Automated Lease To Own (LTO) deals at scale are a nice innovation for selling domain names. I like the passive income produced by my LTO sales, and if a buyer defaults on a deal, I get the domain name returned to me. Dan.com introduced automated LTO deals at a scale, and Afternic began offering LTO deals to buyers in the second half of 2023.
At the end of November, I closed my first LTO deal via Afternic. The domain name is being acquired for $4,999 on a 12 month payment plan. The buyer paid on November 27th, and the first payout was sent to me on November 29th. Because Afternic utilizes the Dan.com payment schedule, the second payment was scheduled to be made to me on January 7th. I assume the buyer was obligated to pay on the one month anniversary – December 27th.
January 7th was a Sunday, so the payout date for my LTO deals on Dan.com and Afternic were pushed to Monday the 8th. Early yesterday morning, I received two scheduled LTO payouts for deals being transacted via Dan.com. I also received payment confirmation emails from Dan.com in conjunction with the payouts. Last night, I realized I didn’t receive a payout notification for the Afternic LTO deal.
I looked into the Leased Out page of my Afternic control panel and saw the payout was due on January 7th, with the payout status listed as “Payout in Progress.” The note behind the question mark icon is “Next installment is in process.” I don’t know what that means. I understand Afternic and Dan.com don’t do payouts on weekends and holidays, but it should have been made yesterday. I should have received some sort of automated email to notify me of the status of the payout, like what is done at Dan.com.
I still do not like the fact that Dan.com and now Afternic / GoDaddy doesn’t pay me shortly after a LTO buyer makes a payment as was done since Dan.com started offering LTO deals. Thankfully, I don’t *need* the money right away, but I would rather have it sitting in my bank account than in GoDaddy’s. Beyond that, I think Afternic needs to do a better job of communicating the status of LTO payouts to customers who are waiting for their payouts.
Godaddy/Afternic should have had their LTO option available at Afternic from the beginning, not send a customer to DAN.
The average person wouldn’t understand why they’re being forwarded to DAN for a payment plan.
I totally agree. DAN would be confusing for an individual or business not familiar with the domain industry. Hoping that their “A GoDaddy Brand” label on their home page helps with credibility. Fred.
A couple of my major City sales have included terms. Mostly with substantial down payments, then monthly payments that escalate over 3-5 years. These were all 7 figure names. So far they have all worked out, and I believe it is important to have the initial strong first payment. For my personal portfolio, some of which do include City names at $750K and higher, but mostly 1,000+ names priced mostly in the low to mid 4-5 figure range, I just enabled LTO at both Dan and Afternic for up to 24 months. I’m willing to test it for awhile, and I can see the benefits of providing a company the LTO option. Some of my names could be susceptible to reputation damage if the wrong content is displayed; not sure how to police this aspect.
I was paid today. I received a payment confirmation email this afternoon. I don’t know why they paid me late, especially considering the buyer’s payment was due more than a week ago.
Afternic’s adjustment to poorer, unjust payout schedules was haughty & arrogant. It’s surprising they seem unconcerned to be haughty & arrogant.