Court Order Should be Required for Domain Lock in a Business Dispute

Elliot Silver
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26

For the last several days, the most actively discussed domain industry topic is related to GoDaddy locking some of Brent Oxley’s valuable domain names, including Create.com. This was done as a result of a legal dispute filed in India. If you have not been following, you can read the NamePros thread or the original article on JamesNames.com to catch up on what reportedly happened.

GoDaddy VP Paul Nicks posted an update last night on NamePros, writing in part:

“As we’ve started to have these conversations, we’ve identified a couple of things that could have gone better in Brent’s case. First, we erroneously told Brent that a court order was issued when, in fact, we were served with a legal complaint, starting a lawsuit. This doesn’t change how we would have or did act, but it was inaccurate to describe it as a court order. Second, we needed to do a better job in proactively notifying Brent of the domain locks on his domains. We’re taking these learnings and applying them to our procedures going forward.
“

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Uniregistry: “Change your Market Payout Profile”

Elliot Silver
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3

I received an “Action Required” email from Uniregistry this morning, and I want to pass the message along to people who might simply disregard it. According to the email, Uni (now a GoDaddy brand) has changed its payment processor in the Uniregistry Market. Uniregistry is now using Tipalti for its Market payments. As a result, customers are required to update their payment settings in order to get paid.

I have no idea how long a payment update takes to process, so this is something Uni Market customers will want to address before their next sale to avoid delays. I don’t really sell via Uni, so I don’t think I am going to touch anything. It’s unfortunate that GoDaddy / Afternic customers can’t simply select the current settings they have since it’s essentially the same parent company.

On a totally unrelated note, it’s a bit peculiar that the logo branding in the email and on-site is “Uni” but all of the messaging is “Uniregistry.” In my non-expert opinion, they should pick a brand name and stick to it.

Here’s the email I received this morning:

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GoDaddy’s 12/20 Portfolio Acquisition was for $17 Million

Elliot Silver
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0

In January of 2021, I believe Jamie Zoch was first to report another domain name portfolio acquisition made by GoDaddy. I also noticed the acquisition via my DomainTools Registrant Alert email when thousands of domain names transferred to the GoDaddy’s NameFind entity.

At the time the acquisition was confirmed, no details were shared by GoDaddy beyond the deal confirmation. This morning, George Kirikos appears to have found more information about the acquisition value:

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Aman Bhutani on CNBC Discussing GoDaddy’s Q4

Elliot Silver
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3

Like many tech companies, GoDaddy has been doing quite well during the pandemic. The company reported its Q4 2020 earnings on Thursday, and the company reported strong earnings. The stock (GDDY on Nasdaq) traded lower to $85.75 on Friday, down 7.65%. It is still trading close to its 52 week high.

GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani participated on CNBC’s Closing Bell on Friday to discuss the company’s fourth quarter earnings report, and I embedded the video of his appearance below:

The Value of Automated Appraisals

Elliot Silver
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10

98+% of domain names are meh. They may not all be junk, but they aren’t gems either. My domain portfolio is full of meh-ish domain names, and I bet yours is, too. There’s nothing wrong with meh domain names. They sell every day on every platform and at every domain registrar. Businesses and people use meh domain names when it matches a brand name or when they can’t afford to buy a gem domain name.

Automated appraisals like the GoDaddy appraisal tool or Estibot take a lot of heat from domain investors – and rightfully so in many cases. I get aggravated when a prospective buyer approaches me about one of my gem domain names and says, “well GoDaddy appraises the domain name at $x,” and $x is thousands of dollars lower than the purchase price in a public auction, let alone the price I would consider accepting. Even GoDaddy prices many of its gems well above their appraised value.

Automated appraisals can be annoying and frustrating deal killers.

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When GoDaddy Works For You, and When They Don’t

Elliot Silver
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7

I list the majority of my domain names for sale on GoDaddy via its Afternic distribution network. These are the easy to replace inventory types of domain names I try to buy and/or sell every day for reasonable prices and returns. Some of my most valuable domain names are not listed for sale via GoDaddy though.

When one of my domain names that is listed for sale on Afternic gets an offer, a broker typically contacts me to let me know how much the prospective buyer is willing to pay. GoDaddy is working on my behalf on this type of negotiation, and they work with the buyer to try and get a deal done at my asking price or close. If a deal is successful, I am responsible to pay the full commission. By way of example, if someone offers $2,000 for my domain name and I take it, I will net about $1,600.

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