Discuss your Epik Experience!

[dande]

I think Epik is building the best ever Domain Lander in the history of domaining, and it really needs to be talked about extensively. That's why I am creating this discussion thread. A lot of thought process really goes into the project. And I can see (for the first time) a landing page that is built from the stand point of domainers rather than for just the marketplace itself.

Everything you have ever dreamt of getting or seeing in a professional landing page can be found in the new Epik marketplace landing page design.

Some of my Favorites Features:

1. The ability to optimize your "domain for sale" landing page to actually rank on Google, displaying your sales pitch/domain description. I just did that with few of my generic domain names such as ASAP.TV, targeting certain keywords, and they are showing pretty well on Google. That's a huge plus in my marketing effort.

2. Being able to change background image is another huge one for me. If you are good with pictures and images, you will surely find this very useful. I did that with Nagasaki.org and the result was truly amazing, showing the city of Nagasaki right at the background.

There are too many positive features and I don't want to mention all of them, all alone

So I am leaving you guys to share and discuss what you loves most or dislike about the new Epik marketplace and the landing pages.

The only negative for me is the checkout process. There are too many terms and conditions buttons to tick before checking out. It will be nice if they can streamline those into one beautiful big button

They also need to place the checkout button directly under the payment options. Right now it is awkwardly place somewhere below at the sidebar, which I don't find cool at all.

Sales experience is also welcomed in this discussion. I haven't had any sells so far at Epik because I started using the marketplace just recently, but the future is looking so bright.

 

[topdom]

So epik is requiring potential buyers to submit their personal details?

There is a contact form asking: name, email, phone, and message ,
and you can type anything in those fields. Some are censored (@ sign in message), some not accepted (letters in phone ). Sellers won't see contact info, and Epik doesn't need that info unless they plan to contact the buyer
separately, and yes they do; if your domain expires, you still fully own it for 30 days (I mean full ownership control except DNS), but they try to sell that name,
and any messages goes to epik only.

They can also insert (or immerse/embed?) themselves as buyers into a negotiation if they think they can get away with it. (maybe all marketplaces are doing such things). Sometimes this can be ethical as well, but usually not fully ethical.

 

[Derek Peterson]

There is a contact form asking: name, email, phone, and message ,
and you can type anything in those fields. Some are censored (@ sign in message), some not accepted (letters in phone ). Sellers won't see contact info, and Epik doesn't need that info unless they plan to contact the buyer
separately, and yes they do; if your domain expires, you still fully own it for 30 days (I mean full ownership control except DNS), but they try to sell that name,
and any messages goes to epik only.

They can also insert (or immerse/embed?) themselves as buyers into a negotiation if they think they can get away with it. (maybe all marketplaces are doing such things). Sometimes this can be ethical as well, but usually not fully ethical.

So basically using other people's domains for his own lead gen and maybe even front running his own sellers. Sounds about right for Rob Monster.

 

[topdom]

I mean, all marketplaces can do similar things in theory. But at Epik, in addition, people think they are contacting owners, but an important part of their message is censored, and for expired domains, messages are not even delivered, and epik pretends to be the owner and collects lead data, and also contacts potential buyers as if they are owners, hoping actual owners won't renew. I'm not anti-epik. It has many good aspects, but this change at epik is unethical, and maybe even illegal. Using fake info is not crime (I think, if done for privacy concerns, or testing purpose), but pretending to be someone else (Impersonating) is crime. In this case they are pretending to be domain owner while they are not.

Epik says, they did this for compliying with GDRP. GDRP is about masking domain owner data. It is not about buyer data. Also, normally (Icann requirement?) people don't see domain owner's info, but they can contact domain owners via registrars of those domains. They leave their contact info and message, and that info must go to domain owner. So Epik is doing opposite of what GDRP requires in the name of meeting GDRP requirements.

 

[sharfab]

I recently noticed that Epik was on the list for fast transfer service at Afternic. Is this valid?

 

[Oriiim]

Only had great experiences with epik
I only regret not been able to use PayPal on epik that's all

 

[timestamp]

Only had great experiences with epik
I only regret not been able to use PayPal on epik that's all

If you need to pay by Paypal, you can, you just need to add funds to your in-store credit.
In-store credit & Masterbucks > Add funds, select Paypal.

 

[scithe]

I got hit with unexpected Paypal fees.

When you sell domains through Epik, you're always paid in Masterbucks. You have to request permission to remove those funds and can choose Paypal. When you do so, it's done as payment for goods and services. But I already paid my 9% for goods and services. This should have just been a funds transfer. So that was an unexpected surprise.

 

[timestamp]

Looks like Paypal is back as a payment method. No need to add funds first.

I got hit with unexpected Paypal fees

So it's the same as namecheap.

 

[topdom]

Epik now claims all our domains are IDN domains (marketplace offers). So if there is a buyer. they will be discouraged thinking they are buying junk. Instead of fixing bugs, they enjoy adding new bugs.

 

[Embrand]

It looks like Rob is planning to raise a lot of funds for the many Epik projects through the modestly named Kingdom Ventures:

https://kingdomventures.com/

 

[timestamp]

Just when I thought there will be no more religion crap, ...here we go again.

 

[Embrand]

Just when I thought there will be no more religion crap, ...here we go again.

It certainly looks like it:

"Kingdom Ventures is an innovative platform for connecting Kingdom-minded ventures with Kingdom-minded capital to do God’s will. Financial capital, intellectual capital, human capital and spiritual capital work together to co-create abundance for the benefit of many in a practice called Servant Capitalism.

Our work is in God’s Kingdom and our primary focus is on service to others, meeting needs, especially for “the least of these”, as described in The Book of Matthew in The Bible:

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in… Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'” (Matthew 25: 35,40).

We believe in divine providence (as described in Psalm 57:2) in full confidence that the all-knowing and all-seeing God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is ordering our steps (as in Proverbs 16:3) through every circumstance (as in Romans 8:28).

His logistics are perfect. His grace is sufficient."

 

[Future Sensors]

TLS certificates generated by Epik/Terrahost bundle seemingly unrelated X509v3 hostnames from different customers into one certificate. I have no idea why Epik does it this way. This way, customers are unknowingly associated with controversial practices they probably don't support.

Example:

https://crt.sh/?q=pianomoving.com

X509v3 Subject Alternative Name:
DNS:1sexstories.com
DNS:bettercalljane.com
DNS:betves125.com
DNS:bravotelecom.net.durori.com
DNS:chillservice.com.hemplighting.com
DNS:healthyhomescertified.com
DNS:hempequestrian.com
DNS:ihempwood.com.78950land.com
DNS:immersivetracker.com
DNS:mosquirixvaccine.org
DNS:personalso.com
DNS:pianomoving.com
DNS:seniorportraitswestchester.com
DNS:seniorstransitionservice.com
DNS:structuralinsulatingpanel.com
DNS:thehamperbox.com
DNS:unionjackcrypto.com.paulbarrett.com
DNS:waterofchampions.org
DNS:webcamsnude.com

 

[Reallybigidea.com]

Hi,
I'd like to know the expiration time for accepted offer.
I have got an offer and accepted it buyer doesn't paid. What if he is "reserved" the domain and trying to resell it to someone else.
If the buyer do not paid in 7 days offer should be canceled.

 

[Reallybigidea.com]

Incorrect exchange for btc usd on landing page with enabled currency in btc

 

[Future Sensors]

There is currently a huge thread in the Warnings and Alerts section with Epik customers complaining about Masterbucks. The new CEO of Epik is virtually invisible and people can't withdraw their money. Sometimes their balances are as high as 25k or 50k, because funds from domain sales have been deposited in Masterbucks.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/th...from-epik-com-via-masterbucks-wallet.1284050/

 

[topdom]

Hi,
I'd like to know the expiration time for accepted offer.
I have got an offer and accepted it buyer doesn't paid. What if he is "reserved" the domain and trying to resell it to someone else.
If the buyer do not paid in 7 days offer should be canceled.

I asked the same question many many many times everywhere. No response.
Maybe because they are reserving that right for themselves, sometimes.

To avoid this situation: Don't accept any offer, if you want to accept an offer,
just make a counteroffer very close to the offer you are ready to accept.
If someone accepts your offer, I think he has to pay. If it won't be paid right away,
why allow accepting an offer. I think this is the rule at Epik at the moment (not sure).
It never happened that a buyer accepts my offer/price t Epik and doesn't pay immediately
(because , I hope, theoretically it is not possible).
Since we are losing the domain as soon as payment is received, it doesn't
make sense to keep a sale in pending state in such cases.
This is like fast transfer of Afternic.

But if you are accepting their offer, then they can't pay as soon as you accept their
offer (they need to check their email first, who knows when).

If you made a counteroffer, but want to change /cancel your offer;
will making another offer cancel previous offer: Not sure about it.
I also asked this to Epik everywhere , no response. They either ignore
or intentionally misunderstand it and say something completely unrelated.
BUT, (they say), you can remove the negotiation (click delete icon),
and then all offers would be cancelled.

I asked all such questions, when I was planning to make Epik my main
marketplace/parking service; and mentioned their mistakes hoping they would
fix all bugs, explain everything etc. Instead they turned into evil,
decided to hide contact infos of buyers, and created other bugs which can be
considered as scam attempts: not registering or renewing domains, not issuing refunds unless
explicitly warned, and blocking money in mastebucks.
...
EDIT (not related to epik): Dan makes accepting and cancelling offers very easy.
They have accept and cancel icons, but their meaning is not clear, and buyers are almost
forced to choose green or red icon, instead of clicking negotiation window to
make a counteroffer, or send a message. Clearly it was built for bulk buyers,
this way a domain investor or a midman agent could lowball thousands of domains everyday,
and quickly manage negotiations. Also, domains don't resolve fast enough,
may take 30 seconds or more.
And Sedo donates our real info, to fake buyers for free, without any consequences
except hurting sellers, and wasting their time.
And AN is for selling to GD agents rather than to actual buyers.
So no marketplace is good enough, because they optimize things for themselves.

 

[Reallybigidea.com]

Hello, any dotCo deals.
$24 is a bit high
.. Porkbun Sav around $2

 

[Future Sensors]

To all:

At this point, be very cautious when doing any business with Epik.

Read this posting from @jberryhill and the attached court documents (not filed by him, he's just relaying).

https://www.namepros.com/threads/th...terbucks-wallet.1284050/page-236#post-8887242

 

[TCK]

What would be your ideal of a marketplace/parking solution? This is posed for all.

 

[NicTraders]

What would be the advantage of using Epik v other registrars?

Make no mistake. There would be ZERO advantage in using Epik at the current time (except perhaps the slight inconvenience of transferring domains out if they are already held with Epik). On the other hand, there are MANY potential disadvantages. The risk is currently very high that they will end up filing for bankruptcy in the relatively near-term.

 

[frank-germany]

 

[Corey]

Currently, transferring my names OUT!

Cheers
Corey

 

[TheBuyerz]

Epik stolen from me 6000$

 

[NicTraders]

For anyone interested, Dynadot has a promo going that includes Transfers. A great opportunity to get valuable domains out of Epik:

.COM Registration & Transfer Sale!​

Purchase your new .COM domain names for $7.88 (excluding re-registrations) and/or transfer your existing .COM domains to your Dynadot account for $8.95! Both offers are valid until May 31, 2023 23:59 UTC.

Registration Coupon: COMSPRING23
Transfer Coupon: COMSWITCH