GoDaddy Auctions

Explain exactly how this works

[GoNC]

I searched for a domain today that I would like to own, and found that it's listed on GoDaddy Auction. It has 17 hours left.

This seemed pretty convenient (I just happened to look for it 17 hours before the auction ended? Really?), so I'm suspicious.

How, exactly, do GoDaddy Auctions work? Is this a domain that a third party owns, and is legitimately trying to sell? Or is it a domain that expired, and GoDaddy is fishing for a buyer before putting it back up for general purchase?

The bid isn't high ($50, with no bids), but I have to pay $5 to become a GA member before I can bid. Is this a sucker's move, or should I wait and let the domain expire and buy it for $9?

[buckworks]

wait and let the domain expire

You might get the domain for $9 or you might not get it at all.

The answer would depend on how badly you'd want to kick yourself if someone else bought the domain before you got there after it expired.

If it's a domain you really want and would have real business plans for, pay the fee and get a bid in. This isn't the time to cheap out.

[creeking]

are you sure you have to join GA to bid?

if the domain is at $50 with no bids, it sounds like someone is just listing their domain there to try to sell it. it may not be expired. check the whois to see the expiration date.


is it "buy now" or "make offer" ?

if you want it, bid on it.

[edited by: creeking at 4:37 am (utc) on May 26, 2014]

[dailypress]

I agree if you want the name don't cheap out. I once saw a name listed on Sedo for $200. I could have made an offer of less however, noticed the domain had expired. I waited for a few days hoping I could purchase it for $60 on NameJet cause for some reason it was listed there with only 2 bidders... until I noticed someone else purchased it before it dropped and was asking for $3K.

I offered $600 but he declined the offer and then I totally lost interest.

[GoNC]

This really is me just trying to be cheap. My business model really "needs" for me to own 100 domains, and I already own 46 of them. This would be # 47, and I can make it live almost immediately, but it will be some time before I have a marketing budget for it.

WHOIS shows that the domain is owned by GoDaddy and expires in 2015, which is kinda odd. A few years ago, though, I was looking at a domain for a client that wasn't supposed to expire for another year, but then was available a few weeks later (making me look like an idiot in front of the client), so I didn't know if I could really believe their WHOIS info.

Creeking, I did try to buy it without joining GA, but it wasn't an option. I went ahead and took everyone's advice, though, and joined and bid. You're right, in the grand scheme of things, it's $50.

Unless in a few hours it jumps up to $3k, when they realize they have a sucker on the line.

[buckworks]

me just trying to be cheap

My favorite CEO says, "Don't be cheap in the wrong places!" :)

[not2easy]

WHOIS shows that the domain is owned by GoDaddy and expires in 2015, which is kinda odd. A few years ago, though, I was looking at a domain for a client that wasn't supposed to expire for another year, but then was available a few weeks later (making me look like an idiot in front of the client), so I didn't know if I could really believe their WHOIS info.

Sometimes a domain registrar ends up "owning" a domain that is readily available because of buyer default or similar issues. The registrar has to put up the funds instantly when a domain is newly registered and if the buyer does not pay or makes fraudulent payment, the domain can be available while not appearing to be publicly available. Things you can't know from a WHOIS lookup.

_{(edited to clarify)}

[creeking]

apparently it was not a "buy now". maybe the seller has to "accept" the $50 offer.


update us when the auction ends.

[GoNC]

So, I learned a bit today, and honestly, this seems VERY shady.

I won the auction today, but it says that the domain won't be ready until June 3. Then, I got an email that included this note:

Remember that in accordance with the legal agreement you acknowledged at the time of your bid (Universal Terms of Service, UTOS), the current registrant may still renew this domain. If the domain is renewed, we will notify you and any funds received will be refunded. If the registrant does not renew the domain, we will then process a change of registrant and move the domain into your account at GoDaddy.com within one week.

So, what it comes down to is that someone owned the domain before, but had let it expire. While it was still within the "grace period", GoDaddy took it upon themselves to auction it off, even though they don't actually own it, and start the bid at whatever value they thought it was worth.

Even the WHOIS expiration date is false.

In the real world, there's no way this would be acceptable. If I sold someone a car, took their money, and then said "OK, all we have to do now is make sure that the guy that is leasing the car doesn't make his payment", there's no WAY they'd be happy about it!

[creeking]

that stuff is in the terms for the auctions.

don't hassle anyone about it, and don't try to contact the previous owner.

just wait. :)

if the previous owner does not pay to reclaim the domain, it will show up in your account.

[incrediBILL]

I bid on a couple of domains nobody seemed interested in just to test the system and suddenly the auction heated up out of nowhere, I suspected a shill and dumped it on them as I was just experimenting with domains I didn't care about before buying one I wanted.

When it came to the one I really wanted it had no bids and I sniped it with about 4 minutes to spare, got it for $10 opposed to the other experiences where I tried bidding earlier.

Basically, I played it like I would on eBay.

Ignore it until the bitter end and hope nobody else is watching. ;)

While it was still within the "grace period", GoDaddy took it upon themselves to auction it off

Had the exact same thing happen to me so I sat there sweating out the grace period before owning it. That's how I ended up getting the dot com for my online name as I already the .net, .me. co. etc. but someone had let the dot com lapse from an old defunct CC processing company and I snapped it up days before another billing company tried to grab it. Right place, right time, and it's MINE MINE MINE! ;)

All GoDaddy is doing is securing someone to keep it registered on GoDaddy. If the domain is lost back to the generic registrar pool it could end up being registered anywhere besides GoDaddy.

Pretty clever business model, albeit a bit slimy, IMO.

[creeking]

suddenly the auction heated up out of nowhere

people filter the closing auctions for domains that have bids.

probably more time-efficient than evaluating thousands of expired domains.