How are you supposed to win anything if you can't see what the highest bid is?

Are we supposed to just whack in some exuberant amount and hope?

Seems ridiculous.

The bids are not hidden to any DROP participant that has placed an auction price altering bid on any particular domain lot.

So for example, if the bid is at $300, and you place a bid at $300+ then you have altered the bid amount and therefore will be able to see all future bids for this domain. You can also participate in the extended auction periods too.A good idea is to place early bids to get on the board.

However if the bid is currently at $300, but you place a bid for $200 and you are not prepared to pay any more for the domain, then you will not be granted access to seeing the domain auction price. Logically speaking, it should not matter to you what the auction is at because it has already passed the amount at which you personally value the domain.

At the end of each day we publish our caught domains and the price they were caught for, so if you are interested as an observer then we expect that this should satisfy your curiosity. We understand that this information helps everyone develop a better appreciation of domain prices in our industry, however we feel that there is no adverse affect from publishing the data post auction rather than real time.

In summary, our system has been designed like this in favour of protecting participants from snipe bidders. Thanks for the feedback though, and be assured we constantly review all our process. Currently we have been met with overwhelming support of the current auction format so we have no immediate plans to change.

The drop business is ever changing, so anything can happen!

I hope this answers your question.

Best Regards,
George Pongas

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DROP | Drop Catch Specialists.
http://www.drop.com.au

FabulousDomains | over 12,000 Premium com.au Domains!
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Hi George,

Thanks for that.

So if I am the highest bidder when the auction has say 2 minutes to go, and someone comes along and places a higher bid than mine, should it show immediately? or would that depend on where that higher bid has come from?

I guess what I am asking, are all the expired domain auctions (from various sites) linked when it comes to bids placed?
So lets say I place a bid of 200 on your site and a minute to go someone on Netfleet places a bid of $300, will it show me on your site that I'm now losing the auction?

Thanks

nope, each venue is a different market

aha!

So my initial question is quite relevant then?

We are supposed to whack in some exuberant figure and "hope" we are winning?

Unlike a normal auction where you know you are either winning or losing?

No I don't think your initial comment is relevant, because you are immediately notified if you are the highest bidder or if your bid was too low.

The idea is that you should not base your value on what others are bidding. You should have your own valuation for the domain and what it is worth to you. If you place a bid and do not affect the price, then others have valued the domain higher. So it is out of your range and you can move on.

If you bid on the domain and you affect the price, the snipe bidders cannot see you bid and you are protected.

We have no connections or affiliations with the other Expired Domain businesses. So we do not share pricing information with them.

Regards,
George Pongas

__________________
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DROP | Drop Catch Specialists.
http://www.drop.com.au

FabulousDomains | over 12,000 Premium com.au Domains!
http://www.FabulousDomains.com.au

Well there ya go, learn something everyday.

A little disclaimer for "newbies" about the process would of been nice before participating.

I would of paid 10 times the amount the domain I bid on went for, but here I was sitting there watching it until the end and was still winning. I saw no reason to up my bid. I would of done that if someone bid higher. As you do in auctions LOL!

The auction ends and I've lost.

Had I read "something" that stated something along the lines of "Make sure you bid your highest as someone from another auction site may outbid and will not be able to see it", I would of infact bid my highest offer.

Anyway, thanks for the info.
It shouldn't happen to me again as I have this relevant information now.

Cheers

George
Does the hide or show highest bid work exactly the same on the www.drop.com.au secondary market auctions?

montecristo,
You realize it is proxy bidding on all the auction sites?

__________________
Joes.com.au

no, you got it wrong... you could get your name at either place paying less than what is in the other.

Let`s say there are 3 markets (dropcatchers), each of them compete against eachother.

That means that you hope you are choosing the winning horse but you may not.

If you did, then, the highest bidder in that market gets that name, which basically they are re-selling it to you.


let`s do an example.

There are 3 places:

PLACE A
PLACE B
PLACE C


Your name "montecristo.com.au" is dropping.

You choose PLACE B and are the highest bidder with $75

At the same time someone else at PLACE A bidded $100

At the same time someone else at PLACE C bidded $70

The domain drops.

PLACE C successfully catches it.

The domain is transferred to the highest bidder of PLACE C who bid $70.

I think you and I share the same attitudes towards instructions :P
Can't tell you how many times I have constructed toys for the kids or furniture, only to then have to take them apart again and reassemble while checking the instructions!

We have a Knowledge Base article here:
http://www.drop.com.au/my_account/kn...ayarticle&id=9

This information should have also been sent to you when your account was approved.

Now, while I'm using the toy/furniture metaphor, I should point out too, that many times I find these instructions confusing and incomplete. It can be challenging creating instructions for things you know intimately, because you often leave out things. So, if our instructions are a little difficult to understand please let us know (probably via our support @ drop.com.au).

If you know a way we can improve our service, then we want to know! Thanks in advance.

Best Regards
George Pongas

__________________
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DROP | Drop Catch Specialists.
http://www.drop.com.au

FabulousDomains | over 12,000 Premium com.au Domains!
http://www.FabulousDomains.com.au