Yesterday I used the GoDaddy “buy it now” method for a domain listed in TDNAM, which I liked. It was reasonably priced and instead of risking further back and forth with the seller, I promptly paid.
The domain is registered with GoDaddy and despite the WHOIS protection on it, I can easily locate the seller using DomainTools.
However, 24 hours later, the paid-for domain is not in my account yet.
Calling support rendered the following answer, in a nutshell: GoDaddy notifies the seller that they have the cash and that he should be initiating a transfer to their escrow account. Once that is performed, they release the payment and push the domain to my account.
Somehow, perhaps in a naive way, I was under the impression that once GoDaddy gets paid, they enforce the transfer of the domain to my account, as the domain’s registrar. It seems, that the process can now take “a couple of days, or more” – pretty much relying on email communication with the seller to perform their part of the deal.
As I definitely want the domain and not just a refund – which might come in the form of GoDaddy credit – I am not too thrilled with the process, but I will wait it out and post the results here.
It takes a week, the money has to transfer and hold, but the transfer is automatic, the seller, can sleep his way through the whole thing.
You have that confused with the premium service (30% commission), that service is an instant push.
A little bit OT
Has anyone ever registered a domain name with godaddy hand reg. Then come to find out you don’t own it. They had sent me an email saying I got the name, then only after wanting to change the dns I did not see it in my account. Very odd happened last week. They gave no explanation except here is your refund.
Happen to anyone??
Ron – Support told me otherwise, that the seller’s function is required. Wasn’t aware of the ‘premium service’, however.
Donny – That’s strange. What was the domain name?
It’s been 24 hours patience mon, everyting going to be ok. Domain come soon.
Recent attempted purchase was a complete failure, 3 emails to establish my money had to clear after 6 days then i could contact seller to get codes for transfer …………buyer did not respond. 12 days later auction dispute lodged , buyer contacts me but still will not supply codes, one day later claims he has to pay godaddy to unlock name from his reseller account and i have sent at least 10 emails to support only to then be told i have pay the transfer fee………. I did this and now the seller will not disclose security, transfer and austhorization codes ……absolute nightmare. I explain to seller the deal cannot proceed until he hands this vital info to me. I explain i am in australia and that he should pick up the phone and discuss any concerns with godaddy (he is more local) In the end the seller seems to have no idea and after 19 days i request refund. The only positive was that godaddy were quick to refund the amount. I am suggesting if the name is not registered with godaddy it can be complicated very quickly………………….sorry but a complete fail !!!
Hello acro,
I often read your blog, appreciate your insights and the time you take to post them.
A quick question if you allow:
How do you find out the domain owner at DomainTools, even if the domain has WHOIS privacy enabled?
Do you need a paid DT account for that?
It’s not so much that I want to find out info about domain owners, I’m just a huge fan of WHOIS privacy ;-).
Thanks, again, appreciate your time.
Regards,
Georg
James – I will contact GoDaddy on Friday to find out what takes so long.
Business Show – Sounds like a complete nightmare.
Georg – As long as a domain wasn’t registered with WHOIS privacy initially, there is a good chance that DomainTools captured its info and stored it. To view the history of WHOIS records, you need a paid membership, correct.
Hmm,
All of the domains I’ve sold through both premium and regular auction BIN’s we transferred out of my account with no action on my part.
Everytime I get an email from GoDaddy saying do not transfer the domain until GoDaddy clears the payment, leaving me assuming I should be monitoring the payment status and then transferring the domain. However, every time the domain just leaves my account while I do sleep through the process. No action has ever been required. This may be a new thing or its just bad wording and communication.
JS – I hope that’s the case, but then again what’s keeping GoDaddy from pushing the domain at this point? I paid with credit card and funds cleared.
Godaddy has an authorization period of a few days, on the tdnam side, premium listings clear much faster. It is more of a security thing to cover themselves, since the domain is registar locked for 60 days, shouldn’t matter, bought many domains using this process, you are not going to see the domain in your account for at least a week.
Ron – Argh, thanks for the ‘good’ news 😀
The name was glassjar.com
Thought wow that is avail. But then latter they said nope here is refund. Never happened before
Thank you Acro for answering my question, much appreciated.