Afternic's recent changes = disaster

[iboughta.com]

Originally Posted by Success

How long does it take for your domains to appear back on BuyDomains after you switch from Premium back to Expanded? I made the change but I don't see my domains at BuyDomains.

They disappear from Buydomains almost instantly after a change on your afternic panel.

But I've noticed that they can take up to 24 hours after doing what you just said. (from premium back to expanded...or something as such).
Week end might take longer.

It is a shame...I used to like selling via Aftenic...but lately...it is becoming such a pain...

[an service]

Hi all,

Tim Bonehill here, customer service manager at Afternic. I’d like to address the issues that have come up since the launch of our new website. I hope to address each one individually, and if I miss anything please call me out on it!

Login: directly after launch we received inquiries from customers who were unable to log in, and this lasted roughly 2 weeks. The problem arose from the migration over to ‘single sign on’, a functionality that will permit member login to carry over to other functionalities within Afternic such as DiscussNames without having to log in all over again. We have addressed the issue and are not receiving any calls or emails with login issues at this time. Please contact me direct if you are still encountering this problem.

Description Text Errors: a post-launch bug caused listing descriptions to replace word spaces with a ‘+’ when a listing was edited in any way. For example, if you edited the pricing on your listing and saved the changes, the description displayed a + between each word. We addressed this with the first release shortly after launch and have not received customer complaints since late May. Again, please contact me direct if you see this issue reappear.

Listing Visits: we received various requests to have this functionality returned to Afternic. Many of you I’m sure have recently noticed the addition of the ‘Domain Statistics’ page, which allows you to view and sort listing visit statistics of up to 100 names at a time. We’re planning on expanding the options on this page to include integrating an editing feature that will enhance seller pricing strategies.

Membership Fee: the feedback we receive with regards to the annual seller’s fee is highly mixed. For every member that takes issue with the membership fee, there’s another member that understands and appreciates our efforts to separate the involved and dedicated seller vs. the fraudulent or non-committal seller. This continues to be a hot topic at Afternic and we welcome continued constructive feedback on it.

For those of you who are interested, we are hosting a webinar this Thursday that will highlight the latest enhancements, as well as describe the benefits of Premium Promotion! Contact the customer service team for further details!

Thank you all,

Tim.

[JuniperPark]

I am unable to log in still today, almost 2 months later, from 2 of my 3 computers.

I've repeatedly submitted tickets complaining about this, and still not fixed. I have moved most of my business to other sites, as have most buyers, since you've decided that we (your customers) are not important to your company.

Probably most annoying is that I've told you the REASON most people cannot log on -- you have a stupid client-side pir chart that CRASHES THE BROWSER if the very latest Adobe reader is not loaded!

Oh, and what critical data is on that pie chart? A breakdown of TLDs in my own portfolio -- just in case I don't know what I'm selling? It makes NO SENSE, but if a useless tld pie chart is more important to you than the buyers and sellers, then by all means LEAVE IT THERE.

Oh, and another great idea was REMOVING the batch upload status. Now we have no idea what has happened to our uploads. What we DO know is that it, too is failing, since you 'sold' a domain that was already sold elsewhere when your system ignored a batch 'close' command.

Sales were steady all year, but are down 80% since your "enhancements" were put in. Great job.

[randomo]

Originally Posted by an service

Listing Visits: we received various requests to have this functionality returned to Afternic. Many of you I’m sure have recently noticed the addition of the ‘Domain Statistics’ page, which allows you to view and sort listing visit statistics of up to 100 names at a time.

What if I want to see, for example, the 100 domains in my portfolio that have received the most listing visits? Right now, the "Domain Statistics" page can sort the first 100 alphabetical domains (or the first 100 that start with a particular letter) by number of listing visits, but I don't see a way to sort the whole portfolio that way.

(For that particular reason, and also in general, it would be nice to be able to view all domains in the portfolio on one screen, not just limit it to 100. The four choices presented are kind of silly anyway; how often would someone ever want to view, say, 75 domains at once, rather than 50 or 100?)

Thanks in advance for your input on this.

[iboughta.com]

This is going from Bad to worse Afternic I swear... !!!

I've still paid my renewal fees for the sake of "what if"...but really I don't think much of you at the moment. What a turn around....I would have happily recommended you over a year ago...

But you have totally blown it.

Namemedia is in full force on the selling side....but unfortunately the back office is not following.

- Complain to marketing and you get an instant reply..then wait DAYS to get an answer from tech team (if you get an answer).
- All merrily singing their new referral program...over 2 weeks to get a tracking id.
- New control panel still in ALPHA version with plenty plenty of bugs months after it has been launched...yet, afternic is burring its head in the sand !

And then you wonder why SEDO is still in the top selling charts week after week.

Guys, today a new "BUG"....i've got 10s of messages on my dashboard saying "The compliance is checking"...or the "price is being reviewed"... for names I HAVE NEVER SUBMITTED....and Guess what they are not even showing in "my domains"....

So, basically it means that I am seeing messages and domains from someone else 's portfolio !!!

I am really really crossed now...it just went one step too far !!!

This Peter Lamson guy should stop cat-walking his ego and get a grip now !

I usually don't get involved like this as I usually prefer to watch Moppets crashing hard...and reflect on their mistake when it is too late.

But Afternic was IMO a nice counter balance to omnipresent SEDO...

Who is counterbalancing Sedo now ? Moniker, Namejet ? Give me a break. The only one was Afternic...but it is fading...and it will fade even more if you don't react !

Oh, yeah, the strategy is full swing on selling the inventory and looking after the buyers...but you should start looking after the guys providing you the inventory...(oh yeah, that's right you don't need them as you are quietly building your own portfolio)

Guys, once again, I am writing this because I had very good experience with you in the past. Sedo had its bad moment too (over zealous arrogant moment), but they knew how to react.

So, I hope that you too will be able to sort this out ASAP !!!

[JuniperPark]

Another month has now passed, and my Afternic/Buydomains sales are still dismal compared to before the "upgrade", while my Sedo sales have skyrocketed.

It really seems that Afternic/Buydomains is very intent on the riding the catastrophic "upgrade" into bankruptcy.

[iboughta.com]

Originally Posted by JuniperPark

Another month has now passed, and my Afternic/Buydomains sales are still dismal compared to before the "upgrade", while my Sedo sales have skyrocketed.

It really seems that Afternic/Buydomains is very intent on the riding the catastrophic "upgrade" into bankruptcy.

Same here in regards to Sedo vs Afternic sale.

[hugegrowth]

I still can't log in to Afternic from my PC, just my laptop. I've emailed Afternic and never heard back from them about it.

I prefer the old site, this new version is taking too long to get the bugs out.

[JuniperPark]

Originally Posted by hugegrowth

I still can't log in to Afternic from my PC, just my laptop. I've emailed Afternic and never heard back from them about it.

I prefer the old site, this new version is taking too long to get the bugs out.

Same here.

I was on them for a long time about that -- their login process DOES NOT WORK from many browsers, and it also requires the laetst Adobe plug-ins or the page crashes -- because of their STUPID client-side pie chart, which displays a useless chart of your tld breakdown.

They have essentially told me 'it's just me' and are not going to fix the problem. Obviously, this is a lie, and the sales figures prove it.

[hugegrowth]

hello Afternic, are you out there listening to this?

Sedo = free = same or lower commission = more sales = functional

Afternic = yearly fee = same or higher commission = less sales = can't log in

I used to defend Afternic and have had some sales there, but really would have a hard time recommending them now.

The way they have gone about this new site is like they don't want you to join or list your domains there.

[JuniperPark]

I'm willing to pay the 20% commission, but I cannot make sales when BUYERS can't use the site. The numbers confirm my fear that so many can't use the new site that Sedo is booming.

[iboughta.com]

Originally Posted by hugegrowth

I still can't log in to Afternic from my PC, just my laptop. I've emailed Afternic and never heard back from them about it.

I prefer the old site, this new version is taking too long to get the bugs out.

Here is the trick (so listen afternic): it usually happens when you have not logged out properly.

If you want to access your afternic from your pc again, then you need to delete all the afternic cookies.

And it should work. I've tried this on IE and Firefox.

[James]

Originally Posted by an service

Membership Fee: the feedback we receive with regards to the annual seller’s fee is highly mixed. For every member that takes issue with the membership fee, there’s another member that understands and appreciates our efforts to separate the involved and dedicated seller vs. the fraudulent or non-committal seller. This continues to be a hot topic at Afternic and we welcome continued constructive feedback on it

I'd go maybe the $5.00 again with $5.00 credit on a sale

Thu, 30 Dec 1999 07:48:36 -0800

Subject: Afternic.com exchange membership
Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1999 10:48:34 -0500
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Return-Path: support@afternic.com
Message-ID: <06d8b3648151ec9CPIMSSMTPI01@email.msn.com>

Jim,

Congratulations! You are now an EXCHANGE MEMBER at Afternic.com.

Now that you are an Exchange Member, you are able to BUY and SELL domains
at our real-time auction. Your credit card has been charged a one-time fee
of $5, which reduces the risk of identity fraud within our community. You
will be credited $5 on your first sale or purchase.

Follow this link to get in on the action.

http://www.afternic.com/index.cfm?a=auctions

Regards,

Customer Support Department.


__________________________________

support@afternic.com
www.afternic.com
the domain name exchange
__________________________________


USEFUL LINKS:

Buyer's Guide
http://www.afternic.com/index.cfm?a=...ions&tab=buyer

Sellers Guide
http://www.afternic.com/index.cfm?a=...ons&tab=seller

Glossary
http://www.afternic.com/index.cfm?a=help&sa=glossary

BTW I don't anticipate renewing any longer...I should be grandfathered in