New Logo from Afternic (Updated)

Since GoDaddy acquired Afternic in 2013, I don’t think a whole lot has changed with respect to the design of the Afternic website. I presume this is because much of the focus has always been on the integration of domain name sales listings within the GoDaddy website and its DLS network partners, and there probably aren’t a ton of people who end up directly visiting Afternic’s website to buy domain names.

Here’s a look at how Afternic looked in 2013, courtesy of the Screenshots.com tool found via DomainTools:

GoDaddy BIN Landers Coming This Week

Earlier this year, GoDaddy teased that its landing pages with Buy It Now (BIN) functionality will be released at some point in 2021. That time has almost come, and domain investors who list their domain names with BIN prices on Afternic will soon be able to utilize the new GoDaddy-branded landing page design. Joe Styler mentioned the new GoDaddy-branded landing page on Twitter over the weekend showing how it looks on mobile devices:

Dealing with a Small Pricing Error

I bought a domain name on NameJet in June of last year for less than $100. I priced it at $4,999 on DAN.com, and that is where the domain name resolves. Typically, I price my names a bit higher on Afternic than on DAN because of the higher commission rate and longer payment period, which I discussed at length last September.

Recently, a broker from GoDaddy emailed me because a prospective buyer made a $2,000 offer on this domain name. This would net me $1,600 after the commission, which is a nice ROI but I think it undervalued the domain name. I did a bit of searching, and I noticed that I had underpriced the domain name at GoDaddy / Afternic. This was either accidental or I raised my price at DAN and did not raise it correspondingly at Afternic. Whatever the case, I believe the domain name is more like a $5k domain name than a $3k domain name.

Minimum Offer Doesn’t Carry Over to Afternic Partners

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I have a large percentage of my domain name portfolio listed for sale on Afternic. The vast majority of those domain names are listed for sale with a buy it now price and minimum offer considered. More often than not, buyers tend to purchase my domain names via Afternic at the buy it now price rather than submitting a lower offer, and I like those types of easy deals.

On a handful of higher valued inventory I have listed at Afternic, I do not have a buy it now price set. The domain name market tends to be dynamic, and my pricing can change on those higher valued names on a more regular basis depending on a number of factors. Those names do have a minimum offer price I would consider to open a conversation.

For instance, I have Revitalize.com listed for sale on Afternic without a buy it now price. The domain name has a minimum offer of $145,000. If someone were to do a search to buy Revitalize.com at GoDaddy, they would see it is listed for sale with a minimum offer of $145,000. The purpose is to weed out unqualified buyers, so it does not waste my time or waste the time of GoDaddy’s brokers:

Could a Confusing Credit Card Charge Lead to a $10,000 Sale?

Yesterday afternoon, someone emailed me to ask about a credit card charge that came from a merchant with the 2 keywords that make up one of my .com domain names. He thought my company, vis a vis this domain name, had charged his credit card. I told him that he had the wrong business and thought nothing more of it because this happens on occasion. People usually realize their mistake when I show them that the domain name is not being used as a commercial website and they go off to figure out who charged their credit card.

The domain name that matches the merchant name forwards to a DAN.com landing page, where it is listed with a buy it now price of $8,999. The domain name is also listed for sale on Afternic for just shy of $10,000.

Why I Accepted the Original BIN Price

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I received a $1,300 offer for a domain name via Afternic broker. The name was listed for sale at Afternic with a $1,999 buy it now price. When I had a look at the landing page, I saw that I had repriced it to $3,999 on DAN.com at some point in the past year. I replied to the broker to let him know I would not accept the offer and that the name had been repriced to $3,999 although I neglected to update it at Afternic. The broker came back a few hours later with the buyer’s new offer: $1,999.