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Ask HN: Is this a scummy domain selling practice by GoDaddy? (double-dipping)

14 points by hagibborim ↗ HN
I'm interested in a domain and the WHOIS record indicates that GoDaddy is the current owner of it. I navigate to their site, search for the domain, and the result indicates that I need to pay for their 'Domain Broker Service' $120 upfront in order to even begin negotiating the purchase, and another 20% commission upon purchase. I cannot even see the price without paying this broker's fee. This strikes me as greedy double-dipping since they're on record as owning the domain.

Am I right to be peeved by this? Do I have any recourse?

5 comments

[ 5.1 ms ] story [ 28.4 ms ] thread
dutchbrit
You can lookup their whois on the GoDaddy site, at the bottom there is a form to contact the owner. Just select the research/other option. The owner will receive an email that you’re trying to contact them about their domain and it will tell them what your email is. Question is, will they email you back. But that’s the only free way I believe. I don’t really see a reason to use the brokerage service. You can’t include a message unfortunately telling them exactly why you’re reaching out to them.
pdevr
1. If the domain has WhoIs privacy and it is registered with GoDaddy, the WHOIS will show GoDaddy's contacts.

2. The domain, if listed on certain domain marketplaces, will show it as sale when you search through the affiliated domain registrars.

Disclaimer: GoDaddy is not my first choice, nor second. However, these are a couple of possibilities.

uvnq
What are your first and second choices?
pdevr
In alphabetical order: Dynadot, Name.com, Namecheap (I know that's one more than what you asked for)

Can't edit original post, so: Clarification: "show it as for sale": You will be shown the domain and the price required to register it. The price usually will be much higher than normal registration prices.