Answers to Your Questions Regarding GoDaddy’s Auction
As GoDaddy gears up for its first Signature Auction, Reglike gets answers to your commonly asked questions.
GoDaddy’s first Signature Auctions will take place November 6, 7, and 8. GoDaddy first disclosed the auctions in July, but has been mum since then. The prior week GoDaddy released the auction list. There will 31 domains in the three day auction.
At first I was a bit skeptical regarding the auction, and wrote a few suggestions for GoDaddy. Now that GoDaddy has released the list, I’m optimistic they’ll pull this off.
I connected with Nate Curran, Business Manager for Domains at GoDaddy, to answer a few lingering questions.
Curran explains that GoDaddy received a number of thousand domain submissions for the auction. GoDaddy cut a portion of the names that didn’t qualify. “There was an initial filter that removed names that did not meet our criteria — such as trademark infringements, adult names, etc. — for the auction,” states Curran. He explains that the filtered list was sent to a committee of domain aftermarket experts for review.
One of the curious things regarding the auction is the qualification process. There’s a brief application form on GoDaddy’s web site. The firm wants to make sure only serious bidders participate, so it is qualifying each buyer. The easiest way to qualify is to pre-register with Domain Capital, which is providing financing for domains purchased at the event. “Pre-qualifying at Domain Capital is not required but it helps ensure people who are really interested in bidding are the people signing up,” Curran explains.
Gregg Freeman of Domain Capital states, “Domain Capital is very happy to be working with Go Daddy on this fresh venture.” Domain Capital provides financing for purchases at major auctions counting TRAFFIC/Moniker and Domain Roundtable, as well as for private transactions.
GoDaddy states it takes regarding 72 hours to get qualified. As the auction nears it will take closer to 48 hours.
GoDaddy refused to provide any goals for the auction. But I have a hunch that the deck is stacked. Following all, Bob.com is in the auction. My guess is GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons bids on that one. For his part, Curran states he doesn’t know if Parsons will be bidding on the domain.
The list of domains in the auction includes a handful of premium .mobi domains as well as many domains from GoDaddy partner BuyDomains (a Name Media firm). But there are a number of individuals with domains in the auction, and a few people have more than one domain up for bid. Furthermore, GoDaddy apparently didn’t consider which registrar the domains are right now with, as most of the domains are not right now registered at GoDaddy.
Below is a list of the .com domains along with the administrative contact and registrar:
VirtualServer.com Barry Brooks Melbourne IT
BestPhone.com Bob Kerstein eNom
BestService.com Bob Kerstein eNom
Maillist.com Bob Kerstein eNom
Smoked.com Bob Kerstein enom
DietAids.com Buy Domains
HowToInvest.com Buy Domains
TravelUpdate.com Buy Domains
BargainBuy.com Buy Domains
RoadWork.com Buy Domains
TopBeaches.com Buy Domains
HDTVShop.com Chih-Chiang Ying Register.com
WhyHybrid.com Domainly.com LLC Godaddy
Campaign2008.com Emery Fore Moniker
SportUtility.com Kendra Cook Godaddy
MobileSecurity.com Kendra Cook Godaddy
YB.com Matt Chapman Network Solutions
Bob.com Privacy protected eNom
ForeignTravel.com Privacy protected Godaddy
1x.com SK Creations, Inc Moniker
BeautyCounter.com Tim Tarango Godaddy
Even.com Warren Weitzman eNom
Earl.com Warren Weitzman enom
Grapes.com Worldwide Media, inc Moniker
Six.com Xedoc Holding SA Fabulous
