Domain Shane’s Daily List of Domains at Auction for Sunday January 12th, 2020

7 Replies to “Domain Shane’s Daily List of Domains at Auction for Sunday January 12th, 2020”

1. It really is one of life’s great mysteries that GoDaddy doesn’t improve and rebrand Afternic. Maybe there is some hidden agenda?

   As to competitors, according to Rob “God willing” Monster, GoDaddy will buy DAN this year. So maybe we will get an Afterdan in the end?

2. The VandeLay Industries joke was awesome! As for Afternic- yesterday at NamePros Raymond Hackney quoted what Joe Styler said in 2018 about Afternic:

   “We will not get rid of Afternic as a brand in the foreseeable future. We need a strong non GoDaddy brand to facilitate the DLS service. We cannot use the GoDaddy brand for other registrars or they would be much less likely to participate in Afternic Fast transfer. It is good for them to have a company name that most end user companies do not recognize than to have a big name brand competitor.”

   1. This part is also interesting from what Joe said: “We are also looking into branding for sale landers as GoDaddy so if you are selling domains with Afternic you can have brand recognition and trust from a potential buyer vs the Afternic brand. I think that will help a lot in regards to your statement that non domainers do not know Afternic. I think it will help them buy domains more comfortably but still not alienate our other registrar partners.”

      1. Thanks Tal for sharing. You have a link to that thread?

3. Hey Shane. No prob. Here’s the link:

   https://www.namepros.com/threads/godaddy-could-wipe-efty-dan-bb-off-the-map-if-afternic-were-branded-to-godaddy.1172204/

4. Maybe the shareholders at GoDaddy need to know that current management wants to be nice and non-confrontational to their registrar partners and the other domain aftermarket providers. Maybe GD management just isn’t hungry. Maybe the piece of the pie they have right now is sufficient and they’ll let the business ride on the coattails of past successes.

   Guys, this isn’t about monopoly or hurting feelings or putting other companies out of business. This is about competition and putting your resources into what you truly believe in. GoDaddy is the market leader in domains whether we like it or not. What Godaddy does directly or indirectly influences all of the businesses in the domain industry.

   GoDaddy will take one of two routes:

   A. GoDaddy believes in the potential and the future of the domain name and all it entails. It will invest resources to be the market leader in all areas of the domain industry especially the aftermarket. Or,

   B. GoDaddy will focus and use their vast resources to complement the upsell, and basically, continue the path of the status quo.

   Let me shift gears and bear with me.

   My father was a beer distributor, just like his father before him, and his father before him. My dad and grandfather made sure I knew who the enemy was before I could walk or talk. Beer distributors fight for every inch of cooler space in every retail outlet in every unheard ghost town in each nowhere state of the US. Our families were threatened by the breweries if we didn’t add one single point of distribution or refuse to carry the full product and package line of each major and miniscule brand many of you have never heard of. Or worse, termination if we didn’t perform at the highest levels each and every day. I still have beer nightmares.

   Everyone will get a free lesson about competition tomorrow (Monday). Hard seltzer has taken the beer industry by storm and grabbed a near 10% share of total malt beverage (unheard of and remarkable actually) by the smaller upstart brands White Claw, Truly, Smirnoff, Henry’s, Bon & Viv, etc. I’m sure you see it everywhere in the stores now. Most of this volume has come directly from market share held by Anheuser-Busch and Molson-Coors – the two biggest players in the industry by far (70% of the total market) – while they’ve sat by watching…..and waiting. Based on successes the past year, all of these smaller seltzer producers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars adding brewing capacity, new flavors and new people.

   Monday, A-B rolls out Bud Light Seltzer. I can tell you right now, it will be everywhere and I mean everywhere. They have the distribution, the money, the share of mind, the people and the space. The only thing I don’t know about is the liquid. If it tastes half ass good (doesn’t have to be great), is comparable to the other seltzers in calories and sugar, and is priced right, all the other seltzers will go away and I mean eventually they will go away. These guys just can’t compete on the level and for the long term like A-B. The seltzer guys are scared to death. And, they damn well should be because A-B is placing more emphasis on this rollout than any other product in their history.

   You want to know how it’s done – first you denigrate, then imitate, integrate, and finally dominate. That’s what Anheuser-Busch does.

   Anheuser-Busch’s heart and soul and wallet and mission is dedicated to beer and that magical cooler you see in the local neighbor store or bar. I don’t care if it’s lager, malt liquor, craft beer, an IPA, a bock or a hard seltzer. A-B believes that sale should be theirs and they want to know why it’s not and will spend heavily to find out why and in the end make it theirs. They are not afraid to be innovators and they are not afraid to invade and ruin a new beverage category to make point. They give their distributors the best tools, best margins, best advertising, best everything to succeed. They give the retailers the best selling solutions and strategies to sell more of their (read A-B) products. And, they advertise and get their name everywhere so Joe six pack believes in his beer and is brand loyal to the grave.

   GoDaddy is to the domain industry just like what Anheuser-Busch is to the beer industry.

   GoDaddy management needs to decide if they want to be the leader or if they are content with the status quo. It’s time to innovate. It’s time for a new platform that leverages the Go Daddy name and works in concert with domainers – we are your distributors. Help us help you, we are partners whether you think so or not. And, I would think the data that’s generated is worth it’s weight in gold.

   Then again, maybe GoDaddy knows something we don’t. Maybe domains and the aftermarket aren’t core to the domain industry and not the future for GoDaddy. Maybe it’s all churn and burn. Maybe the upsell is the future after all.

   I think GoDaddy can learn something about competition from the beer industry, we all can actually. And, maybe learn something from the guys on the fringe. The folks that grind day in and day out selling names and making a living on their own. I see it in Rosener, Schwartz, Cultra, myself and countless others. We’re fucking always hungry and don’t understand why a company as connected and intertwined to an industry (as GoDaddy is to domain names) can be this complacent.

   When people think of domain names they think of GoDaddy. Use it to your advantage.

   Full disclosure. This is not a rant. I sold my beer distributorship over 10 years ago and develop names full time. The bulk of my portfolio is at GD and I am very happy with the DDC. I like Efty and Dan have used them, will continue to use them. I am hungry.

   1. Thanks Andy. Some good stuff there