2007 TRAFFIC West Moniker Auction - Las Vegas

[Creature]

Thanks gopc, looking forward to listening to the show. Will it be on the webmasterradio? Good luck with your names.

[Raider]

18 of my domains made it to Master and ONLY 2 made it to Live! WTF!!!

After all the bending I did to lower the reserves initially, and then lower them again at the request of Don Lyons to get them to live, there going to throw my valuable domains into a silent auction, where some shmo is going to pick them up for reserve price!...NO NO NO!

The reserves I agreed to lower the 2nd time, were for Live only, if the original reserves are not met....THERE WILL BE NO SALE!!!

NO MORE MONIKER AUCTIONS FOR ME!!!! EVER!!!!

[GoPC]

I warned you guys of this exactly thing... Lower TOO much and risk letting them go for far less than you want in Silent.

I got caught on this a couple of time and if you recall, I mentioned this as a distinct possibility if not a PROBABILITY.

The reduction in reserves is worth the price of admission to the Auction, don't you think?

Best of luck anyway...

GoPC

[Raider]

I know GoPC and remember the heads up,

I'm going to contact Don, and try to straighten this out before the auction, I'm not going to push for the names to go to live, My main objective is to get the Reserves back to where they originally were, that would make this sit much better with me.

[BELLC1]

I know GoPC and remember the heads up,

I finally got paid two days ago for the Internext Auction 6 weeks ago.
Wonder if I'll be later writing here, "I told you so."

[MonikerMan]

there was never a no live or silent stipulation if you submit your domains for consideration to our auctions. we never stated or guaranteed that if you lower your reserves that you get into the live auction or even the silent auction...ever. the reserve reduction was to increase your chances to get your domains into the final list of 3800. there were over 60K names submitted to this event. to be one of the 3800 names that made the final list should be considered more of an honor rather than an issue.

we do our best to select attractive names, provide a venue with both buyers and sellers for an exciting silent and live event, and have successful results. The silent auctions continue to be valuable and more active than ever..now since it is not exclusive to just TRAFFIC attendees....but to everyone that submits their absentee and proxy form bid forms.

RaiderGirl - if you are now implying that you are going to breach your agreement based on whether your domains made the live vs. silent event, that will most definately create an issue for us and for any potential bidder and will need to be dealt with.

BELLC1 - regarding your delayed payment, yes there were a handful of late payers from InterNext. Unfortunately that happens to be part of the process....that processing may be delayed if payment to escrow is. the good news is that you did get paid and you sold names.

I find the negative attitudes and spins to our process disturbing given the huge effort we go through to make these events successful. I would say that the overwhelming majority of folks feel that although not perfect, the auction events and process is very good for our entire industry...regardless if you participate or not. Please remember this when you set your expectations.

RaiderGirl - I will be happy to walk you through what you signed up for when you submitted your names for consideration. I am unaware of any domains that were considered for live only or they would be treated differently. You always had the right not to participate and we certainly did not force anyone to do so. Please also note that selling domains for less money is not good for us or you as a seller so we do not want domains to sell for less than market. We are paid more when they sell for more....so to imply that it is somehow self serving to have your reserve prices lowered to sell your domains cheaper than what they are worth does not compute.

Lets wish all of us luck and success at this event and the other 5-7 events we will be conducting this year which will result in the increase of value for all of your domains regardless of your level of participation.

Feel free to contact me or anyone on my team should you have any questions or would like more information about this event and others scheduled.

[Fearless]

Some people use caps too much, Monte uses caps too little.

[Raider]

Monte, I'm not indicating I'm breaching any contract, I have no dispute with the last CSV list I sent you. While I was on vacation in The Philippines, Don sent my husband a email asking him to consider lowering the reserves yet again, there were 17 domains listed, and in his email, Don writes quote;

"If you agree to lower your reserve, there is a far
greater chance that this/these particular name(s) will
make the final cut."

The "final cut" to us meant the Last and final list, which is the Live Auction list, if this is not what you meant, Don should of used more specific wording like "live or silent auction" to eliminate any confusion, or perhaps the wording was intentional to make us think it meant "live"

This gets bettter! When we replied to Don, my reply was exactly this:

Hi Don,

I just arrived in the Philippines, and with the time
difference, I'm hoping you get this in time.

I will agree to the lower reserves for the domains
ACCEPT for these 4 domains, amount shown to the right are
lower revised reserves I would consider.

hardwoodcabinetry.com / $2000
lasikeyecenter.com / $10,000
utahlasik.com
hookshots.com

When I looked at the Master list, all domains were accepted including the 4 above, I was surprised to see lasikeyecenter in the $1-5000 reserve category, I immediately emailed Don telling him the domain has a 10K reserve, email sent on 02/23 and I still have not received a response. Utahlasik.com, Hookshots.com and Hardwoodcabinetry, are still at there original $2000 reserve price.

As for the other domains I agreed to lower, that did not make "Live" I can send you the list, I ask that you put them back to there original reserves shown on the CSV list, based on the misrepresentation of Don's email.

[kevmacmeh]

it would be cool if they set up a video webcam link for people who cannot attend to watch the auction happening

[OnSpec]

I find the negative attitudes and spins to our process disturbing given the huge effort we go through to make these events successful. I would say that the overwhelming majority of folks feel that although not perfect, the auction events and process is very good for our entire industry...regardless if you participate or not.

Monte, let me respond to the auction in general and the above quote in particular. I welcome your reply.

Let's all agree that this entire process is about making a profit. Moniker holds these auctions for one reason and one reason only... to make money. And while comments about being "very good for our entire industry" and "given the huge effort we go through to make these events successful" are intended to placate some hostile feelings, it's all about the money. There is nothing wrong with that because that's why I (and I suspect that the rest of us) listed my (our) domains for sale in the auction.

Moniker should be ecstatic that Domainers are voicing their opinions, feelings and frustrations. The information voiced here in an invaluable resource. Yes, mistakes will be made. Lessons will be learned and improvements will be made.

That said, I went into this with my eyes wide open. I knew that there was a chance that my domains COULD be sold in the Live auction, but I also understood that they COULD end up in the Silent auction. I set my reserves according to what I wanted from them, not what some account rep was touting so that I would have a better chance to get them in the auction at all. If anyone here is complaining that they were swayed to lower pre-sale reserves, the only one to blame is the person looking back at you in the mirror.

But here's my beef.

Blow.com is going into the live auction. Why wouldn't Blow.US (yes. it is mine) also be included. Call me auction tactic naive, but surely there would be bidders that would want the .com but would not be able to afford it and opt for the .US version. Wouldn't this add some spark and perhaps even fetch a higher price?

I submitted some very strong, single word, dictionary, .US generic terms with 6 or fewer characters including Blow, Check, Indian, Swing and Voyeur. Beats the hell outta me how they were over shadowed by 2 and 3 word .US domains; one that even that has 22 characters!

However, the thing that really raises my eyebrows and irritates me is the fact that, of the 8 .US domains in the Live auction, nearly 40% are owned by one individual/entity and 25% of them are owned by another individual/entity. Over 60% of the .US domains in the live auction are owned by 2 people/orgs! It seems highly improbable that their domains garnered that much pre-auction support to warrant such an unbalanced inclusion into the Live auction.

Coincidence? Perhaps. Luck? Maybe. But from my perspective, and in the absence of other supporting information, this situation has difficulty passing the "smell" test.

If there is a reason why I would not participate in future auctions, it is not because I got into the Live auction or not. It would be because of situations that, at least on the surface, leave unanswered questions about the fairness of the process.

[Raider]

With my situation, I feel that crafty words were used in Monikers emails to give sellers the impression there domains would be accepted to Live, if they lowered the reserves...Your right, Onspec, I have nobody to blame but myself...for trusting them that is. We need to talk like Lawyers with these guys!

I've never been so upset about something as I am with this...forgive me!

[oveber]

Very good Onspec.
I was thinking the same as you. There is to many long name in the live auction.

[Fearless]

Favoritism, cronyism, nepotism and a host of other isms are the fabric of American business.

[MonikerMan]

Onspec/scott - I sent you this by email but you may not have received because our email t1 is down at the moment. I would totally disagree with your take on our position. We are not doing these auctions for the sole purpose of making money...actually there are several reasons which I summarize in my response to your email to me below:

Scott - the selection process never makes 100% of everyon happy. Customer association to names are not even considered when making domain selection. The selection is based on quality, extension, reserve price, industry stats, and outside council from several experts as well as our own expertise. It is a fact that .us is no where near as strong as many of the other gTLDs...especially .com. We do put our fair share In the Live event and even more in the silent where many more folks participate.

The live room is occupied by savvy domain portfolio owners, investors, and alike.... And .us is not their primary focus....its way down on their list. That goes for many other extensions. Each slot at auction is worth an average of $40K and as you well know, very few if any .us sales occur at that level so taking up a valuable slot for a name that generally brings less than 10% of that amount is not a popular decision among attentees or the TRAFFIC event.

The silent auction certainly makes up for that as well we will be working on some very specific and targeted auctions going forward that will include a possible silent and our live .us auction for all those that want to buy and sell. I feel as the market matures, so will the value of the other extensions in the market.

I do appreciate your email and opinion so please also appreciate the position we are in when planning these huge and important events for our entire industry. If all .com names sold, .us names as an extension still gets the benefit of being a domain in a hot market. All sales help the industry and the more the better as that ultimately makes everyone's portfolio more and more valuable over time. That is our #1 mission in conducting these events. To make domains true assets for everyone going forward.

So in summary - we are and always have been out to do all that we can to advance our industry. We do not provide dnforum members $6.95 pricing because we only care about making money....that results in pennies of margin given our level of service, security, and value we bring to our customers. I think that you will agree with my statement. At a commission of 15% which gets split multiple ways, is also not the sign of a company just looking to make money by conducting these events. Live auction houses charge from 25% - 50% for selling like value assets...so there is a lot of room on that front as well.

RaiderGirl, if there was any implication that by lowering your reserves that you were a shoe in for the live auction, that is just not the case. Many lowered reserve names did not even make the final list. Remember the task at hand - 60K names to 3800 to 300. You will never please everyone that submitted names.

In any case, I am on all of your sides...I am a domainer that created a company to serve domainers. I guess I could have stayed in healthcare and continued to help patients and healtcare providers...but I chose all of your instead

[Fearless]

I guess I could have stayed in healthcare and continued to help patients and healtcare providers...but I chose all of your instead

Wise move Monte.

[Raider]

RaiderGirl, if there was any implication that by lowering your reserves that you were a shoe in for the live auction, that is just not the case.

Monte,

Not a shoe in, just a misleading statement. I'll contact Don again to find out why domains have the wrong reserves on them, or is there someone other than Don I can address these issues with?..

[Domain Jedi]

I think most of us can agree that, at the end of the day, domainers can't find a better venue for selling their domains. Setting the proper reserve price is key and I hope that we can all keep this in mind going forward. Thank you Monte for all of your hard work!

Sincerely,

-DJ

[OnSpec]

Monte,

Thanks for the quick response. I still haven't received the email, but this works just as well.

Two things:

1) I appreciate the brief explanations on how the process works. I don't pretend to have as intimate a working knowledge of the industry as you and your colleagues that are putting these auction events together, so the insights were helpful.

2) You claim that there is no association to individual owners when selecting domains for the live auction. I'm prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt there, but even you have to admit that when only 2 individuals/entities garner over 60% of the "Live" space, questions should be raised.

And with all of the high-priced talent you have around the table analyzing domains, I think that if you took 100 moderately knowledgeable Domainers and industry participants, and posed the question:

"All things considered, if you could have the proceeds generated from a live, domain auction, would you want the money generated from the sale of socialsecuritybenefits.US, or would you want the proceeds from the sale of Blow.US?" ...

I would bet dimes to donuts that the majority of the people would opt for the proceeds from the sale of Voyeur.US, Blow.US or Check.us.

IF that is the case, perhaps the decision makers should integrate some similar, simple, common sense benchmarks, along with the other analytical metrics used in their deliberations.

Finally, I would suggest that Moniker develop and publicize its upcoming auction schedule. If you are considering an auction that concentrates on Country Codes and/or .US specifically, I would have at least considered saving my domains for those events. It's clear from your comments that Moniker did little in the way of marketing some of the less popular extensions.

Regards for continued success.

OnSpec/Scott

[EJS]

"All things considered, if you could have the proceeds generated from a live, domain auction, would you want the money generated from the sale of socialsecuritybenefits.US, or would you want the proceeds from the sale of Blow.US?" ...

I would bet dimes to donuts that the majority of the people would opt for the proceeds from the sale of Voyeur.US, Blow.US or Check.us.

Hey Scott,
I don't know much about the selection process, however I can probably address your ".us beef." Most people (imo) that buy premium US names do so because of the relation to the US. For example, I believe names like Travel.us and Hotels.us aren't as valuable as a name like Government.us. In any other extension, I would be far off base, but many investors who buy names in this extension want something related to the US. In the example you used, I believe a name like SocialSecurityBenefit.us has more relevance in this extension than Blow.us.

[OnSpec]

Some valid points. I guess the bee in my bonnet (2 people with multiple domains in and many others with none) was just a coincidence.

I'm not worried as I set my reserves at reasonable levels. If they do sell at reserve prices or higher, my goals will have been met. If they don't sell, there's always another day, another auction.

Cheers,