warning Unfair Afternic commission

[Igor Gabrielan]

I was contacted by an Afternic broker to buy a domain for his client. I wasn't even registered on the website afternic.com. Naturally, this domain was not in their listings or marketplace. The domain was sold for $25,000. Afternic wants to keep a 30% commission from me. Their rules are that the buyer pays the broker $99 + 20% of the sale price.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1953750227581546632

 

[carob]

Godaddy offering 15% instead of 30% might sound like a sort of compromise, but really the offer should be 5% ie the amount seller would have paid using Afternic checkout link.

They could have told him to use the checkout link. They did not.

Not a very long term view here by GoDaddy, alienating a seller with very valuable domains who might earn them commissions on big sales in the future. Godaddy seems focused on maximum profits at any cost right now, not longer term relationships.

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

Godaddy offering 15% instead of 30% might sound like a sort of compromise, but really the offer should be 5% ie the amount seller would have paid using Afternic checkout link.

They could have told him to use the checkout link. They did not.

Such small percentages are usually used when the buyer and seller communicate directly with each other and come to the platform to formalize escrow. On Sedo it is 3%. But in this case I did not know the buyer. So I probably could not claim 5%. But I could claim 0%, since according to the rules of brokerage transactions at GoDaddy the commission is paid by the buyer.

 

[carob]

That is, during the trading process, GoDaddy+Afternic can deviate from its rule of taking 20% from the buyer in brokerage deals?

I'm not defending Godaddy here, I don't like or trust them, but I can imagine a buyer saying 25k is my top offer inclusive of commission. So in that case buyer, as buyer sees it, they are paying 20k for the domain and 5k (at 20% rate) on the commission. it would be interesting to see what figures appear on their invoice.

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

I'm not defending Godaddy here, I don't like or trust them, but I can imagine a buyer saying 25k is my top offer inclusive of commission. So in that case buyer, as buyer sees it, they are paying 20k for the domain and 5k (at 20% rate) on the commission. it would be interesting to see what figures appear on their invoice.

I agree that this could happen. But then it would be logical for the broker to write to me: The buyer agrees to pay no more than $25,000, since we are withholding 20% from him, you will receive $20,000 net.

 

[carob]

I agree that this could happen. But then it would be logical for the broker to write to me: The buyer agrees to pay no more than $25,000, since we are withholding 20% from him, you will receive $20,000 net.

Yes that is logical and clear.

The interesting question here, is: does the buyer believe they paid commission or not? Does their invoice or email record show that? If yes, then GoDaddy has collected double commission.

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

Yes that is logical and clear.

The interesting question here, is: does the buyer believe they paid commission or not? Does their invoice or email record show that? If yes, then GoDaddy has collected double commission.

I'm unlikely to see this in the documents available to me.

 

[DomainRecap]

I still don't understand, why are they taking a comission (15% or 25%, doesn't matter), if the offer came through GoDaddy Brokerage service???

Exactly.

In the future, if anyone receives a domain inquiry from a GoDaddy broker DO NOT follow instructions to sign up to Afternic or add this domain to your Afternic account, and ALWAYS go through the GoDaddy Domain Broker Service.

Going anywhere near the Afternic back-end is just opening yourself up to commission abuse, as we've clearly seen in this case.

 

[vance]

always too expensive ,ignore them ,the buyer will contact you and then use escrow.com

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

Continuation of the story:

GoDaddy broker offered to buy the domain eddy.ai from me for 20 thousand dollars. The price is not important in this context. I gave the broker a link to this forum thread.

This is what he replied:

Thank you for your continued engagement in our conversation about EDDY.AI.I reviewed the thread you shared on NamePros/X, and I wanted to clarify an important distinction regarding our current transaction.

The Domain Broker Service I'm representing in this negotiation is entirely separate from Afternic's listing service. With our broker service:

1. We are not asking you to list your domain on Afternic or any marketplace

2. This is a direct buyer-to-seller transaction that we're facilitating

3. The buyer has agreed to cover all broker fees associated with this transaction

4. You would receive the complete agreed upon amount without any deductions for commissions

As you may know, Afternic is a company owned by GoDaddy, however my team is not part of Afternic. Should you accept the offer, you would not be subject to the commission structure discussed in that NamePros/X thread. Our current discussion involves a private buyer who is ready to complete this transaction with all fees on their side.

I appreciate your consideration of the offer, and I'm available to answer any questions you might have about how our broker service works for this specific transaction.

Best Regards,
GoDaddy | Aftermarket Domain Broker | Domain Broker Service

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

It is not clear who the previous broker was and why he did not adhere to these rules.

 

[Gabriel360]

Continuation of the story:

GoDaddy broker offered to buy the domain eddy.ai from me for 20 thousand dollars. The price is not important in this contest. I gave the broker a link to this forum thread.

This is what he replied:

Thank you for your continued engagement in our conversation about EDDY.AI.I reviewed the thread you shared on NamePros/X, and I wanted to clarify an important distinction regarding our current transaction.

The Domain Broker Service I'm representing in this negotiation is entirely separate from Afternic's listing service. With our broker service:

1. We are not asking you to list your domain on Afternic or any marketplace

2. This is a direct buyer-to-seller transaction that we're facilitating

3. The buyer has agreed to cover all broker fees associated with this transaction

4. You would receive the complete agreed upon amount without any deductions for commissions

As you may know, Afternic is a company owned by GoDaddy, however my team is not part of Afternic. Should you accept the offer, you would not be subject to the commission structure discussed in that NamePros/X thread. Our current discussion involves a private buyer who is ready to complete this transaction with all fees on their side.

I appreciate your consideration of the offer, and I'm available to answer any questions you might have about how our broker service works for this specific transaction.

Best Regards,
GoDaddy | Aftermarket Domain Broker | Domain Broker Service

Make them use Spaceship SellerHub.

 

[Gabriel360]

It is not clear who the previous broker was and why he did not adhere to these rules.

Check the email correspondence from the Wix.ai deal and see if the email signature is the same as this one.

By that, I'm talking about this part:

"Best Regards,
GoDaddy | Aftermarket Domain Broker | Domain Broker Service"

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

It seems that the previous broker did not have such a signature.
She signed, for example, Thanks, Mauli.

They may have freelance brokers on the side and they have rules of operation that are not documented on their websites.

Thou she have address - <[email protected]>

 

[Gabriel360]

It seems that the previous broker did not have such a signature.
She signed, for example, Thanks, Mauli.

They may have freelance brokers on the side and they have rules of operation that are not documented on their websites.

Thou she have address - <[email protected]>

Feels like they are from the same source, i.e GoDaddy Domain Broker Service. If so, that means they shouldn't have charged you any commission for that sale either.

Making you list the domain name on Afternic and then charging you commission for it seems like GoDaddy ultimately collected DOUBLE commission for a single transaction. Once from the buyer and then again from you via Afternic.

By the way, did the message for this new deal also come from an email address hosted at GoDaddy like [email protected]?

It's looking a lot like GoDaddy defrauded you in the previous deal.

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

The domain eddy.ai offer came from the address

[email protected]​

 

[Gabriel360]

The domain eddy.ai offer came from the address

[email protected]​

Looks like both offers came from the same source to me. GoDaddy seems to have defrauded you in the sale of Wix ai.

Add the difference to whatever your final price for Eddy.ai is, multiply that by 105% and make them buy it at Spaceship SellerHub.

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

Got another broker offer from the address [email protected] to sell the domain sommelier.ai for $500. Sent the broker a link to this forum thread.

 

[alcy]

Got another broker offer from the address [email protected] to sell the domain sommelier.ai for $500. Sent the broker a link to this forum thread.

dont mind my saying so but imo this is not your top name

gl

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

Domain sommelier.ai broker replied:

I a moment to look at the link that you shared with me. I believe their is some confusion with the information that was posted. This is 100% a GoDaddy domain broker service that our interested buyer has paid for. They have also agreed to cover all feed regarding the brokering of this deal. Afternic wil have no involvement in this deal.

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

I wrote this broker:

The domain wix.ai deal did not meet the conditions you described?