Afternic Review: Everything You Need To Know About The Domain Name Marketplace
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Follow along as I walk you through my Afternic review. You’ll learn everything you need to know about the domain name marketplace, and by the time you finish reading, you’ll know for sure if it’s worth using to list your domains.
We’ll discuss the company, fees, support, features, and much more.
Let’s get started.
Contents
What Is The Afternic Marketplace?
The Afternic marketplace is a GoDaddy-owned company that sells premium domain names. It's considered the world's premiere domain marketplace. It’s a domain platform that receives 75 million domain searches each month and offers an all-in-one premium domain marketplace for domain buyer and sellers.
Launched in 1999, the company offers a free-to-join service equipped with the latest technology and convenient features.
The Afternic domain marketplace has the most extensive inventory of premium domain names and has partnered up with most of the top domain name registrars in the world.
Anyone who has purchased or sold a premium domain name will have heard of and likely used Afternic.
Is Afternic Legit?
Afternic is a legit and verified company, as you can see on their Trustpilot review page. Owned by GoDaddy, the world's premiere domain marketplace and BBB accredited company has been helping clients to buy and sell domains for well over 20 years.
Is Afternic Free?
You have the option to join free of charge; all you need is an active email address and your details.
When you visit the website, select the green ‘create account option,’ fill in your details, read and accept the terms, and you’re good to go.
How Much Does Afternic Cost? (Afternic Fees)
As a domain seller, there are fees to pay with Afternic, but only after you make a sale. For example, you can list a domain in the Afternic marketplace for free, and when you make a sale, you get charged the following amounts.
- Domain names sold between $0-$5000 will be charged a 20% commission, with a minimum of $15 set.
- For domain sales over $5k up to $25k, the charge is $1000, plus 15%.
- Finally, to sell domains over $25k, you are charged $4000, plus 10%.
Other fees for domain sales include extra enhanced services (optional), such as a private agent or added exposure in the premium domain marketplace.
Side note: While researching this Afternic review, I kept coming across members who complained about delayed payments from their domain sales. When you make a sale, you may not get your money immediately, with some reporting between 15-30 days waiting time.
What Payment Methods Can You Use?
The company recommends that you use PayPal or wire transfer. However, PayPal will only be allowed up to $2500.
You can also use credit cards up to a capped rate of $2500 — all payment options have no additional fees involved.
Afternic Support
Support is an integral part of any online service, especially when you’re buying and selling. Afternic offers the following support options for all users:
- Email support: You contact the company via email either through the contact page or directly by using their support email — ([email protected], or [email protected])
- Sales phone support: You can contact the domain sales department via phone using the phone numbers — 866-829-9361, or for international calls: +1 339-222-5145
- Client phone support: For support related to transactions, domain names, fees, etc., contact client support on the following numbers — 866-351-9586, or +1 781-839-7990 for international calls.
You will find mixed reviews for the quality of the customer service, with some providing positive feedback and others providing negative feedback.
However, I did send a general inquiry email, and the response was within 12 hours from the support team, polite and helpful.
You should log in before filling out an email support request for faster responses.
Afternic Features
The premium domain name marketplace has many features for members to use. These features help with selling, monetization, enhanced support, and other benefits.
Let’s take a look at them.
Domain Parking and Monetization
Domain parking is a way to earn money by displaying ads on your parked domains.
It doesn’t matter if you’re selling or keeping hold of them for later use; you can show your parked domains on the Afternic landing pages and receive a commission.
It’s a simple process to get started; all you need is an account, a domain name, and then change your DNS (domain name servers) to point to Afternic.
You get paid on the 15th of every month.
Sales Acceleration (Sell Faster)
Sales Acceleration is a series of tips and advice for a domain seller to use for increased exposure to speed up the sale and viewings of their domain listings. From adding a price to displaying a for-sale banner, several tips help you with the sale and monetization.
Fast Transfer Domains
Fast transfer domains help you get your domain listings in front of more potential domain buyer interests. You need to have a domain registered through one of the following registrars:
- Network Solutions
- Dynadot
- GoDaddy
- Internet.bs
- Rebel.com
- Epik
- NamePal
- eNom
- GPG
- Register.com
- Name.com
- Euro DNS
- 123 Reg
- Domain Monster
- Heart Internet
Listing a domain through the above sites will enable you to Fast Transfer your domain, resulting in more exposure and potentially faster sales.
Afternic Agent
You can pay for an Afternic agent to help you purchase a domain name. You pay an initial fee of $69, enabling the agent to contact the domain owner on your behalf to offer a price for their domain name.
Their job is to negotiate for you to get the best possible price and send the appraisal on your behalf.
Whether you use the agent or not is your choice, but personally, unless I was highly preoccupied, I wouldn’t be using (and paying) someone to make a bid for me on domain listings. However, I suppose it will be a handy feature for some who want to add to their domain portfolio.
Afternic FAQ’s
Below is a list of Afternic FAQs — I came across these questions during the Afternic review process, and they should answer any questions you have.
How Do You Make An Offer For A Domain On Afternic?
Once you’re a member and signed in, you can place your offer on the landing page or the profile page of the domain name owner.
Then, you enter a bid to match the minimum price or offer more if required.
Can You Make Multiple Offers?
Yes, you make as many offers as you like as long as they’re for separate domains.
However, you can only make one offer per domain name, and you can’t change this offer until the original offer has expired.
What About Selling Your Domains — How Do You Accept The Offer?
Accepting an offer from a member for your domain listing is a simple process. The first thing you need to do is make sure that you’re happy with the price the domain buyer has offered, and if you are, you select the accept button.
Select the reject button, and press submit if you don’t want to accept the offer.
Can You Offer More Than A Previous Offer For A Domain Name?
Yes, if you're looking to buy domains and someone has already bid on listed domains you’re interested in, you can select the ‘counter offer’ button to add an increased price more significant than the current offer.
Is Afternic Secure?
Afternic has SSL (secure socket layer) security and also provides two-tier authentication for the members to use. All members have to activate their accounts, and the company uses various payment methods that are typically safe and secure.
If you have any questions about security and payment methods, contact support, and they will be able to help you.
Afternic Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Get your domain name promoted in front of millions of people with the Fast Transfer feature.
- Monetizing your parked domains
- Free to join and list domains
- Well-known company
Cons:
- Holding of payments
- Pretty high fees
- No adult sites allowed
Final Thoughts On The Afternic Review
If you’re interested in flipping domains, or adding to your domain portfolio, Afternic is a service that comes with decent features to help you make the sale page and a system to make money with your parked domains.
You’ll be using a company that’s been around for many years and has experienced staff (and agents) to help you out with your domain portfolio.
However, they do charge a 20% commission fee to sell domains, and you may find that you have to wait for your money.
My advice is to do some research and look for other domain marketplace websites to sell your domain name — that way, you can compare prices, features, reviews, and fees.
After that, if you like the look of Afternic, go for it!
Good luck when you buy domains or sell domain names!
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