What is going on with GoDaddy Auctions!

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So, you don't usually see bids on names if they just hit the GD expired auction (unless they are premium or 4L names) with 9 days left. i was looking at expiring names today and these sh*t names have bids on them already, wtf am i missing???

So i did a general sample search of 500 names on GD exp auctions

There were 140 with initial bids (excluding 4L's) - that's almost 30% of the names with pre bids.

So even if no else bids on these names - that's over $3k in auction/renewal fee's (just on the sample i did - there are most likely 100's or 1,000's more)

Here are a few random sample names - Am i totally missing something?

vtmoon.com $12 * USD$ 9D 23H
lagocel.com $12 * USD$ 9D 23H
darubazz.com $12 * USD$ 9D 22H
dongwww.com $12 * USD$ 9D 22H
mbucd.com $12 * USD$ 9D 22H
wildgrfx.com $12 * USD$ 9D 22H
cmkmg.com $12 * USD$ 9D 22H

 

[Joe Styler]

You will see more info on the valuation in the future. For now this is only some tests we are running with it, but we plan on talking more about it and the data behind it. Also right now we are only showing the values on expired domains, which means if you list your domains for sale there will be no valuation assigned to them. Thanks for the feedback. The more communication we have the better for sure. Normally I am around to answer things it was just bad timing with the domaining europe conference keeping me pretty busy day and night until I got back to the States. The conference was very good in case anyone is wondering if they should go to the next one.

 

[Asfas1000]

The more communication we have the better for sure.

Then I will voice my opinion

The term "valuation" is misleading, and unethical.

A "valuation" is a legitimate estimation of the true value of an asset.

Godaddy's "valuation" is "what it *could* fetch from an end user".

But, since the vast majority of domains will never sell to an end-user, the value of the asset must be discounted accordingly. If one makes simple assumptions, the conclusion is that most domains have a valuation (as in real market value) in the $0 - $40 range. So no, Godaddy is not selling $1,500 assets for $20 or $200....It's just that Godaddy enjoys having a huge number showing next to the current bid price.

 

[Arca]

The auction platform itself is serious business for both buyers and sellers .. and so if even the illusion of broken integrity is given then that has serious effects both directly in the short term where people can't figure out what is going on .. as well in the long term where people would be less inclined to use a competitive auction system where it seems certain players are favoured (as clearly many people could think is the case here with HugeDomains' API).

Strange things are taking place at GD auctions from time to time, but there is usually no clear way for regular buyers to know when you're bidding and something is off, because there is no transparency at present. Somebody was allowed to cancel thousands of bids, as if it was no big deal. But it is a big deal. A regular seller can't cancel any bids. And these bids did not exist in a vacuum. They affected other regular bidders. And if regular buyers do not honor their bids, they are booted off the platform. I understand that GoDaddy may give some big spenders special privileges (just like big sellers play by different rules than regular sellers over at Afternic), but that makes it even more important to introduce transparency measures to protect us regular sellers who are affected by these big buyer's behaviors, as they have different bidding rights and systems provided to them.

The introduction of bidding handles would help a lot in this regards. NameJet, SnapNames, DropCatch, and Pheenix use them. GoDaddy should too. Is it really that technically difficult for the largest registrar in the world, in 2017, to peg bids to bidding handles? Spotting suspicious bidding patterns or activity is possible when that entity's bidding is connected to a fixed handle. But when all we see is "bidder 1" and "bidder 2" etc., it's impossible to discern anything at all. I have seen bidding handles being requested here at NP countless time, but why can't these be introduced? What kinds of bidding activity needs to be hidden at GD Auctions? When all of the other major bidding platforms today, NameJet, SnapNames, DropCatch, and Pheenix, are transparent enough to show who you're bidding against, why can't GoDaddy do the same?

 

[Ategy]

You will see more info on the valuation in the future. For now this is only some tests we are running with it, but we plan on talking more about it and the data behind it.

Do you genuinely not think this is the type of communication and information disclosure that should be shared front and center and in detail with absolutely everyone who sees such valuations BEFORE (or at least AS) they are implemented. ESPECIALLY if they are only "some tests"?

Anyhow .. I'm smart enough to completely ignore these valuations (would be nice if I had the option of removing them .. lol), and quite frankly they probably do more good for me than bad as it takes away attention from some of the other domains I actually am interested in! lol

But it's stuff like that which send a very loud message to end users that GoDaddy does not care about transparency .. and to be honest .. I'm not quite sure how GoDaddy doesn't see this rather glaring fact?

It's likely one of those cases where there is a genuine to make a better product for customers, but the people involved are so close to the product during development, that they sometimes end up missing some important points and/or the bigger picture. I have no doubt in my mind that GoDaddy is genuinely trying to make improvements with nothing but the best of intentions .. but the unintended results make it seam otherwise.

Valuations should never be presented without at least some basic information on how they were made. ESPECIALLY if they are a test/beta that quite obviously is far from being accurate.

Somebody was allowed to cancel thousands of bids, as if it was no big deal. But it is a big deal.

I agree with a lot of your points .. but honestly .. as long as they cancelled the bids within the specific parameters I mentioned above .. I don't think it really matters that they cancelled the bids. They implemented the changes rather poorly and it's not unreasonable for them to fix things considering it was mostly their fault.

HOWEVER ...

I do have a huge issue however with the way it was done and their excuses after the fact here as opposed to what you'd expect from a company that values their integrity .. which would have been to actively and aggressively notify everybody who visited the platform.

It comes across as very disingenuinuous when they offer to repair the damage for us after the fact when they've already been caught with their pants down. An auction house that manipulates bids (even for good reason as I think the case is here) without full and equal disclosure to everybody in an extremely timely manner has a communications breakdown issue and much more importantly leaves the door open for people to very fairly and understandably question their overall integrity of said company.

On multiple occasions I've had to contact my rep because I was double charged or wrongly billed for something ... and the response was always "oh .. they were already planning on getting to that soon". I'm not sure what it's like in the states, but where I live in Canada (more specifically Quebec) there are serious consumer protection laws in place for situations like that.

We did not think it was fair since the customers did not know. If anyone who thought they were outbid now wins the auction and does not want the domain please contact me directly and I will help you out.

Seriously @Joe Styler .. this is a great offer and the correct solution .. but don't you think it would be more appropriate to offer this clearly and openly to everyone on the GoDaddy platform itself where all this actually happened ... instead of a tiny thread in a relatively obscure sub-forum on a site GoDaddy officially has no affiliation at all with.

The way it is now it just feels like you're trying to quietly appease those who noticed instead of actually being committed to transparency, integrity and actually doing the right thing from the start the next time something like this happens.


At the end of the day I guess it makes no difference .. GoDaddy has the domains we want .. so we don't have much of a choice but to put up with the bugs, incorrect billings and lack of transparency ... I'm still a customer .. lol

The ironic part is that I'm pretty confident there is no deliberate evil conspiracies going on .. all my real conversations with real people at GoDaddy always leaves me with a confident feeling that the person I talked to really cares about my products and me as a customer. My big issue is pretty much with the buggy platform, bureaucracy, wrong/incomplete information/pricing/communication etc etc


Anyhow Joe .. sorry for the rant .. but I'm just saying it exactly how it really is .. glad you had a good trip!