What if your domain names would be seen at many different registrars? In addition, when a name sold through any of those registrars, the entire transfer process was automatic. You just wait to be paid.
That is the promise of the so-called fast transfer networks. Traditionally there have been two main networks, Afternic Fast Transfer (FT), part of GoDaddy, and the Sedo MLS.
Dan introduced their own registrar distribution network some time ago, and announced this week that names listed on that network would now be part of Afternic.
So let’s have a look at how to get on the fast transfer networks, and the differences between the Afternic Premium Network and Sedo MLS.
The Basic Idea
The basic idea is that you agree in advance to sale and transfer of the name. This means the buyer places the domain name in their cart, at any network registrar, makes the purchase, and are guaranteed delivery of the domain name.
A name needs to have a buy-it-now price to qualify, and the maximum price for the Afternic FT network is $100,000.
The domain name must not be expired and not within the first 60 days after registration, or otherwise subject to a lock.
I covered the basics of fast transfer networks in Part 2 of Domain Investing Just the Basics.
Registration stream networks were an important part of The Many Ways People Might Discover Your Domain Name.
The Networks
Some registrars are part of Afternic Fast Transfer, also called the Afternic Premium Reseller Network, while others are part of Sedo MLS, and some are members of both.
Afternic promote all listed names, whether fast transfer enabled or not, on a smaller standard network of registrars and other partners.
The primary reason to be on the networks is not because the transfer and payment is faster, in many cases it is not. Rather it is that your name appears at a larger number of registrars.
I reached out to an Afternic representative, and they confirmed the listing of premium network registrars at this link was accurate. Your Fast Transfer enabled name will be listed as available for sale at these networks. To see where your domain must be registered to be eligible for Fast Transfer, you will need to click the green fast-transfer registrars link and a pop-up of eligible registrars will appear.
The best way to know which registrars are part of the Sedo MLS program is to open your Sedo account, pretend you are going to change the registrar on a name, and the first section of the pulldown list, registrar names preceded by an S in square brackets, are the MLS eligible registrars. Sedo also promote their names at a larger group of registrars, but in order for it to be Sedo MLS eligible, the name must be registered at one of these S-designated registrars.
The complete registrar lists are long, so I show below a table including only the registrars receiving 3 or more votes in the 2022 Favorite Registrar poll. I ordered the list in terms of number of votes (at time I composed this article) in the poll. The table below shows whether a name registered at that registrar is eligible for the fast transfer networks, if other conditions are met. A green box indicates eligibility.
Among registrars high on the poll that are part of both the Afternic and Sedo networks are Dynadot, Sav, and NameSilo. GoDaddy, Namecheap and Porkbun registered names get you into the Afternic, but not the Sedo, system. Epik and Fabulous are Sedo, but not Afternic Premium, eligible. Name and Hexonet support both.
Extension Matters
Not all names are eligible, even if at a qualifying registrar and outside lock. The Afternic FT system only supports a rather small number of, mainly legacy, extensions. There is some confusion, so I had an Afternic representative confirm the eligible TLDs, and this is what she told me: Afternic FT eligible TLDs are .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .co, .de, .pw, although not all partner registrars support .de or .pw.
Sedo include many additional extensions in their MLS, including most new extensions, and a number of country code extensions, in addition to the extensions part of the Afternic system.
For example,
Once you add any name to your Sedo account it is made clear if it is MLS eligible.
There are some extensions, such as
Approval for Network Listing
You must approve at your registrar that you agree with Afternic FT or Sedo MLS listing.
Each registrar handles this process slightly differently, and this is often the source of frustration. Most send you an email with a link to approve the listing. Note that Namecheap just send the emails once per day, so don’t expect it to come immediately after you list.
If you list the names while still within 60 day lock, you may never get this approval email, even after the name becomes eligible. One solution is to delist the name at Afternic or Sedo, and start the process again.
Dynadot have a different, in my mind better, approval system. Your Dynadot account will show names awaiting Sedo or Afternic confirmation. You just check those names, then go to Bulk Tools and select Approve Sedo or Approve Afternic as appropriate. You can deactivate fast transfer by a similar process.
Sav also use a different activation method. When logged into your account choose the Marketplace tab, then at the bottom you will see settings to approve Sedo or Afternic listings.
You can check at Sedo or Afternic that names have been properly activated.
Keep in mind that a registrar transfer will disrupt the fast transfer, even if there is not an associated lock. Afternic automatically catch these, and place your names under review. At Sedo you need to change the registrar, and then activate Sedo MLS again.
Differential Pricing of Names
Since the availability of the name is confirmed at time the client purchases from a registrar, it is acceptable to have the same names in both the Sedo and Afternic networks, if your registrar supports both. So what happens if you set different prices on the two networks?
This article came about partly because @JudgeMind, BrandAim, reached out to me. He pointed out that based on a test he had done, with some registrar partners were listing names from the fast networks at different prices, or not showing buy-it-now options at all. I did my own research, reported below, to confirm what he had discovered,
I took four domain names, all legacy names registered at Dynadot since they supported both networks, and it was easy to confirm proper network listing was active, and activate both networks simultaneously. I removed any Dynadot marketplace listings to not confuse things. I allowed a couple of days to make sure that the pricing changes had propagated to all registrars.
Here are names in my test:
I went to each registrar and checked the price of each name. The results are given below.
Results:
However, the variable prices may lead to lack of buyer confidence, and it is unfortunate that some registrars do not seem to be fully supporting their networks with any buy-it-now price shown at all.
To the domain buyer, there can be large price differences depending where they end up buying.
This was a very small sample at a single point in time. It may not totally represent what happens. It is my understanding that NameSilo are currently working on getting Afternic FT prices showing correctly once more.
New Dan–Afternic Optional Integration
Until recently, many domain investors listed on all three of Afternic, Sedo and Dan. The Dan.com product update 7 introduced an option to list on Dan and have your names automatically listed on Afternic at the same buy-it-now price. This is definitely more convenient.
Afternic/GoDaddy agents will no longer have a floor price, however, if the name is listed only through Dan.
Names sold through Afternic via the Dan integration will have a total commission of 20%. That covers both the Dan and Afternic components, and is same as the Afternic commission for most names.
If you continue to sell only directly through Dan, and not integrate with Afternic, the commission remains at 9%.
The sales commission structure at Afternic is graduated, so if your names sell at $5000 or more you will pay less commission if you list them separately on Afternic rather than use the Dan network integration.
If you already have listings on Afternic, they will take precedence over any integrated from Dan.
NamePros members are discussing the Dan-Afternic Distribution Integration here.
Your Thoughts
Please share in the discussion your thoughts on the merits and importance of fast transfer networks.
Article updated Dec 2, 2022:
(1) The distinction between the Afternic Premium Reseller Network and registrars that qualify names for Afternic FT has been made more obvious.
(2) Both tables have been updated. Note that Hexonet registrations qualify under both networks. Additional explanatory information added within tables.
(3) Google is a network reseller, but names registered there are not eligible for FT. As a reseller, Google Domains only list names below a certain price, so names priced at $10,000 did not appear.
(4) Alibaba is an Afternic premium reseller, but only for .com and .net, not for .org or the other FT extensions. Names registered at Alibaba are not eligible for fast transfer, though.
Sincere thanks to @JudgeMind, BrandAim on Twitter, for reaching out and suggesting an article that included how fast transfer network names are listed, or not, on different registrars. Also, thanks to Polly at GoDaddy/Afternic for answering my questions about Afternic FT and the premium network, and to @Michael Cyger for putting me in touch with her. It was @Nikul Sanghvi of Hypernames who first pointed out that the commission in the integrated Dan-Afternic listing would be higher for names at $5000 and above. I acknowledge the registrar statistics provided by DomainNameStat.
That is the promise of the so-called fast transfer networks. Traditionally there have been two main networks, Afternic Fast Transfer (FT), part of GoDaddy, and the Sedo MLS.
Dan introduced their own registrar distribution network some time ago, and announced this week that names listed on that network would now be part of Afternic.
So let’s have a look at how to get on the fast transfer networks, and the differences between the Afternic Premium Network and Sedo MLS.
The Basic Idea
The basic idea is that you agree in advance to sale and transfer of the name. This means the buyer places the domain name in their cart, at any network registrar, makes the purchase, and are guaranteed delivery of the domain name.
A name needs to have a buy-it-now price to qualify, and the maximum price for the Afternic FT network is $100,000.
The domain name must not be expired and not within the first 60 days after registration, or otherwise subject to a lock.
I covered the basics of fast transfer networks in Part 2 of Domain Investing Just the Basics.
Registration stream networks were an important part of The Many Ways People Might Discover Your Domain Name.
The Networks
Some registrars are part of Afternic Fast Transfer, also called the Afternic Premium Reseller Network, while others are part of Sedo MLS, and some are members of both.
Afternic promote all listed names, whether fast transfer enabled or not, on a smaller standard network of registrars and other partners.
The primary reason to be on the networks is not because the transfer and payment is faster, in many cases it is not. Rather it is that your name appears at a larger number of registrars.
I reached out to an Afternic representative, and they confirmed the listing of premium network registrars at this link was accurate. Your Fast Transfer enabled name will be listed as available for sale at these networks. To see where your domain must be registered to be eligible for Fast Transfer, you will need to click the green fast-transfer registrars link and a pop-up of eligible registrars will appear.
The best way to know which registrars are part of the Sedo MLS program is to open your Sedo account, pretend you are going to change the registrar on a name, and the first section of the pulldown list, registrar names preceded by an S in square brackets, are the MLS eligible registrars. Sedo also promote their names at a larger group of registrars, but in order for it to be Sedo MLS eligible, the name must be registered at one of these S-designated registrars.
The complete registrar lists are long, so I show below a table including only the registrars receiving 3 or more votes in the 2022 Favorite Registrar poll. I ordered the list in terms of number of votes (at time I composed this article) in the poll. The table below shows whether a name registered at that registrar is eligible for the fast transfer networks, if other conditions are met. A green box indicates eligibility.
Among registrars high on the poll that are part of both the Afternic and Sedo networks are Dynadot, Sav, and NameSilo. GoDaddy, Namecheap and Porkbun registered names get you into the Afternic, but not the Sedo, system. Epik and Fabulous are Sedo, but not Afternic Premium, eligible. Name and Hexonet support both.
Extension Matters
Not all names are eligible, even if at a qualifying registrar and outside lock. The Afternic FT system only supports a rather small number of, mainly legacy, extensions. There is some confusion, so I had an Afternic representative confirm the eligible TLDs, and this is what she told me: Afternic FT eligible TLDs are .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .co, .de, .pw, although not all partner registrars support .de or .pw.
Sedo include many additional extensions in their MLS, including most new extensions, and a number of country code extensions, in addition to the extensions part of the Afternic system.
For example,
.xyz names are eligible for Sedo MLS but not Afternic FT. If you invest significantly in new extensions it is worthwhile to use a registrar that supports Sedo MLS.Once you add any name to your Sedo account it is made clear if it is MLS eligible.
There are some extensions, such as
.cc, and a number of other country code TLDs, that are not eligible.Approval for Network Listing
You must approve at your registrar that you agree with Afternic FT or Sedo MLS listing.
Each registrar handles this process slightly differently, and this is often the source of frustration. Most send you an email with a link to approve the listing. Note that Namecheap just send the emails once per day, so don’t expect it to come immediately after you list.
If you list the names while still within 60 day lock, you may never get this approval email, even after the name becomes eligible. One solution is to delist the name at Afternic or Sedo, and start the process again.
Dynadot have a different, in my mind better, approval system. Your Dynadot account will show names awaiting Sedo or Afternic confirmation. You just check those names, then go to Bulk Tools and select Approve Sedo or Approve Afternic as appropriate. You can deactivate fast transfer by a similar process.
Sav also use a different activation method. When logged into your account choose the Marketplace tab, then at the bottom you will see settings to approve Sedo or Afternic listings.
You can check at Sedo or Afternic that names have been properly activated.
Keep in mind that a registrar transfer will disrupt the fast transfer, even if there is not an associated lock. Afternic automatically catch these, and place your names under review. At Sedo you need to change the registrar, and then activate Sedo MLS again.
Differential Pricing of Names
Since the availability of the name is confirmed at time the client purchases from a registrar, it is acceptable to have the same names in both the Sedo and Afternic networks, if your registrar supports both. So what happens if you set different prices on the two networks?
This article came about partly because @JudgeMind, BrandAim, reached out to me. He pointed out that based on a test he had done, with some registrar partners were listing names from the fast networks at different prices, or not showing buy-it-now options at all. I did my own research, reported below, to confirm what he had discovered,
I took four domain names, all legacy names registered at Dynadot since they supported both networks, and it was easy to confirm proper network listing was active, and activate both networks simultaneously. I removed any Dynadot marketplace listings to not confuse things. I allowed a couple of days to make sure that the pricing changes had propagated to all registrars.
Here are names in my test:
- Name A was listed for $10,000 on Afternic and $5000 on Sedo.
- For Name B I did the opposite, $5000 at Afternic and $10,000 at Sedo.
- For Domain C, I did not activate Afternic FT, but listed it for $10,000 on Sedo.
- For domain D, I listed at $10,000 on Afternic, but not active on Sedo.
I went to each registrar and checked the price of each name. The results are given below.
Results:
- Namecheap, while not a Sedo MLS registrar, does list Sedo inventory, with a small price discount. It is a member of the Afternic network, and in the case where the Afternic price was less, it listed that, but without discount.
- Tucows operate through a reseller network, so I checked one of their large registrars, Hover. They add to the price of each name.
- While not many investors seem to use Google Domains, month after month they move up the registrar charts. It is not just their own names, or other new extensions. They are getting a large fraction of new
.comregistrations. Google Domains will show the lower of Afternic or Sedo price, but do not list names with prices above a certain level. - Alibaba is an Afternic Premium reseller, but only for the .com and .net extensions.
- Network Solutions is in both networks. From this small experiment at least, seem to use Afternic pricing if available, and if not show Sedo.
- NameSilo is in both networks, but did not show the name that was only at Afternic. Instead it showed a link to a Saw broker. The other three names were priced according to the Sedo listing.
- OVH show Afternic listed prices when available, and a markup on Sedo listed prices for names not on Afternic.
- IONOS showed Sedo prices without discount or markeup.
- Name added a markup over the list price of the name.
- RegRU RegRU apply significant markups to the list prices.
- Dynadot, in general, listed at exactly the less expensive option, but for one name discounted.
- Sav seemed to only be using Sedo pricing, offering a discount on the three names.
- Porkbun are part of Afternic, but not Sedo. They listed the names at Afternic at the listed prices, and referred the buyer to a Saw broker to inquire about the name only at Sedo.
- Epik added to the listed Sedo prices.
However, the variable prices may lead to lack of buyer confidence, and it is unfortunate that some registrars do not seem to be fully supporting their networks with any buy-it-now price shown at all.
To the domain buyer, there can be large price differences depending where they end up buying.
This was a very small sample at a single point in time. It may not totally represent what happens. It is my understanding that NameSilo are currently working on getting Afternic FT prices showing correctly once more.
New Dan–Afternic Optional Integration
Until recently, many domain investors listed on all three of Afternic, Sedo and Dan. The Dan.com product update 7 introduced an option to list on Dan and have your names automatically listed on Afternic at the same buy-it-now price. This is definitely more convenient.
Afternic/GoDaddy agents will no longer have a floor price, however, if the name is listed only through Dan.
Names sold through Afternic via the Dan integration will have a total commission of 20%. That covers both the Dan and Afternic components, and is same as the Afternic commission for most names.
If you continue to sell only directly through Dan, and not integrate with Afternic, the commission remains at 9%.
The sales commission structure at Afternic is graduated, so if your names sell at $5000 or more you will pay less commission if you list them separately on Afternic rather than use the Dan network integration.
If you already have listings on Afternic, they will take precedence over any integrated from Dan.
NamePros members are discussing the Dan-Afternic Distribution Integration here.
Your Thoughts
Please share in the discussion your thoughts on the merits and importance of fast transfer networks.
Article updated Dec 2, 2022:
(1) The distinction between the Afternic Premium Reseller Network and registrars that qualify names for Afternic FT has been made more obvious.
(2) Both tables have been updated. Note that Hexonet registrations qualify under both networks. Additional explanatory information added within tables.
(3) Google is a network reseller, but names registered there are not eligible for FT. As a reseller, Google Domains only list names below a certain price, so names priced at $10,000 did not appear.
(4) Alibaba is an Afternic premium reseller, but only for .com and .net, not for .org or the other FT extensions. Names registered at Alibaba are not eligible for fast transfer, though.
Sincere thanks to @JudgeMind, BrandAim on Twitter, for reaching out and suggesting an article that included how fast transfer network names are listed, or not, on different registrars. Also, thanks to Polly at GoDaddy/Afternic for answering my questions about Afternic FT and the premium network, and to @Michael Cyger for putting me in touch with her. It was @Nikul Sanghvi of Hypernames who first pointed out that the commission in the integrated Dan-Afternic listing would be higher for names at $5000 and above. I acknowledge the registrar statistics provided by DomainNameStat.
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