Namecheap CEO Richard Kirkendall and GoDaddy President of Domains Paul Nicks traded barbs last week.
GoDaddy owns Afternic, and Namecheap is a partner that syndicates domains in the Afternic network. When Namecheap sells one of these domains it splits the commission with Afternic.
The disagreement started with Kirkendall noting that GoDaddy restricted some Afternic inventory from showing up at Namecheap. He suggested that GoDaddy did this to try to maximize its revenue by getting more aftermarket sales at GoDaddy. (GoDaddy keeps the full commission on sales on its sites.)
Godaddy likes to do “tests” that censor out certain registrars because they have more sales. Their optimization involves trying to get the most sales to Godaddy themselves.
— Richard Kirkendall (@NamecheapCEO) March 31, 2022
Nicks responded:
Let’s break down what’s going on here.
First, regarding Afternic inventory. GoDaddy lets partners mark up sellers’ prices to capture more commission. Last month I analyzed how registrars do these markups of up to 15%.
Namecheap offered a slight discount of 3% instead. It took this hit on its commission but gained some sales because people knew Namecheap had lower prices. I’ve steered a few people to Namecheap to make their aftermarket purchases because of the discount.
Apparently, Afternic lets partners markup prices but not discount them. GoDaddy took its NameFind inventory down from Namecheap as punishment.
I’m inclined to side with Namecheap on this one. I’d be fine with GoDaddy requiring registrars only to sell domains at the list price, but if you’re going to let them add commission, you should let them reduce it, too. Complaining that Namecheap wouldn’t honor the buy now prices doesn’t seem fair given that registrars can increase the prices. (That said, if Namecheap didn’t respond to requests to talk about it, that’s not good, either.)
The second part has to do with Namecheap’s expired domain inventory. Namecheap partnered with GoDaddy Auctions to sell its expired domains until November last year, when it moved the domains to its own marketplace.
It appears that Namecheap was pulling back an outsized number of domains late. When you buy an expired domain at GoDaddy that is registered at a partner registrar, there’s a chance that the transaction won’t be fulfilled because the registrant ends up renewing/transferring the domain. All registrars have different deadlines, but this is really frustrating as a buyer. I find it especially surprising when a domain gets to the final days of closeouts, and the domain is renewed after I buy it.
I don’t know the extent of Namecheap’s pullbacks, but I can say that GoDaddy needs to do what it can to fulfill as many completed aftermarket purchases as possible.
I messaged with Kirkendall this afternoon. He made the following points:
- In addition to GoDaddy removing Namefind domains from Namecheap, Afternic also pulled Namecheap’s portfolio from syndication.
- It was after this that Namecheap decided to pull its expiry from GoDaddy Auctions.
- Namecheap then removed the 3% discount on Afternic names in an effort to normalize the relationship.
It would be a shame if Namecheap no longer sold Afternic inventory. I hope the companies can work this out.
Please , stop this childish dickering.
We don’t need anymore of this attention who*&re drama
Is Godaddy the Russian bully land Namecheap the underdog Ukraine?
Glory to Ukraine
Glory to Ukraine
Glory to Ukraine!!!
It all stinks. I hope that one day soon ICANN wake up ,become commerically minded and appoint a company to run the Aftermarket themselves.
Whilst we are at it, I think the 20% commission charged by GoDaddy and Afternic is a rip off. If DAN_com can do it for 9% then so should they.
I’ve been saying for years that 20% commission is way too high! 10% minimum!
I think you mean “maximum”…10% maximum.
Indeed I did mean “maximum” lol
Busy multitasking with my grandson lol
20% might seem high but when it’s sold through a partner they split the commission. I’m fine paying this amount for transactions that go through the fast transfer network.
My domains are mostly sold directly through GoDaddy/Afternic BIN/Make offer lander pages. GoDaddy should have lower domain commissions, especially if a domain sells directly through GoDaddy.
make an open and shut price fixing case i think…..
Accordingly, price fixing is a major concern of government antitrust enforcement. A plain agreement among competitors to fix prices is almost always illegal, whether prices are fixed at a minimum, maximum, or within some range.
Not a lawyer, but not sure price fixing applies here. It’s a unique item that domain owners list for a price. As a domain owner, I don’t like that the price can be increased by the registrar. Think about it another way…let’s say you list a domain for $1,000 with a broker and they go promote it as $1,500 so they can keep more of the pie. Would that be OK?
Now, I realize the case with Namecheap is different. They are actually cutting their commission to make the sale.
Still don’t think price fixing law necessarily applies here, but I’m happy to hear from someone knowledgeable about the subject.
so Econ and Public Policy 401 was a long time ago at University of Redlands, but i look at it that i am the producer and wholesale of the product, and i make it available through the dls system to different retailers, who set the final price to the customer ..
kinda like godaddy took minimum or no markup to enter the business as a registrar,
seems to me if the namecheap wants to reduce their profit percentage and pass along to the customer, like walmart. they cant be penalized unless godady is per se trying to enforce price fixing..again afternic is making the same, domain owner is making the same but godaddy the customer facing registrar is ticked that godaddy the leading marketplace interface is allowing, thats why its better to less concentration of power.. so a monopoly cant extend their domainant market share
as a registrar, to the benefit of their warehousing operation..
but again im not a antitrust expert…
page
.ens names are better and godaddy missing out on billions. U snooze u lose
Infact, the ball is in which court…!
GoDaddy practices are ridiculous. Never search for a domain you’re interested in on GoDaddy’s WhoIs or the next thing you’ll find when you go to buy that domain you were interested in that showed up as available at regular pricing is that it has suddenly become a Premium domain. Never happens to me on Namecheap.
I’d be willing to bet a hundred bucks that GoDaddy is not using your search data to register domains to sell at premiums.