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143 Comments
- ShenanigansTMJ, on 08/12/2009, -2/+231Cliffnotes: Guy wants domain name. Pays company to acquire domain name for him when domain name becomes available. Company acquires domain name, and rather than selling to the guy, auctions it publicly, and guy cannot afford the final price.
- yomer333, on 08/12/2009, -6/+126This sort of thing has been confirmed on a bunch of different registrar sites. You do a whois on a domain and nobody owns it. You search for it through some registrar and it's instantly owned by "Super Internet Company Unlimited" because they instantly grabbed it. Only use trusted registrars and there shouldn't be an issue.
Also, this article is poorly written and terribly spaced so it's hard to read. The author (http://digg.com/users/gamebittk) has a ton of friends and so far, every negative comment in this thread has been buried pretty quickly, so I guess I'm on my way down as well. - inactive, on 08/12/2009, -1/+59This happened to me too. After losing the auction, the winner contacted me offering to sell it to me. I refused at any price, and they never paid for the domain name... it really expired that time, and I scooped it up for 7 bucks. That system is more corrupt than you know. I used to be heavy into domain names during the 'gold rush' days, but now the system is so messed up it's not even worth trying.
- radarplane, on 08/12/2009, -3/+59Hey, good job! What was 'War and Peace' about?
- Arby3000, on 08/12/2009, -2/+56I have a feeling this "beaker" character is actually inside at SnapNames. He bids higher and higher. Trying to get the other buy to put up some large cash.
As the author said, He got a good deal because the domain name was worth more than $1000.
Then again.. just speculating. - reeds1999, on 08/12/2009, -2/+40These are the type of business practices that bring about government regulation.
- AnotherDiggGuy, on 08/11/2009, -4/+30I agree
- OverDriven, on 08/12/2009, -0/+25I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that "beaker" actually is SnapNames. They could scam you out of your $60 then bid the domain high as hell until they either get what they want for it or they keep it in order to sell it again at a later date. I would seriously consider trying to get SnapNames investigated for illegal activity.
- RyeBrye, on 08/12/2009, -4/+29So he couldn't register butseks.com and now he's pissed?
- Sponky, on 08/12/2009, -3/+27Scumbag.
- nxusername, on 08/12/2009, -3/+27I like the domain acquisition buisness model. Perpay us for a domain that you may not get. Either way we get paid now.
- gamebittk, on 08/12/2009, -3/+26Except SnapNames got the name and put it up for auction.
- yoshiboy, on 08/12/2009, -0/+23***** DIAL-UP. Sorry guys, I kinda dropped the ball on that one. >.>'
- yoshiboy, on 08/11/2009, -4/+26
- NathanielJ, on 08/12/2009, -0/+19I remember doing a WHOIS on (myname).com a few years ago. No one owned the domain, so I thought on it for a night and then the next day I decided to buy it. I went back to the same website to purchase the domain name, and wouldn't you know it -- squatters conveniently registered (myname).com the previous night.
A year later I purchased the domain after it expired (without doing a separate lookup first). - medj, on 08/12/2009, -4/+22I second this motion!
- prisoner24601, on 08/12/2009, -0/+18Russia.
(With thanks to Woody Allen...) - eastshores, on 08/12/2009, -1/+18You left out the part where because of exclusive agreements between said "company" and registrar.. "company" charged someone a decent fee to enter into an auction.. which was open to anyone else.. just like it should have been in the first place... but oh yea.. there was that exclusive agreement.
- BoneStamp, on 08/12/2009, -0/+17beaker!
- DigDugDigger, on 08/12/2009, -2/+19I don't know why you're getting dugg down... you can. I've done it and it works fine.
We've all heard horror stories about this thing and while it is unfair and maybe borderline illegal, you should go with a service that's pretty well trusted... like GoDaddy.
It is ***** up, though. You pay this company to reserve a name for you once its available to prevent others from getting it first... and when it becomes available, they put it up for sale for anyone to buy. It's almost like you're paying them to give them advice on which domains to buy.
I'm sure some ***** about this is in their TOS but we all know nobody reads that ***** so sadly there's probably no legal recourse. - gsenechal, on 08/12/2009, -0/+16Ditto here. "Registrar" had real meaning when I was in University. Such an official and important office...
But in the domain name world a registrar should be treated like your favorite drug dealer. They get you what you want, but you should never trust them with anything. Zip in, get what you want, and get out. - wlmafia, on 08/12/2009, -0/+16Basically, websites like pool.com, snapnames.com and namejet.com have agreements with certain registrars to have first pop at their expiring domains. Then they have auctions for the name. It sucks but it is standard policy. I did it for my business name and thank God I won the auction for only $85 (only 1 other real bidder, the rest were namejet shill bidders that appear in nearly every namejet.com auction)
BTW I will never do it again. It sucks. - 4rp4n3t, on 08/12/2009, -1/+14Wow - they still make dial-up?! Who knew...
- tcheck, on 08/12/2009, -2/+15Third!
- frmatc, on 08/12/2009, -2/+15@Boogalou007: I think the point being made is that there is evidence that the other person had no vested interest in the domain and would not have desired it if SnapNames had not publicly listed it. It's a very Heisenbergian situation, and that's the nature of the beast with the current domain registration system.
- nibble4bits, on 08/12/2009, -1/+12I just visited Snapnames for the first time after reading this rant. In no way do I get the impression that the $59 is a confirmed deposit, it says BID. If the guy didn't pick up instantly that the place is an auction site for expired domain names, he was too hasty in trying to be "first" to try to justify his claims. Unfortunately, first means nothing in an auction environment. It's the final bid that matters.
Frankly, it's nothing unsual for an auction to charge an intial fee for the right to bid on something. It's also very common for online auctions to have regular users jack up the price. Unfortunately, it's very hard to prove any "insider" bidding if the auction site doesn't release that information.. and for security reasons, I doubt any of them would. Because even if it is legit, you're going to get lower bidders who feel cheated in some way. - dsmith5237, on 08/12/2009, -0/+11
Back ordering just gives you dibs at an auction. If nobody else bids then you get it rather than it dropping and it being first come first serve for $8. Why else would you pay for a backorder? It's just the initial bid. Most decent domains that expire will get backordered or auction bids from several people. It's not a fun way to learn about the domain system, but it is what it is. - legendxx, on 08/12/2009, -1/+12@Boogalou007 using the 'everyone does it' argument is extremely weak and astonishingly moronic. If something is advertised and the majority of the uninformed population interprets it incorrectly according to the author than something is ***** up.
The author believed he was purchasing the domain once it became available.. no questions asked. End of story. - fant0m, on 08/12/2009, -0/+10I would be, too.... If I didn't already own it.
- subliminalurge, on 08/12/2009, -1/+11I don't know if I'd really call GoDaddy "well trusted". A quick google search will turn up a few million people that feel they've been screwed by GoDaddy.
That said, I've used them because, well, because they advertise well and they're the first name that comes to mind when I want to buy a domain name. And they're cheap. And I already have an account set up, so it's convenient.
Despite their reputation, I can honestly say that I've always been happy with their service, and felt like I got my money's worth....
I will say this, though. There have been a few times when I've done a search on GoDaddy to see if a domain was available, and it was. I came back the next morning to buy it, and suddenly it was owned by a squatter. I now use "ping" to check for availability. - sodbustin, on 08/12/2009, -0/+9"According to a SnapNames rep I spoke to... SnapNames is only the market leader because they have arrangements like this -- but this nonetheless solidifies SnapName's position as the backorder king."
Dude, the SnapNames rep was LYING TO YOU. - gamebittk, on 08/12/2009, -2/+11Wrong. Domains only go to auction if there is more than one bidder. There is no initial fee-- you only pay if SnapNames gets the name.
- wlmafia, on 08/12/2009, -0/+8It is a stressful, frustrating process that usually involves an auction and shill bidders (at least on namejet.com)
- Haplo, on 08/12/2009, -4/+11I buried several negative comments because they attack the writing style, not the contents. Not everybody is a literary genius, certainly not most of the jokers I buried. (Your comment for example starts about something related but very different, did you read the actual article?)
- wlmafia, on 08/12/2009, -0/+7Godaddy is worthless when it comes to that. Basically, websites like pool.com and namejet.com have an agreement where they get names from certain registrars no matter what. Then they have auctions for the name.
- Radan, on 08/12/2009, -2/+8I say, the real issue here is not that this guy feels he got screwed, but the fact that the whole domain trading business is questionable. I honestly don't think it should be allowed to do things like this, i.e. just buying every single domain one can get and hope that someone needs it enough to pay ridiculous amount of money for it.
I'm glad that I'm a Swede since it makes it much easier to get good domain names (part from .com, .org e.t.c, we can also use .se, .nu and .eu). - NathanielJ, on 08/12/2009, -1/+7...how on earth is it an "unfair advantage"? If one party is willing to pay more for it, then they have more of a right to it.
How about when people sell their house, instead of selling it to the person who puts in the highest offer, they have to give it to someone at random? That seems fair, right? - HonoredMule, on 08/12/2009, -3/+8"Domain prospector"
It sounds like a weak attempt to linguistically legitimize what can only be the lowest of scumbag careers. It's about as effective as calling a serial rapist a "bush prospector."
If intangible domain names were supposed to cost a ***** fortune and bring separation of the economic classes to the internet than the registrars could fleece us themselves. Domain registration isn't free only because the registration fees cover the cost of fairly administering the system to provide equal and fair access to anyone regardless of race, nationality, geological location, or depth of pocket.
So congratulations on making a living of ***** over the middle and lower classes. If you were dealing with something more universally valued or tangible, you'd be in jail. - fragMasterFlash, on 08/12/2009, -0/+5CaliPornia.com
Creation date: 13 Jan 2000 15:51:05
Expiration date: 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00
I shall bide my time. You Simi Valley girls keeps sending me photos & vids, I'll make you inFAMOUS yet! - 4rp4n3t, on 08/12/2009, -1/+6@sooperdooper - not necessarily. If I were considering using the services of Snapnames, the first thing I would do is look to their site for how they work. The first place I would go is the help section. In Help>>Getting Started, the paragraph about back ordering states:
"You will not be charged until SnapNames acquires the name for you and you are the winning bidder."
Most of the rest of that page is about how the auction process works. To me it's pretty clear that you are reserving the right to the name if no one else wants it, but you should expect to have to compete in an auction.
To be honest, I think it's his own fault for failing to read about or understand the process. - yomer333, on 08/12/2009, -2/+7How is that about something very different?
Article: This registrar used sneaky tactics to try to get extra money and the domain was bought up by a domain camping spammer
My example: Many registrars use sneaky tactics to try to get extra money and their domains are usually bought up by domain camping spammers. - Elranzer, on 08/12/2009, -0/+5It's happened to me before as well. I lost an auction for the name, and the "winner" tried to sell it for me like 2x what he won it for. I refused, and he never paid for the domain. Then the auction site contacted me (as the 2nd place winner) asking me if I wanted the domain since the winner didn't pay for it. I got it for the standard $7.
- spy4phun, on 08/12/2009, -0/+5Snapnames holds an auction if there is more than one backorder on a domain.
- OverDriven, on 08/12/2009, -2/+7The author of this story would have had the domain if he had just let it expire without bringing SnapNames into it. Then he easily could have registered it himself for $10 on any registar. So in the end it's really his inexperience with these things that cost him the domain. The domain selling/auction world is a sham.
- dangeorge6, on 08/12/2009, -0/+4I recently backordered a domain through GoDaddy. I spoke to a rep on the phone who encouraged me to do this, as "I would get the domain as soon as it expired." A few days later, I received a very similar email saying that the domain was being put up for auction and that my backorder was being used as the starting bid. Seems like GoDaddy is following suite in these crooked practices.
- inactive, on 08/12/2009, -1/+5If he has done it via GoDaddy, he would never have had ANY chance because SnapNames caught the domain when it dropped, which is what set the whole thing in process. If he had done it via GoDaddy, he would have received a message saying "I'm sorry, we did not get the domain." For the best results, he should have used GoDaddy, SnapNames, and a few of the other domain catching services just so all his bases were covered. All of them were apparently TRYING to catch the domain. SnapNames won.
- DaDrake, on 08/12/2009, -1/+5Horrible idea.
Some states have tried to do lottery systems for telecommunication rights. What happened was simple... bunch of individuals with no connection to the telecommunication industry or who had the necessary capital to develop telecommunication towers won. They then sold the rights to AT&T and other companies, netting themselves millions of dollars. Of course, these rights are considered property of the state's citizens (like public land is), but the state didn't earn a dime. No instead, they gave all the money away to a few clever individuals. - ofenza, on 08/12/2009, -2/+6and how the hell do you make money with those horrible parking pages? my website (with content) gets like 1k visitors per day and i cant get anything with adsense.
- headzoo, on 08/12/2009, -0/+4"I took a speed reading course and read 'War and Peace' in twenty minutes. It involves Russia."
- Woody Allen - Rogor, on 08/12/2009, -1/+5The only feasible solution to domain squatting is to raise the annual cost of registration for all domains, use the money for infrastructure. Its too cheap at the moment to squat and enables massive speculation.
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