Domain Auctions

Samba.com Expiry Auction Winning Bid was $143,000

2

Samba.com was the most exciting expiry auction I’ve been following for a while. The domain name had once been owned by a company in Saudi Arabia, and it was auctioned on NameJet. Samba is a genre of music and a dance style that originated in Brazil. The descriptive term is used in branding by many companies around the world.

Before the auction, I was planning to bid and had set aside $50-75k in my mind to buy the domain name. I figured there was a somewhat reasonable chance I would be in contention, but I thought that would not likely be enough to win the domain name. I figured I would try and let the market decide if I would take the name home or not.

How I Got Quick Delivery of GoDaddy (Private) Auction Wins

GoDaddy has been running a private auction featuring domain names from its NameFind portfolio. I have been following the auctions and bidding on a handful of domain names I like.

Yesterday, I won the auction for Molasses.com. As I shared on X, it was won, paid for, delivered, and a landing page was launched within a few hours. I want to share how I made that happen.

GoDaddy Auctions Testing $1 Expiry Auctions

Yesterday morning, I noticed a handful of expiry auctions on GoDaddy Auctions that had a $1 opening bid. The typical starting bid for these types of auctions is $25, so that caught my attention. Most of the other auctions I visited yesterday had the standard $25 opening bid.

I reached out to GoDaddy to ask about this anomaly, and a company representative confirmed this is a test. He was unable to provide additional details about the test, so I don’t know how long we are going to see $1 opening bids. I was told GoDaddy does quite a bit of testing across many variables. For instance, the commas in prices and estimated values across different GoDaddy services were recently removed as a short-lived test.

GoDaddy Doesn’t Always Automatically Refund for Canceled Auctions

In July of 2022, I was told about a GoDaddy change that was made with the hope of successfully delivering more GoDaddy Auction wins to customers. I believe the policy change is that if a GoDaddy registered domain name isn’t renewed 3 days before an expiry auction, it is no longer allowed to be renewed. I don’t bid on enough domain names to comment accurately, but by and large, it seems like I receive fewer refunds for GoDaddy Auctions wins.

When I buy a domain name, I list it on an Excel spreadsheet. If the domain name is not delivered instantly, I put a yellow highlight on the cell so I can keep track of it. Today, I scrolled up and saw a domain name I won at auction on October 27th was not delivered to my GoDaddy account. I paid for the domain name on October 30th. Two weeks is a long time for provisioning.

GoDaddy Auctions: “Improve chances of winning this domain!”

I was attempting to place bid on an auction at GoDaddy Auctions this morning when I was shown this message on the bid confirmation page.

My proxy bid amount was just above $100, and the GoDaddy Estimated Value was just shy of $2,000.

Canceled GoDaddy Auction Win Results in Lawsuit

Namebio reported that Calor.com was sold for $20,440 at GoDaddy Auctions this past March. According to a lawsuit filed in Arizona, the winning bidder did not pay, giving the opportunity to an underbidder who reportedly completed the purchase for $11,427.17. Two months after completing the purchase and receiving the domain name, GoDaddy reportedly removed the domain name from the buyer’s account after proceeding to use the domain name. The buyer filed suit to regain control of the domain name.

As a domain investor who often buys domain names to re-sell, this is always something that has worried me regardless of the auction venue. This situation sounds similar to what GoDaddy referred to in the past as an “edge case” where a domain name was won in auction and was later removed from the account of the buyer due to an error.

Recent Posts

TRC.com Sets Auction Record at Sav.com

5
TRC.com expired at the end of November 2024. The domain name was apparently registered at a domain registrar that doesn't have a deal with...

Consider Removing “WHOIS” from Domain Name Contracts

0
I use several different domain name purchase or sale agreements depending on the situation. Each of these agreements references "WHOIS" as a means of...

I Appreciate Having a Broker as a Counterparty

10
I appreciate being able to discuss the sale of a domain name with a domain broker representing a third party. Not only does this...

Gong.com UDRP Should be RDNH

1
The Gong Show was a television talent show on ABC in the late 1970s. Contestants would perform a variety of acts while being judged...

Top 5 Domain Names in 2025 Super Bowl Commercials

3
The Super Bowl was played last night, and a great deal of attention was on the Super Bowl commercials. In the recent past, domain...