GoDaddy VP Outbidding Their Customers PC Magazine - 5 hours ago A further post includes more follow-up from Sedo and Enom. Something about it all definitely stinks, but the whole aftermarket for domains is skating on the ...

The story began with an alert user in a discussion on namepros.com. The user had noticed that the winner in an auction of an expiring domain was one Adam Dicker, "VP of Domain Name Aftermarket (TDNAM)" at GoDaddy. Like many registrars, GoDaddy holds domain auctions, including those of expiring domains. Domain Name Wire looked into the story further and discovered, unsurprisingly, that GoDaddy has no policy against this sort of thing. The potential is there, of course, for employees to bid up auctions simply to get the prices higher for the company's benefit. As the reader on Namepros put it:

These employees may or may not have access to more information than the rest of us, and they may or may not have to pay full price for the domains they win. This is particularly insidious at GoDaddy since they are one of very few auction sites which don't show you who you are bidding against. So I have no idea if any of the names I won that day were inflated in price due to TDNam executives bidding against me.

GoDaddy did tell them that they have controls in place to prevent someone from gaming the system, but it's not clear if the sort of manipulation discussed in the quote above meets their definition of manipulation. Domain Name Wire dug further and found out that such non-policies are common. They go on to wonder if it's hard for such companies to hire talented people if they will then be shut out of the markets right in the middle of a bubble. A further post includes more follow-up from Sedo and Enom. Something about it all definitely stinks, but the whole aftermarket for domains is skating on the edge of shady anyway. Perhaps it's not surprising to find players trying to get every edge they can. [Update: GoDaddy has issued a statement saying that Dicker's actions were not improper, but that from now on employees are prohibited from participating in such transactions.]

Tags: Domain Auctions, News, Sedo by admin
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America.com could fetch one of the highest prices ever paid for a domain.

“America.com; Premium Virtual Real Estate headed to Auction”

Nyon, Switzerland, May 6, 2008 -America.com is officially up for grabs!

Will America embrace the best domain name or will it fall into the hands of another country? We will soon find out, as this potential record-breaking domain sale will be one for the record books!

Internet Media Consultants SA has been hired as the exclusive broker for the sale of the Super-Premium domain name: America.com. IMC have partnered with GreatDomains.com, a division of Sedo.com to hold the upcoming online auction, which is scheduled from
May 22, 2008, 2:00pm EST to May 29, 2008, 2:00pm EST.

“We have already had an amazing amount of interest from corporations and investors around the world, says Paolo Belcastro, Director of IMC. This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity and the domain name will most likely never be sold again.”

Several international industry experts, have valued the domain in the $3.5-$7.3 million range. The reserve price is set above $1,000,000 U.S. dollars and expected to surpass numerous previous sales records.

Industry analysts have recently defined this world-class domain name as an “instant business”, and also calculating it to be within the top 1% of the best domain names in the world. This domain lends itself to an unlimited array of possibilities, business models and future revenue streams.

In 1999, the domain name “Business.com” was sold for $7.5 Million U.S. Dollars. In just a few years the developed Business.com domain name was resold to R.H. Donnelly for over $345 Million U.S. Dollars. America.com lends itself to a very similar possible situation for future development.

Recent domain sales include, (in U.S Millions), Sex.com $12.5, IRS.com $12.5, Fund.com $9.9, Porn.com $9.5, Diamond.com $7.5. Last month Pizza.com fetched $2.6 million

Already over 5000 hits!

Visitors to this Sedo Listing*: 5,343.

Reserve price range:	> 1,000,000 USD
Estimated end time:	6 days 10 hours 6 min. (May/29/08 08:00 PM CEST)
Current Bid:	1,050,000 USD Reserve not met Currency conversion as per today’s conversion rate: 666,540 EUR 534,198 GBP Bidding History (8 Bids)

Important Note: To participate in this auction at the current reserve range you must complete Sedo’s Premium Plus certification.

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Tags: Domain Auctions, Domain Parking, Sedo by admin
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Bond.com domain name goes for $1 million ComputerWeekly.com, UK - 42 minutes ago The web address Bond.com has been put up for auction today, for a reserve price of $1million. With the hype surrounding the latest Bond movie and yesterday’s opening of the Ian Fleming exhibition at the Imperial War Museum, the web address is likely to be snapped up for a record price. The auction, which is being run by domain name marketplace Sedo, kicks off today and wraps-up next Thursday. Nora Nanayakkara, director of business development and sales at Sedo, commented: “The UK housing market may be in crisis, but domain names are proving to be lucrative online real estate. In fact, buyers with little or no technical knowledge have already recognised the most in-demand web addresses – and are reaping serious profits………

Tags: Domain Auctions, Sedo by admin
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