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Why Bid So Early?

Chris.C

Top Contributor
I was checking out the NF AMA and there are already quite a few bids on a couple of domains. I was just wondering why people bother to bid so early?
 

Nova

Top Contributor
It's never made sense to me. Prices become inflated with early bidding. I don't see much point to it really.
 

neddy

Top Contributor
I was checking out the NF AMA and there are already quite a few bids on a couple of domains. I was just wondering why people bother to bid so early?

Another explanation is that a domain has been "pushed to auction" from an ordinary listing on Netfleet. This is the case with one of your listings I think.

The domain is showing as "reserve met".

However, given the new 7 day expiry rule on bids on Netfleet, I'm not sure how this works if the bid that is currently live then expires during the course of the auction (and there are no further bids)?

Interesting conundrum! Perhaps someone from Netfleet can explain rules so there are no misunderstandings?
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.Joel

Member
It's never made sense to me. Prices become inflated with early bidding. I don't see much point to it really.

You are only seeing it from one mindset, the other is that if you show there is interest in a domain those just "window shopping" leave it alone. This is typical for all auctions across all industries, there's a certain percent that will bid because it's there, it's cheap and it's an opportunity. By bidding early you clear this group out, and remove the opportunity from the forefront of their mind which reduces the time they spend on deciding if it is an item of interest, to which they would usually increase their budget if they spend the time considering the opportunity.
 

soj

Founder
I always bid early because Im usually out to lunch when the drops happen, don't know how many times there has been domains which I've missed bidding on because I've been chowing down.

Also there have been a few good domains I have won because I have put in my bids early and the NF system has stuffed up or overloaded and people haven't been able to put their bids in at the last minute.

Bidding early also lets you take the emotion out of an auction, put in the price your willing to pay, then walk away. If you win, great, if not, you don't sit there putting in higher and higher bids.
 

Chris.C

Top Contributor
Interesting conundrum! Perhaps someone from Netfleet can explain rules so there are no misunderstandings?
It is indeed an interesting situation and one I actually asked David about a couple of weeks back:

OK - the current offer will expire as usual. So your domain will start at $100 or a reserve if you set one.

Not ideal I know.
By this statement I'm assumed he meant the offer will go "unaccepted", in which case they shouldn't have their offer automatically pushed to the auction without their approval of an extension of the offer.

The domain is showing as "reserve met".

However, given the new 7 day expiry rule on bids on Netfleet, I'm not sure how this works if the bid that is currently live then expires during the course of the auction (and there are no further bids)?
You would have thought that by pushing the domain to auction that the offer was automatically rejected and the auction would reset the price to $0, with a reserve of whatever it is.

Then buyer should also have the opportunity to pick up the domain for less than what they previously offered if the reserve price is lower than what they previously bid and no one else is willing to buy it.

So I guess the long and the short of it is anyone interested in the domain would be doing myself and NetFleet a MASSIVE favour if they were willing to make an early offer and bid at least $501 for the domain in the next couple of hours to help avoid the confusion that will be caused otherwise.

Though of course given that the reserve has been met, that would constitute being committed to buying at that point. So you'd have to be happy to purchase the domain at $501 - but with LifeInsuranceComparison selling for $12,000 a couple of days ago and with similar stats - $501 is no doubt still a bargain.

Maybe a warning explaining the situation should be mentioned in future when pushing domains to auctions that still have active offers.
 
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snoopy

Top Contributor
Soj makes a good point. Some people are probably just kicking tires as well - ie I think some people like to feel like they've bidded even if they know they have a low chance of winning.

In a logical world there would be no bids at all until the final seconds but they you've got all these other considerations.
 

shags38

Top Contributor
must have been a very long lunch Soj :)
seems to be two scenarios in the one discussion - After Market Auction which was the original and then the Snap Expired Domains Auction :)
 

James

Top Contributor
I don't think bidding early is a problem at all, it just blows out prices.

I thing which annoys me a bit is that with "good domains" is people put a crazy high proxy in with 10 seconds to go, I missed a domain the other day I really wanted but did not get it because some one threw a proxy of a few grand, then Netfleet freezes.

But really how can you tell people what process to bid in, it is a public auction so any one can use what strategy they want. sure these things piss you off but you just need to get your game on and be willing to spend more.
 

Nova

Top Contributor
But really how can you tell people what process to bid in, it is a public auction so any one can use what strategy they want. sure these things piss you off but you just need to get your game on and be willing to spend more.

FTR, I wasn't telling anyone how to bid, merely voicing my opinion on what I think happens to the price with early bidding....and it certainly doesn't 'piss me off' :D
 

Mark

Top Contributor
It is indeed an interesting situation and one I actually asked David about a couple of weeks back:

By this statement I'm assumed he meant the offer will go "unaccepted", in which case they shouldn't have their offer automatically pushed to the auction without their approval of an extension of the offer.

You would have thought that by pushing the domain to auction that the offer was automatically rejected and the auction would reset the price to $0, with a reserve of whatever it is.

Then buyer should also have the opportunity to pick up the domain for less than what they previously offered if the reserve price is lower than what they previously bid and no one else is willing to buy it.

So I guess the long and the short of it is anyone interested in the domain would be doing myself and NetFleet a MASSIVE favour if they were willing to make an early offer and bid at least $501 for the domain in the next couple of hours to help avoid the confusion that will be caused otherwise.

Though of course given that the reserve has been met, that would constitute being committed to buying at that point. So you'd have to be happy to purchase the domain at $501 - but with LifeInsuranceComparison selling for $12,000 a couple of days ago and with similar stats - $501 is no doubt still a bargain.

Maybe a warning explaining the situation should be mentioned in future when pushing domains to auctions that still have active offers.

Just to clarify, if an offer on a Standard Catalogue Listing has not expired once the auction opens, it will appear as a bid in the auction, for the duration of the auction. Essentially it extends the buyers original offer, and in the worst scenario, this would mean their offer lasted for 14 days.

We do need to make this clear to buyers when they submit offers I agree. They would get an email however informing them that the domain has gone to auction, so they are kept in the loop.

HTH
Mark
 

neddy

Top Contributor
Just to clarify, if an offer on a Standard Catalogue Listing has not expired once the auction opens, it will appear as a bid in the auction, for the duration of the auction. Essentially it extends the buyers original offer, and in the worst scenario, this would mean their offer lasted for 14 days.

We do need to make this clear to buyers when they submit offers I agree. They would get an email however informing them that the domain has gone to auction, so they are kept in the loop.

I understand what you're trying to do here Mark, but from a buyer's point of view, I don't think you should backdate the rules (morally and/or legally). IMHO

To be upfront, the offer in question on one of Chris.C's domains is mine. My offer expires in 1 day - or tomorrow afternoon at 3.21pm. Therefore the domain in question should go back to $0 on the aftermarket auction; and I should have the chance to bid again if I want to.

Otherwise it creates a false starting point for others.

Netfleet brought in the 7 day rule because the old 30 day rule was just too long. It was a great change, because peoples circumstances change. It keeps things current.

If you are going to change the rules, then imho you need to tell people in advance.
.
 

Mark

Top Contributor
I understand what you're trying to do here Mark, but from a buyer's point of view, I don't think you should backdate the rules (morally and/or legally). IMHO

To be upfront, the offer in question on one of Chris.C's domains is mine. My offer expires in 1 day - or tomorrow afternoon at 3.21pm. Therefore the domain in question should go back to $0 on the aftermarket auction; and I should have the chance to bid again if I want to.

Otherwise it creates a false starting point for others.

Netfleet brought in the 7 day rule because the old 30 day rule was just too long. It was a great change, because peoples circumstances change. It keeps things current.

If you are going to change the rules, then imho you need to tell people in advance.
.

Ned, I'm not sure what you are talking about back dating rules. This has been the process since we started the push to auction feature.

Agreed though - we will make it obvious when placing a bid that the offer may get extended if pushed to auction. It was my fault for overlooking getting that added.

Specifically for the domain in question - why do you mind if your offer is extended for 5 days? Curious more than anything

Thanks
Mark
 

neddy

Top Contributor
Ned, I'm not sure what you are talking about back dating rules. This has been the process since we started the push to auction feature.

Agreed though - we will make it obvious when placing a bid that the offer may get extended if pushed to auction. It was my fault for overlooking getting that added.

By backdating, I mean retrospectively allowing a bid to run for 14 days rather than the 7 days it says in your T & C's (without prior notice to bidder).

Offers are valid for 7 days. Once 7 days has passed, an offer cannot be accepted, and is no longer binding.

Specifically for the domain in question - why do you mind if your offer is extended for 5 days? Curious more than anything

Two reasons:

1. Because my initial bid which expires tomorrow is the starting point for all future bids. The only way the price can go is up! When my offer expires tomorrow, I would have thought that the starting price should go back to zero. I then have the option to bid $100 or $200 or whatever. i.e. the starting point is lower.

2. What if I no longer wanted to buy the domain because I had purchased something else? Technically my offer expires tomorrow - but what you're saying is that if no one else bids on it, I will be obligated to complete the purchase next Tuesday. That doesn't seem right.

As you know, I'm a positive person. I think the push to auction idea is a great one. But all I'm saying is that you need to have T&C's in place that cover this situation in order to avoid any potential problems.
.
 

Chris.C

Top Contributor
To be upfront, the offer in question on one of Chris.C's domains is mine. My offer expires in 1 day - or tomorrow afternoon at 3.21pm. Therefore the domain in question should go back to $0 on the aftermarket auction; and I should have the chance to bid again if I want to.
Speaking with my buyers hat on I think the fair thing to do is to reset the bid back to $0, or at least the buyer should be consulted as to if they would be willing to extend their offer for the duration of the auction.

At present it's not even possible for me as a seller to reject or accept his offer anyway given that the status of the domain is locked given that it's under auction so what's the point of it still being active? Shouldn't it just be automatically rejected prior to going to auction?

Personally I'd imagine that most buyers, if consulted, would agree to extend their offer as a proxy bid (albeit begrugingly), but they should still be asked.


Specifically for the domain in question - why do you mind if your offer is extended for 5 days?
As a regular domain buyer I can understand where Ned is coming from.

It's partly principle, partly because no one should be obliged to bid at auction if they choose not to.

Ned should have the right for me to set a reserve, it not be met, domain passed in and for me to then cop the selling fees from the failed auction and then be forced back to the negotiating table with him in a renewed position of power given that the domain passed in.

At auction the sale price should be what the second highest bidder is willing to pay.

So if there is only one bidder then that bidder is only competiting with the reserve, but on this occasion Ned hasn't had a chance to compete with the reserve (mainly because I made a point of setting the reserve low (from my perspective) so that the domain would be "on the market" quickly so prospective buyers at the auction knew that the domain was definitely up for sale).

So I agree with Ned that the situation is not ideal.

Now to pop my sellers hat on, I hope the issue is resolved very simply by someone bidding more than $500 before the offer expires tomorrow!

:D
 
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