GoDaddy adding more expired domain registrars, increasing European aftermarket presence

GoDaddy’s aftermarket business continues to grow.

Get ready for more expired domain name inventory at GoDaddy.

The company is adding inventory from a couple of new registrars this summer, GoDaddy VP Paul Nicks told DNW yesterday.

While he didn’t name the registrars, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Namecheap join this summer. Namecheap is certainly the big prize out their right now. The company is not happy with Tucows and sued it over Namecheap’s transfer of domains away from the Tucows platform. Tucows owns half of NameJet, so I can’t imagine Namecheap wanting to send its inventory to that platform.

(As an aside, is it just me or are the types of names that sold for $100 on GoDaddy’s platform a year ago suddenly selling for $300 or more?)

Nicks also told DNW that the company is adding aftermarket salespeople in Europe. The company now has a large presence in Europe thanks to its Host Europe Group acquisition. With more European registrars now on its aftermarket platforms, it’s seeing more sales inquiries from Europe.

This sales team handles all purchase inquiries from Europe. It also handles after-hours inquiries from elsewhere. For example, if someone makes an inquiry on your domain at 3 am EST, the European sales reps that are already in the office will make the phone call.

To be sure, the sales team is still fairly small. It started with two people covering five languages and is adding two more people to the team. It’s still behind Sedo in terms of non-US team size and languages covered, but domainers should cheer any improvements to sales coverage around the world.