Domain Auctions

Confirmed: Accelerator.com Sold for $145k at GoDaddy Auctions

I had to be a soccer dad on Friday afternoon, and I missed the close of the Accelerator.com expiry auction at GoDaddy Auctions. When I returned, I saw the domain name had sold for $145,050, according to NameBio. When I clicked the auction page link, however, I saw a message that said “Auction cancelled,” which I shared on Twitter to see if someone could shed light on this:

I reached out to a contact at GoDaddy to ask if the domain name was sold or if the auction was cancelled. A GoDaddy contact replied to me and told me he thought the auction is still valid and awaiting payment.

ROTD Auction Web3 Domain Names

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According to a press release I received a moment ago, Right of the Dot is auctioning “Web3” domain names in partnership with Unstoppable Domains. The virtually-held live auction will take place on October 11, 2023 at 1pm ET. Bidding is now open on Bid.ROTD.com.

At the time of publication, there are 124 lots listed in the auction, but that could fluctuate. According to the press release, the “live online auction offers a unique opportunity to bid on never-before-released Unstoppable Web3 domains and buy highly sought-after domains from Unstoppable Whales — which are holders with over 500 domains in their inventory.”

The auction platform states that it is currently accepting bids, so interested parties may register to participate and begin bidding. I am not sure if there will be a silent auction following the live auction for auction lots that did not sell.

I can’t recall seeing another Web3 live domain name auction like this before, so it will be interesting to see the results.

You Can Now Jump into Expiry Auctions at NameJet

Earlier this Summer, NameJet unveiled its “new” website design. To be honest, I was disappointed that the new design was essentially a NameJet branded website utilizing the Snapnames platform. It’s not the look and feel of the platform that bothers me – it’s the search functionality or lack thereof. I won’t belabor the topic since I have already shared quite a bit of feedback along with others like Shane Cultra.

One change to the platform that can be viewed as a positive to some people is the ability to participate in expiry auctions that are ongoing. Previously, a person could only participate in an expiry auction if the domain name was backordered prior to the auction’s start. Once the backorder deadline passed, the expired domain name would be put into a private auction. If you did not backorder the domain name, you could not participate.

Namecheap Makes 2 Changes to Auctions to Enhance Trust

In an email sent to customers this morning, Namecheap announced two changes to its domain name auction Marketplace. The Marketplace platform will assign user badges to illustrate the number of domain auctions bidders have won. The badge levels are Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. In addition, when an auction winner does not pay, it will be re-auctioned rather than offered to the runner up bidder.

The rationale for these changes is “[t]o make sure the Marketplace remains a trusted platform, and to ensure that each auction is conducted fairly.

Here’s the email I received from Namecheap explaining the changes that were made and why the changes were made:

Paula Deen Ventures Let PDN.com Expire

According to NameBio, PDN.com was last sold for $27,900 via Sedo in July of 2014. Whois records show the buyer was Paula Deen Ventures. Paula Deen is a chef, cookbook author, and is perhaps most well-known for her Food Network television shows.

I don’t believe Paula Deen or her company ever used PDN.com as a standalone website. Archive.org records show that PDN.com was used as a forwarder to Deen’s website, PaulaDeen.com for quite some time until it expired.

NameJet: “Big Changes are Coming”

On Friday afternoon, NameJet announced that some major changes are coming to the auction platform. The changes were outlined on a splash page, and include the following:

  • New look and feel
  • New process to place backorders
  • New option to remove backorder if you lose an auction on specific domain
  • New download file type choice of CSV or TXT
  • New way to pull Last Minute Board
  • And many others

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