Auction Expiring Domain Names at Afternic — Tucows to

Registrar opts for Afternic platform for expiring domain names.

When domain registrar Tucows (AMEX: TCX) recently disclosed they were shutting down their in-house expiring domain platform, there was speculation where they would send their domains. (Although Tucows had an auction platform, it also sold domain names through SnapNames).

We now know the answer: Tucows is sending expiring domains to Afternic. Afternic will add the domains to its auction system alongside Melbourne IT domains. Here’s the notice on Afternic’s web site:

Afternic Auctions has been selected by Tucows as the exclusive partner to auction the sizable daily inventory of Tucows expired domain names. Thousands of daily expired domains from Tucows are now available only on Afternic. Members can now take advantage of this huge stream of expired domain names flowing into Afternic and choose from an enhanced selection of auction names. Search Afternic Auctions Now

I knew there was news coming from Afternic this stretch, but wasn’t sure what it was. And I missed some good detective work by DotWeekly, which noticed some Tucows names showing up at Afternic a few days back. Kudos to DotWeekly.

There’s less competition for expiring domains at Afternic than on platforms like SnapNames and Namejet, so it’s worth checking out. You need to have an Afternic membership; $1 for buyers and $19.95 for seller/buyer memberships.