Quick Chat With Paul Nicks, Go Daddy Aftermarket

By: RH

Quick Chat with Paul Nicks, Director, Product Development - Aftermarket

Paul Nicks is the  Director of Go Daddy's Domain Name Aftermarket. I oversee the future of Go Daddy's domain name parking products and the domain name aftermarket. I work closely with our product development teams, customer care and marketing to ensure Go Daddy's customers' needs are understood and addressed.

What is the usage of Go Daddy Auctions by those outside of the domaining industry? Would you say many companies use the platform to buy domains ?

 

When we first started in auctions, we were really focused on domainers. The more we investigated, the more we knew we needed to bring end users into our auction platform while keeping domainers happy.

 

We were able to blend the two segments seamlessly by adding auction listings into the domain registration path, giving customers a way to purchase domain names they didn't know might be available.

 

My goal at Go Daddy is to use the power of GoDaddy.com as an Internet on-ramp for end users and to expand their knowledge and confidence in the secondary domain name market.

 

As more and more customers learn the exact domain name they want to register can often be purchased from the current registrant, an overall understanding of how the primary and secondary markets work together will develop. With this understanding, more end users will start purchasing more domain names from the aftermarket.

Many users who bid daily, would love to know who they are bidding against, any plans to change the bidder id system?

In talking with Go Daddy aftermarket users, many of the frequent bidders want their identity hidden. We adopted the mindset that a person needs to know how many people they are bidding against, but not necessarily the identity of those people.

Do you guys pay attention to those who exploit loopholes in the auction system. For example we have written about how there are people who see an auction close for four figures, then contact the previous owner to get them to renew and buy the domain from the previous owner. Do you follow this, we read on Namepros one member said their account was suspended. What is the Go Daddy policy on this?

We have sophisticated fraud checks in place to ensure that our platform remains fair to both bidders and sellers. Although I can't discuss our policies publicly I can say that we are doing everything we can to uphold the integrity of the auctions. 

Another source of frustration for many bidders is winning and waiting for the name. Sometimes the name gets renewed and they are out the name and have to wait for the refund. Could you make a system where when the auction ends the bidders wins the name with no possibility for the previous owner to renew the name ?

 

Go Daddy's system was created to give our existing customers the ability to keep their domain name as long as possible. In the same vein, we created our system to give the aftermarket a way to bid on these expiring names. Go Daddy allows the original registrant the ability to redeem their domain up to the final drop date. As a result, we can't immediately transfer a domain to the auction winner.

 

Go Daddy is aware of the inconvenience this could cause to auction bidders, but we tried to be as fair as possible to buyers and sellers.

What is the current wait time to get paid for a premium listing sale, and why is the premium listing commission still so much more than the auction sale commission?

Premium Listing payments are made within 45 days after the last day of the month in which the sale occurred. For instance, if a domain name sold August 25, it would be 45 days after August 31.

 

Go Daddy believes domain names are 21^st century real estate and just like real land, it's location, location, location. According to Google Ad words, the term "domain name" is searched 1.5 million times each month. "GoDaddy" on the other hand iis searched more than 4 million times each month.

 

The 30 percent commission on Premium Listings is due to the far higher sell-through rate of and the benefit the seller receives from Go Daddy's marketing presence versus a straight auction listing.

 

End users who use GoDaddy.com for domain name registration are used to selecting the domain name they want, adding additional products and services and checking out. Integrating Go Daddy's secondary market domain names into the purchase flow is what makes our Premium Listings product so powerful.

I would like to thank you for taking the time Paul to do this interview and continued success to you and Go Daddy.

Thank you, Raymond. I'm always happy to chat via email or in person at the various industry conferences. Have a great day.

Comments

[Susan]

great interview... Paul will the 45 day time lag ever get shorter ? thank you

[Paul Nicks]

Hi Susan, we will work on shortening the 45 day payment for premium listings by increasing the methods in which payments can be made. Can't give a timeframe at this point, but it is high in my mind.

[RH]

Thank you Paul for taking the time to answer Susan. That would be great if it was 15 days after the end of the month of the sale.

[RH]

Paul will the Auctions come back to being feature on the homepage ? They are a dropdown with the new design. Some are worried this is lessening exposure to the auction site.

Thank you

[Ms Domainer]

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So, Paul, exactly, what is the absolute final day that the original registrant can renew the name?

Is it day 45?

Since you release the domain to the winner on day 42, isn't possible that the original registrant could still renew the domain, even though the winner may be using it?

Some Namepro members have complained that auction domains have been taken away AFTER being awarded to them.

Thanks for any clarity on this.

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[Dman]

Absolutely it is day 45, if you win a name you still have to wait til day 45. Go Daddy has said this every time I call.

[Ms Domainer]

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Okay, if day 45 is the final expiration date, then why not either

1. Start auctions at day 28, with one-week redemption period,

OR

2. Start auctions at day 25, with a 10-day redemption period.

Both possibilities seem reasonable to me.

I can see no good reason to award a domain to someone, only to have it yanked away by some numpty registrant who can't keep renewal dates straight.

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[Paul Nicks]

RH, regarding the Auctions placement on the menu we are always trying to find the best way to highlight all of our products. I've found the most valuable placement of auctions is not on the main menu, but instead as a direct link within our domain registration path.

[Paul Nicks]

Ms Domainer, re: the 42/45 day question:

Good question and one that I sincerely hope I can clarify. First, I'll underscore a point I made in the interview, we created the system to give our registrants the ability to keep or redeem their name as long as possible. With that as the backdrop, hopefully the following explanation will make more sense.

For many TLDs we are given a grace period of up to 45 days after expiration to decide whether to keep or drop a domain. On the 25th day after expiration, after three attempts to contact the registrant, we put our expiring inventory onto the Go Daddy Auctions platform to see if any of our other customers are interested in acquiring them. During the entire time a domain is at auction the current registrant is able to redeem that domain, albeit for a fee.

On the 42nd day we will cancel the domain name if no other customer has expressed an interest in it via either the auction system or a Go Daddy backorder. If, however, a customer has expressed an interest via either of these platforms we will move the domain to their account on day 43. Since the domain is still in the Go Daddy ecosystem we do allow, in rare circumstances, the original registrant to get the domain back via our redemption system up until day 45 which signifies the end of the grace period.

Our help documentation (http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/608/what-is-your-process-for-handling-expired-domain-names?locale=en) specifies day 42 for deletion because our registrants need to understand that if they do not redeem prior to that date they could lose their domain forever. However, we will continue to err on the side of the registrant when it comes to the edge cases where a domain owner calls asking whether they can get their domain back after day 42.

I hope that helps ease any confusion around this topic.

-Paul

[Richard]

Thanks a lot Paul and thank you Rh for getting these answers. I don't agree fully but at least now we know what the deal is for expired auctions.

[Ms Domainer]

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Yes, thanks for the clarification.

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[JCE]

Ray/Jennifer,

Great follow up on a touchy subject.

It's nice to see UNIQUE content on a blog these days :)

[@Domains]

Great questions and answers here about Godaddy procedures I'm sure everyone is interested in!