Move your domains to GoDaddy prior to auctioning them.
If you are using GoDaddy Auctions to sell your domains, you’re in good hands.
The GoDaddy domain selling venue and Sedo ended up ranking equal in terms of user experience, in our recent 5-way test of domain auction venues.
There’s an important thing to know, however, and it comes directly from Joe Styler, Aftermarket Product Manager at GoDaddy:
“We let people move domains to any registrar they choose but really prefer the name winds up at GoDaddy […] because we can see for sure that the buyer actually got the domain name.
When the name is at another company and then moves to another company we want confirmation from the buyer and seller if possible that the name moved because anyone can update the whois and say they moved the domain to the buyer.
This is especially true if the name is not here to begin with, because we can’t see the requesting registrar’s transfer info and who the buyer is who is requesting the domain. This is one of the reasons we automatically start a transfer request to GoDaddy when the domain name is not with us in the buyer’s account. “
A very honest response from a valuable GoDaddy manager, who has been assisting with the smoothing of the GoDaddy Auction processes.
So what triggered this response?
It seems that recently, domain buyers from China for domains listed on GoDaddy Auctions that aren’t registered with GoDaddy, are quick to transfer these domains out to Chinese domain registrars such as Ename.
Once there, they often flip the domains quickly, without bothering to confirm receipt of the domain. Additionally, they are not responsive when asked to confirm the transfers. The end result: The seller’s funds become frozen.
While this might be an issue with language barriers, it could possibly be a scam that involves transferring the domains and reversing the charges. With the notoriety of certain domain registrars in China, it’s very hard to move any domain back out if there is a legal request to do so.
In a nutshell: When selling domains at GoDaddy Auctions, transfer them to GoDaddy first.
Yes, completely agree,