news GoDaddy to acquire domain sales platform dan.com!

[MadAboutDomains]

Looks like GoDaddy is acquiring Dan.com!

Via Domainnamewire... https://domainnamewire.com/2022/06/28/big-news-godaddy-is-acquiring-dan-com/

 

[DomainRecap]

My prediction is that it will close Dan or Afternic because they serve the same purpose.

It's obvious from the comments by Paul Nicks that Dan will eventually be absorbed by Afternic. That's all he talks about, Afternic this and Afternic that, with little mention of Dan, so can see what the future will bring.

I'm actually depressed about the new "20% Commission World Order" that this acquisition will herald.

 

[bmugford]

It's obvious from the comments by Paul Nicks that Dan will eventually be absorbed by Afternic. That's all he talks about, Afternic this and Afternic that, with little mention of Dan, so can see what the future will bring.

I'm actually depressed about the new "20% Commission World Order" that this acquisition will herald.

If you are handling the leads and the negotiation, 20% is absurd.

I do have a gut feeling that GoDaddy will raise the fees to 20% to "standardize" their fee structure.

Will GoDaddy even allow people to handle their own leads anymore?

People used Dan.com because they offered things GoDaddy did not. If GoDaddy comes in with a wrecking ball a lot of people are just going to leave.

Brad

 

[DomainRecap]

I hope dan can tell us if this was a buyout or a partnership

These two terms mean the same thing in 2022 and using the PR-friendly "partnership" when referring to a standard company takeover is simply a way to assuage customer fears, and try to ensure they all don't get scared and jump ship to a competitor.

"Don't worry everyone, this isn't a traditional corporate acquisition, it's a 'partnership'"

I read press releases every day that use "partnership" to try and conceal that the company is now under new ownership, and sometimes these "new owners" go to extremes to really hide the fact they have taken over control.

 

[DomainRecap]

People used Dan.com because they offered things GoDaddy did not. If GoDaddy comes in with a wrecking ball a lot of people are just going to leave.

That could be the long-term plan, as it just makes it easier to shut down or merge with Afternic.

 

[bmugford]

I have told peop

These two terms mean the same thing in 2022 and using the PR-friendly "partnership" when referring to a standard company takeover is a way to assuage customer fears, and try to ensure they all don't get scared and jump ship to a competitor.

"Don't worry everyone, this isn't a traditional corporate acquisition, it's a 'partnership'"

I read press releases every day that use "partnership" to try and hide the fact that the company is now under new ownership, and sometimes these "new owners" go to extremes to hide the fact they have taken over control.

To me the wording is disingenuous. It is not a "partnership" and should not be called that.

If one company buys the other, and has all the decision making ability, that is an acquisition or buyout.

Brad

 

[DomainRecap]

To me the wording is disingenuous. It is not a "partnership" and should not be called that.

Of course it is, and that's the point. They are lying to cover up or cloud the truth.

GoDaddy Acquires Dan

Done! But while 100% truthful, that's a scary headline and the PR flack guys and gals are all running around trying to mitigate customer fears and anger, and the current "hot keyword" in 2022 is "partnership".

 

[Embrand]

Afternic lives in 2001

LOL, it almost looked better back in 2001:

 

[Haroon Basha]

The Bottoline is Domain Sellers are at a loss.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

"When Paul and I started flirting about working together, the seed was planted and grew as we discovered our ideas aligned about how to take the domain secondary market forward.
Reza Sardeha, Dan.com founder"

Ambiguous as anything.

Interestingly the Dan website doesn't mention that they have been acquired. Only that it is a partnership.

GoDaddy's press website doesn't show it as an item without searching for it. https://aboutus.godaddy.net/newsroom/press-releases/default.aspx

 

[Tom_Collins]

TBH DAN doesn't have the influx of end-users like GoDaddy.

GoDaddy buys Superbowl ads.

Can't wait for the integration.

 

[DomainRecap]

Interestingly the Dan website doesn't mention that they have been acquired. Only that it is a partnership.

That's because PR flacks think that if they lie long enough and well enough, that the lie will become the truth.

 

[bmugford]

TBH DAN doesn't have the influx of end-users like GoDaddy.

GoDaddy buys Superbowl ads.

Can't wait for the integration.

Interesting take. I remember how long it took to integrate Afternic and GoDaddy, and it is still far from perfect.

Dan.com brings the entire framework - the backend, the landers, the negotiation and transfer process. GoDaddy brings their name.

It will probably be nothing more than sticking a GoDaddy logo on the landers and raising fees to 20%.

This would be the perfect opportunity to largely leave Dan.com as is. They capture a lot of the market GoDaddy does not - landers and negotiated sales. They are not going to get nearly as many at 20%.

Brad

 

[MadAboutDomains]

I do have a gut feeling that GoDaddy will raise the fees to 20% to "standardize" their fee structure.

Well no matter what happens, it's exactly the way that Reza Sardeha wanted it to be. He said as much...

 

[Dane]

Ugh.

 

[DomainRecap]

It will probably be nothing more than sticking a GoDaddy logo on the landers and raising fees to 20%.

This would be the perfect opportunity to largely leave Dan.com as is. They capture a lot of the market GoDaddy does not - landers and negotiated sales. They are not going to get nearly as many at 20%.

Agreed, and if GD rolls in and ups the commission to 20%, then I will need to explore other options like Efty or adding my own landers on my hosting service.

When you add it up at the end of the year, 20% is insane for the service they provide so I carefully pick and choose which offers I reply to at GD, while using Dan for the majority of my negotiations.

If Dan = GD, then I need a new primary negotiating platform to send my own domain traffic to.

 

[Dane]

I don't like putting buy it now prices on my better domains...

Do you use Make Offer instead? Or something else?

 

[xcloud123]

LOL, it almost looked better back in 2001:

LOL

 

[bmugford]

Do you use Make Offer instead? Or something else?

Yeah, make offer. You can generally tell pretty quickly if the potential buyer is serious or a tirekicker/lowballer.

Brad

 

[rh2000]

TBH DAN doesn't have the influx of end-users like GoDaddy.

GoDaddy buys Superbowl ads.

Can't wait for the integration.

I hope you can't wait for that 20% commission also.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

As others stated, too much control in too few hands is normally not good.

That said, the article seems to say that Afternic will use Dan landers as an option, use their automated system for faster processing, and use the DAN system to bring payment plans to Afternic. All of those could help convert more sales at Afternic.

On the DAN side, Afternic could bring a huge network, the GoDaddy branding, 24x7 agents in many languages to handle queries, and integration with large registrar network. Also, being part of a registrar will aid lease-to-own (but hopefully when names sell at DAN they will not need to move to GoDaddy, which would be a negative, particularly for some TLDs).

It could be a plus, even if commissions edge up, as long as not too much.

I do worry though, now with Uniregistry and Dan both gone as competitors, the push to innovation and competitive commissions weakens.

We will have to wait and see.

Paul N is speaking on it at NamesCon for those of you planning to attend.

Bob

 

[topdom]

I told you so. (before it happened, as a possibility).
Because Dan was working hard to prevent sales.

Who knows maybe Dan didn't want to be evil, but their spam-blocker
was from the same network as GD, so to force Dan to sell itself,
they may have killed Dan's business first.

The same must have happened to Epik.
Because there is no other explanation.

When Epik was ok, many people "hated" Epik.
When Epik turned into ev-l , they remained silent.
Someone wrote an extremely long article against Epik,
and after this Epik changed
(because otherwise they would face bankruptcy
or leagal troubles?),
and the guy who invested all of his life
on collecting stuff against Epik,
said nothing, when I was making legitimate
complaints about Epik (to improve Epik, not as an attack).

Arbitrage monopoly.
.....
Solution: Sedo should improve itself and attract sellers,
and create some competition.

How can they do it:
they should be like old Epik:
Hide seller info.
Show buyer info, unless they are strongly against it.

Otheriwse Sedo would be sold as well.

---------
who knows maybe this would make Dan a better place
than it is now, to park domains. Maybe domains will resolve normally.

 

[Future Sensors]

I nominate Reza for the position of VP Low Seller Fees and Continued Fast Innovation at parent company GoDaddy, Inc.

Congratulations on the acquisition, Reza.

 

[Igor Mironyuk]

Not found, error 404

Try to read this news here: news.dan.com

 

[Igor Mironyuk]

When Epik was ok, many people "hated" Epik.
When Epik turned into ev-l , they remained silent.

Epik not acquired by GoDaddy.

 

[Igor Mironyuk]

right now as general marketplaces remain as stand alone will be Sedo , Epik.com & Dynadot

I think Epik will be next acquisition of GoDaddy.