NameJet and SnapNames are auction platforms that are both owned by Web.com. When it comes to expiry and private auctions, NameJet and SnapNames each operate independently of each other. On deleted domain names, there is an integration, allowing bidders to participate in the same auction on either platform. This is about to change, according to emails sent by NameJet and SnapNames this afternoon.
As of February 11th, bidders can participate in all SnapNames and NameJet auctions on either platform. For instance, BusinessInsights.com is an expired domain name that I can see is coming up for auction on NameJet in 17 days. At present, bidders would only be able to back order and bid on this auction via NameJet. However, after the integration, SnapNames bidders will also be able to participate. This makes sense, and it should drive more revenue for the company if there are bidders who only participate on one platform.
One thing of note is that SnapNames does not charge the 2.5% “Online Admin Fee” that NameJet charges for purchases made via credit card. For the time being at least, it would seem that bidding on SnapNames might be the better bet for credit card payers who do not want to pay the 2.5% admin fee. I would imagine this could change, although I would really appreciate it if Web.com kills this admin fee. I can’t really think of any companies that charge an additional fee for using a credit card, and it really feels like nickeling and diming to me.
Update: See Scott Pruitt’s comment below for more information and clarification.
Here are the emails that were sent to each company’s clients today, which have all of the details about the change:
NameJet
Dear Valued Customer,
As you may be aware, in addition to NameJet, Web.com also owns the aftermarket platform, SnapNames.
In order to improve efficiencies and provide more domain names for you to choose from, NameJet will be combining our domain auction inventory with the registrar expiry domain names available on SnapNames. The additional inventory will be phased in next week beginning February 11th, and more inventory sources will become available throughout the coming weeks.
Both platforms will now offer the combined registrar expiry domains in a joint auction environment. NameJet and SnapNames have been doing this with drop catching auctions since 2017.
What this means to you as a NameJet customer.
More domain names to choose from by including SnapNames registrar expiry inventory.
The expiry backorder deadline is moving from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM PST giving you more time to place back orders.
High bid will now be displayed as current winning bid based on standard proxy bidding rules.
Auction start amounts will be based on proxy bidding rules so only minimum bid amounts will be displayed during the PreRelease period.
Download lists will now include more registrar expiry domains from SnapNames.
All bid increments on NameJet will be changed to match those of Pending Delete.
Be advised that if you have both a NameJet and a SnapNames account, it will be possible to bid on either platform for the same name(s). This has been the case on the Pending Delete names but will soon apply to all names.NameJet FAQ’s will be updated to reflect the changes above.
Thank you for your business!
Team NameJet
SnapNames
Dear Valued Customer,
As you may be aware, in addition to SnapNames, Web.com also owns the aftermarket platform NameJet.
In order to improve efficiencies and provide more domain names for you to choose from, SnapNames will be combining our domain auction inventory with the registrar expiry domain names available on NameJet. The additional domain inventory, starting with Network Solutions expiry domains, will be phased in beginning February 11th, and more inventory sources will become available throughout the coming weeks.
Both platforms will now offer the combined registrar expiry domains in a joint environment. SnapNames and NameJet have been doing this with drop catching auctions since 2017.
What this means to you as a SnapNames customer.
More domain names to choose from by including NameJet registrar expiry inventory.
Download lists will now include specific new lists for NameJet expiry inventory.
Daily auctions will now close with staggered close times between 12pm and 2pm PST.
Be advised that if you have both a NameJet and a SnapNames account, it will be possible to bid on either platform for the same name(s). This has been the case on the Pending Delete names but will soon apply to all names.SnapNames FAQ’s will be updated to reflect the changes above.
Thank you for your business!
Team SnapNames
Namejet is difficult to use, so I don’t. Maybe they’ll make the UI a little more user friendly. Just my opinion, which doesn’t mean a lot. As someone who works in a dev environment, I don’t have a lot of patience for terrible UIs.
Bye-bye Namejet, finally.
Just to clarify. NameJet and SnapNames are in the process of making names available on both platforms. The first phase will be making Network Solutions expiry names available on SnapNames. The rest of the inventory is to be phased in over the coming weeks. So currently, it will be both dropping names and Network Solutions expiry names that are available across both platforms, with more to come in the near future.