I saw a domain name in the Dropping.pro newsletter that caught my attention this morning. When I clicked through on the domain name, I was taken to a BIN page on GoDaddy’s website rather than the expiry auction landing page. The domain name is currently listed for sale via Afternic for $65,000 with a lease to own option available:
At the same time, this domain name is in an expiry auction at GoDaddy with a high bid of $3,550. The auction ends later on this afternoon:
I think there should be a mechanism for Afternic/GoDaddy to remove BIN listings if the domain name is in an expiry auction and can no longer be renewed by the registrant. When that is the case, it doesn’t make sense for the domain name to be listed if the sale can’t be fulfilled. Obviously, this is a bit different for domain names registered at other registrars that may possibly be renewed later than GoDaddy, but that’s another story.
If someone were to click the BIN button and pay for the domain name instead of bidding in auction, I presume they would be SOL and their payment would be refunded. I am pretty sure a GoDaddy-registered domain name in the final hours of an expiry auction can no longer be renewed absent some sort of “edge case” scenario.
I am pretty sure I saw an auction last week for a domain name that was listed for sale with a much tighter margin between the BIN price and the auction high bid at the time I looked. If this domain name was registered at a partner that permitted very late renewals, the high bidder may have been out of luck had someone else used the BIN option and the registrant renewed the domain name.
