discuss Why are my names listed at GNAME?!?

[markfromslo]

I am seeing that quite a few of my domain names (that are only listed at Afternic) are for sale at GNAME for higher prices. WTF? Anyone know what is going on. Very shady.

 

[Future Sensors]

I am seeing that quite a few of my domain names (that are only listed at Afternic) are for sale at GNAME for higher prices. WTF? Anyone know what is going on. Very shady.

GNAME happens to be an Afternic Partner, which could be why.

https://help.afternic.com/s/article/Afternic-Partners

A lot of Afternic partners have an additional markup, and that's shady indeed. Especially given that Afternic TOS prohibits Sellers from listing domains at different prices across platforms.

 

[Eric Lyon]

What @Future Sensors said..

Just about every platform in the Afternic network charges a commission when a sale closes. If Gname is one of those partners and wants to maintain the same net you’d get from Afternic and also cover its own overhead, it must add a premium on top of Afternic’s price.

For Example

• Afternic list price: $1,000
• Afternic commission: 30% = seller nets $700
• Gname wants 10% commission plus still pay you $700 = it lists at $700 ÷ (1 – 0.10) ≈ $778

That way, Gname collects its 10% and you still see your full $700.

According to a write-up DNW ( @DomainNameWire ) did in 2023, Afternic’s Membership Agreement allows approved reseller partners to add a markup above your Afternic “Buy Now” price and keep the difference, so having Gname list your domain for more isn’t a violation. A violation would apply if the domain was listed on a sales lander for less than the Afternic pricing. - Source

 

[Future Sensors]

Afternic commission: 30%

Yeah. The 30% commission figure represents a worst‑case scenario, effectively losing nearly a third of your revenue to Afternic. This typically happens when Afternic Boost is enabled (it's enabled by default) and the GoDaddy network nameservers are not being used for the landers.

https://help.afternic.com/s/article/What-are-your-fees-commissions

 

[markfromslo]

I talked to my Afternic rep about this, and he said they are aware of the situation and working on it. FWIW.

 

[Future Sensors]

I talked to my Afternic rep about this, and he said they are aware of the situation and working on it. FWIW.

What do they mean? Isn't it just expected behavior?

 

[Eric Lyon]

What do they mean? Isn't it just expected behavior?

That's what I thought as well.

 

[markfromslo]

What do they mean? Isn't it just expected behavior?

It's apparently against the terms of service for a partner to price higher. I'm going to clarify this though. My rep said, "We are aware and I believe the team that handles partner sites is looking into it."

 

[Future Sensors]

It's apparently against the terms of service for a partner to price higher. I'm going to clarify this though. My rep said, "We are aware and I believe the team that handles partner sites is looking into it."

I'll be watching this case closely, as it may represent a dramatic shift from Afternic's established approach.

Do keep us informed.

 

[Future Sensors]

Tagging @GoDaddy.

 

[Eric Lyon]

I'll be watching this case closely, as it may represent a dramatic shift from Afternic's established approach.

Do keep us informed.

Likewise... seems the opposite of what they used to allow and what's been published about it.

 

[phaethon]

But how many sales come from the Afternic network? Based on my sales 95% of sales came from GoDaddy and 5% from Name cheap / Spaceship

 

[markfromslo]

Update: "It is against the terms for the user to not use uniform pricing across our platforms... The partner site for some reason has decided to increase pricing on all listings synching over from Afternic...the partner site team is taking a look."

They said that "It is against the terms for the user to not use uniform pricing across our platforms." And that they are aware of it and looking into it.

Apparently, gname has done this across the board on all listings. For those with their names listed at Afternic, see if any of your names are also listed at gname at higher prices.

 

[Future Sensors]

For those with their names listed at Afternic, see if any of your names are also listed at gname at higher prices.

I'm seeing an additional 20% markup above the Afternic BIN price.

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

Check netsoil, namesilo, all the partners.
Prolly find all kinds different pricing

 

[markfromslo]

I'm seeing an additional 20% markup above the Afternic BIN price.

This isn't good. That 20% extra might be enough to cause the buyer to pass and look for other names. Also, my charm pricing like $2,999, $4,99, $9,999 goes out the window.

@GoDaddy @Afternic is slow to fix things like this, but I hope they do soon as it very well may affect sales.

 

[markfromslo]

Check netsoil, namesilo, all the partners.
Prolly find all kinds different pricing
Show attachment 282821

I checked about a 10 registrars and of them I see that Name.com and Namesilo.com are adding 20%.

 

[markfromslo]

My rep just got back to me again and apologized that he misinformed me. It is NOT against the terms of service to markup prices.

I think this policy stinks, for the reason I said above.

As examples my $2,999, $4,999, $9,999 prices become $3,598.80, $5,998.80, and 11,998.80. These are much less appealing prices. And most all buyers are NOT going think "gee, I wonder if it's selling for less at another registrar?" If they don't like the price, they will just move on.

And if it sells at the higher price, I don't get any of that extra. It is pocketed by the registrar.

 

[Eric Lyon]

My rep just got back to me again and apologized that he misinformed me. It is NOT against the terms of service to markup prices.

I think this policy stinks, for the reason I said above.

As examples my $2,999, $4,999, $9,999 prices become $3,598.80, $5,998.80, and 11,998.80. These are much less appealing prices. And most all buyers are NOT going think "gee, I wonder if it's selling for less at another registrar?" If they don't like the price, they will just move on.

And if it sells at the higher price, I don't get any of that extra. It is pocketed by the registrar.

Ya, that's how it's been for a while.

A violation would apply if the domain was listed on a sales lander for less than the Afternic pricing, but they do allow network partners to add onto the price to make a little revenue themselves (Kind of a Thank You bonus or commission for syndicating the listing to get more eyeballs).

 

[NameGroove]

GNAME happens to be an Afternic Partner, which could be why.

https://help.afternic.com/s/article/Afternic-Partners

A lot of Afternic partners have an additional markup, and that's shady indeed. Especially given that Afternic TOS prohibits Sellers from listing domains at different prices across platforms.

Afternic specifically allows reseller partners to increase prices upon approval
https://www.afternic.com/legal/agreements/membership-agreement

Section 12
"You understand that certain reseller distribution partners may, upon approval by the Company and at Company's sole discretion, add a markup to the sale price of your domain name and that the reseller distribution partner may keep this markup in its entirety, and that you will receive no payment for the portion of the sales price that is marked up."