This afternoon, SnapNames sent an email to their customers alerting them that a (assuming former) employee had registered an account at SnapNames and had been bidding on various auctions. The result of this activity is that many people who were bidding on the same auctions either lost a domain they would have won or paid much more for winning.
SnapNames has promised to repay anyone who won an auction that was bid up and pay them interest (5.22%). This sound like a pretty fair remedy to the situation. However, there was no mention of the domains that people would have won had this employee not won the auction.
A rather startling snippet from the email: “The incremental revenue from the bidding represented approximately one percent of SnapNames’ auction revenue since 2005.”
Here is a copy of the email that was sent earlier today:
I’m contacting you today to inform you of an unfortunate incident at SnapNames, and to let you know what the company is doing to address it.
Recently, SnapNames discovered that an employee had set up an account on the SnapNames system under a false name and, under this name, bid in SnapNames auctions. This is a clear violation of our internal policy and was not approved by the company. We deeply regret that this conduct has impacted our customers.
Extent of impact
This conduct affected a small percentage of SnapNames auctions:
- Bidding affected approximately five percent of total SnapNames auctions since 2005, most of which occurred between 2005 and 2007.
- The incremental revenue from the bidding represented approximately one percent of SnapNames’ auction revenue since 2005.
No matter the level of impact, SnapNames takes this matter extremely seriously. When the matter was discovered, the company immediately closed the account in question and began a thorough investigation. The employee has also been dismissed from the company.
SnapNames further discovered that, on certain recent and limited occasions, when the employee won an auction, the employee secretly arranged to refund from SnapNames to the fictitious account a portion of the winning bid amount.
Remedy to affected customers
Though on some occasions the employee won the auction, in many instances the bidding caused the ultimate auction winner to pay more for a name than had the employee not participated in the auction.
SnapNames neither condones this conduct nor wants to be perceived as benefiting from the conduct. Accordingly, we have decided that regardless of the circumstance, in every auction where the employee’s fictitious account submitted a bid which resulted in a higher price being paid by the winning bidder, SnapNames will offer a rebate, with 5.22% interest (the highest applicable federal rate during the affected time period), to affected customers for the difference between the prices they actually paid and the prices they would have paid, had the employee not bid in the auctions. The rebate will be available in cash or in credit on the SnapNames platform, at your discretion.
SnapNames has moved quickly to address this situation. The company has retained Rust Consulting, an independent third party, who will administer the rebate offer. Within the next week, Rust Consulting will contact affected customers to provide details regarding the offer.
Your business and ongoing relationship are important to us and we can assure you that we have taken all necessary steps to ensure the integrity of the platform and reinforced controls and procedures to avoid any possibility of further breach. These include:
- Enhanced monitoring of bidding activity for suspect behavior
- Additional controls over financial transactions
- Specific domain name registration policies for employees
In the meantime, if you have any questions, you may consult the FAQs here, or contact the SnapNames support team:
By e-mail: support@snapnames.com
Phone: +1 (866) 690-6279 (toll-free in the U.S.)
+1 (503) 241-8547 (outside the U.S.)
SnapNames, and all in the Oversee family of companies, are deeply disappointed with this incident. Since its founding in 2000, SnapNames has been committed to the principles of fairness and trust; the company wants to assure customers—through both words and actions—that it remains committed to those principles.
Thank you again for your business, and for your ongoing trust in SnapNames.
Sincerely,
Jeff Kupietzky
President and CEO
Craig Snyder
General Manager, SnapNames.com
SnapNames
1600 SW 4th Avenue, Suite 400
Portland, OR 97201
I have always had a mild addiction to registering domain names. Either because they were short, sounded “cool,” or I had some brilliant idea that I never had time for–I’m register-happy. Most of the renewal fees are spread out over the year, but around this time and again in January, I get hit with a bunch at once and it is a painful reminder that I need to thin the herd.
So, below is a list of domains I’d like I need to let go. If I could keep them forever or had the time to develop them, I would. I’ve decided to offer each of them for a flat $25 (free push from Go Daddy).
Contact me if you are interested.
| APPGIG.COM | domain only | |
| BETAJUNKIE.COM | domain & site | |
| BSLINKS.COM | domain & site | |
| BUDDYADS.NET | domain only | |
| BUYMYAPP.COM | domain only | |
| CAPTIONFOO.COM | domain only | |
| CHROMEHQ.COM | domain & site | |
| CODERUSH.WS | domain only | |
| CURBD.ORG | domain only | |
| DESIGNFLOP.COM | domain only | |
| INDYR.COM | domain only | |
| INDYTHING.COM | domain only | |
| INUPDATES.COM | domain only | |
| NASCARGANG.COM | domain only | |
| NASCARGANGS.COM | domain only | |
| OVSW.COM | domain only | |
| POSTEVERYDAY.COM | domain only | |
| SILVERLIGHTNOW.COM | domain only | |
| SQUARESHARE.ORG | domain only | |
| TWSSBUTTON.COM | domain only | |
| VOSSU.COM | domain only | |
| VOYAGERHQ.COM | domain & site | |
| WEBSTREAKING.COM | domain only | |
| WIFIINDY.COM | domain only | |
| WPLAB.COM | domain only | |
| WPSPONSOR.COM | domain only | |
| WPSTAR.COM | domain only |
Most people that know me know that I’m a bit domain-crazy. Any half-good idea that I have usually results in a domain name purchase–mostly as a “just in case” I decide to actually develop it. Despite the fact that this is a self-enabling and productivity damaging practice, I still partake in it. However, I have significantly limited myself in terms of what I let myself purchase (the next step was locking my laptop in a trunk and burying it in the back yard).
With that being said, a business parter and I have had our eyes on a particular domain name that is perfect for a future expansion of our current project, IndyDads.com. The domain name we wanted was DadNation.com. I’ll let your capable mind explore exactly what our future idea is with this domain instead of writing about it here. As luck would have it, the domain was up for expiration last month and I was excited at the prospect of snagging it. This is where I ran into trouble.
I was all ready to go. I had my domain name backorder set through GoDaddy and was just waiting for the good news. Now, I understand a thing or two about how competitive the domain name aftermarket can be and that for most good domains, it’s difficult and expensive to snap up expiring names. However, I figured with the relatively low demand for this domain, I would have no problem getting it. I knew I was in trouble when I received my very first email from a domain taster.
Because I had already registered DadNation.org, the domain taster’s automated system had managed to snap up the dot com AND generate a marketing email to me explaining that I could acquire the dot com easily by purchasing it through their company. The asking price? $997!
Ouch! No way. Perhaps if I was some big company that just had to have the domain, $997 wouldn’t seem like so much. But, for a side-project that is mostly a labor of love, that is out of the question.
So, I figured I had lost the domain for good. But, the way the email was written, I figured it was a form letter and not an actual human sending me the message. Two days later, I received another email that was similar, but contained a slightly more urgent call to action. I did some research on domain tasters and confirmed that they indeed only had 5 days to return their domains for a refund. Also, based on what I had read, often times domain tasters base the value of a domain off of the traffic hitting the domain. So, I was careful to neither visit the domain DadNation.com or respond to any of the emails.
I held my breath for 2 more days (not literally).
Then, on August 3rd, I received an email from GoDaddy alerting me that the name servers had changed to GoDaddy name servers! Then, another email telling me my backorder had been successful! It worked! The domain taster returned the domain after getting nothing out of me and I was able to register it for the normal price.
Having lost good domains in the past to a variety of frustrating reasons, it was nice to actually win one (and without spending a small fortune). While I’m sure the situation would change depending on the exact domain name in question, but my parting advice is that your best weapon against a domain taster is patience and silence (and an active backorder on the domain).
No, no, I’m not getting a divorce! My marriage couldn’t be better. And, in fact, as I’m writing this now, it would probably be a good idea for me to share with my wife exactly what I’m doing. The last thing I need is for her to stumble upon me writing or researching Indianapolis divorce lawyers!
This post is the first in a multi-part “interactive case study” on domain flipping. By interactive I mean I’m seeking your advice on what steps to take and will give updates as this project continues. I have very recently acquired the domain name IndyDivorce.com. There is no website attached to it. However, I feel like it could be rather valuable for a local law firm.
Now, don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t endorse divorce. However, the opportunity came along to snap up a domain name with the potential for high appeal to a select market. This is where this project begins.
I basically have 3 options:
- Find an interested party to directly purchase the domain.
- Turn it into a simple directory website listing local divorce lawyers in Indiana (and perhaps some articles on alternatives to divorce!) and eventually charge local lawyers a fee for an upgraded listing.
- Do what YOU tell me to do.
What do you think? The point really is to “flip” this domain like you flip a house. I want to buy low, fix ‘er up, and then sell for a decent profit while still delivering a great value to the final customer.
Just a quick word to the wise: AVOID NETWORK SOLUTIONS LIKE THE PLAGUE.
Sorry if I’m being a bit dramatic, but I tend to get a bit sensitive over companies that behave badly the way Network Solutions is. The DomainTools blog is covering the shady tactics that NetSol is now employing. It appears now that when you search for an available domain name at netsol.com, if the domain is unregistered NetSol will register it within minutes!
They will place a 4-day hold on the domain and then release it back into the wild. The major problem with this tactic is that it:
- Forces you to buy the domain from Network Solutions (they are expensive compared to most)
- Makes the domain you wanted available to any number of domain tasters and generally anyone watching expiring domain name lists waiting for good ones to drop.
If you lose a good domain name this way, the odds are against you that you’ll manage to recover it without having to buy it from Network Solutions.
I tried this just 10 minutes ago with a not-so-nice domain name with a few numbers thrown in. I made sure it wasn’t registered. I checked it’s availability on NetSol.com, and within 5 minutes it had been registered by Network Solutions. Unbelievable.
I’ve lost domain names by not registering them fast enough in the past, but this is to the extreme.
I have a mild addiction to domain name speculation. It’s purely small time (no $10,000 domain purchases here). Just the adventure (if you can call it that) of snagging reasonably interesting domain names when they expire that have fallen under the radar.
I regularly check a few sites that list expired or soon-to-expire names just to see what’s available. You can sometimes find some great local domain names for cheap if you are in the right place at the right time. I attribute this to most big time domainers not caring too much about local domain names, as opposed to names with nation/worldwide appeal.
For example, the following domains are at auction right now (and will end in less than a week) starting at $10 with no bids. Sure, they aren’t $10,000 domain names. But, for the right person with the right idea, one of these could be an amazing find.
- indyrules.com ($10)
- indycomedy.com ($10)
- couponindy.com ($10)
- jobmatchindy.com ($10)
These are listed at the GoDaddy Domain Name Aftermarket. Of which, you need a paid membership (not expensive). So, if you know me and want me to bid on one for you, let me know (I have an account).
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