Sedo just sent out an email to customers in response to the upcoming GDPR changes that are going to make domain name ownership verification more difficult. Many registrars will likely eliminate public Whois records, and European registrants at other registrars will likely have their Whois information private or not shown depending on the registrar.
Obviously this change will have an impact on the aftermarket and domain name resale marketplaces.
Sedo just sent an email to customers introducing their solution to the GDPR issue. They’re calling it “Owner Self-Verification.” Here’s the email that Sedo distributed to clients this afternoon so you can read about what the company is doing to ensure its listings are accurate:
WHOIS is disappearing – confirm your ownership now!
On May 25, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation will take effect. This means the WHOIS will “disappear”. In the new public record system, personal data will no longer be visible either to individuals or Sedo. So far we were able to verify from the WHOIS records that you are the legitimate owner of the domains you listed for sale. This means it will be much harder for us to match your account data with the WHOIS information in order to clear your domains for sale on our site.
The Solution: Our Owner Self-Verification. With the Owner Self-Verification, you can quickly prove your ownership of any domain you list for sale. Even on weekends and holidays!
3 steps to Owner Self-Verification
- Sedo provides you with a personal ID in your account under “Domain Management” under the tab “Owner Self-Verification”.
- Copy it and enter it at your registrar. To do this, visit your registrar and make this update within the DNS settings.
- Enter your verification ID into the TXT record field of your domains. If your registrar needs you to submit a Hostname, simply enter “@”. Also, if you need to enter a TTL value, please enter “3600”.
Your ownership will be verified once the DNS information is updated. With your support, we can ensure that only domains that have owner-verified credentials are still listed on the marketplace.
Fetch ID and Confirm Ownership (redacted link)
No Owner Self-Verification = longer wait times
If you do not perform the Owner Self-Verification, it will take at least 3 business days for your domains to be listed for sale. During the review period, we will randomly check individual domains and may contact you to request proof of ownership (e.g., in the form of an up-to-date screenshot of the domain entry).
Self-Verification is not available for domain parking
If you already use Sedo’s domain parking and forward your domains through our domain name servers (DNS), owner self-verification is currently unavailable. DNS forwarding enables your domains to be automatically listed for sale without waiting time. As of now, nothing changes for you.
We want to provide buyers and sellers with a safe and user-friendly platform at all times and look forward to your support. Do you have questions about owner verification? Our Customer SupportTeam is happy to answer them.
“Enter your verification ID into the TXT record field of your domains. If your registrar needs you to submit a Hostname, simply enter @. Also, if you need to enter a TTL value, please enter 3600.”
//////////////////////
Sounds like a very poorly thought out system, who would do that on every domain?
That seems like it would be very difficult to do across a large portfolio.
I’ve already been doing this for Flippa…
But note that you do not need to this for your existing portfolio – it is only when you add a new domain listing. So in most cases, it is going to be only a handful (at the most) at a time. Yeah – if someone suddenly decides to list a large amount of domains, it will be a major pain.
It is already part of my SOP when I acquire a new domain – add the TXT record and THEN point the nameservers to landing pages.
No way new customers with larger portfolios will work through that process. Most dont even know what a TXT field is. Come on guys…
Given the dropoff in SEDO sales in recent years, is it going to be worth the time to do this for every domain (and pay a 20% commission as well)?
I’ve been thinking about de-listing my names from Sedo due to the $50,000 BIN listing cap so this move only helps me make that decision more quickly.
Surprised they don’t offer a email verification method. If you own the name, you own control of name server control right? Therefore can use your own name servers for email, redirect to parked page and verify each name.