question Afternic payment failure

[amandadisanayaka]

Someone bought my domain which I bought from godaddy and listed on afternic via fast transfer on 16th June 2022. Domain got transferred automatically on 21st June 2022. Payout date was scheduled for 24th June 2022. But still I have not received the payout. I chose ACH transfer option. Usually I get the payment exactly on the scheduled date. I was keeping this domain for almost 8 months Please help me to sort this out. @Joe Styler

 

[Bannen]

This is the key phrase:

"Once the buyer takes full possession"

It happens once in a while. Even though the buyer has paid Afternic, the buyer sometimes delays or is simply slow in completing the transfer of the domain. ***Afternic cannot pay you until the domain is in the buyer's account.

This is often confusing to new sellers, because you transfer the domain to Afternic's 'holding account', so naturally you think 'the transfer is complete'. But it it not. The transfer they are talking about is from Afternic's holding account to the buyer's account. And whether that is a push or a transfer, sometimes the buyer is tardy in completing the process.

Usually the process is quick/instant. For real quick transactions where everyone does their parts smoothly and instantly, sometimes I've sold a domain via Afternic, the transfer has been done, and I've been paid, all within a few hours or one day. But that is rare; tsually it takes a few days. Once in a while, I get a slow buyer and the process might take 1 - 2 weeks. I'll message my Afternic agent and they'll say "We're still trying to get the buyer to complete the transfer".

This is not Afternic being slow, it is the buyer being slow. Afternic wants to get the transaction done fast (just like you), so they can get their money, you get your money, buyer gets their domain, everyone's happy and move on to the next sale.

Be patient. Once the buyer gets off their a$$ and completes the transfer, Afternic will then release the funds to you, usually within a few hours or a day or two.

Good luck

 

[Future Sensors]

@Bannen Thank you.

You give a pretty good description of how Afternic is currently functioning. However, the process of settlement and payment can be much faster, whether or not the buyer takes action. DAN is leading the way in this. At DAN, payment takes place immediately after successfully pushing or transferring the domain to a DAN holding account.

Regarding Afternic, if I remember correctly, the domain seller officially sells the domain to Afternic, and then Afternic sells it to the buyer. All in a transparent way, but I think that's how Afternic reps once explained it on this forum. Bottom line: Afternic can make the process a whole lot more pleasant for domain sellers.

@Joe Styler @DAN.COM

 

[decades80]

I hope that Joe Styler @Joe Styler tries to do something in the near future. Brandable places like BB and SH, issue usually the next day payment and also Uni is quite good, but reading all this horrible stories with weeks in delay on GD and Afternic is not a good company image and the people will leave.
I dont use Dan, but Dan is also known of doing payments the next business day, now when Godaddy took it over, the people are scared this will change suddenly. Its really a good practice to issue payments asap and on time especially for freelance domainers and micro-companies they operate.

 

[amandadisanayaka]

I hope that Joe Styler @Joe Styler tries to do something in the near future. Brandable places like BB and SH, issue usually the next day payment and also Uni is quite good, but reading all this horrible stories with weeks in delay on GD and Afternic is not a good company image and the people will leave.
I dont use Dan, but Dan is also known of doing payments the next business day, now when Godaddy took it over, the people are scared this will change suddenly. Its really a good practice to issue payments asap and on time especially for freelance domainers and micro-companies they operate.

Yes why can't they issue the payouts like other when they have already got the domain away from our account? We have to wait weeks to get the payout even after getting our domains removed from the account. Who will be held responsible if we don't get the payouts and also if we lose the domain? Seems like there are many people out there who haven't received payout for months. But here in my case my domain got transferred automatically without any of my knowledge via afternic fast transfer option. Any now I don't have my domain and as well as the payout.

 

[amandadisanayaka]

Update**

Just received the payout to my bank account. Thank you everyone who helped me on this matter. Really appreciate for sharing all those information with the community

 

[LondonWebSiteDesign]

Today finally I got my payment from Afternic!

 

[Bannen]

The issue with afternic is that, they don't respond to our emails. I have been trying to reach them to see what's going on but still no response. That's why I started this discussion to get some support from the community.

Do you have an actual account with Afternic? If you do, then your transaction is assigned a specific agent who sees it through to the end. You just click on the domain that is being sold - it will show to the right side of your dashboard - and you'll see a link to send a message to the agent. Response times vary; I've had agents who always get back to me within an hour (during work hours), and I've had agents who take 2 or 3 days to respond to each message.

If you do not have an agent at Afternic, and you are doing this transaction (from your end) only through Godaddy and are using Godaddy's agent to communicate with Afternic... I cannot advise, as I have never done that

Also, you can 'kind of ignore' the Afternic notifications. They are often premature. For example, I commonly receive a 'transfer to buyer is complete' notification the moment Afternic starts their transfer to the buyer... and in fact they have only started the transfer, and sometimes the transfer takes another few days even after I've received the 'transfer complete' notification. Same goes with the payout; I've sometimes received the 'payout is scheduled' notification; that just means the transaction agent has sent you the 'payout is scheduled' notification; they often send that notification also, when the transfer is started or underway, because they predict when the transfer will complete. Then payout is usually scheduled for within 3 days. But if the buyer delays the finalization of the transfer... you can see the payout date arrive in 3 days... and go by... and a few days later you're still waiting... and you message the Afternic agent and they say "We're still trying to get the buyer to complete the transfer". Ha ha.

As I said, almost all my transactions with Afternic are pretty fast, within 1 - 4 days; but a small percentage of them do have considerable delays. Each transaction goes through multiple people at multiple departments, and inter-department actions sometimes have delays for all kinds of reasons, and buyers delay things for their own reasons too. If there's a big delay: it's *usually* (usually but not always) due to the buyer not completing some step along the way yet. Which screws up the timing on the notifications Afternic sometimes prematurely sends you. Which makes you feel like something's wrong. When it's not wrong, just delayed.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

I have emailed afternic. There's no specific agent. I worked with godaddy + afternic. But still there's no response from them. Do they delay or cancel scheduled payouts like this? Will I lose both my domain and money by working with afternic? @Joe Styler @AbdulBasit.com

Check this out https://www.abdulbasit.com/domaining/reasons-why-afternic-delays-in-releasing-payment which may clarify your doubts.

 

[Joe Styler]

Update**

Just received the payout to my bank account. Thank you everyone who helped me on this matter. Really appreciate for sharing all those information with the community

Glad to hear you got paid. Typically if you update your payee it will trigger another payment attempt which is done once a day automatically. Most of the time a payment delay is due to a problem with the payment method, something is missing, the threshold is set wrong, or something like that. If you go and make sure it is correct it will automatically trigger the system to take another look and attempt payment.
Also if you email [email protected] they will normally respond pretty quickly. If you contact ta at afternic the turn around time is much slower.

 

[LondonWebSiteDesign]

@Bannen Thank you.

You give a pretty good description of how Afternic is currently functioning. However, the process of settlement and payment can be much faster, whether or not the buyer takes action. DAN is leading the way in this. At DAN, payment takes place immediately after successfully pushing or transferring the domain to a DAN holding account.

Regarding Afternic, if I remember correctly, the domain seller officially sells the domain to Afternic, and then Afternic sells it to the buyer. All in a transparent way, but I think that's how Afternic reps once explained it on this forum. Bottom line: Afternic can make the process a whole lot more pleasant for domain sellers.

@Joe Styler @DAN.COM

I agree with you totally!

 

[ET76]

Happy to hear that Amanda, congrats with your sale!

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Hi, I am Happy for Amanda.
I have a question for @Joe Styler. Due to the political situation, Paypal refused to work with the residents of my country. ACH doesn't work either. The only withdrawal method is a Payoneer. I was forced to delete several hundred domains from Afternic, like most of my compatriots. I think that Afternic has lost several tens of thousands of domains. By the way, there is a withdrawal of funds to the Payoneer at the SH. I would be grateful if the Afternic team would consider working with Payoneer.
And I'll Be Back (c)
And other too,

It will be great if Afternic issues payouts to Payoneer.

 

[Edukar]

Hi, @Joe Styler. What about Payoneer payouts? I am ready to place 300 domains on Afternic right now, if there is such an opportunity. Other domainers will join too.

 

[Joe Styler]

It is something we are discussing but there are no immediate plans to add it.

 

[LondonWebSiteDesign]

I have problem with afternic too I sold my domain on 7 Jun 2022 domain transferred very fast in 4-5 days. Today after 20 days (27/06/2022) I still did not get payment from Afternic!
And this is the answer from support :

Hello,Thanks for that! Once the buyer takes full possession we'll get you paid out as soon as possible. Thanks again!Thank You,Transaction Assurance

a few days later I asked again and same answer!

Hello,



The first transfer done for this domain was a transfer done to our holding account.

Once Afternic resume control of the domain , we actively work with the buyer to take control.

We are currently finalizing the transfer of the domain to the buyer

 

[Future Sensors]

Will I lose both my domain and money by working with afternic?

You can trust Afternic. Eventually, you will get paid, don't worry.

 

[LondonWebSiteDesign]

Okay I will keep trusting afternic. Usually how long will I have to wait bro? Can you please let me know?

I hope you will not wait like me 20 days!

 

[amandadisanayaka]

Do you have an actual account with Afternic? If you do, then your transaction is assigned a specific agent who sees it through to the end. You just click on the domain that is being sold - it will show to the right side of your dashboard - and you'll see a link to send a message to the agent. Response times vary; I've had agents who always get back to me within an hour (during work hours), and I've had agents who take 2 or 3 days to respond to each message.

If you do not have an agent at Afternic, and you are doing this transaction (from your end) only through Godaddy and are using Godaddy's agent to communicate with Afternic... I cannot advise, as I have never done that

Also, you can 'kind of ignore' the Afternic notifications. They are often premature. For example, I commonly receive a 'transfer to buyer is complete' notification the moment Afternic starts their transfer to the buyer... and in fact they have only started the transfer, and sometimes the transfer takes another few days even after I've received the 'transfer complete' notification. Same goes with the payout; I've sometimes received the 'payout is scheduled' notification; that just means the transaction agent has sent you the 'payout is scheduled' notification; they often send that notification also, when the transfer is started or underway, because they predict when the transfer will complete. Then payout is usually scheduled for within 3 days. But if the buyer delays the finalization of the transfer... you can see the payout date arrive in 3 days... and go by... and a few days later you're still waiting... and you message the Afternic agent and they say "We're still trying to get the buyer to complete the transfer". Ha ha.

As I said, almost all my transactions with Afternic are pretty fast, within 1 - 4 days; but a small percentage of them do have considerable delays. Each transaction goes through multiple people at multiple departments, and inter-department actions sometimes have delays for all kinds of reasons, and buyers delay things for their own reasons too. If there's a big delay: it's *usually* (usually but not always) due to the buyer not completing some step along the way yet. Which screws up the timing on the notifications Afternic sometimes prematurely sends you. Which makes you feel like something's wrong. When it's not wrong, just delayed.

Thank you so much for this valuable information. I worked with godaddy but I have an afternic account which I can login to via godaddy. There's an option to message the agent. I will try that out and see what's going on.

 

[amandadisanayaka]

Today finally I got my payment from Afternic!

Congrats bro. Happy things got worked out for you. By the way what payment method did you use? Is it ACH or wire transfer or some other method? Because I used ACH method. I contacted afternic and they said the payout was issued after checking with their accounting department. Then again they told me they had an issue from their end and now they have fixed it and my payout will be issued within 2 business days.

 

[amandadisanayaka]

My payment method was Paypal. Last night i got an email about payment and today I got it!

Nice bro. Thanks for the reply. Happy for you

 

[SuperDudePro]

Afternic has been getting faster and faster on payouts for me. It's been a marked improvement over a year ago. The same is true for me on how fast they answer my emails or how quickly they delete the old listing when I try to add a domain that is already there.

I understand that it is frustrating when it isn't working well. But they are somewhat different in that AN doesn't always get the payment directly. If it is bought through the fast transfer network, they are waiting for the transaction to get to them before they release it. If it doesn't go through for some reason, they would just move the domain back into your account. They are doing their own escrow, so they aren't giving the domain to the buyer, they are holding it in their own account to verify they can transfer it. Then when the payment makes it, they can release both domain and payment.

Sedo is sometimes slow on payouts for me for the same reason. If it comes through their network, they have extra verification steps.

Just my experience with AN. For me, their vast network makes any inconvenience worth it, a large majority of my sales come through them.

 

[amandadisanayaka]

Afternic has been getting faster and faster on payouts for me. It's been a marked improvement over a year ago. The same is true for me on how fast they answer my emails or how quickly they delete the old listing when I try to add a domain that is already there.

I understand that it is frustrating when it isn't working well. But they are somewhat different in that AN doesn't always get the payment directly. If it is bought through the fast transfer network, they are waiting for the transaction to get to them before they release it. If it doesn't go through for some reason, they would just move the domain back into your account. They are doing their own escrow, so they aren't giving the domain to the buyer, they are holding it in their own account to verify they can transfer it. Then when the payment makes it, they can release both domain and payment.

Sedo is sometimes slow on payouts for me for the same reason. If it comes through their network, they have extra verification steps.

Just my experience with AN. For me, their vast network makes any inconvenience worth it, a large majority of my sales come through them.

Thank you for the information

 

[amandadisanayaka]

One day they can buy a million dollar domain from you, but not move it to "buyer"'s account, and not pay you.
Can this happen: according to current rules, yes.

The same can happen at escrow.com, the buyer can just fail to say "got it".
At sedo, sedo sometimes waits until the buyer confirms transfer, but if he doesn't in 1 week, then sedo assumes transfer is complete, and sends payment... Also if you push domain to them, they can pay the next day.
Dan is the best in transfer part, but overall it is the worst (last 9 months), because parking doesn't work, meaning, no sale to endusers possible.

Got it. Thanks

 

[Edukar]

Hi, I am Happy for Amanda.
I have a question for @Joe Styler. Due to the political situation, Paypal refused to work with the residents of my country. ACH doesn't work either. The only withdrawal method is a Payoneer. I was forced to delete several hundred domains from Afternic, like most of my compatriots. I think that Afternic has lost several tens of thousands of domains. By the way, there is a withdrawal of funds to the Payoneer at the SH. I would be grateful if the Afternic team would consider working with Payoneer.
And I'll Be Back (c)
And other too,

 

[ajthegreat]

Just wondering to the 2 people in the thread who sold domains how long it finally took after transferring the domain to Afternic before you were finally paid. The domain I sold was transferred almost 3 weeks ago and the domain agent who originally approached me for the sale has completely ghosted any of my emails.