eNom Names Won on NameJet Subject to 42 Day Auction Lock

As a domain seller, the quicker I can move inventory, (usually) the better. When I win an auction at NameJet, I try to find an end user or domain investor buyer as quickly as possible. I’ve never encountered an issue with this until last week.

I recently bought a domain name at auction on Namejet. I was informed the domain name would be moved to my eNom account, and I quickly scouted out buyers. I reached a deal to sell the domain name a few days later, and upon trying to push the name to another account, I learned that there was an “auction lock” on the domain name.

I inquired about the lock, and at first, technical support wasn’t very helpful. I asked why I could transfer a name I bought on NameJet that was registered at Network Solutions a few weeks prior, and the person tried to explain that it had something to do with pre-release and pending delete status differences, although I learned that explanation was incorrect.

According to Laurie Krick from Enom/NameJet, all domain names that end up at eNom will have a 45 day correction: 42 day lock on them. Owners can change the DNS to use the domain names within this period of time, but they can’t be pushed to another account or transferred out of eNom.

This lock is something I did not know about, but I will take it into consideration when bidding on NameJet domain names going forward, as it adds 45 days correction: 42 days to when I can flip names.

Update: it is 42 days, not 45 days

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

18 COMMENTS

  1. I’ve run into this myself after selling a domain I acquired at Namejet. The buyer had already paid me and I had to go back and explain the situation to them. Luckily I only had about 10 days left on the auction lock at that time so it wasn’t a deal breaker.

  2. One thing I find annoying about all the backorder and auction services is that when a domain is acquired on the drop, IMO the new registrant should be granted a full 12 months of registration – not ten and a half months.

  3. Elliot, this is correct and it’s shown in the list of acquired domains (under Manage, I believe) once you log in to your Namejet account. Not sure why eNom does this specifically, however if you do transfer out immediately a newly caught domain from Network Solutions, there will be no additional year added. That’s because the domain is already extended upon by the Registry.

  4. *

    Yep, it’s true. Another dirty little secret I discovered: if the auction is a pre-release, the former registrant can recover it within that 45-day lock down.

    It doesn’t happen very often, which is why you don’t hear about it much, but, still, bidders ought to be prepared for such a possibility.

    When winning such a domain, the buyer should fly under the radar during that vulnerable time.

    I don’t how these auction houses can get away with such sleaziness.

    It would like buying a house at a sheriff’s auction and, then, a month later or so, being told that the original owner wants it back at the price you paid. Meanwhile, you have remodeled the bathroom.

    *

  5. From the Namejet FAQ:

    What is “Auction Lock” and why is it placed on Pre-Release domain names supplied by eNom?

    If a Pre-Release domain name is supplied by eNom, upon receipt of your auction payment the domain enters an Escrow Holding Period known as Auction Lock. This holding period lasts for 42 days following the completion of the auction. During this period, the domain cannot be transferred, the WHOIS cannot be updated or changed to anyone other than the successful bidder, nor can you push the domain to another account. BulkRegister also enforces “auction Lock”. Other registrar partners of NameJet may have different holding periods, or may not follow these rules.

  6. Unbelievable. How are we supposed to do business especially when our interest rates kick in after 15 days? If we’re buying names at $10,000 each, and holding for 45-60 days, we’ve just incurred another $200 in interest which now has to be marked up and accounted for. Not to mention the cash-lock this imposes on us when we typically only have 25k available at any one time to begin with.

    As it stands, a 45 day lock means that if the user renews, we’ve lost all the interest we had to pay and enom is certainly not keen to refund anything to us. This is pretty bad policy coming from these guys.

  7. Glad to hear that they will make exceptions, as I have been in a similar situation (offer received and domain sold at Sedo, while still being auction-locked).

  8. Hi El,

    I’m confused. You purchased a domain on Namejet. Wherever that domain was registered, any change to the domain whois info automatically locks the domain down to the buyer’s default info, yes?

    So if you buy the domain, your default registration info is already presented to the registrar. The registrar “sold” script then changes the whois info to the new owner’s (you). This means YOU can transfer the domain to any registrar you had listed as your default “registrar” of record. Maybe Namejet can correct me, but my understanding is the buyer’s default whois info is automatically entered into the whois, and that LOCKS the domain for 60 days.

    It’s a nice trick I discussed on my blog several years ago about Godaddy doing this, a few weeks before the domain’s renewal. If you sold a domain you had at GD, it couldn’t be transferred out of GD immediately. The new owner HAD to either move it to their GD acct, or if they didn’t have one, open one up.

    If I’m off in the wrong direction, please correct me.

    • @ Stephen

      My mind is a bit hazy so I don’t follow. All I am saying is that I was told if you buy a domain name on NameJet that is registered at eNom, they will move it to your account, but there will be a 42 day auction lock imposed on it. You can change the DNS, but you can’t push it to another account or transfer it out until the 42 days are up.

      With regards to Godaddy, they do impose a 60 day lock on transfers (all registrars have a 60 day lock on new registrations), but you can have the transfer lock removed if you contact GD customer service on domains that aren’t newly registered. eNom pushed the domain name to a different account on my behalf, but I was told it was a one time courtesy.

  9. “Another dirty little secret I discovered: if the auction is a pre-release, the former registrant can recover it within that 45-day lock down.”

    I did not know that!

    But I know, if you win pre-release domain names at NameJet supplied by Network Solutions, you can transfer it wherever you want.

  10. El,

    The point being, Namejet doesn’t put the “lock” on the domain they sell, the acquiring default registrar does. Anytime the whois registration changes ownership or information, the domain goes into a 60 day lockdown (or 45 days, depending on the registrar).

    So if your default acquiring registrar is ENOM when you buy from Namejet, then Enom will lock that domain from being moved for their set amount of time. This is standard registrar policy. The different lengths of time (45-60 days) is something each registrar offers.

    Am I still off course? Maybe more details about the process (you don’t have to mention the domain), like who’s your default registrar (fab, enom, etc) you have listed with Namejet, and what does the Namejet “acquisition of winning auction domain” email notification state as far as where the domain will end up?

  11. @ Stephen

    I was able to push a Network Solutions domain name a few days after winning it at auction. Each registrar may have its own policies, but eNom is the only auction lock I’ve noticed.

  12. great read and thanks for the ‘heads up’ info

    101 let me transfer a domain i sold rather quickly, didnt know about that spanner in the works being a lengthy lock with some, but who really goes through the very fine print everytime…..im still new to this so i will read before i use.

  13. Thanks for the heads up on this. I just found out that Dynadot does this, too, although it’s a 30-day auction lock. I’ve never been successful in getting GoDadday to lift the 60-day transfer lock, despite speaking to several customer service reps and citing ICANN’s statement that updating WhoIS contact info should not bring out a transfer lock.

  14. Interesting.

    I have just spoken to Namejet regarding this and they have assured me that any name purchased as “Pending Delete” will not be subject to the 42 days lock and can be pushed to another Enom account within 3 days! the lock-in period only applies to “Pre Release” domains.

    Can anyone else clarify this?

  15. It’s really frustrating as to why there are so many differences between different registrars. The auction lock period largely varies between different registrars. It’s time they set a standard.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Recent Posts

Handoff to Dan on Imported Leads Can be Confusing

0
I've been using the lead import option at Dan.com more regularly. Although the 5% commission is not ideal, transactions tend to move more quickly...

ArtificialIntelligence.com Goes Up for Sale

7
I tried to buy the ArtificialIntelligence.com domain name multiple times over the last 10 years. The emails I sent to the registrant went unanswered,...

EU Gives More IP Protection to Food & Drink Producers

0
Did you know that some well-known food and drink varieties are protected intellectual property regulations? Popular types of drinks and foods that are protected...

Price Testing

1
In 2022, my wife and I decided our kids were ready for some big mountain skiing and we planned a trip to the Rocky...

GoDaddy Making You Sign in to See What You Renewed (Updated)

3
This morning, I noticed something different in a domain name renewal email from GoDaddy. Instead of telling me exactly what domain names I renewed...