You Can Still Win a Snapnames Auction if You Are Bidder #2

I sometimes place bids on Snapnames auctions that have other bids, even if I am not interested in buying the domain name. Generally, if a domain name has a bid already and you place a bid, you are considered the losing bidder when it goes to auction, as the person who places the first bid takes the lead.

I recently found out that this isn’t always the case. I placed a bid on a domain name shortly before it was scheduled to go to auction after I saw it in a list of names with bids. I was curious to see how the name would perform in auction, but I wasn’t sure entirely sure I wanted the name. I was surprised when it went to auction and it showed me as the high bidder (of 2 bidders).

Apparently, someone had placed a back order on the domain name a long time ago, and their credit card on file had lapsed or something else happened to their account between the time they placed the back order and the time it went to auction. As a result, I was the top bidder, and I ended up winning the auction without placing an additional bid.

I am not upset that I won because I like the name, but it’s something to be mindful about if you place bids on auctions that already have bids thinking you aren’t going.

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

3 COMMENTS

  1. I’ve also been in auctions where I was #2 and the #1 bidder didn’t pay up. A few days after the auction, I’d receive an email from Snap asking if I would be interested in the domain at the price I bid.

    I’ve also been in auctions where I wasn’t the first bidder yet I started the auction as the #1 bidder. So either Snap does a random assignment or the original #1 bidder removed his bid after I placed my bid and then a 3rd bidder placed a bid.

  2. Or how about this – you place a backorder bid because somebody else already b/o’ed it – and you’re too lazy to do your own research, and want a free ride?

    Then along comes auction time, and the person before you ‘deletes’ their b/o. Guess what dumdum? You’re it!

    Happened to me at least a few times a year for several years running. I watch this more closely now, and I don’t mind when most of those names are defaulted to me. But WTF?!

    Sometimes it does seem like a way that sellers can generate interest in a name that might otherwise drop….IOW – b/o your ow name, then delete your b/o prior to auction when a rube has jumped in!

    I KNOW that I’m not crazy on this! I’ve heard of other domainers pulling this stunt to bring sunshine to their names……

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