Acro.net – Technology Rants & Raves by Acroplex®

The subject of lowballing always hits a nerve with domainers, especially when such an offer comes from – shock, horror – another domainer.

It seems that end-users are less prone to use foul language when it comes to expressing their frustration.

A recent heated exchange on DNForum between a well-known domain entrepreneur, Sean Stafford, and another domainer escalated to name-calling and obviously a failed business exchange.

Rick Schwartz promised to divulge tomorrow the February list of inquiries and sales, quoting that he responded to less than 10% of them.

Perhaps, that’s the secret with domain negotiations after all: sensing when an offer is not going to lead to a sale and simply not respond to it.

Instead of exchanging increasingly heated emails about who’s right about a domain valuation and who isn’t, it’s simpler to let the numbers talk for themselves: when the right offer comes, it will speak for itself.

It’s almost impossible to undo the damage caused to one’s reputation when such arguments surface, without properly acknowledging one’s fault. The quickest way to resolving such arguments is to resort to a genuine “handshake” and move on.

I’ve been using NameJet for the past 3 years; I don’t want to even think of the exact amount of money I’ve spent on old NetSol/Register.com domains auctioned there, but it’s in the mid-five figure range.

Another registrar that “tosses” its domains onto NameJet is eNom; a domain that was in pre-release status was with eNom at the time that I backordered it.

Three days later, the domain was secured with a single bidder, me.

I was expecting the domain to be awarded but no charge took place. Several days later I contacted the NameJet support.

Was my $69 bid not good enough? NameJet had an interesting response, which was articulated through the exchange of several messages.

Namejet first responded thus:

In reviewing the domain, it appears this was a pre-release domain. Keep in mind, pre-release domains are those that have expired and are typically still in the renewal grace period at the sponsoring registrar.

That’d be cool, if it weren’t for the fact that the domain was still parked with eNom’s “backpack girl” page *and* a link to backorder that domain on NameJet at the bottom of the page!

NameJet responded to my observation:

Unfortunately, eNom, Inc. can choose to remove the domain from a Pre-Release auction at anytime, if they wish. As they are the registrar it is their choice if they choose to list the name. I’m showing that this domain was not auctioned and we did not receive a payment for the domain name. We did receive your backorder bid and should it come up for auction again in the future you will be notified. However, at this time, I do not know if eNom is planning to release the name as they have chosen at this time to not list the domain name.

At first I thought I had not understood the response, as it’s been obvious to me – perhaps by means of naivete – that when a domain is marked on NameJet as being in pre-release it’s actually going to be awarded; either to a single backordering individual or auctioned among several bidders.

I guess I was wrong to assume the obvious!

NameJet support did not address the fact that eNom was *already* pointing the domain back to NameJet with a link to backorder! The follow-up response came as such:

It is common for our partner registrars to encourage backordering for domains that they are considering to release for auction. It does not mean that it will be available for auction at that time; everyone has an opportunity to place a backorder on a domain name at anytime, regardless of the domain. In the case of, [ domain ], the registrar eNom.com, has not released the name for auction, hence the current Wish List status.

In a nutshell, eNom – or any other partner registrars at NameJet – can play a carrot and stick game with bidders, perhaps sampling participation in the domain backorders and thus cherry-picking the ones most suitable for their parking pages (as in the case with this domain).

I must say, that after today’s conclusion I’d be very skeptical when placing bids at NameJet; in fact, I think that I will give NameJet less of my money from now on - by choice.

I’ve been reading a lot of domain blog posts, since the realization that during Domainfest a lot of attendants got sick from an apparent flu bug.

I too got sick after attending TRAFFIC in Las Vegas a year ago and I learned a lot of things from that experience, which kept me sick for two weeks and loaded with antibiotics.

First of all, when one attends a conference of that magnitude – 700 people – chances are that a percentage of the attendants are already sick, especially in the heart of winter.

Many people don’t realize that the majority of the flu germs are passed around by direct contact: handshakes, touching public areas that others touch, using items that others use.

To minimize the possibility of catching the flu, one must definitely keep physical greeting to a minimum. Handshakes instantly transfer germs. Unless you aren’t concerned about been seen washing off your hands with antibacterial gel IMMEDIATELY after a handshake, then simply don’t greet that person by hand; offer an alternative method of greeting and perhaps explain in the process why you do this.

Touching escalator rails or even pushing elevator buttons can also get you contaminated. You then pass those germs onto utensils and the germs instantly multiply.

Washing your hands often, with soap and hot water is a must: the process must be thorough and needs to last for a minute.

It’s not easy to be both social and cautious when attending an industry conference; the sight of people wearing surgical masks is something that could be deemed an extreme case of snobbery. Not to mention, you won’t be recognized in the pictures!

Again, the majority of germs are passed around via direct contact; although there are situations that the culprit is airborne. If your immune system is weak, the flu bug *will* get you pretty quickly; when that happens ensure you receive proper treatment and most important, don’t pass it on to others.

Domain conferences are unique opportunities to meet and greet many great entrepreneurs of the domain industry; try to play it safe even if that means less handshakes and not participating in the “speed networking” round robin. That’s where I got my own flu bug.

I’ve a headache already from all the things related to the Super Bowl and it’s not due to the beer or the zingers.

So I’ll talk about Sedo’s little feat of last Friday instead.

Sedo is celebrating 10 years this coming week – and yet the celebrations are modest, although the public “thank you” list is growing.

That’s very pragmatic for a company that rose to international stardom in the domain parking and aftermarket business; a decade of growth achieved by continuous improvement and expansion of services.

On Friday, Sedo pulled off yet another feat on my behalf: in 11 minutes flat, Sedo performed some little magic over the Internet; from accepting the sale, to confirming payment, to receiving the pushed domain and crediting my account.

That shattered the previously experienced record of 23 minutes by more than half!

A decade of growing existence is an important milestone for a company that aims higher with every corporate achievement; the secret is its people.

Thanks Sedo – happy 10th anniversary!