The most popular auction events in the last year have been the monthly .AI expiry auctions held by the .AI registry in Anguilla. Apparently, there has been a dearth of non-paying bidders who participate in these auctions. As a result, the .AI registry is making a change.
Vincent Cate, the person who manages the .AI registry on behalf of Anguilla, announced two changes that are being made with the hope of discouraging and/or eliminating the number of non-paying bidders:
On https://t.co/D6ZYSMWGvW we have had too many cases of people not paying for domains they bid for so we are increasing the deposit requirement to 5% and the non-payment fee to 5% effective immediately.
— Vincent Cate (@vincecate) March 20, 2024
This is definitely as issue all domain auction platforms face. I don’t insight about whether it is higher or lower with these .AI auctions, but it is an issue every auction platform deals with on a regular basis.
When a bidder doesn’t pay for an auction, it’s not just the registry and auction platform that loses out. Others who were interested in the domain name lose the chance to buy it. They may get another shot in a future auction, but they lose out in the short-term.
In the bigger picture, someone who won an auction may have been an underbidder in other auctions, driving up the price for others when they don’t intend to – or can’t for whatever reason – pay. I asked Mr. Cate if the non-paying bidder’s bids in other auctions would be removed, and he said, “no.”
If a person bids in multiple auctions and wins one but does not pay, are the bids they made in other auctions voided to potentially lower the prices of those other auctions?
— Elliot Silver (@DInvesting) March 20, 2024
In fairness to the .AI registry, I am not sure if other auction platforms would also remove bids from non-paying bidders.
Last night, Dynadot sent out an update to its customers who bid on registry expired domain name auctions, and I presume it is related to the .AI auctions. Here’s what Dynadot wrote:
“The minimum participation fee will be changing from $100 USD or 2% to $100 USD or 5% of the winning bid depending on which one is higher. This will only affect Registry Expired Auctions moving forward, including the March 22, 2024 auction. For the full Registry Expired Auction participation requirements, please visit this help file.”
Not surprised. Gong Show
The wheel is believed to have been invented around 4200–4000 BC by the ancient Mesopotamian people. The Sumerians of Lower Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) are credited with inventing the wheel by inserting rotating axles into solid wooden discs.
I showed my bank this post about the Ai non-payments. They said I still have to pay my mortgage on the 1st.