A couple of weeks ago I chatted with Tess Diaz, Domain Asset Advisor with Godaddy.
She called asking if we had any suggestions for improving the TDNAM auction platform for expired domains.
We suggested that TDNAM should not show any expired auction domains in the “most active” category if they only had one bid.
Our argument was that a domain having one bidder, does not make it “most active”
Actually you need two bidders to have an auction.
We thought it was unfair that those who spent the time to mine through the lists of expired domains and placed the first bid on a domain, would have the spotlight then shined on the domain by the auction house and placed on the most active list.
Last week Tess e-mailed me back and let me know that my suggestion was being adopted by Godaddy and that TDNAM “most active” list for their expired domain auctions would start showing only domains with at least 2 bids.
So if you know look at TDNAM you will not see any expired auctions listed with 1 bid on the most active list.
This makes all that hard work of manually going through the Godaddy expired auction list worth the effort, as you may find a gem that no one else is bidding on.
We hope that the other domain auction services, NameJet.com and Snapnames.com adopt a similar policy in the near future.
Once again this goes to show if you make an effort, sometimes you can get something done.
Very Very good advice. Well done Michael.
Awesome. That is a great improvement. Now it is more worth while researching GD expiring names knowing you might actually get something with a single bid.
nice job…thanks…I’m sure I paid a few more bucks the past few years due to the 1 bid exposure…
Tim
We all did
That is a GREAT idea. TDNAM is very responsive actually and amazingly if you are patient and screen well there are some nice buys on their lists.
ChopperRentals.com was one I really liked at TDnam a week or so ago, but I was “out” that day. Sure someone got a nice buy.
Actually, whether this change was a good or bad one depends on whether you’re a seller or a buyer…which goes to the question of who the 3rd party domain sellers are the fiduciaries of; if they’re agents of either.
How do you tell your sellers you’re great at getting them top dollar for their domains…while concurrently telling your buyers (often the same people) that they’re getting great deals?
The paradox of dual agency.
Steve
The change effected only the EXPIRED domain auction, as I explained in the post.
As far as I know the former owner of an expired domain at Godaddy does not get anything from Godaddy if his domain is sold after his registration expires, whether the domain sells for $10 or $10 million dollars.
So basically in this instance the only seller is Godaddy, think it just one of those changes you are going to have to accept as being all good.
Tess has a really smooth, sexy voice – don’t you think? She’s sweet too.
I like your suggestion. It makes it feel like there is a reason to keep looking then to have every domain hound sniffin’.
Tess
Is very nice and she gets it done
Seriously? I would have thought that this was all too obvious by now.
Hi Mike,
Your suggestions threw me at first, too. I thought “why wouldn’t the seller WANT some attention when his domain got a bid?” Then I realized that it was TDNAM (worst name for a domain-aftermarket website I’ve ever heard/seen!). These are GD’s domains, so it doesn’t make a difference if the bidder count is revealed. Great advice to GD on this.
On another note: As for the private auctions, they should always have a column that shows how many bidders there are for a domain (“1” “2” “4” “10”) etc. I think the key for a domain auction representing a seller is that the domain gets plenty of promotion beforehand. This can be cheaply done by reaching potential buyers with some simple banner ads placed on relevant industry websites to the domain’s prodservs. This way, a “private” auction really doesn’t become just a “listing” of the domain. One bidder, at the reserve price, is a “listing sale”, not an “auction sale” IMHO. Private auctions shouldn’t charge more than 10% for selling a domain that gets only one bidder at the reserve price.
Great article.