I have most likely  spent six figures on NameJet auctions in the last year or so. It’s not something I really track, but I am an active buyer on NameJet. I only mention this because it should go without saying that I trust the fairness of the platform, otherwise I would not participate in auctions.

One of the features of NameJet is that I am able to see who else is bidding on an auction. Even though I don’t personally know many of the bidders I regularly compete against, it is good to know that if I don’t win the other competitors are going to follow through and pay. As a seller on NameJet, it is also helpful to know that someone who is winning an auction is actually going to pay should their bid be the highest.

Because I don’t know all NameJet bidders, I regularly turn to the GoldNames.com blog to see if I can find a bidder’s history. GoldNames seems to track many (maybe most but I don’t know) of the auctions that are run on NameJet. GoldNames also tracks the winning bidder of the auction.

I sometimes find it easier to use

When I saw Konstantinos’ article today about NameJet bidding, it reminded me of a topic I intended to write about before but never got around to it. It makes me wonder when I see an auction with a high bid of $25,000, $50,000 or even $100,000 when the auction has a reserve price of $100,001 – $250,000. Why would someone bid on an auction when their bid will be below the reserve price minimum? What’s the point?

I presume there is a legitimate strategy behind this kind of bidding because I see bidders who I know have spent 6 figures+ on auctions doing it, but I want to point out something that could also be a reason for it. NameJet does not show the auction reserve range on its iPhone bidder app. Bidders who use the app to place bids are doing so somewhat blindly.

On my app that I use regularly when I am away from my desk

NameJet just announced the introduction of a Seller Dashboard, allowing sellers on the platform to see the status of their auction sales. Previously, sellers could “watch” their auctions when they went to auction within their bidder dashboard, and they could search for them individually or on a special auction page if that was created for their auctions.

This is good news for sellers, as it makes it much easier to see the status of their auction at any time rather than having to wait for a daily payment update email or having to email the NameJet team. The Seller Dashboard is located within a seller’s “My Account” page, listed on the left hand side under “My Listing.”

Here is a screenshot of the Seller Dashboard with the drop down menu showing the auction status options: