AMA Feedback

[Chris.C]

I'm back with more feedback...



As always, I really like NetFleet's services, I'm only offering this thread for the sake of some constructive feedback in case you were looking on ways to improve the system. I'm not doing it just to be critical.

OK I so took advantage of the new no fee reserve fee for AMA listings for those that have their domains hosted with NetFleet.

And I'm happy to say I thought it was a success.

I listed 8 domains, not any show stoppers or anything, 3 of them received bids, 1 sold, and two passed in for not hitting reserve.

After Don's success with setting BINs I thought I'd give that a go, but didn't find it as successful (but I was probably wasn't being as generous as Don can be with my BINs plus I didn't do any marketing so no real surprises there).

Anyway, with my first listing under my belt I will definitely consider adding more.

However I did notice a couple of things that might be worth changing:

Firstly, this only dawned on me today, but from memory, as the domain owner of a domain going up for auction I wasn't sent an email or anything notifying me that the domain was up for auction.

This, whilst not a MASSIVE deal, worried me that their might be potential to be exploited by the unscrupulous.

ie if someone's who has all their domains hosted with NetFleet has their account compromised there doesn't seem to be anything to stop the hacker putting all of someone's domains up for sale at auction at the conclusion of which they are automatically transferred to the auction winner given they are hosted with NF...

And because there is no email notification about domains being listed for auction, one's account could be hacked, bank details changed, and the domains sold off, and the legitimate domain owner would never even know... scary.



I'm not saying that you can make any system fool proof, but maybe something like an email notification that XYZ domain has been listed for sale on the NetFleet AMA to the domain registrant email address would be enough to at least give the domain owner the heads up that something fishy might be going down and give them the time to contact NetFleet and stop the auction.

Secondly, I put a reserve of $127 on one of the domains for shits and giggles (dumb in hindsight, I know), but when the domain received a bid of $110 with 10 minutes to go I quickly regretted it. Ultimately the domain passed in at $110, when I would have been happy to have removed the reserve at $110 and made the domain "on the market" for the final few minutes to see if that help conjure up any additional bids...



So whilst I have no one to blame but myself, the ability to change/reduce the reserve (and even BIN) during the auction would be a great feature and I imagine will increase the number of sales that get over the line.

Thirdly, alternatively, or maybe in addition to being able to change the reserve/BIN, if a domain passes in because it doesn't meet reserve the seller could have the option to "reveal the reserve" to the highest bidder, and give them 24 hours to accept the domain at that price if they choose. Bit like at a property auction where the highest bidder on a passed in property has the right to negotiate with the seller. Thoughts?

An extension of this might also be that the seller in a failed auction could place a lower BIN on the domain at the conclusion of the failed auction which would be emailed to all the bidders in the auction.

Fourthly, when the summary email was sent it just mentioned the domains that "failed to sell" it didn't mention the price that two of them passed in at.

ie if I go to relist the domains again in 12 months time it would be nice to be reflect able to the summary email and what result they previously achieved so I can set a more appropriate reserve/BIN.

Fifthly, I really liked how you automatically emailed people that previously viewed the NetFleet standard listing of the domain once it was put up for auction, but it got me thinking, that I think emailing people many days if not weeks prior to an auction ending probably wouldn't be as effective as emailing them 1 - 24 hours prior to the auction ending.

To be honest I had completely forgotten I had put my own domains up for auction, I can only imagine that someone who was emailed a week ago about the auction also forgot about it.



Another important milestone in an auction is also when a domain reaches reserve and basically is guaranteed to sell. So it might also be worth sending parties who previously viewed a domain on the standard catalogue that the domain they might be interested in has met reserve and now is officially "on the market" so if they are interested they need to make sure they bid otherwise they will miss out.

Also I was just wondering is there any reason why you guys require a minimum of 3 days for AMA listings?

OK those are the main points of feedback I have for the AMA system after going through the process.

What's everyone's thoughts?

 

[johno69]

Isn't a reserve meant to be the lowest amount you will accept?

If you will accept lower you are not understanding the whole "reserve" concept.

No need to allow it to be edited, just set it correctly. If you get a bid $1 lower, you shouldn't be bothered because your reserve (the absolute lowest you'd accept) was not met.

I like the sound of being able to negotiate with the highest bidder though. But that could be done by the top bid on a passed in auction being automatically submitted as a 7 day offer in the standard listings. Where negotiations can begin. Because that's really what it was, an offer to buy at that amount.

 

[Chris.C]

Isn't a reserve meant to be the lowest amount you will accept? If you will accept lower you are not understanding the whole "reserve" concept.

I appreciate that, and in principle I agree, but it's funny how thoughts change when a deal is near being struck.

And I don't see who loses if someone is allowed to reduce their reserve mid auction.

No need to allow it to be edited, just set it correctly. If you get a bid $1 lower, you shouldn't be bothered because your reserve (the absolute lowest you'd accept) was not met.

Are you telling me if you have a domain listed with a reserve of $400 and you get an offer for $399, you are going to be "happy" to let that deal go?

All 3 parties (buyer, seller and NetFleet) all stand to benefit if the deal is done and it's only $1 away...

I don't know about you, but I feel my time is worth something, so if a deal gets into the right ballpark (ie within a couple percent of what I consider a fair price) I'm very unlikely to walk away and would sooner concede a few dollars because I don't want to reinvest my time trying to sell it again in the future.

I like the sound of being able to negotiate with the highest bidder though. But that could be done by the top bid on a passed in auction being automatically submitted as a 7 day offer in the standard listings. Where negotiations can begin. Because that's really what it was, an offer to buy at that amount.

My only objections to the top bid going onto the 7 day standard listings is 1, the auction bidder didn't agree to that, and 2, NetFleet doesn't make any money from Standard Listings which I don't think is fair if the majoirty of the sale was done via the AMA. So I'd rather see the sale concluded via the AMA with some post auction negotiations.

 

[johno69]

Are you telling me if you have a domain listed with a reserve of $400 and you get an offer for $399, you are going to be "happy" to let that deal go

Yes. I did it with a car once. I set the min price I wanted, the guy piss farted around and asked me my lowest price. I said $2500, he offered $2450, $2495, $2499.. I told him to stop screwing around and its $2500 or forget it.

That's why you set a reserve I believe. Exactly the same when setting a proxy bid. I bid my highest, if I lose by a few dollars, I lost. It's black & white to me.

I don't know about you, but I feel my time is worth something

My time is worth a lot to me too. So I don't waste it worrying about someone who offers less than what my "Lowest I would accept" price is.

My only objections to the top bid going onto the 7 day standard listings is 1, the auction bidder didn't agree to that, and 2, NetFleet doesn't make any money from Standard Listings

Fair enough, but as it is..

1: The bidder was willing to pay that amount for the domain at that point in time. So it could be added to the terms that the highest bid at the AMA that is passed in will remain active for the standard 7 days to allow further negotiations between both parties.

2: They are not getting paid when it gets passed in anyway. So I don't see any disadvantage there.

 

[Mark]

Hello Chris !

Firstly, this only dawned on me today, but from memory, as the domain owner of a domain going up for auction I wasn't sent an email or anything notifying me that the domain was up for auction.

This, whilst not a MASSIVE deal, worried me that their might be potential to be exploited by the unscrupulous.

ie if someone's who has all their domains hosted with NetFleet has their account compromised there doesn't seem to be anything to stop the hacker putting all of someone's domains up for sale at auction at the conclusion of which they are automatically transferred to the auction winner given they are hosted with NF...

And because there is no email notification about domains being listed for auction, one's account could be hacked, bank details changed, and the domains sold off, and the legitimate domain owner would never even know... scary.

Accounts getting compromised is a risk of any online business, but we do have many preventive measures in place to combat this. However, doomsday scenario and your account does get compromised, we always email the registered email address at Ausregistry before performing any COR - so it would not get past this stage.

Secondly, I put a reserve of $127 on one of the domains for shits and giggles (dumb in hindsight, I know), but when the domain received a bid of $110 with 10 minutes to go I quickly regretted it. Ultimately the domain passed in at $110, when I would have been happy to have removed the reserve at $110 and made the domain "on the market" for the final few minutes to see if that help conjure up any additional bids...

As johno69 said you really should price the domain accordingly. However, I do understand the pang of regret when seeing a bid $17 lower then your reserve. To be honest, I'm against the idea, as it encourages ever higher initial reserve prices, and any previous bidders, having not met the initial reserve, simply may never come back. I think it's important to (where possible) wrap them up at the point of sale. There is always the option of resubmitting the domain to auction, and past bidders get notified of that.

Thirdly, alternatively, or maybe in addition to being able to change the reserve/BIN, if a domain passes in because it doesn't meet reserve the seller could have the option to "reveal the reserve" to the highest bidder, and give them 24 hours to accept the domain at that price if they choose. Bit like at a property auction where the highest bidder on a passed in property has the right to negotiate with the seller. Thoughts?

I think this could be covered by resubmitting the domain to auction with a BIN price of past highest bid.

Fourthly, when the summary email was sent it just mentioned the domains that "failed to sell" it didn't mention the price that two of them passed in at.

ie if I go to relist the domains again in 12 months time it would be nice to be reflect able to the summary email and what result they previously achieved so I can set a more appropriate reserve/BIN.

Past auctions and highest offers are visible once logged in, here:

https://www.netfleet.com.au/ama.php

Fifthly, I really liked how you automatically emailed people that previously viewed the NetFleet standard listing of the domain once it was put up for auction, but it got me thinking, that I think emailing people many days if not weeks prior to an auction ending probably wouldn't be as effective as emailing them 1 - 24 hours prior to the auction ending.

To be honest I had completely forgotten I had put my own domains up for auction, I can only imagine that someone who was emailed a week ago about the auction also forgot about it.

Yep, this could be a good idea. I'll have a chat with the guys and see how difficult it is to change it.

Phew, got there

Cheers
Mark

 

[Chris.C]

Accounts getting compromised is a risk of any online business, but we do have many preventive measures in place to combat this. However, doomsday scenario and your account does get compromised, we always email the registered email address at Ausregistry before performing any COR - so it would not get past this stage.

Well it's good to know the deal wouldn't be processed, but that might also make for some angry bidders as well though... just saying...

As johno69 said you really should price the domain accordingly. However, I do understand the pang of regret when seeing a bid $17 lower then your reserve. To be honest, I'm against the idea, as it encourages ever higher initial reserve prices, and any previous bidders, having not met the initial reserve, simply may never come back. I think it's important to (where possible) wrap them up at the point of sale. There is always the option of resubmitting the domain to auction, and past bidders get notified of that.

I understand.

I guess I'll just have to resubmit it. Hopefully whoever bid last time is still interested.

I think this could be covered by resubmitting the domain to auction with a BIN price of past highest bid.

The only major downside I see to relisting it with BIN at the previous highest bid is that it allows the second highest bidder who previously wouldn't have won the auction (ie the under bidder) to buy it if they see it has a low BIN upon relisting.

Of course that's not the end of the world for the seller, but it would suck for the previous highest bidder.

Not to mention probably a poor use of everyone's time.

Phew, got there

Thanks for making the time. I appreciate it.

 

[johno69]

Hopefully whoever bid last time is still interested..

This is why I like the idea of the highest bid still being a binding bid for 7 days like the standard listings.

I've never listed on the AMA so really makes no difference to me, just in theory.

 

[Chris.C]

OK so I relisted the domain, which has given me an idea for more feedback...



I noticed I was emailed as a result of listing the domain on the AMA given that I had previously looked at the domain listing. Obviously the email was the standard template, which is pretty good, but I thought I'd offer some additional feedback.

The first thing I thought was surely it's important to mention that the domain is in a "no reserve" auction so they know the domain is definitely going to sell.

Also if the domain has a BIN, which it does in this case, surely letting people to know what the BIN is and that they can "buy it now" might incentivise some people to jump on and buy it straight away.

Finally, in the email it said:

To view the domain in auction, please click the following link:

xxxxxxxxxxx.com.au

However the link doesn't work in my email. Is that just me or has something been overlooked within the template design?

 

[Mark]

OK so I relisted the domain, which has given me an idea for more feedback...



I noticed I was emailed as a result of listing the domain on the AMA given that I had previously looked at the domain listing. Obviously the email was the standard template, which is pretty good, but I thought I'd offer some additional feedback.

The first thing I thought was surely it's important to mention that the domain is in a "no reserve" auction so they know the domain is definitely going to sell.

Also if the domain has a BIN, which it does in this case, surely letting people to know what the BIN is and that they can "buy it now" might incentivise some people to jump on and buy it straight away.

Finally, in the email it said:

However the link doesn't work in my email. Is that just me or has something been overlooked within the template design?

Eek - you are quite right the link does not work. Will get fixed immediately.

And the email template is from before BIN prices etc, so will look to get that added too.

 

[Chris.C]

OK I have another suggestion...



Though this one is a little bit more "out there".

So when it comes to the AMA, if you list a domain for sale and it has no reserve, the instant you reviece your first bid you know that domain is definitely going to sell.

So I'm not sure of the in's and outs of the COR process, but at that point could the seller be sent the "click the link to verify that you want to ttransfer this domain" email, so NetFleet can confirm the seller wants to sell, and then the minute the auction closes if the buyer has their details and credit card on file and makes the payment the transfer can be completed instantly just like on Snapper?

Then the same process could be applied whenever a domain reaches reserve on the AMA.

Was just thinking of how to streamline the process so the buyer isn't waiting around for the seller to get around to clicking a link...



Thoughts?

 

[Chris.C]

So when it comes to the AMA, if you list a domain for sale and it has no reserve, the instant you reviece your first bid you know that domain is definitely going to sell.

So I'm not sure of the in's and outs of the COR process, but at that point could the seller be sent the "click the link to verify that you want to ttransfer this domain" email, so NetFleet can confirm the seller wants to sell, and then the minute the auction closes if the buyer has their details and credit card on file and makes the payment the transfer can be completed instantly just like on Snapper?

Then the same process could be applied whenever a domain reaches reserve on the AMA.

Was just thinking of how to streamline the process so the buyer isn't waiting around for the seller to get around to clicking a link...

Just bumping this thought up...

I'd love to know if it is even possible.