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Godaddy Auctions

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About Godaddy Auctions

With over 77 million domain registrations in their name, Godaddy has launched a couple of memorable campaigns over the past few years. Is their domain auction worth your time and money investments?

Godaddy trades domains through three primary channels:

  • The registrar: Here webmasters get a limitless array of domain registration options.
  • The backorder service: Here drop-catchers can snap up profitable expired domain names.
  • The GoDaddy auctions: This is where webmasters buy and sell pre-owned domain names.

GoDaddy sometimes chooses to auction off the more valuable domain names before their expiry. The expiring domains remain on auction for at least ten days. Potential buyers can grab the domain names before they go back on the market for normal registration.

Most domain name owners prefer putting them up as offer/ counter-offer listings. The listings have a default period of 90 days/ three months. In this period, domain owners hope that a buyer will bid on their domains before time runs out. Customers have the option to accept an offer, reject it or counter the offer. Savvy sellers add a “Buy it Now” banner with a competitive offer to tempt impatient customers.

Another auction format on Godaddy is the seven-day auction. It is popular for its considerably shorter turnaround. Provided you have an offer from an interested party, you can easily turn any 90-day listing into a seven-day auction.  The customer’s offer will act as the auction’s opening bid. The bid starts off at a minimum of $20. To discourage any eBay-style last-minute sniping, any last-minute bids extend the timer. However, like eBay, the seller can set a reserve price to avoid letting their domains go at a harshly discounted rate.

If a domain fails to get a bid for the entirety of the seven-day auction, the product automatically moves into the closeout stage. In the closeout stage, the domain gets listed for a “Buy Now” price of $11 and falls by a dollar every day until a buyer grabs it. If there are no buyers even after the closeout period, the domain is moved into the “bargain bin”, which is a rather degrading closeout stage for most domain sellers.

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The Perks of a GoDaddy Auction

  1. GoDaddy auctions are a great way to check if a domain name is available. That way, your business gets to choose an ideal and available domain. Moreover, Godaddy also has a brokerage service that helps buyers track down and negotiate the purchase of occupied domains.
  2. GoDaddy’s superior status in the domain registration arena means that its auction stacks a large variety of domains to choose from. Unless you are running a high-traffic keyword, there is a good chance to snag a good deal or two.
  3. GoDaddy auctions are a great tool for savvy resellers. Since the auctions offer a large variety of great domain names to choose from every day, a skilled reseller could use the opportunity to resell cheap domains and generate significant profits from the endeavor.

The Downside of GoDaddy Auctions

  • Yearly registration fee required: We know all too well that nothing in life is free. It is no different in GoDaddy domain auctions. Anyone who wishes to bid on domains or sell them must first pay for GoDaddy membership. The fee is, however, modest and does not apply to closeout auctions, which are available for free to the general public.
  • Closeout auctions are almost always not worth your time and investment: Though there might be a few profitable domains available in the closeout auctions, the vast majority of domains available here are not worth investing in. Instead, it would be advisable to pursue normal auctions or the registrar if you plan to make a profit reselling domains.
  • You are still required to register the domain: After finding the ideal domain for your business, you will still need to register it. That will set you back at least $10 per year.
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About Godaddy

Founded in 1997, Godaddy is a world-renowned domain registrar. The company has more customers than any of its customers, with more than 16 million registered users around the globe. Godaddy also provides hosting solutions to startups, web designers and individuals. The firm has offices in some of the most tech-savvy cities in the world, including Silicon Valley, Phoenix, Cambridge, Hyderabad, Belfast, and Seattle.

You have likely heard of Godaddy in their NASCAR or Super Bowl commercials. The firm seems to be focused on three businesses:

  • Domain name registration and domain name renewals: Domains have the largest share of the company’s income. The sector makes up approximately 55.5% of Godaddy’s total revenue. In the first nine months of 2014, Godaddy made approximately $564 million from the domains section. The revenue can, however, vary from time to time with the different offers and promotions that are frequently offered by Godaddy.
  • Hosting and presence: The revenue accrued from hosting and presence can vary significantly. Godaddy often offers deals and promotions, therefore, charging different prices for their hosting plans. This section brought in approximately $330 million in the first nine months of 2014. It is the second biggest revenue earner for Godaddy. Revenue was driven from hosting and presence includes website building tools, SEO, SiteLock website security, SSL certificates, private IPs, etc.
  • Business Applications: The Business Applications section of Godaddy is the newest. The portion brought in approximately $81.6 million in revenue in the first nine months of 2014. The section includes products like email accounts, online data storage, online bookkeeping, online payment systems, and email marketing. Some of the products that integrate into business applications include;
  • Microsoft 365 at $4.99/month per user.
  • Email marketing service that starts at $9.99/month with up to 1,000 email subscribers, which is similar to GetResponse and MailChimp.
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Godaddy Hosting Plans

Now that we know the company’s financial numbers and background, let’s take an in-depth look at their hosting plans. Godaddy offers four hosting plans to its customers, whether for businesses or individuals. All the plans also include a 24/7 monitoring and DDoS protection service, a free domain with a year subscription, and a user-friendly control panel. The Godaddy hosting plans are:

  • Economy plan: Each website hosted in the Economy Plan is offered 100GB storage, unlimited bandwidth, and 100 email addresses for $2.99 per month.
  • Deluxe Plan: A Deluxe subscription offers unlimited websites hosting, bandwidth and storage per month for $4.99. The customer has up to 500 email addresses on the Deluxe Plan.
  • Ultimate Plan: For unlimited websites, the Ultimate plan allows access to unlimited bandwidth and storage for $5.99 per month. On the plan, the client gets a maximum of 1,000 email addresses.
  • Maximum: GoDaddy promises support for multiple complex websites with high-resolution videos and photos and a free SSL certificate for the full term. The Maximum Plan also gives you access to unlimited bandwidth and storage. The plan currently goes for at least $12.99 per month.