Platform needs major changes to accommodate extended auctions.
Over the past couple days I’ve sorted through Moniker’s domain names in its TRAFFIC extended online auction. There are some great domains at relatively low prices. But be forewarned: participating in the auction may result in a migraine.
The first problem is there are too many domain names (over 5,000). Many of them are great domains, but there’s a lot of crap in there. Low priced crap, but crap nonetheless. Moniker needs to appease its customers, but should seriously consider limiting the extended auction to 500 domains or so. Otherwise it’s doing a disservice to both its sellers and buyers.
But the biggest problem is the SnapNames platform. It simply wasn’t built for this type of auction. Moniker’s old marketplace platform was much better for this purpose. Here are my gripes:
1. You have to click through 57 pages to see all of the domains, even if you extend each page to the maximum 100 domains. You also can’t sort by category. Moniker has a spreadsheet available for download that includes categories, but it uses reserve ranges for pricing rather than the actual price. When you’re looking at a domain with a reserve range between $0-$5,000, it matters if the domain is $300 or $4,500. The SnapNames site includes the actual price.
2. Can’t “jump to” page. As I clicked through to the 32nd page of listings, I got a server error. There was no way to pick up where I left off because there’s no feature to “go to pay 32 of 57”. I ended up starting at page 57 and working backward.
3. Adding a domain to the watch list refreshes the entire page.
4. When you view your watchlist, the domain prices aren’t visible.
5. The SnapNames interface requires you to add a domain you want to bid on to your cart and then check out. It makes no sense for an auction like this.
Moniker has a good thing going, but it should prioritize making fixes to its SnapNames site for extended auctions.
Domain Investor says
It is interesting you mentioned about the difficulty of managing thru Snapnames/Moniker auction.
I experienced the same problem yesterday.
You went to page 32?
I gave up on page 10 !!!
And, 5,000 domains is crazy.
They are nice domains but I felt like I was wasting my time digging thru the list.
Maybe, they will learn something from this auction.
Craig Calder says
Thank you for this feedback Andrew. We have been listening to you and others, and have an exciting series of enhancements coming to rectify the issues you describe, including the handling of names in the shopping cart. The first set of enhancements will come this month, and a second set will be available before the next Extended Auction.
Thank you,
Craig Calder
Senior Product Manager,
SnapNames.com, Inc.
Andrew Allemann says
Craig – that’s great to hear. Please let us know when they’re released.
I will not sort through 5,000 domains says
Many of the domains listed are crap. Companies should make an effort to hire people that have bought and sold domain names
D says
Oh and how difficult is to add actual prices from Snapnames to the xls ? Download xls, go to Snapnames bulk thing, attempt to backorder whole list, it returns you prices, use MATCH function in excel – takes 2-3 minutes…
Andrew Allemann says
@ D – or they could fix the problem so their customers don’t have to worry about it.
Adam says
Why not just use the snapnames system. This seems like some poor mans mashup between snap and moniker’s systems.
I’m not sure about this either . . . are the prices shown on snap the reserve prices. You know it’s pretty confusing since many moniker auctions start at a price that is NOT the reserve . .. I’m guessing the snap price is the BIN/reserve price but who knows.
JG says
Great to see your post.
I am a name seller who has had premium names in Moniker’s last 3 extended online auctions.
Not only have none of them sold at their auctions — and yes they are high quality names — I’ve been contacted directly through WHOIS lookups of my names by potential purchasers who told me that if they were to buy the names, they would and could not go through Moniker/Snapnames.
Their interface is actually a sales impediment, even if a browser can even find the name that they would buy. That alone is doubtful at best.
Pending some tremendous changes in their system, I probably will stop offering my names through Monkier/Snapnames, it’s more work than it’s worth.
Thx again for the post
Stephen Douglas says
I like Craig Calder. He knows the right people to talk to and is smart as a whip, as are all the people Oversee has working on this. Expect the best results soon and your prayers answered with this Snapnames/Moniker marriage.
And taking a tabloid stance, I see a new “handle” coming… like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s “Brangelina”… I predict a landslide of domainer popularity going the “SNAPMON” way by the end of summer.
John Mauriello says
We are adding a bunch of more features in the next release however It’s not that bad as it is, and many of the big buyers actually like that some people are complaining about this and wont be bidding against them. There will be a lot of nice buys for anyone who takes a few minutes and uses the tools/steps below
Extended Online Auction
Wed, Apr 29, 5:00 PM – Thu, May 7, 12:15 PM PT /3PM EST
SnapnamesExtendedAuction.com or https://www.snapnames.com/apps/search.jsp
1) To view names that currently have bids, go to SnapnamesExtendedAuction.com and click on “bidders” 2 times.
(The list will be sorted- listing the names with the most bids first).
2) Research the Catalog here: you can search by price ranges, categories, characters,
extensions, keywords, and name length. http://domainauctions.moniker.com/viewCatalog.php?id=199
3) Download the full catalog including the submitted traffic Stats: http://domainauctions.moniker.com/details?id=199
I’m available for anyone needing assistance finding names. Hit me up if you need assistance
Regards,
John Mauriello
jmauriello@moniker.com
954-861-3536
800-688-6311 Ext. 3536
FAX: 954-969-9155
ICQ: 341620056 AIM: monikermaurie
MSN: jmauriello@gmail.com
Andrew Allemann says
“It’s not that bad as it is, and many of the big buyers actually like that some people are complaining about this and wont be bidding against them”
Exactly, so it’s bad for sellers who won’t get the maximum value for their domains.
John Mauriello says
I agree we can and are improving the functionality of the site to make it easier for buyers to find the names they want.
Sellers are the ones that are primarily complaining about the functionality. Buyers work with the tools above and we are available to assist them. A lot of marketing has been done for this auction and end users and domainers are finding and buying the names they want.
There are close to 100 names with bids, a buyers online, and a large number of names on watch lists that will be purchased and bid on with multiple bids.
You will see that we are addressing the issues and will continue to improve on our results
Andrew Allemann says
John, yes I saw that in the Craig’s comments and I’m glad to hear that it’s being worked on.
Adam says
LOL @andrew yea. . . it’s not that bad. 🙂
@JG it’s actually pretty easy to find a specific domain with the search. I don’t see the problem there. I mean you can even link to the domain For example : https://www.snapnames.com/?aff=4343&dom=corporatejets.com goes to CorporteJets.com
The advantages of the system is definitely buyer-centered as Andrew points out. Sellers won’t benefit if their name isn’t found quickly, can’t be bought easily and let alone has to compete for attention with 4000 other domains, etc.