GoDaddy is acquiring Dan.com: Big news

GoDaddy to acquire domain sales platform that is popular with domain investors.

GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY) is acquiring domain name sales platform Dan.com.

The world’s largest registrar will pick up a competitor that had taken a bite out of its aftermarket sales, and the buyout will surely create consternation amongst domain name investors.

Dan.com came on the scene as Undeveloped and tried a few approaches to crack the market. It initially offered industry-standard commissions of 15% but later lowered them to 9%, ushering in an era of lower commissions from upstart domain sales platforms. In 2019, it rebranded to Dan.com and tried to jump on the blockchain bandwagon. While the blockchain thing didn’t work out, Dan.com started gaining traction as a low-cost way to sell domains via landing pages.

Together with other upstart platforms, it introduced innovation that shook up the aftermarket.

Now, it’s becoming part of GoDaddy, the industry stalwart that it once tried to unseat.

Domain investors will have a lot of questions. Many list domains through GoDaddy’s Afternic DLS to get into the registrar path but point their domains to Dan.com to pay lower commissions on direct sales. Will this option disappear in the future?

I asked GoDaddy President of Domains Paul Nicks regarding this (and more) via email.

Reglike: Will Dan.com remain a separate system, or do you envision integrating it into Afternic and/or GoDaddy? If it will be integrated, what’s the timeline?

Nicks: Our initial view based on diligence is that opportunities exist for Dan.com and GoDaddy to join forces, specifically with Afternic. Together, we expect the integration of Dan.com’s automation and lease-to-own options to add momentum to GoDaddy’s goal of offering domain investors an integrated experience within a best-in-class marketplace empowered by sage guidance, cutting-edge data science and the world’s premier brokerage team.

We don’t have specifics to share on timing yet. Shortly following close, we will hold a multi-day planning meeting designed to create a common and deep understanding of our goals and plan with those expected to support the work of the integration. We will spend a number of days together learning and expect to develop an integration plan, counting key milestones from the integration.

Reglike: A lot of innovation has come from the upstart domain sales platforms, counting Dan.com. I’m thinking regarding Dan.com’s transfer bot, installment plans, domain categories, payout services/timeline, stats, and import-a-lead. Does GoDaddy intend to keep all of Dan.com’s features?

Nicks: Here are a few specific examples of what we expect for integration post-close based on due diligence.

• Dan.com clients will benefit from Afternic’s expansive network reaching more potential buyers, as well as Afternic’s premier brokerage team helping Dan.com clients close lead-based transactions at higher average sales prices.
• GoDaddy also intends to extend some of Dan.com’s best-in-class offerings, counting lease-to-own options and automation technology, to Afternic clients establishing a fresh market of buyers for domain investors transacting via the Afternic marketplace.
• GoDaddy Afternic listings will be enabled with Dan.com sales landers, counting customizable landers that are right now in use on Dan.com and unavailable in Afternic.
• Joining GoDaddy provides Dan.com the opportunity to broaden client success operations and help clients in more time zones and languages.
• Finally, our goal is for Dan.com to become an experimentation engine driving better results on the shared platform.

Dan.com has payment integrations with other services, such as Efty. Will these be impacted?

Nicks: We are still in the early stages and do not have specific plans to share today. We’ll review all partnerships individually once close occurs and share updates proactively.

Reglike: Many people use GoDaddy’s Afternic DLS to get in the registrar registration path, but choose Dan.com landers since they’re cheaper (9% vs. up to 20%). Will this still be an option or ought to we expect to pay higher prices for landing page sales in the future?

Nicks: We are still in the early stages and do not have a plan around commission alignment. Once we have updates to share, we’ll share proactively.

Reglike: What benefits will Dan.com clients get from GoDaddy owning Dan.com?

Nicks: In addition to what we shared above, a message from the Dan.com team: “Rest assured, the great team that made Dan.com an amazing firm intends to continue working to help domain clients following the deal closes. We put our clients first and that will remain the same.”

Reglike: Is the entire Dan.com team coming over to GoDaddy?

As a part of the transaction, all Dan.com full-time employees will be offered jobs to join GoDaddy.