Will Not Use DropCatch.com

[DomainVP]

As many of you know, DropCatch.com will catch a domain that has been backordered, and opens the auction open to the public. Great for them, terrible for being a domainer.

There was an auction for a name, which I have a steady buyer for in that niche. Max I have ever paid for a name in that niche was $150, and I easily sold for $1k+.

There was only myself and another domainer that placed a pre order. Over the next 3 days four more bidders came to the table, and the auction quickly went from the initial backorder price to well over $700 USD.

The only bidders were myself, and a 3rd party who did not backorder the domain, but who came along in the final 36 hours.

The profit margin & risk no longer made sense to compete on the name, so I was out.

If this is the evolution of dropcatching, you better get your names where you can and hold on tight. I never thought I would find myself saying, "I wish NameJet caught that one."

My only consolation is that I cost another party hundreds of dollars, that went to DropCatch of course...

Good for DropCatch, bad for us all. Just something to consider when ordering names.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Omar Negron]

I'm not crazy at all about the process of public auctions either. I agree with most of what was said throughout this thread.

What I basically do is backorder a domain name I want in all other services BESIDES dropcatch and hopefully I land it somewhere else and I get it or it goes into a private auction. If it doesn't all I have to do is check dropcatch and they are usually the ones who were able to grab it.

I did place 1 order using dropcatch because I wanted the name bad and it went straight to my namebright account, did not have an auction for it.

 

[Asfas1000]

I'm not crazy at all about the process of public auctions either. I agree with most of what was said throughout this thread.

What I basically do is backorder a domain name I want in all other services BESIDES dropcatch and hopefully I land it somewhere else and I get it or it goes into a private auction. If it doesn't all I have to do is check dropcatch and they are usually the ones who were able to grab it.

I did place 1 order using dropcatch because I wanted the name bad and it went straight to my namebright account, did not have an auction for it.

This is the best strategy IMO.

 

[discobull]

So if I see a godaddy expiring domain "first" you won't bid right?

Both godaddy and Dropcatch auction domains that have expired. Anyone can participate. The fact that you had to place a BO doesn't matter. In most cases, good drops aren't a secret only known to one person. You gotta pay to play!

As I've already pointed out the similarity between the two is non-existent. In any case, since a backorder is basically just a request to register a domain, a valid analogy would be that you attempt to register a domain only to find that once you've alerted your registrar to a domain's availability, they go ahead and register it but then put it up for public auction. Why not? We operate under a free market system and according to you whatever makes more money is ok.

In fact, I'm not sure why DC doesn't hold public auctions for domains that only have one bidder? It obviously can't be because they care about their customers. Maybe you should suggest it to them since exploiting other people's work seems to be your preferred method of operation?

 

[Keith]

In fact, I'm not sure why DC doesn't hold public auctions for domains that only have one bidder? It obviously can't be because they care about their customers. Maybe you should suggest it to them since exploiting other people's work seems to be your preferred method of operation?

You seem to be hung up on the fact that you "did work" by placing a BO. That's nonsense. It also doesn't matter if the domain deletes and goes to auction or if it simply auctions in expiry status. Both formats require research if you want to participate at auction time.

Now assume nobody places a BO at dropcatch for a deleting domain. So what. Namebright will catch it and keep it for themselves anyways. Just be glad that they give you the option to obtain domains that they "work hard" to catch.

 

[discobull]

You seem to be hung up on the fact that you "did work" by placing a BO. That's nonsense.

Since your concept of work seems to be to spend 5 minutes a day reviewing the 20 or so domains at auction on DC, it's not surprising that you consider this nonsense. There's no possibility that we could ever come to an understanding when you clearly have no idea of what kind of effort is involved in finding domains that the majority of the crowd has missed.

 

[tonyk2000]

Well, there may be different auction models - open, closed, "dutch", etc. Not a problem. The most interesting outcome I see after reading this thread is that some members are in fact of opinion that the following models:

1) Current DropCatch model

2) Drop catching service not taking backorders, but generating the catching queue internally and sending everything they managed to catch to an open auction

are equal in sense of the list of domains they would queue to catch.

 

[Keith]

you clearly have no idea of what kind of effort is involved in finding domains that the majority of the crowd has missed.

You should stop using Dropcatch since they don't let you grab names on the cheap. Especially if you're finding all these great domains that everyone else missed. Just BO everywhere else and cross your fingers.

 

[discobull]

You should stop using Dropcatch since they don't let you grab names on the cheap. Especially if you're finding all these great domains that everyone else missed. Just BO everywhere else and cross your fingers.

Apparently reading comprehension is not one of your strengths.

 

[Keith]

Apparently reading comprehension is not one of your strengths.

I'm reading your posts fine. You don't want competition. Dropcatch has too many competitors for you so you don't like them. Case closed.

 

[abaiti]

I never used this serves

 

[discobull]

I'm reading your posts fine. You don't want competition. Dropcatch has too many competitors for you so you don't like them. Case closed.

I'll let others decide for themselves how fine your reading is. As far as the rest of your post, it clearly reflects your perspective. My perspective is that DC is ideal for newbie domainers who couldn't possibly compete unless other people identified valuable domains for them ( a point that you've repeatedly proven ). Hopefully DC will keep this policy in place so that you continue to have somewhere to go for a handout.

 

[Keith]

I'll let others decide for themselves how fine your reading is. As far as the rest of your post, it clearly reflects your perspective. My perspective is that DC is ideal for newbie domainers who couldn't possibly compete unless other people identified valuable domains for them ( a point that you've repeatedly proven ). Hopefully DC will keep this policy in place so that you continue to have somewhere to go for a handout.

I've participated in about 2 auctions at Dropcatch. Hardly letting someone else do my research.

The idea that others piggyback on your BO is silly. These "newbie domainers" you mentioned aren't new at all. Or maybe they just found out who caught the deletion and where to bid by dumb luck?!

You're not finding gems under the radar. We all know what good domains are and place BO when necessary. The only names being snagged under the radar are really not worth the majorities time to chase.

 

[Jasonn]

I've participated in about 2 auctions at Dropcatch. Hardly letting someone else do my research.

The idea that others piggyback on your BO is silly. These "newbie domainers" you mentioned aren't new at all. Or maybe they just found out who caught the deletion and where to bid by dumb luck?!

You're not finding gems under the radar. We all know what good domains are and place BO when necessary. The only names being snagged under the radar are really not worth the majorities time to chase.

you are obviously someone who isn't that involved in the daily pending deletes. i backorder 10-20 domains per day almost every day. some are better than others but when an auction starts out with 2 bidders who actually placed a backorder before the deadline and ends up with 10 after 3 days, those 8 other bidders have "piggybacked" on the backorder. i wouldn't know what else to call it.

 

[Domainace]

The only names being snagged under the radar are really not worth the majorities time to chase.

Sorry you are not finding names under the radar, but good names are certainly still there. They are often missed because they fall outside the usual metrics set by software many use to evaluate domains, and have to be found by manually (and carefully) scanning large lists. That's work.

And even if there are a few other bidders that spotted the name as well, there's still a much better chance that they won't pursue it as strongly as you will.

On the other hand, when I'm not feeling like working, I will sometimes scan short lists like Dropcatch, or just watch Godaddy auctions to piggyback on late bids at the end of the auction. Since so many people jump on anything with bids on it, I don't usually come up with much that way though.

 

[Keith]

you are obviously someone who isn't that involved in the daily pending deletes. i backorder 10-20 domains per day almost every day. some are better than others but when an auction starts out with 2 bidders who actually placed a backorder before the deadline and ends up with 10 after 3 days, those 8 other bidders have "piggybacked" on the backorder. i wouldn't know what else to call it.

People joining the auction without a BO has nothing to do with your research. There are several reasons an auction would start with 2 bidders and end up with 10. Insider bidding is one...

It's comical to hear people complaining about a service while continuing to use it in hopes of personal gain. If it bothered you that much then it's a no brainer. Quit using Dropcatch!

 

[discobull]

I've participated in about 2 auctions at Dropcatch. Hardly letting someone else do my research.

The idea that others piggyback on your BO is silly. These "newbie domainers" you mentioned aren't new at all. Or maybe they just found out who caught the deletion and where to bid by dumb luck?!

You're not finding gems under the radar. We all know what good domains are and place BO when necessary. The only names being snagged under the radar are really not worth the majorities time to chase.

This is a fascinating perspective. On the one hand you seem to understand that DC is enjoying greater profits because of this policy, yet on the other hand you seem to firmly believe that nobody is discovering any new domain drops as a result of it. I'd be curious to know how these 2 contradictory beliefs can reside within the same head. Maybe you can explain where the additional profits are coming from if it isn't from people piggy backing off of the work of others?

You also seem to be engaged in an ongoing disagreement with reality. Your "know" that nobody does any work to find good drops and you "know" that there's no such thing as a domain that flies under the radar. Have you ever considered spending a little time reading through the completed sales thread? You're in obvious need of some educating.

 

[Keith]

This is a fascinating perspective. On the one hand you seem to understand that DC is enjoying greater profits because of this policy, yet on the other hand you seem to firmly believe that nobody is discovering any new domain drops as a result of it. I'd be curious to know how these 2 contradictory beliefs can reside within the same head. Maybe you can explain where the additional profits are coming from if it isn't from people piggy backing off of the work of others?

You also seem to be engaged in an ongoing disagreement with reality. Your "know" that nobody does any work to find good drops and you "know" that there's no such thing as a domain that flies under the radar. Have you ever considered spending a little time reading through the completed sales thread? You're in obvious need of some educating.

Again with idea of "your work". Anyone can scan Dropcatch and find pending deletes with no BO placed. So maybe "they" decide to skip the BO, a few others like yourself BO, then "they" change there mind and decide to bid after the domain deletes.

"They" know how the system works and Dropcatch is smart to let them participate without a BO. Has nothing to do with "your work". "They" are wise to how the system works but it makes you look superior by saying someone else benefitted from all of your research.

We all know how the game works, it's not a secret. Once you learn enough you'll realize that nickle and diming with domains that 2 people BO is a waste. There's a real good reason why most left the scraps...

 

[discobull]

Again with idea of "your work". Anyone can scan Dropcatch and find pending deletes with no BO placed. So maybe "they" decide to skip the BO, a few others like yourself BO, then "they" change there mind and decide to bid after the domain deletes.

"They" know how the system works and Dropcatch is smart to let them participate without a BO. Has nothing to do with "your work". "They" are wise to how the system works but it makes you look superior by saying someone else benefitted from all of your research.

We all know how the game works, it's not a secret. Once you learn enough you'll realize that nickle and diming with domains that 2 people BO is a waste. There's a real good reason why most left the scraps...

If this makes sense to you, great.

Thanks so much for the advice but I think I'll continue to do what has been consistently making me money rather than to listen to theories that are being disproved by myself and others on a daily basis.

 

[Keith]

If this makes sense to you, great.

I'll tell you what doesn't make sense - complaining about how a service chooses to operate while continuing to use the service!

 

[discobull]

I'll tell you what doesn't make sense - complaining about how a service chooses to operate while continuing to use the service!

That's a great point, but if/when you learn to read you'll understand that it doesn't apply to me.

 

[Keith]

That's a great point, but if/when you learn to read you'll understand that it doesn't apply to me.

You called dropcatch unethical. Your second post in this thread spoke volumes.

How is it unethical to maximize profits legally?

 

[discobull]

You called dropcatch unethical. Your second post in this thread spoke volumes.

How is it unethical to maximize profits legally?

The fact that you believe that anything that is legal is by definition ethical tells me that you know as little about ethics as you evidently know about domaining. I appreciate your question but I have no desire to go round this mulberry bush with you again. All the best.

 

[Keith]

The fact that you believe that anything that is legal is by definition ethical tells me that you know as little about ethics as you evidently know about domaining. I appreciate your question but I have no desire to go round this mulberry bush with you again. All the best.

We're referring to this specific case but I understand your need to spin things.

As for my knowledge of domaining...I'm selling domains at prices that most can't. Do you have 6 figure sales? 5 maybe?

 

[Edward Smeu]

dc are destroying this industry and I am really surprised why some of you take their side just because they have invested money. They practically make money of domainers who backorder (lets be serious, end-users don't really bother to backorder a domain) and sell to the highest bidder, usually an end-user. They win, buyers win and domainers can go to hell. What do you think it will happen when the other platforms will realize that if they want to keep up they should do the same? Well take a guess. We will all lose on the long run for their massive profits. Public auctions can only harm domainers who are trying to sell for profit and whoever agrees with their strategy is really unconscious. They are practically 'stealing' our jobs.

 

[Keith]

dc are destroying this industry and I am really surprised why some of you take their side just because they have invested money. They practically make money of domainers who backorder (lets be serious, end-users don't really bother to backorder a domain) and sell to the highest bidder, usually an end-user. They win, buyers win and domainers can go to hell. What do you think it will happen when the other platforms will realize that if they want to keep up they should do the same? Well take a guess. We will all lose on the long run for their massive profits. Public auctions can only harm domainers who are trying to sell for profit and whoever agrees with their strategy is really unconscious. They are practically 'stealing' our jobs.

This is archaic thinking and logic. As if companies who take huge risks shouldn't find ways to maximize profits. If Dropcatch were publicly traded they would be acting irresponsibly to NOT open auctions to all willing participants!