Beauty is in the eye of ... Whom precisely? And how did it get there?

[ImageAuthors]

From time to time, I glance at the GoDaddy "Most Active" auctions. And I'm usually baffled. Today, for instance, there are domains whose value I understand--domains like CVCV_com [Domain erased at owner's request] or even ChemistDrugs_com. But usually what I see are domains with 30+ bids up to $800-$1500 and still 2 days to go. Domains like these (literally, right now):

HaveaYak_com
ChatSpread_com
GrossInvest_com
GrabaNad_com
PushSelf_com
PriceIsZero_com
CaloriesKim_com
Exchangeium_com

If you're one of these domain owners, I say wholeheartedly, "Congratulations!" But, I have to admit, if I had domains this lackluster (and, like most relatively new domainers, I do), I would eventually be dropping them without receiving any offers at all.

I don't want to get into arguments about the value of the particular domains I've listed. One or two of them may be gems for reasons that I've missed. But my guess is that most of you wouldn't see much value in these domains either. Naturally, it's always possible for some end user to have a personal attachment to something like GrossInvest_com or HaveaYak_com and be willing to meet a seller's demands for $1000 or more. But getting that one offer is one thing ... and getting 33 bids on HaveaYak_com is quite another. Lightning strikes, yes; but seldom 33 times consecutively.

What is going on? Can anybody out there say? Do your beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-an-extremely-unlikely-beholder domains go for upwards of $1000 in ferocious bidding wars on GoDaddy?

... ... ... ???

 

[DigiNames]

A Whois search shows that:

haveayak.com
grossInvest.com
chemistdrugs.com
priceiszero.com
freewaypoker.com
calorieskim.com

Are all owned by the same person. I didn't bother to go down the list further but I imagine many more are. This leads me to believe that this person is just bidding up their own names or someone else is bidding them up, for some unknown reason. There is very little chance that these are legitimate bids. It seems like GoDaddy should take a look at these and try to verify the bids or cancel them...

 

[ImageAuthors]

Hmmm... Any guesses whether the person is shill bidding against a legitimate buyer? Or are 100% of the bids by a fictitious buyer using multiple GoDaddy accounts? Sure this gains publicity for these domains on the front page of GoDaddy Auctions and might seem like a great idea, but what buyer would be crazy enough to enter the bidding for Haveayak_com when it's already over a grand and has 30+ bids! I don't believe such people have colonized this planet. So what's the point?

This seems to be the daily situation on GoDaddy.

Incidentally, does anybody have any luck selling with GoDaddy auctions? So far, my sales have been elsewhere.

 

[DigiNames]

Because it is so many names I would say that the bids are 100% fake...

 

[Jeroen]

Some people buy domains based on their PR, age and other metrics only but a brief whois search reveals that these domains where registered as recently as this month so definitely something fishy going on. All the names have 2 bidders.

I must be naive as I find it a bit shocking that this 'business model' apparently works out well for someone.

 

[ImageAuthors]

I suppose the person(s) staging this farce is/are aiming to get front-page exposure on GoDaddy Auctions without having to pay for a featured listing. If they're using "Make Offer" listings, then there's no danger that anyone will ever have to sell or pay; so the exposure would be free. However, if these are 7-day auctions, then the owner will have to pay GoDaddy a commission every 7 days and push the "sold" domain to his shill bidding doppelganger.

I haven't checked whether these are 90-day negotiation or 7-day auction listings, but I'd guess the former.

These tactics are unethical and damaging to the credibility of the GoDaddy Auctions marketplace as a whole. If the domainer owned better names, he might actually derive an advantage from this duplicity--meaning, some real person might see a decent name and bid. But what makes this shill bidding so ridiculous is the scale of the bids, the brazenness of running multiple domains on page 1 with the same bidders (presumably) and the same ending times, and the utter worthlessness of the domains!

 

[Jeroen]

May be just the tip of the iceberg. Godaddy Auctions membership costs $5/yr and here we are seeing at least 3 different accounts; must be a viable model. Hopefully they will do something about it...

 

[ImageAuthors]

One thing the domain industry makes clear, however, is this: People's participation in an activity that is time-consuming and expensive doesn't necessarily imply that those people have a viable business model! So it's quite possible that the shill bidders in this instance are wasting their money and time while polluting the marketplace.