I list the majority of my domain names for sale on Afternic.com and Sedo.com. Afternic does A LOT of things right and that is the reason I keep listing domain names with them even though the backend is really bad and several things do not make sense. Secondly, I park the majority of my domain names for sale with SmartName, because you get 5% back on domain sales at Afternic. SmartName have a few things that I like and one of them is the ability to customize several things like a for sale message on the top of the screen, you can adjust how your domain name is displayed on the page and do some SEO things that greatly help.
One downside to SmartName is you can not use a "short code" to display domains using bulk functions. This is really a big downfall if you have used this process in the past. For an example, using Fabulous.com, you can set your link structure by going to Sell/Buy and then clicking Account Settings. Then select Redirect Sales Traffic. You can then input one link location to send your "for sale banner" clicks with a short code. I use to send them to Sedo before I put a focus on Afternic and would use the link structure:
http://sedo.com/search/details.php4?domain=%domain%&tracked=&partnerid=&language=us
You will notice %domain% in the link structure. That is the short code that Fabulous uses and allows you to input. Using that short code allows the Fabulous system to match the domain name to the "domain" the person visits based on the input list of domains you have with the service. At SmartName, that short code would save me a TON of time, because that short code could go in a lot of locations, but they do not offer it.
Update: Dan from JustDropped.com contacted me and informed me of a short code for SmartName. It is ${domain}
Sadly I asked my SmartName rep countless times if there was a short code to use but she told me no. So this should save some time now having and knowing of the short code for SmartName.
OK, back to the title and the main reason I am writing this.
If your domain name is Pending Review in your Afternic account, this is a pretty big deal. Why? Because the domain name is NOT displayed on the Afternic site if it’s Pending Review. If somebody were to click on your for sale link and you are redirecting them to your Afternic page, it won’t show up! If somebody does a search on Afternic for your domain, it will not show up!
Why does Pending Review happen? The main reason is they check domains for adult nature and trademarks. Once they do that check, it normally is released to "for sale" or however you intended but for some reason, some domain names get stuck in the Pending Review status. I thought that wasn’t that big of a deal before, but it is.
Over the weekend, I have 175 domain names that were approved and working fine in my account before, but those domains changed to Pending Review over the weekend?
As I said, the problem here is, I have a lot of my eggs in one basket so to say! All my parked domains display a for sale link and that link sends them to the for sale page for the specific domain on Afternic. If the domain is "Pending Review", they will end up seeing a page like this!
"This listing is in pending status. We apologize for the inconvenience." Is what the text states on the page and not a Price and Buy It Now option like it normally would.
If a buyer were to see that, it greatly reduces your chances of selling your domain, because they have no way of being able to purchase it or make an offer!
Since it isn’t 1 or 2 domains for me, this problem may effect me more than others but I highly suggest that if you list domain names on Afternic and have any that are Pending Review, you get in contact with Afternic and get the problem resolved because other wise those domain names are not being displayed!
I have sent an email to my rep to see what is up and why 175 of my domains went to Pending Review when they were already approved before. It won’t hurt to view your domains to make sure everything is approved and in working order. The easiest way to see Pending Review domains in your Afternic account is by logging in at Afternic and under the MyAfternic tab (Dashboard), scroll down and on the left hand side you will see a link My Pending Domains. You can also use the link structure: https://my.afternic.com/members/searchDomains.php?keywordSearch=&listingStatus=6 if you are logged in.
BullS
Regardless where you put your domains, the name of the game is Sales—
Can they close the DEALS?
IF someone wants your domains so badly, they will send a smoke signal to you.
Trent
I did this, never heard back from them 2000 .com’s aged from 95 listed there, no communication, the gravy is the buydomains business, they don’t have the human intelligence to sift through all these additions, so they have given up.
Louise
Please post an update what happens with your “pending review” domains at Afternic.
Jamie Zoch
@Louise,
I will do that. Currently, I emailed my rep AND called Afternic and so far of the 175 that are waiting approval (that were already approved long ago) 158 are still Pending. Why only 17 were approved, I’m not sure. I have talked to others and they have the same problem, so I would advise to contact your reps and make them aware of the pending review domains in your account. The biggest problem is the domains are not showing on Afternic, BuyDomains etc for customers to see, find and buy!
Alexander
I encountered the same problem with ‘pending review’. Sometimes it’s necessary for them to make sure there’s no problem with the domains you list. However, if it’s taking too long and you’re paying attention, you’d be losing sales.
Many buyers look for domains in the 3-4 figure price range, with a ‘buy now’ price or a minimum price to make an offer. They find what’s available and make their decisions. So,
if you’re active with Afternic listings, it’s best to check your ‘pending review’ every week.
Alexander
Mr. Autopilot
wow
So they essentially just shut off all your sales listings for no reason and haven’t responded. I don’t get why they push afternic and then don’t support it.
Jamie Zoch
@wow,
Pretty much. I did call and she said she will take care of it but as of this morning, the number of Pending Review domains in my account jumped back UP to 174. It was 175, then 17 approved to take it down to 158 and now this morning the number is back up to 174. Grrrr
Kevin
I continually have this problem with Afternic, and it is always a pain in the ass. I always have to open a ticket to have the problem resolved sometime for 5 names, sometimes for hundreds – all of which may have been listed on Afternic and approved previously.
Jamie Zoch
@Louise,
Afternic has fixed the problem (later on the 23rd actually) but they were unaware of what caused the issue. It may have been a Moniker issue or DLS Premium type issue from my understanding.
Lowel
WOW!!! What a pain in the ass Afternic is. And I like how they don’t disclose what all their fees are upfront! My advice to anyone who wants to use afternic…..DO NOT USE AFTERNIC!!! Hell your better off using ebay….at least you know what the fee’s are upfront!! And I sell more of my domains there than I do on Afternic! With Afternic my domain names never get sold…they just sit there! Out of 500 domain names..none were ever sold on afternic. But by god I listed them on ebay and sold 417 of my domain names.