NameJet

[Jacqueline]

I tried going through the NameJet process to purchase an expiring domain, but wasn't very impressed with the system. Everything seemed designed to just make the price go up more. I didn't see a way to buy without an auction either. Are there any tips to getting a good domain there without the price going sky high?

[theinvestor]

If there is more than one bidder, you cannot avoid an auction.

The higher quality names will all be backordered.

[Jacqueline]

So if you see someone has bid, then it's time to move on to the next one. That is, unless you want to auction and pay a lot - and also have the auction end at whatever time they determine.

Is snapnames or go daddy any better?

[Acro]

If the domain that is being pre-released is at Network Solutions or eNom, then NameJet will auction it off, unless you are the only bidder. If the domain is being deleted, you are better off using Snapnames or Pool.

Originally Posted by Jacqueline

So if you see someone has bid, then it's time to move on to the next one. That is, unless you want to auction and pay a lot - and also have the auction end at whatever time they determine.

Is snapnames or go daddy any better?

Auctions last 3 days; the highest bidder wins. "A lot" is subjective, it really depends on the domain you are after.

[theinvestor]

Basically Jacqueline...I wouldn't bother with godaddy.

Just backorder at snapnames and pool, as acro stated.

You can't prevent an auction though.

[Acro]

Someone else said GoDaddy can't catch a cold, let alone a domain
I still have a dropcatching credit that keeps looping around the block (you can't preorder a domain someone else did).

[Jacqueline]

Thanks so much for the help. I really appreciate it!

My definition of a lot was for two 4 character domains I bid on. One was LLLL.com and one was LVLL.com. Both auctioned off for more than $500. I am sure a fair price for them, but I am too new to this to risk that much on one domain without being certain to get the money back within a year. What is real confusing is they both show on my account as still being back-ordered and will now let me bid on them for $29. Weird!

There is also a 3 character LLL.com I have on backorder that won't auction for another week. It is at $1,100 already. No telling how high it will go.

Thanks again for your help. I'll go check out snap names and pool and give go daddy a miss.

[Acro]

4-letter .com's can sell for well into the thousands; it depends on the age of the domain (remember, these are pre-released domains that can be as old as 12 years old or more). I got a few in the days that NameJet was not so popular but nowadays it seems that $500 is on the very low end of the range, that seems to reach as much as $4k+.

BTW, if the domains are not expiring but are being pre-released, they will only go through Namejet, so using Snapnames won't work.

[Jacqueline]

Yeah, they were on pre-release so namejet only, and they originally regged in 1997 and 1998. I probably should have gotten at least one of them. I was looking at namejet due to reading somewhere about it being the only place to get the old netsol names, but the whole auction process just felt bad to me.

[allanh]

for LLL .com, you should expect to pay at least 6K for them and for high quality ones, expect to be in the XX,XXX~XXX,XXX range

[Jacqueline]

Wow! That is quite a bit. So if I can get a CCC.com for 2 grand, would I be able to make the investment back in parking in a short amount of time, or would it require me selling the domain in order to recoup the investment?

[justinXcore!]

You would not make anything close back to your investment with parking the domain. You would have to sell it off to make any money back.

[sdsinc]

Originally Posted by Jacqueline

Wow! That is quite a bit. So if I can get a CCC.com for 2 grand, would I be able to make the investment back in parking in a short amount of time, or would it require me selling the domain in order to recoup the investment?

There is no real market for random CCC.com, invest in meaningful domain instead preferably domains that are decent enough to sell to an end user. Few people make a fortune on parking anyway

[GAMEFINEST]

I have won couple of auctions on NJ with ease, no issues yet, and same with snapnames..

[Jacqueline]

Thank you. That is very helpful!

[thevirtual]

There are some bidders on Namejet that are jacking up the prices for domains. No domain is safe from someone bidding and shooting up the price.

There are some bidders that scan the lists of domains with bids and add a bid to each domain, at the last second. Then they can choose to bid on the domain if they want it.

I would do research and check past sales on sites like Namebio.com before bidding on any domains. Also make sure which registrar it is with. Some registrars will keep your domain locked for months after you win the auction ex. Enom.

[Jacqueline]

Very interesting. I really appreciate the tip on namebio. I can see by looking at similar domains just how much higher it seems to be across the board at namejet, and the the character .com I was looking at looks like it is already overpriced there.

[Acro]

Originally Posted by thevirtual

There are some bidders on Namejet that are jacking up the prices for domains. No domain is safe from someone bidding and shooting up the price.

There are some bidders that scan the lists of domains with bids and add a bid to each domain, at the last second. Then they can choose to bid on the domain if they want it.

I would do research and check past sales on sites like Namebio.com before bidding on any domains. Also make sure which registrar it is with. Some registrars will keep your domain locked for months after you win the auction ex. Enom.

You're confusing NameJet for Snapnames and its notorious price-jacking bidder Halvarez. At NameJet, any auction with a single bidder will end up having to pay for the domain, so the carpet-bidding at Snapnames that Halvarez does to auctions that already have bids, has no effect at NameJet.

Namebio mostly reports sales that were announced via RSS feeds, etc Sedo. That's only a small portion of sales.

Lastly, eNom does not lock your domain for months. Only if a pre-released domain is registered at eNom you'd get a 45 day lockdown on ownership change. That's better than GoDaddy's 60 day lock.

If you want access to aged domains (read: NetSol's portfolio) then NameJet is the best option.

[thevirtual]

Originally Posted by Acro

You're confusing NameJet for Snapnames and its notorious price-jacking bidder Halvarez. At NameJet, any auction with a single bidder will end up having to pay for the domain, so the carpet-bidding at Snapnames that Halvarez does to auctions that already have bids, has no effect at NameJet.

Namebio mostly reports sales that were announced via RSS feeds, etc Sedo. That's only a small portion of sales.

Lastly, eNom does not lock your domain for months. Only if a pre-released domain is registered at eNom you'd get a 45 day lockdown on ownership change. That's better than GoDaddy's 60 day lock.

If you want access to aged domains (read: NetSol's portfolio) then NameJet is the best option.

Actually Namejet lists all the domains with bids, and there are bidders that add bids to each domain right before the deadline.

I think Namebio gets the most sales info, not just from rss feeds, and is the best sales history site with an easy to use search feature.

Yes, enom locks pre-release domains, I thought it was more than 45 days.

[Acro]

Originally Posted by thevirtual

Actually Namejet lists all the domains with bids, and there are bidders that add bids to each domain right before the deadline.

NameJet lists the domains with the top bids, that's all about indicating real interest in a pre-auction. Snapnames does the same. That's how Halvarez bids on auctions that already have 1 bid, safely becoming Mr. #2. I've never been to a single Snapnames auction that Halvarez hasn't popped in. At NameJet, you still have a chance to be a sole bidder.

Originally Posted by thevirtual

I think Namebio gets the most sales info, not just from rss feeds, and is the best sales history site with an easy to use search feature.

It's better than nothing, but there are a lot of documented sales that are not in its database. There are also pricing errors that can lead to arguments later on. I find DNJournal to be the only solid source of sales info.

Originally Posted by thevirtual

Yes, enom locks pre-release domains, I thought it was more than 45 days.

Furthermore, there is no such lock for pre-release domains registered with Network Solutions, you can transfer them out immediately. However, due to a snag in the Registry per ICANN regulations, such names don't renew for one more year at transfer time, as they were already automatically renewed to allow for the pre-release extension.