The Afternic Diaries: Mundane tasks of a domain name broker

My name is – wait, better leave that out, on second thought. I’m a junior domain broker at Afternic, the biggest domain brokerage platform owned by GoDaddy.

We are giants. At least, that’s what the middle management tells us on casual Fridays. We have pineapple pizza and soda and we talk about kicking the competition’s ass. There is no competition left, GoDaddy has been buying it every year.

Listen, I know you aren’t interested in any of this corporate BS but I’ve been keeping a short diary to let you know we’re actually cool. 🙂

Domain brokers can have stressful lives.

We’re just regular guys and gals, with 9 to 5 jobs, trying to get things done. GoDaddy has grown a lot over the years and the people here are awesome. Not sure why I get stressed out though, it must be the customers and their apparent insanity that overwhelms me at times. So I end up using the bathroom a lot. 🙁

Here’s my typical day. Send some love our way, ok? 👍

9:00am: Just had my first sip of coffee. I just got a call from a potential buyer who wanted to buy a domain for a measly $5, despite its listed price being $5,000. I had to patiently explain the market value of the domain and how it could help their business, but it was like talking to a brick wall. Eventually, they hung up in frustration, but not before telling me that I should be grateful for the offer.

10:35am: A customer is upset because their domain is not selling. One of our clients called in, completely irate that their domain hasn’t sold yet. They demanded to know what we were doing to market their domain and why we weren’t doing more. I had to explain that domain sales can take time and that we were actively marketing their domain through various channels. Eventually, I managed to calm them down, but not before I took a bathroom break to release some stress.

11:07am: A buyer is looking for a premium domain, but can’t afford it. As soon as I picked up the phone, a cheapskate buyer was on the other end, trying to get a top-tier domain for a bargain price. I had to explain to them that domain names are not discounted like expired yogurt at the supermarket, but they still insisted on haggling. I guess they missed the memo that this isn’t a flea market in Istanbul.

12:00pm: Lunchtime! I took a much-needed lunch break and went to grab a bite to eat. As I sat there munching on my sandwich, I couldn’t help but overhear a group of people discussing domain names at the next table. WTF. It was like I couldn’t escape work even during my break!

1:38pm: A buyer is trying to lowball our client. Another buyer called in and tried to lowball our client. They offered a fraction of the listed price and refused to budge. I had to explain that we couldn’t accept such a low offer and that our client’s domain was worth more than they were offering. It was frustrating, but I managed to hold my ground.

2:12pm: A buyer wants to know the history of the domain. A potential buyer called in, and they wanted to know everything about a particular domain’s history. I don’t think they realized they were talking to a domain broker and not a historian. After explaining that the domain was not an antique vase or an old book, I managed to get them the information they needed, but I think they were still expecting some kind of epic saga report. Thank goodness for DomainTools historic WHOIS!

2:43pm: A customer is upset about a delay in the domain transfer process. A customer called in, claiming that they had been waiting so long for their domain transfer that their hair had grown two inches. I told them that hair growth wasn’t something we could help with, but that we were working to expedite the transfer.

3:00pm: A customer is being difficult. One of our customers called in, but they were being incredibly difficult. They were rude to me and demanded that we lower the price of their domain. I tried to reason with them and explain why their domain was priced the way it was, but they weren’t having any of it. Eventually, I had to hang up on them to avoid losing my cool.

5:05pm: End of the day. I was relieved when the clock finally struck the end of the day. It had been a long day of frustrating calls and difficult customers, but I managed to survive. I was looking forward to going home and unwinding, but not before taking one last long bathroom break!

Copyright © 2024 DomainGang.com · All Rights Reserved.

Comments

One Response to “The Afternic Diaries: Mundane tasks of a domain name broker”
  1. BullS says:

    “forward going home”
    dude…this is remote work
    while they are not fielding calls,they watch porn to relive stress

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 characters available