Dan.com was an innovative domain name sales platform that was acquired by GoDaddy in 2022. Dan innovated and brought the Lease to Own (LTO) offering to the mainstream, and it has been adopted by GoDaddy. In its short time in the industry, Dan’s innovations moved the domain name aftermarket forward by leaps and bounds.
With many of the platform’s features integrated into GoDaddy aftermarket offerings, Dan.com is fully shutting down on June 27, 2025. This was shared on X, along with a link to a Medium.com blog post sharing the platform’s history during its short time in existence:
To every customer, partner and team member: you made Dan․com more than a platform – you made it a movement.
As we close our doors on June 27 2025, we want to say thank you for sharing this journey with us: https://t.co/iMfGJ2aTCL pic.twitter.com/pSjOezdsNH
— Dan.com – a GoDaddy brand (@Undeveloped) June 18, 2025
This is not surprising given that the platform required migration to Afternic quite some time ago, but it is sad to see it go.
It is unclear what will happen with the Dan.com domain name following the shut down. I imagine GoDaddy could sell the domain name, but that seems unwise. I am sure there are many domain names that still utilize the Dan.com nameservers. There are also many, many links to Dan.com. I imagine there could be a security risk if the domain name were acquired by a third party.
I suspect the drawbacks of selling this domain name are far greater than amount of money this domain name could command on the market. I would bet GoDaddy will either forward Dan.com to Afternic, GoDaddy, or even the Dan.com blog on Medium, or it could put up a message about its closure. We will see in a couple of weeks.
GD is good for screwing a good platform Dan and others…
Godaddy is one of the top worst companies to ever exist in America. I’ve had nothing but bad experiences with them. From pushing a domain I purchased from Afternic to a different account, to sending my earnings (from a domain I sold) to a defunct bank card. The most recent incident, I purchased a domain for x,xxx straight from Godaddy.com but the transaction never happened even though the accepted the payment. I had to reverse the payment, so Godaddy lost someone a 4 figure sale. Wouldn’t be surprised if that domain never ends up sellibg either.
I said this once already, but I think domainers are screwed dealing with anything Godaddy touches.