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Most everyone who frequents here knows that the Afternic.com domain name was bought and is now being used by namebuysell.com as it's primary domain name. It appears there are quite a few differences from the old Afternic as was run by Register.com. Here's the summary (good & bad) for former afternic users as I see it:
Overall, It may have a chance to be successful for names over $200, but probably not low end names since it's too pricey. The only thing going for the site is the recognized name and probable links and traffic. I think changes for the better are just about balanced with changes for the worse and the combined bad reputation the name earned lately.
Just one person's opinion.
- No data went with the domain name. profiles, lists, memberships, payments, etc. all have to be redone.
- Sellers now pay all fees, the opposite of the old AN. This is probably better to attract buyers.
- Minimum Fee is $60, minimum bid is $75. This will probably mean that small sales will not occur there due to minimums and that fact that a $75 sale nets the seller $15, which is not much over reg costs. So much for volume sales. I'd speculate that free sites, eBay, and this forum will likely do the bulk of under $150 sales. It includes escrow, but it's mandatory on all sales. I personally prefer escrow.com for both reliability, reputation, price, and as a 4th party separate from the listing site.
- Seller registration is now $1.95 and buyer fee is $1.00. This would be helpful over the old AN since it recently cost almost $50 to become a new seller and I think buyer as well. This should help getting both by being affordable to "test the waters".
- Names listed don't expire. Unlike the recent changes at the old AN, names listed stay listed (for now). The old afternic was expiring them making it troublesome to relist and resort every 30-60 days. Easier on sellers, but could result in bloated and outdated database like the AN of a year ago.
- Some chance at shared income from parked domains, or at least reduced closing fees if your domain refers them. I am not that confident in the tracking of this since it's not a third party. If you don't park there, I don't think this will work.
- The site is NOT the old AN interface or backend. Just an old name and logo plopped onto another website. Former users may be confused by the changes and somewhat less refined look & feel. Some who don't know, may even think it's a scam site or it was hijacked.
Overall, It may have a chance to be successful for names over $200, but probably not low end names since it's too pricey. The only thing going for the site is the recognized name and probable links and traffic. I think changes for the better are just about balanced with changes for the worse and the combined bad reputation the name earned lately.
Just one person's opinion.
