Dan.com will be joining forces with GoDaddy, per the official announcement.
GoDaddy puts emphasis on the sales landers and fulfillment platform provided by Dan.com and will be accelerating its integration with its own platform, Afternic.
Note: Dan.com is a sponsor of DomainGang.
In the short term, Dan.com users can expect to see the familiar customizable “for-sale pages” moving onto the GoDaddy platform; that includes the lease-to-own selling model. At the same time, Dan.com joins the Afternic DLS network.
Dan + GoDaddy
Reza Sardeha, Dan.com founder, stated that discussions with Paul Nicks of GoDaddy began a while ago. The financial details of this arrangement were not disclosed, nor was the timeline of transitions that existing Dan.com customers will experience. In other words, there’s not much disclosed information about the specifics of this acquisition.
Here at DomainGang, I’d like to congratulate Dan.com for making it to “unicorn” status as a domain industry startup. A company being acquired by the biggest domain registrar in the world is by no means a small feat.
That being said, such an integration—or absorption—of a quality competitive service by a much bigger company reeks of monopolistic overtones. Dan.com has been elevated as the favorite platform to sell domains among domain investors, with sales landers and ease of completing sales among the reasons of choice. It has been my personal choice as well, transitioning away from the Uni Market.
I have mixed feelings about the Dan/GoDaddy transaction that will most definitely lead to higher commission rates (Afternic charges a standard 20% commission as opposed to 9% or less at Dan.com.) The plans by Dan.com to roll out its own domain registrar are most definitely aborted and GoDaddy, as seen in the case of Uniregistry and the Uni Market, is not exactly a fast cycle product rollout company.
Personal thoughts aside, I wish Dan.com and Reza Sardeha all the best, for producing a solid platform for selling domain names.
