info DropCatch Bids Against You

[amplify]

I was unaware that DropCatch bids against you with Discount Domains.

I've regularly used Discount Domains as a way of catching not-so-sought-after domains for an opening bid of $11-22 to ensure that I get it. This domain was no different.



But the day after I thought it must have landed in my account, I had my first "Lost - Partner" domain.

Now, I've had my share of "Lost - Discount Club - $XX.00" lost domains. Meaning, someone else had also used Discount Domains with a higher opening bid or straight up back-ordered it for $59. So, I'm not unfamiliar with losing a domain through the Discount Club.



I would have just shrugged this loss off. However, it's a vested interest of mine since I've sold plenty of domains locally; this name would be no different at one point or another. So, I followed through the next few days to see who picked it up and if someone had moved to town with the great name.



Nope. It was just DropCatch bidding against me. To be fair, they aren't the same company. However, you've got to be lying to yourself if you believe they didn't snipe this on their own platform.



Because I didn't bid $48 more on the domain, it was added to HugeDomains' portfolio and going to be a $2000 sale for them, and not for me.

If you didn't already know, let it be known that if they find more value in the domain themselves, they will be the "partner" you lose to.

It kind of reeks to me, but what are you going to do?

 

[akirlew]

I have often wondered about that. They are actually both owned by Turn Commerce, so I would say they are the same company. You can see they list Huge Domains, Drop Catch, and Name Bright as their "core brands" on their website - https://www.turncommerce.com/.

 

[amplify]

I have often wondered about that. They are actually both owned by Turn Commerce, so I would say they are the same company. You can see they list Huge Domains, Drop Catch, and Name Bright as their "core brands" on their website - https://www.turncommerce.com/.

Thanks! Did not know the parent company.

Either way, it seems like a bad business practice to offer this service and then to also compete with them on another brand that they own.

 

[Deleted member 322971123]

I tried many time Dropcatch discount but never won a single domain name. It always goes to partner.

 

[akirlew]

I tried many time Dropcatch discount but never won a single domain name. It always goes to partner.

I have had success with quite a few, but mostly geo or personal names. If I really want the name, I will pay the $59. I am not sure how much you bid at Discount Club, but I find that I have to put at least $15, to beat out others who many bid less.

 

[Domainnature]

I have seen this allot of times, they catch domains and list on their own Marketplace, hope ICANN will take proper actions to shutdown them.

 

[amplify]

I have had success with quite a few, but mostly geo or personal names.

Oddly enough, this is a geo+keyword domain. I've never lost one to a "partner" that turned out to be themselves.

 

[MapleDots]

Great info, came here from as crosslink at:

Market

namepost.com

Two forums getting along and cross linking with no silly censor rules.

Imagine that

 

[accurate]

Lame but unsurprising. Industry is full of scams.

 

[Biggie]

It kind of reeks to me, but what are you going to do?

Hi

you either have to bid higher.... or stay at home

TC is no different than other domain services, who have more than one company under an umbrella.

and everybody from the registrars to the hopeful registrants, are playing the drop game.


imo...

 

[mr-x]

I was unaware that DropCatch bids against you with Discount Domains.

I've regularly used Discount Domains as a way of catching not-so-sought-after domains for an opening bid of $11-22 to ensure that I get it. This domain was no different.

View attachment 5837

But the day after I thought it must have landed in my account, I had my first "Lost - Partner" domain.

Now, I've had my share of "Lost - Discount Club - $XX.00" lost domains. Meaning, someone else had also used Discount Domains with a higher opening bid or straight up back-ordered it for $59. So, I'm not unfamiliar with losing a domain through the Discount Club.

View attachment 5838

I would have just shrugged this loss off. However, it's a vested interest of mine since I've sold plenty of domains locally; this name would be no different at one point or another. So, I followed through the next few days to see who picked it up and if someone had moved to town with the great name.

View attachment 5839

Nope. It was just DropCatch bidding against me. To be fair, they aren't the same company. However, you've got to be lying to yourself if you believe they didn't snipe this on their own platform.

View attachment 5840

Because I didn't bid $48 more on the domain, it was added to HugeDomains' portfolio and going to be a $2000 sale for them, and not for me.

If you didn't already know, let it be known that if they find more value in the domain themselves, they will be the "partner" you lose to.

It kind of reeks to me, but what are you going to do?

Why are you hiding the domain name? When you make an accusation, it's better to fully be transparent.

 

[mr-x]

I tried many time Dropcatch discount but never won a single domain name. It always goes to partner.

Same here.

 

[amplify]

Why are you hiding the domain name? When you make an accusation, it's better to fully be transparent.

I wanted to give them a chance to respond and/or make it right. If they don't within 72 hours, I will reveal the name. It, however, would open me up to more competition. But, I never thought that I'd have competition from the guys selling me the names in the first place!

In a 2nd email that, if they want to remain "private" in, they could respond there. In that email, if they didn't already notice, I pointed out to them that I had purchased around 30 domains with this exact geo+keyword & keyword+geo format for various prices on their Discount Domains bidding (11-59, I have not averaged it out but probably around $18 each). So, this isn't just a one-off complaint type of deal; these were domains I selected over the year(s) of business with them. I then go on to ask, "Hey, you know this is a little unfair now, right?" This is because I'll always be in the mindset of "If I don't bid $59, they will outbid me, so what's the point of Discount Domains again?"

 

[amplify]

you either have to bid higher.... or stay at home

So that would mean that going forward I need to place a regular backorder on every single name in fear that their sister company wants it for their portfolio. You see how they just pushed me into a corner to have to bid $59 on all domains while still offering Discount Domains for $10 (and still profiting there too)?

I have purchased around 30 of this same geo+keyword/keyword+geo format for $11-59 over the year(s) of business with them. Now, if I want it, I cannot participate in the Discount program. So, what good is it to me now?

HugeDomains shouldn't be participating against DropCatch Discount Domains orders. It's unfair business practices in my opinion.

 

[Biggie]

So that would mean that going forward I need to place a regular backorder on every single name in fear that their sister company wants it for their portfolio.

Hi

either that, or just don't place any bids

or wait until very last seconds to place your bids
or,
you could wait to see if the name drops from the registry and just register it
because every bid might send an alert, so if you think "they" are watching...then that's how they would know.

imo...

 

[amplify]

because every bid might send an alert, so if you think "they" are watching...then that's how they would know.

The problem is them sending that message by competitively bidding against their users with their own system.

It's bad business practices to snag a domain from the Discount Club for themselves without explicitly stating that they can and will do that when they desire — which goes against the club in my opinion — and that's what I'm trying to showcase here if anything.

 

[robs01]

A bit of good news here is that while they might (?) catch/take the domain you are after, if it is not a very highly sought after domain then they might also drop that domain the following year. I have seen this before where they grab a dropping domain, try to sell it for many $1000s during the year, and then let it drop. Note that I did NOT place a backorder with them...perhaps if I did then they might have kept it?????????

Edit: So I guess the tactic there needs to be - pay full price for a domain you REALLY want, otherwise, stay away and let it drop. It makes perfect sense though that "someone" might use inside information about desired domains to grab them and then ask a hefty price tag for them.