Dark Blue .... not my favourite colour

[shags38]

The penny has dropped ..... Drop is owned by Dark Blue which also owns Domain Active Pty Ltd which got a dropped name "caught" for them on Drop without them making a bid (no bids against the name at all on Drop) whilst that name was bid for on NetFleet ..... and yes by me ..... I bid on 3 names on Netfleet, all only seconds before the close (after "extended" time on Drop) .... I was highest bidder on all 3 .... two are registered to me but the other that had NO BIDS against it on Drop is now registered to Domainactive Pty Ltd .... and there was no proxy bid .... zero, zilch. I had both screens open - I have more than one computer and yes I was refreshing VERY REGULARLY.

Registration of the name for Domainactive was more than ten (10) minutes AFTER the registration of the other 2 names by NetFleet ..... seems somewhat odd to me.

It also seems odd that five (5) other names at the same auction that also did not have bids against them were "caught" for and registered to Domain Active by Drop

Is it that the names listed on Drop are available to the rest of us if one of the Dark Blue group don't want any of them, or putting it in better English, is it that if a Dark Blue associate entity has an interest in a particular name or names being dropped that in essence, regardless of whether that entity bids or not that Drop will secure ("catch") that name (those names) for that entity.

I wonder if Drop.com.au is prepared to disclose the names it "catches" for its parent and/or associated companies / businesses?

I happen not to be a member of Drop .... I joined NetFleet some months back and was not aware of Drop till a few weeks ago and see no sense in paying fees for two sites that have the same content available for dropped domains (or do they in fact have the same content for each auction?).

Now that I am aware of the association between Drop and its associated companies I must admit I am happy to be a NetFleet client.

How about some feeback on this ...... it is understood that the entities are disclosed on the Privacy Statement on the Drop site ..... you know, that document we all religiously read on every site we become a member of (paid or otherwise) or routinely revisit ..... but should Drop.com.au make their association with other registrars, domain sales, domain ownership and domain etc, etc, etc companies by way of something out in the open, on the home page so that all newcomers get the whole story? Why would Drop not be proud to boast of their relationship and promote their partners instead of having a couple of references to Fabulous on the links page ..... you know, the page that you find by going to the home page footer and search for a link that says links in fine print (tiny font).

Ok, that is it for me for now, I need to get some room freshener spray, something smells around here.

cheers,
Mike

p.s. is it only me who detects an odour (or is it standard practice and I am just naive)

 

[Oz.]

Edit: What Timmy and George said (explained it better)

 

[Timmy]

FFS - enough with the conspiracy theories. If you want the fucking things then bid, simple as that.

Oh and Shags, you'll have to be the highest bidder too.

 

[djuqa]

FFS - enough with the conspiracy theories. If you want the fucking things then bid, simple as that.

Oh and Shags, you'll have to be the highest bidder too.

Could not have said it better myself
Shags if you can DO better than create your own drop/auction/WTFsite
if not then work with the system

Despite misconceptions by some domainers, catching a dropped name is not a "God given RIGHT"
Sites like drop.com.au catch 1000's yearly and would never risk their income,reputation and clients by trying to rip off clients.

1 of the many advantages of the aussie domain marketplace is the lack of hidden corporate and ownership information.
Realising Dark blue once controlled drop.com.au is not exactly rocket science. You could always buy some shares.

 

[montecristo]

Shags if you can DO better than create your own drop/auction/WTFsite

3Ddrop is available.

 

[djuqa]

3Ddrop is available.

Perfect name for shags new drop auction site
Offering a free "dummy Spit" if name not caught.

 

[Drop.com.au]

To correct some of the opening comments made on this post.
1) Domain Active Pty Ltd is no longer owned by Dark Blue Sea Ltd. Not since the on market acquisition of DBS by the Photon Group.

2) Drop has an arrangement with Domain Active to place a catch on any requested domain providing that it did not receive any bids at auction. This is a legacy arrangement that carried over from before the Photon Group acquisition.

It works like this... a flag is placed on domains in the Drop list, but the flag is overridden when the domain receives the minimum $1 bid from any Drop customer. This means that we never disadvantage our customers by restricting them to domains.

I am aware that it affects both Domain Watch and Netfleet customers, but this is not our business concern. Our commitment is to our customers, and not to the customers of our competitors.

3) "Spoiler Alert": Currently we are trialing some tasting software on the Drop list. More information about this service will be released soon along with some taste stats. It will mean that the daily number of caught expired domains will increase. If the initiative works and it is viable, then we will make the opportunity available to all our customers. Important to note: there is no current policy position against tasting com.au domains.

I wonder if Drop.com.au is prepared to disclose the names it "catches" for its parent and/or associated companies / businesses?

4) Mike, aside from the fact that as you disclosed you are not a customer, and therefor we are not obligated to disclose anything to you about our Drop auctions. This information is actually publicly available. A simple whois will disclose anything about the daily drop catches. If you are interested about this data then why not check the list daily and start up a spreadsheet? We though, will not display this information, nor will we display similar information about any of our customers.

In Summary:
* The Drop platform is open and transparent to all our members. Arguably, it has allowed our industry to grow with confidence because of the trust it has created in the market place.

* We readily answer questions when asked. Andrew, myself, and the Drop support team in general, have often gone out of our way to help our clients navigate .au policy. Often beyond the call of client/business relationship.

* We treat all our customers equally, and NEVER for example offer auction discounts to just some exclusive clients. In an auction you should be confident that your under bidder doesn't enjoy a 10% or 15% advantage over you.

In conclusion:

Mike (shags38), because we have no relationship with you nor a history of business I am not sure why you have chosen this public forum to voice your concerns. Nor why you have elected to post your questions in a negative and defamatory tone.

It would have been simple to just ask, hey does anyone know why 'XYZ'...?

I am confident that the overwhelming majority of our customers will vouch for the integrity and openness we have actually brought to this industry. Actually, the comments and questions you raised are commonly known to almost everyone, and those that aren't aware probably don't care to know.

Mike, if you do want to be sure to catch a domain you want then I recommend placing bids across all three drop catchers, i.e. Drop, Snapper, and Domain Watch. Even though over the past 7 days, we have recorded a 99% catch success average, it still doesn't give us a 100% spread. We are still working on that!

PS: You are welcome to join our Drop platform any time, and we invite you to enjoy the priority and friendly service we equally deliver to all our customers.

Best Regards,
George Pongas
Catch you at the Drop!

 

[Drop.com.au]

I forget to mention Mike, if you contact us directly I will be happy to extend a Promo Code to you that will considerably discount our Drop Membership.

After all, being a DN Trade member has its privileges

Best Regards,
George Pongas

 

[domainlover]

If you want a domain badly enough you should bid on as many platforms as you can.

 

[djuqa]

a Promo Code to you that will considerably discount our Drop Membership.

After all, being a DN Trade member has its privileges

do ALL dnTrade members get the promo code?

 

[Drop.com.au]

Hello djuqa,

There is nothing officially in place, but I did run a limited promo at Domain8 before the business was acquired by Dark Blue Sea.

Actually, if you add a follow to us on Twitter you will get an automated. 'thanks for the follow' response that includes a Promo-code. http://twitter.com/dropcomau

Best Regards,
George Pongas

 

[shags38]

FFS - enough with the conspiracy theories. If you want the fucking things then bid, simple as that.

Oh and Shags, you'll have to be the highest bidder too.

very eloquently put Timmy and that is not just my opinion it seems

Thanks George for your considered response and explanation - to the other respondants, typically expected responses as usual - no thought just knee jerk reactions with a we know better overtone. Of course everyone knew of the "legacy" right? yeah, right (Timmy certainly did) - why do people in here not be open, frank and truthful and participate in conversation rather than be critical of criticism, defensive and insular to a point of expressing a blinkered old school tie club approach ....... maybe I was not 100% right BUT I WAS RIGHT in what I said in principal ........ try denying that Timmy - there are "arrangements" or at least an arrangement in place that cost me the registration of a domain I WON A BID ON (read that again Timmy - I was the highest bidder). Did I really want the domain that badly ........ nope, not at all, it would have been nice to have it (that is why I bid for it) but not having it will not upset any plans to rule the world. The fact that Domain Active is not now owned by Dark Blue / Photon changes nothing, it is a technicality, the system remains unchanged.

Thanks for your offer George, much appreciated, however I cannot see the financial justification of paying 3 lots of fees for 3 organizations offering exactly the same items for sale - not sure what your discounted price would be and it is inconsequential but I figure the cost for 3 annual fees to be between $500 and $600, albeit according to some I should pay the 3 sets of fees if I was serious, so that I can cover all contingencies whatever they may be.

Again I have stirred up the pot - in doing so I have learned something and I dare say so have others except I doubt anyone else will have the fortitude to say so.

Could not have said it better myself
Shags if you can DO better than create your own drop/auction/WTFsite
if not then work with the system

Despite misconceptions by some domainers, catching a dropped name is not a "God given RIGHT"
Sites like drop.com.au catch 1000's yearly and would never risk their income,reputation and clients by trying to rip off clients.

1 of the many advantages of the aussie domain marketplace is the lack of hidden corporate and ownership information.
Realising Dark blue once controlled drop.com.au is not exactly rocket science. You could always buy some shares.

so you were fully aware of the continuing arrangement with Domain Active despite the change of ownership were you? ..... ooops, silly question, of course you were - it was widely announced, I just happened to miss the press release. Are you a shareholder? Sorry, excuse me, none of my business.

As for your other comments ........... enough said .......... except for this, I will work with any system as long as I have a copy of the rule book.

Perfect name for shags new drop auction site
Offering a free "dummy Spit" if name not caught.

LOL - djuqa you are a funny person however I would suggest you do not give up your day job

It s not about catching a name - it is about whether all fielders are wearing the same size mits

If you want a domain badly enough you should bid on as many platforms as you can.

excellent logic, it almost has a philosophical ring to it ....... if you are not claiming copyright may I use it royalty free?

I forget to mention Mike, if you contact us directly I will be happy to extend a Promo Code to you that will considerably discount our Drop Membership.

After all, being a DN Trade member has its privileges

Best Regards,
George Pongas

George - again many thanks for your considered response(s) - I will make contact with you outside of this forum.

cheers,
Mike

 

[soj]

Shags, you are pretty quick to fire at Drop, did you not know about the huge drama NetFleet had last year?

http://www.dntrade.com.au/gonna-big-one-domain8-monday-t792.html
http://www.dntrade.com.au/netalliance-townsville-com-au-matter-t801.html

 

[Drop.com.au]

A couple of further points worth noting.

1) I believe NetFleet employs a similar practice to domains on their auction that do not receive bids, i.e. they reserve the right to catch these domains for Publishing Australia Pty. Ltd. From memory, and similarly to ourselves on this topic, they too have publicly declared their position on this forum in the past.

2) Our membership is not an annual fee. It is a once off fee.

3) We actually don't reveal a bid until more than one member has registered a bid for the domain lot. For bidders in auctions it has always been a concern that an early bid may “flag” a domain as being of value and highlight that domain to a competitor.

Our auction platform hides all bids until there are two or more bidders.
http://www.drop.com.au/my_account/knowledgebase.php?action=displayarticle&id=9

This may also be a reason why you are seeing domains caught at Drop that to an outside observer appear to be uncontested.

Regards,
George Pongas

 

[Bacon Farmer]

there are "arrangements" or at least an arrangement in place that cost me the registration of a domain I WON A BID ON (read that again Timmy - I was the highest bidder).

according to some I should pay the 3 sets of fees if I was serious, so that I can cover all contingencies whatever they may be.

Let me explain it to you. The three drop catching companies all compete to be the first to register the dropped domain. Whichever company wins that race, sells it to the winner of the auction that they conducted. Note all three companies conduct separate auctions. If Drop picks up the domain, the winner of the auctions at the other two companies get nothing (and pay nothing). So in your case whilst you won the auction at Netfleet, Drop was the winner of the chase for the dropped domain. And as no one else had bid on that domain at Drop, it went to Domain Active as per their agreement.

You have suggested Drop has some questionable practices. Please amend your initial post or apologise for your incorrect inference.

 

[Smile]

to the other respondants, typically expected responses as usual - no thought just knee jerk reactions with a we know better overtone. Of course everyone knew of the "legacy" right? yeah, right (Timmy certainly did) - why do people in here not be open, frank and truthful and participate in conversation rather than be critical of criticism, defensive and insular to a point of expressing a blinkered old school tie club approach .

A bit of free advice for you Mike....

This "Knee Jerk" reaction you speak of....I think you receive it because of your attitude and the way you put forward an argument. As you have admitted before, you do it to stir the pot. Obviously people aren't going to respond nicely when you "stir the pot." Then you get on your moral high horse and winge about it? So pick one mate and stick to it.

If you just approach the forum like a normal person, I'm sure there are a lot of people that will be willing to help you. After all, thats what this forum is here for. To educate each other.