Lots of progress, but still an issue of orphaned domain name listings on marketplaces.
If you’ve been buying domains on major domain name marketplaces for any number of years you’ve certainly come across a domain listed for sale that isn’t actually for sale.
I still remember “buying” SugarCookies.com for something like $2500 many years ago only to find out the person who had listed it had sold it already.
Afternic and Sedo have taken steps over the years to resolve this problem. After a site started listing domains listed on Sedo that were freely available for registration, Sedo started implementing a number of systems to weed out old listings.
The problem is also creeping up on GoDaddy. It creates a particularly interesting situation on GoDaddy since the site started syndicating its auction listings to its registration path.
One Domain Name Wire reader has experienced this twice. A domain expired and was fully deleted, so he went to GoDaddy to register it. But the system wouldn’t let him register it, instead saying the domain name was available in auction:
The reader had to go to a competing domain registrar in order to register the domain name.
What happened here is that the previous owner had listed the domain on Go Daddy auctions. When the domain expired the auction listing wasn’t removed.
Marketplaces have worked to clean up such listings as they move to more fixed price, instant transfer listings. Most instant transfer systems constantly monitor whois records for changes and remove domains from the marketplace immediately if there’s an ownership change.
I’ve noticed Afternic go a step further recently. Afternic will completely remove your listing if you don’t respond to several notices of a price request for a domain name.
That’s because the domain industry is unregulated. You, as a portfolio holder, should delete sold domains from listing services, to prevent identity confusion, so the new owner may list it conveniently. In this era of stolen domains, auction houses have rules that only the OWNER may unlist a domain name. That makes it hard for the new owner.
But tell a portfolio holder he should delist his sold domain, and it’s “oh, no. That’s alot of work. I can’t do that, unlist the name from all the different places it is listed for sale.” Not me! Too much work.
Like work is a foreign concept for portfolio holders.
I faced similar situation in the past.For one domain godaddy wanted me to pay $1600.
I simply registered it for $8 at moniker.
Andrew’s concerns with respect to market integrity are absolutely valid.
Domain integrity and inventory management is a top priority for Afternic, and attention to this is one reason why DLS sales have nearly doubled, year-over-year.
From our perspective, domain integrity isn’t simply about removing sold domains, or ensuring that the person listing a domain is indeed the owner, it’s about having a series of checks that help to avoid issues from the buyer perspective. That builds confidence and drives sales for Afternic’s members.
Before domains are added into Afternic inventory they pass through numerous integrity checks, including: registration validation, valuation, compliance and quality.
Afternic only sells aftermarket domain names that pass these domain integrity checks. We do not list domain names that have not yet been registered for sale and make every effort to remove listings that are no longer available.
We are vigorously looking for new ways to improve our process ensuring premium quality domain names and best experience for our members. I welcome any questions that domain sellers and Afternic members may have. Please feel free to contact me directly by sending a PM.
Peter, Afternic Product Management