Is one Bidder artifically pumping up reserve auctions?

[NameFetish]

Now, I am not making any accusations of shilling there is just not enough to go on, but what I want to share is an observation that is fishy and get other's input on it.

Today I looked at a bunch of names currently in auction at Namejet and noticed something I had seen in the past but this time it was way more obvious than ever before. One bidder named SeafoodMan is bidding up names with namjet hidden reserves. And not just 1 or 2, but 14 out of 18 domains with namejet reserves in just MY list.
Anyone else notice this or have any input?

---------- Post added at 02:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:14 PM ----------

One more thing, looking through past sales reports, I do not see this user ever winning an auction, but my report list may be limited compared to others.

 

[Theo]

Only Namejet knows.

 

[FireWire]

I wouldn't doubt it happens every where.

 

[katherine]

Stuff like that has been going on for a long time, in particular at NJ. But if the names are crap, the lipstick won't work.

 

[Theo]

And not just 1 or 2, but 14 out of 18 domains with namejet reserves in just MY list. Anyone else notice this or have any input?

I have a hunch, could you PM me these domains?

 

[Poker]

Stuff like that has been going on for a long time, in particular at NJ. But if the names are crap, the lipstick won't work.

Heard that...some real junk gets bid on at NJ huh

 

[Theo]

Heard that...some real junk gets bid on at NJ huh

Not exactly but a) domains that'd otherwise would not be bought as high "in the open" end up being best-sellers and b) looks like a large percentage of sales are private sales of pseudo-expired domains that are in fact arrangements with their owners. The latter class is what I'd like to see if it contains shill bids.

 

[Poker]

Not exactly but a) domains that'd otherwise would not be bought as high "in the open" end up being best-sellers and b) looks like a large percentage of sales are private sales of pseudo-expired domains that are in fact arrangements with their owners. The latter class is what I'd like to see if it contains shill bids.

was referring to pending deletes more than pre-release...do you see potential shills in both?

 

[ksinclair]

namejet has a lot of domains with namejet reserve. I tend to bid on some of those just to try and determine
what the reserve actually is. Usually, I stop before the reserve is revealed anyway. If its not a namejet reserve,
i dont see any point for a domainer to bid early. Why bid it up? The only time I would do that is if I cant be online
around the end of the auction.

 

[Seraphim]

SeafoodMan took one of my recent auctions to just below my bid level (in one leaping non-incremental bid he hit the bullseye), then he conveniently stopped bidding. A huge red flag went up as I witnessed that happen. Having dealt with Halvarez hundreds of times in the past I got that old familiar "I just got screwed over" feeling. Now here this thread appears on DNForum mentioning "SeafoodMan". As the old saying goes "there are no miracles"...

Without Halvarez having been outed by SnapNames themselves ("they were probably threatened to come clean by someone"), we would still be wondering about his bidding activity. Point being there is absolutely no way to prove anything in an industry shrouded in a thick fog of zero transparency (PPC, drop auctions, etc.). I generally expect that drop auctions are at least semi-fixed, yet for someone I jumped the gun, bid up and over the marker, and then got nailed. Hopefully I won't do that again.

 

[mediawizard]

Nothing would surprise me anymore tbh.

One more bidder to watch out for and why bid your max before in any case?

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[NameFetish]

I have a hunch, could you PM me these domains?

Sure thing, just did.
Thanks everybody for your contributions to this potential mystery...

 

[Theo]

Looks like we have some leads here There is a certain pattern related to the domains that get auctioned and "pumped" on Namejet by the same person.

Here's what I believe is happening:

Seafoodman buys domains cheap off forums, has access to the VIP club at Namejet where end-users can sell their domains for 15% commission. Because the potential for larger sales is bigger at Namejet, a bit of "pumping" is needed.

Is Namejet aware of this? Not sure, but they will now be notified of this odd activity.

 

[airmax]

This is an issue for all auctions, auto, art, storage etc... Your competition is your bid, they don't want to see you in business, they are going to bid you up, so you do not have more money for the next auction, or for the next day. Basically they are making you pay to play, and it is a game of chicken, Every domainer I have ever dealt with has been a stand up person in the past for transactions, we are in a new era, many outsiders have come into the industry, and it is not as tight knit as it once was. The rules have changed, therefore so has the game. It is impossible to win an auction on namejet without blowing a big budget, I am not sure of all the factors at play, but getting deals in the aftermarket is not so easy anymore, lots of newbies, playing the end user chicken game as well.

 

[mediawizard]

Is Namejet aware of this? Not sure, but they will now be notified of this odd activity.

If they are not aware of this how does he know the high bidders' reserve? Wasn't it 'only one person' at snap too?

Load of BS if you ask me, why I only look at deleting domains at nj / snap and never ever show my top bid till the very last moment.

And people wonder why this business gets a bad name.