Afternic - Official Thread

[GoDaddy]

Hello NamePros!
By popular demand, we have launched a dedicated feedback thread for Afternic, the GoDaddy-owned domain name marketplace.

We have created this thread as a way for you to tell us what works, what doesn't work, and what features you'd like to see at Afternic (please be constructive with your feedback). We're looking forward to hearing from the domain investment community to help us shape the future of Afternic.

We will also be sharing Afternic product updates in this thread.

Please note that this thread is not meant for support. Please email our support team at [email protected] for assistance.

 

[Gm0]

Please share these concerns with Aman Bhutani (Godaddy CEO) and his admin ((Debra).

I emailed with him the other day and he said he thought all was well with the afternic system - and welcomed further input. So, please email him with your Afternic concerns so that he knows these concerns are Widespread and not isolated.

[email protected] (catchall)
[email protected] (personal)
Debra L. Nordfors (Aman's assistant) [email protected]

 

[Mister Funsky]

@GoDaddy

Will the option be available soon/anytime to have a 'make offer' button/box available on names that have a BIN?

Of course if someone goes to afternic.com they will see the min offer but when ns1/ns2afternic landers are used for a name, all we see is the BIN price...there is no indication I (seller) might be willing to entertain an offer.

I've recently pointed many of my names to afternic and, all things considered, we (Godaddy at 15% and myself) are doing okay. The previous two decades I handled sales myself and my top 3 were all BIN with make offer. In two of the cases the names sold for 55% and 75% of the BIN...one was about 110% of the starting BIN (customer made me mad).

There is no doubt from my perspective that having the BIN/Make Offer options available at the same time is what allowed the sale to happen. In the first two cases mentioned, the buyers said they had seen the BIN before and opted not to contact me. It was only after I added the 'Make Offer' button did they begin the process.

 

[Mikeyboy]

will dan.com be shutting down? Sounds like it should

 

[Gm0]

Godaddy killed Dan.com.

It was an incredible platform prior to Godaddy acquiring it.

 

[bmugford]

This is a problem -

https://twitter.com/x/status/1749887308147388544

A bunch of people have reported the exact same issue.

GoDaddy has too many different paths between Afternic, GoDaddy auctions, Dan.com, Afternic feeding to GoDaddy, Afternic feeding to Dan, etc.

It's quite the cluster*uck.

I try to list names, they are already in some else's account and/or end up "in review".

It's almost impossible to track all these issues with a large portfolio.

Now you have people just listing domains they don't own. It would be very easy for someone to just authorize one of these and get screwed.

@GoDaddy

Brad

 

[kor]

Recently, some domain names have started to be deleted from my account for no reason. How can someone easily list the domain name I own in their Afternic account when I have to do TXT record verification for previously listed domains?

Even worse; I started getting fast-transfer approval requests for these domain names that have disappeared from my account.

If I don't pay attention and check, I will approve the request and someone will probably transfer this domain name $20, which I bought after spending $240 and with a market value of $$$$

This is a very serious and critical security weakness!

You should urgently develop a system called AFTERNIC-ID that can be defined to registrar companies and can be used for mutual inquiry and account verification.

I presented this suggestion 4 months ago that would radically solve this scamming problem.

This is a very serious and critical problem that has been expressed for years. I really can't understand what kind of management approach godaddy has.

 

[SpareDomains]

This is a problem -

https://twitter.com/x/status/1749887308147388544

A bunch of people have reported the exact same issue.

Show attachment 251905Show attachment 251906

GoDaddy has too many different paths between Afternic, GoDaddy auctions, Dan.com, Afternic feeding to GoDaddy, Afternic feeding to Dan, etc.

It's quite the cluster*uck.

I try to list names, they are already in some else's account and/or end up "in review".

It's almost impossible to track all these issues with a large portfolio.

Now you have people just listing domains they don't own. It would be very easy for someone to just authorize one of these and get screwed.

@GoDaddy

Brad

Godaddy buys Uniregistry tries to take what they like about it and shuts down uniregistry which was actually a very functional site if you were a self broker seller like myself.

Godaddy buys dan tries to add the dan lander to afternic, I have seen numerous dan landers from afternic that don't even show the domain in the header so you're making an offer on anonymous domain lander combined with ssl warnings from afternic. If you're using the Dan lander from Afternic you better check to see if your domain name even in the header and if you get Afternic SSL warnings.

I get buying stuff, stealing what ya like and shutting down the original but the fact is Afternic has been in beta mode for years, missing domain name on some dan landers, ssl warnings, in review domains for eternity unless ya email them etc... and dan has clean landing page, payment plan, and everything just works.

Instead of trying to piece together Afternic with pieces of their buyouts they should just realize Dan works it just needs that GoDaddy traffic to flow there instead of Afternic. This would also eliminate the VAT issue of Dan by putting a US company Afternic/Godaddy behind it instead of Dan.

Last time I'll beat Afternic up but Dan needs to become the new Afternic as it works flawless. Just need the GoDaddy traffic and US address behind it to eliminate Dan being the seller/VAT increase. Afternic bought Dan for a reason time for them to realize Dan is the better product so stop trying to turn Afternic into Dan and then shut down Dan as Dan works without all the Afternic bugs. Afternic is like an AMC car pieces of everything in it along with bugs. Dan just works and if they eventually shut it down their dumb as it works better than Afternic.

All of my domains listed at Afternic, Dan, Sedo, Efty, SquadHelp, DynaDot and Afternic the only one that causes me frustration on a regular basis, the others just work.

 

[bmugford]

This is a problem -

https://twitter.com/x/status/1749887308147388544

A bunch of people have reported the exact same issue.

Show attachment 251905Show attachment 251906

GoDaddy has too many different paths between Afternic, GoDaddy auctions, Dan.com, Afternic feeding to GoDaddy, Afternic feeding to Dan, etc.

It's quite the cluster*uck.

I try to list names, they are already in some else's account and/or end up "in review".

It's almost impossible to track all these issues with a large portfolio.

Now you have people just listing domains they don't own. It would be very easy for someone to just authorize one of these and get screwed.

@GoDaddy

Brad

Just got yet another email from @GoDaddy to authorize my Afternic listing.

This one was for another LLLL. That makes 10 total emails and many domains.

https://domaininvesting.com/watch-out-for-fraudulent-afternic-listing-emails/

https://onlinedomain.com/2024/01/24...-our-domain-names-using-afternic-and-godaddy/

Brad

 

[Gm0]

If you all work with me and others and email the CEO of Godaddy with our problems - email addresses above - we might finally get some eyes on these afternic problems.

 

[Bearded Goat]

I started the night trying to do what should have been simple price adjustments. But it turned into a mess. I have my domains listed at dan hoping to use the integration. But the majority of the domains I checked tonight (at dynadot) do NOT show up at godaddy. They show up at afternic but that does not translate over to godaddy. Instead when the names are searched at godaddy you get the option to contact a broker for $69.99. I can spend countless hours of my life removing the buy now from dan and then repricing the name and make it show up at godaddy after X amount of time. But I have no idea how long that works. Meaning do I have to check every domain I own every night to see that it shows up.

 

[GoDaddy]

This is a problem -

https://twitter.com/x/status/1749887308147388544

A bunch of people have reported the exact same issue.

Show attachment 251905Show attachment 251906

GoDaddy has too many different paths between Afternic, GoDaddy auctions, Dan.com, Afternic feeding to GoDaddy, Afternic feeding to Dan, etc.

It's quite the cluster*uck.

I try to list names, they are already in some else's account and/or end up "in review".

It's almost impossible to track all these issues with a large portfolio.

Now you have people just listing domains they don't own. It would be very easy for someone to just authorize one of these and get screwed.

@GoDaddy

Brad

Listing integrity is something we take seriously. We have an automated review system that flags domain names before they are listed for sale. We continue to refine our system. Once a domain is flagged, it is not listed. It is then added to a block list that requires a new lister to verify the ownership before it can be added.

Despite domain names being caught by our systems, the opt-in emails are being triggered simultaneously to registrants in this scenario, something that we’re working with our team to re-configure to not send until after it has cleared an active status.

 

[bmugford]

Listing integrity is something we take seriously. We have an automated review system that flags domain names before they are listed for sale. We continue to refine our system. Once a domain is flagged, it is not listed. It is then added to a block list that requires a new lister to verify the ownership before it can be added.

Despite domain names being caught by our systems, the opt-in emails are being triggered simultaneously to registrants in this scenario, something that we’re working with our team to re-configure to not send until after it has cleared an active status.

Well, something needs to be done.

I got another 5 of these emails overnight. As you can see, many others are experiencing the same thing.

Brad

 

[tonyk2000]

It appears that, by not adding obligatory ownership verification (DNS/TXT) for any and all domains one is trying to add, Afternic either:

1) Confirms that they like and appreciate the scammers. Indeed, while most domains would not be (successfully) sold, some will be sold and delivered should the scammer be able to acquire the domain they listed afternic Afternic secured the payment --> more commission $$$ to Afternic. /* excluding instant transfer sales where the real owner mistakenly approved fast transfer (would be another story) */.

2) Confirms that Afternic engineering team is unable to manage the system (is adding DNS/TXT verification that hard from technical point of view?)

Am I missing anything here?

 

[bmugford]

I am up to (19) of these "authorize your domain listings" emails now, in just over 2 days.

All for LLLL.com.

I hope there is actually some plan to address this issue, and the @GoDaddy comments are not just lip service.

Brad

 

[GoDaddy]

I am up to (19) of these "authorize your domain listings" emails now, in just over 2 days.

All for LLLL.com.

I hope there is actually some plan to address this issue, and the @GoDaddy comments are not just lip service.

Brad

We will share more on this today, Brad. Stay tuned.

 

[dnk]

Is anyone able to access Afternic in India at present and has used their fast transfer service?

 

[Future Sensors]

The portfolio overview now incorrectly states that the .com TLD is not eligible for fast transfer. It is probably trying to say something about the 60-day period, but that is not what it says with "TLD Not Eligible".

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

Yaya

We will share more on this today, Brad. Stay tuned.

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

Yaya

We will share more on this today, Brad. Stay tuned.

 

[Gm0]

Today, in Godaddy terms, is this year (sometime in 2024).

Please join us in emailing the CEO, Aman Bhutani, with your afternic concerns.

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

We will find out today
Dan and afternic should name them and shame them. You have to fight fire with fire. Lies only fan the flames. This is pointless and with daddy’s stock going green yourman Aman be getting a raise in pay. No more to say on the matter don’t want to upset pappy and deter them from helping those that are having their names added fraudulently.

 

[Jannes]

We will share more on this today, Brad. Stay tuned.

I've eaten all my popcorn now.

 

[D Haynes]

So just to clarify for the slower users (mainly me), if you're getting the opt in emails it means those names have been successfully added to AN by someone else? And if you get an ownership confirmation/proof request it means someone is attempting to add the name?

Surely you should have to prove ownership to add any names but it seems if the name isn't already listed on AN they just take your word for it that you own it and put it straight into your portfolio. Seems ripe for abuse does that.

 

[GoDaddy]

Afternic's Commitment to Listing Integrity: Response to a Recent Event

 

[411domains]

I started the night trying to do what should have been simple price adjustments. But it turned into a mess. I have my domains listed at dan hoping to use the integration. But the majority of the domains I checked tonight (at dynadot) do NOT show up at godaddy. They show up at afternic but that does not translate over to godaddy. Instead when the names are searched at godaddy you get the option to contact a broker for $69.99. I can spend countless hours of my life removing the buy now from dan and then repricing the name and make it show up at godaddy after X amount of time. But I have no idea how long that works. Meaning do I have to check every domain I own every night to see that it shows up.

I hope this reply saves you a little troubleshooting time.

I reported this issue to the @GoDaddy Afternic team last week, when I discovered it.

It was finally escalated on Monday when I followed up.

I followed up again yesterday and they reassured me they're actively working on it.

This should especially concerning for anyone who utilizes Afternic BIN landers on newly listed domains that are ineligible or not opted into the Fast Transfer network as those domains will not show a price on the lander until the issue is resolved.

What they fail to realize is that this particular issue not only affects the domain availability on Godaddy's front of site, but their BIN landers as well, which means it's very likely that sales are being lost for anyone using their BIN landers.

The good news: DAN landers are not affected.