godaddy $100. Blanket Bidder At Godaddy Auctions!

[Digital Address]

It started about a week ago. A number of domains that I bid ($12.-$25.) on at the last minute (5-5:20 minutes before the scheduled close) were outbid within a few minutes. This has taken place almost as a matter of course over the years at GD, but this time something was different.

I really wanted only a few, so I increased my bid. And then I increased my bid. Had to pay $105. apiece; the other bidder had simply left a bid of $100. and moved on!

The following day, almost the same thing happened except this time I immediately put in a bid of $101. And guess what? I got 'em! Then I noticed that in my "Bidding List" there were many domains that had sold for $105.!

A few more days into this and I noticed that other bidders had gotten wise to what was going on and were also leaving bids of $101.!

 

[Biggie]

contact gd, sounds like shilling

 

[Digital Address]

What I believe is happening is that this bidder "watches" as domains appear with a single bid at the very last moment, makes a quick decision about liking it or not, and then leaves a bid of $100. on those the bidder does like. Then he or she refreshes the page and moves on to the next domains as they appear.

 

[airmax]

His identity will be showing in a day or so, let's see where they are from, or if they are transacting legit. Saw this pattern a week ago also, very strange, they don't chase it, but Anything from $95-$99 has them committed into the auction, but they won't go above $100. Looks to be some sort of newbie tactic, once the domains start piling up they might come off a bit, usernames really need to be implemented.

 

[Digital Address]

You're right. His ID should come up in a day or two. Put together a list myself of a few domains sold at or just under $100.; I'm certain some of them will be his.

But I disagree with you about his bidding. I know for a fact that he simply leaves a bid of $100. and moves on. How? Because on the first day, I was bidding against his proxies on two or three domains until they hit $105. Like I said earlier, it only took a day or two to figure out what was going on and adjust accordingly. For fun, I left a few bids at $99., which maxed out his proxy at $100. And for those domains I wanted, simply bid $101. on my second bid.

 

[airmax]

You're right. His ID should come up in a day or two. Put together a list myself of a few domains sold at or just under $100.; I'm certain some of them will be his.

But I disagree with you about his bidding. I know for a fact that he simply leaves a bid of $100. and moves on. How? Because on the first day, I was bidding against his proxies on two or three domains until they hit $105. Like I said earlier, it only took a day or two to figure out what was going on and adjust accordingly. For fun, I left a few bids at $99., which maxed out his proxy at $100. And for those domains I wanted, simply bid $101. on my second bid.

Yes, he bids $100 and leaves it, the pattern emerged, as I would put $95, $99, and it would sit at $100, there was no niche, no pattern, all domains were random across the board. There has been no second chance offers, so looks like the bids were paid for, I wonder if it a chinese buyer just bidding on popular bidded items. Never quite seen anything like it, some bids I stopped at $95, and let them have it at $100 as some names were a stretch, but otherwise I paid $105 on some, and $101 after I figured it out. We shall see how long their bankroll lasts playing this bid pattern.

 

[Digital Address]

This is without doubt one of the most interesting techniques that I have ever seen! And my gut tells me that his bankroll may not run out that quickly...

 

[Digital Address]

Turns out to be HugeDomains.com (NAMEBRIGHT)! (Looked in the "Didn't Win" section of my GD account for earlier domains.)

They are a monster "vacuum cleaner" of the daily drops! Guess they've added GD auctions to their "area of operations"!

 

[airmax]

Yes, I saw them in some lost auctions that I backed off before $100, ok so you were right unlimited capital, tdnam is going to get very expensive, they must have an automated script that picks up on bidding patterns.

 

[Digital Address]

One thing does become apparent: They have full confidence in the .COM sector and are now willing to go strong, up to $115. ($100. proxy bid plus $15. reg. fee) apiece to get domains with some age to them (instead of only going after the daily drops for registrar's cost).

 

[GeoOwners]

Being a "domainer" will now cost you $100 per name.

This type of thing went on a lot at snap at the $69 level of course.

You had to decide if what you wanted was worth a bit over $69 to you now it's $102

 

[DomainsInc]

I guess he was missing collecting names for himself since he can't compete with customers at dropcatch...

 

[airmax]

I would have thought with 1M domains, you would kind of want to be lightening the load, not buying more, especially if you can catch better ones for reg fee.

 

[Digital Address]

Look's like they took the day off; normal prices so far...

 

[Digital Address]

Not normal prices! Very low numbers in fact and very few bidders; breaking news scaring the crap out of everyone?

 

[airmax]

So I noticed a pattern, if 2 bids are placed by Bidder 1 & 2, bidder 3 will bid $100 on the auction, in an automated format instantly, that is why many auctions now close between $101 - $105, it is not human, it is automated

 

[Digital Address]

Probably so. But there doesn't have to be a second bidder. I'm bidding at this very moment, I was the only bidder, and my $25. bid has now been topped. So I just placed a $55. bid and was outbid by a proxy. It's "them" for sure! Now, do I do the $99. or the $101. routine? Do I really like SeriousWebsites.com? Yes, I do! I have both Site and Website! Looks like it's going to be mine at $101.!

 

[airmax]

Of course it is yours, in a reseller position these types of domains usually sell for $12-$60, you are just being bid into paying double. It is a decent name for someone in web design for sure, catchy, not much you can do when the robot pushes you up. Looks like they are using your brainpower to piggy back off your bids, best to leave it until it drops in closeout, if it is unbid.

I also ended up paying $65 more on an auction today, when my bid was taken to the $100 ceiling. Bidder 1 bid before 5 mins, I bid shortly thereafter, then bidder 3 and their $100 bid came into play instantly.

 

[Digital Address]

Got it at $101.!

I am quite sure that they also use any available API from GoDaddy to sort through the expired domains first. It appears now that their bid of $100. is automatically placed on their selected domains almost immediately after bids have been made.

 

[Digital Address]

I have tried the closeout a number of times on unbid domains and almost always someone else has beaten me to it, all within a matter of seconds after the domain was removed from my "Watching" list.

As for SeriousWebsites.com, if they liked it enough to leave a bid of $100., I'm more than happy to get it for $1. more. And if I had not liked it that much, I would have run them up to $100., which would have been almost as satisfying.

And your earlier prediction that "tdnam is going to get very expensive" is proving to be accurate!