol , e-mail me i have a bridge in brooklyn i'd like to sell ya ... & guess what ? it costs 199$

 

[robert widener]

Do you mean registrars?

@namesilo @Dynadot @NetworkSolutions @Epik.com @Joe Styler @name.com @namecheap @DotsterInc

yes