Afternic: Pending Sync

I hand registered 29 domain names at GoDaddy two days ago. I registered them in two swaths – 20 names and 9 names. Afternic is now the default nameservers I have set for my newly registered domain namesat GoDaddy, figuring my infrequent hand registered domain names will be priced under $2k from the get go.

Soon after registering these domain names, I added them to my Afternic account, where they are priced at $999 – $1,999/each. Shortly thereafter, I noticed a new heading in my Afternic account: “Pending Sync.”

I reached out to my helpful account manager at Afternic, and he told me he will try to get it resolved. When it didn’t go away within hours, I followed up, and he told me he is working with the devs to get it resolved. It’s been nearly 48 hours, and I still have 10 domain names with that status. I previously had all 29 domain names Pending Sync.

What does “Pending Sync” mean exactly? I wasn’t sure, but when I clicked on the question mark in my Afternic control panel, this was explained:

As a result of these domain names “Pending Sync,” the Afternic landing page that says, “This domain is registered, but may still be available.” is now showing for these domain names. I wouldn’t expect them to sell quickly, but I also wouldn’t expect it to take this much time for domain names to get listed and show the proper landing page.

I like to give companies time to fix issues before writing about them. GoDaddy/Afternic has had nearly 2 days to resolve this recent (for me) issue, and I am sure others are facing the same issue.

If it is truly a “synching” issue, I don’t understand why Afternic doesn’t at least show the proper sales landing page in the interim. Had these domain names been time sensitive, I would be missing out on potential sales leads. They’re not, but I am sure other people hand register domain names hoping for quick flips, and this issue could be problematic for them.