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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Posts
    81

    WHAT? Enom Cherry Picks Domains during RDP period and puts them to auction?

    I have a client with a domain name called avenuepartners.com and the client for whatever reason did not pay the renewal so the domain name expired.

    The domain name expired on 9th July 2014 and its 22nd of August today.

    The client has asked me about the domain name to see if they can recover it and I mentioned to them that it will be in RDP period and there is a $250 fee + the domain renewal.

    The client is fine with that and I went into my enom reseller panel but the domain is no longer there.

    When I check the whois I can see that the domain name is now registered to RARENAMES, INC and points to BUYDOMAINS.COM. and now seems to be selling for $$$$$. The details of the whois seems to have changed on 18th of August 2014.

    I have asked ENOM help desk about this asking them "Is this domain name not inside the 30 day RDP period and if so, why can I not recover the domain name?

    Their reply was....

    Code:
    Hello,
    
    Thank you for contacting eNom technical support.
    
    You are right that the Redemption period normally lasts 30 days. However, it can actually last anywhere between 0-30 days. 
    
    In this case, "AVENUEPARTNERS.COM" domain remained in the RGP period for 4 days before we paid the renewal fee ourselves. The domain will likely now be sold in auction.
    So what is the point of having RDP period when the registrar can just take the domain name and sell it on for thousands of dollars?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    4,332
    Wow this sounds pretty shady. Can anyone confirm if this is their standard practice?
    [ James Lee - Cloud & Web Hosting Specialist 10+ Years WHT Veteran]

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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    72
    That's alarming.

    I wonder if ICANN allows domain registrars to do this. If so, it dramatically changes everyone's notion of the "redemption period"

    Can anyone confirm

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Posts
    81

    Enom is stealing domains from resellers??

    I just wrote to BUYDOMAINS.COM about the domain and they responded with the below.

    Code:
    Thank you for your interest in the domain name, avenuepartners.com.
    
    avenuepartners.com is currently valued: $5,288


    Whilst I appreciate that the domain name did expire, it was my understanding that the initial grace period of 28 days allows the user to recover the domain without any extra fees and if after 28 day grace period the owner has the right to buy the domain name back but has to pay enom a small premium of $250 BUT can do this up to 60 days after the domain has expired, hence giving the original owner a certain level of protection.

    Enom is not doing this but rather taking the juicy looking domains and selling them on at a massive profit.

    Also, if you check the whois, the domain is not even dropped so makes the sale of the domain even more attractive!!!

    So, if they are doing this, what is the point of RGP period?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    4,667
    The old "rules" no longer apply and, apparently with ICANN's approval, are being interpreted to give both the registrant and the registrar access to the domain during the Reactivation Period (up to 30 days past expiry) and the Redemption Grace Period. Once a domain expires the registrar may, but doesn't have to, give you a grace period to renew.

    http://www.enom.com/terms/agreement.aspx
    "Reactivation Period Process. For a period of approximately thirty (30) days after expiration of the term of domain name registration services, we may provide a procedure by which expired domain name registration services may be renewed. We may, but are not obligated to, offer this process, called the "reactivation period." You assume all risks and all consequences if you wait until close to or after the expiration of the original term of domain name registration services to attempt to renew the domain name registration services. We may, in our sole discretion, choose not to offer a reactivation period and we shall not be liable therefore. The reactivation period renewal process"

    Others including Name.com have similar TOS. I let a domain at Name.com expire on July 24 2013 and somebody else registered it. They let it expire on July 24 2014 and on Aug 5th (with 30 days of expiry) I was able to buy it from Name.com's Expiring Domains Marketplace for $11.99.

  6. #6
    Domain Name: AVENUEPARTNERS.COM
    Registrar: ENOM, INC.
    Whois Server: whois.enom.com
    Referral URL: http://www.enom.com
    Name Server: NS.BUYDOMAINS.COM
    Name Server: THIS-DOMAIN-FOR-SALE.COM
    Status: clientTransferProhibited
    Updated Date: 18-aug-2014
    Creation Date: 09-jul-2004
    Expiration Date: 09-jul-2015
    If ICANN allow this, now every registrar can how a buy now auction page on every domain that is past 30 days of expiry. Keep every domain that get bids and sell for higher profit.

    Since the original creation date is still there, can't the owner do something legal.. It is like stealing domain.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    517
    I experienced this with Namecheap, where I somehow let my personal domain of 10+ years expire. I waited and waited and finally learned that Namecheap had auctioned it off. I had to buy it back from the new owner for $530, which was a small fortune for me. I was lucky that the new owner didn't quote in the thousands.

    Namecheap's explanations never convinced me, so it's not just Enom that's the shady registrar. I bet plenty of others are into this game too.
    Last edited by ramdak5000; 08-23-2014 at 01:08 AM. Reason: typo

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    4,332
    Quote Originally Posted by ramdak5000 View Post
    I experienced this with Namecheap, where I somehow let my personal domain of 10+ years expire. I waited and waited and finally learned that Namecheap had auctioned it off. I had to buy it back from the new owner for $530, which was a small fortune for me. I was lucky that the new owner didn't quote in the thousands.

    Namecheap's explanations never convinced me, so it's not just Enom that's the shady registrar. I bet plenty of others are into this game too.
    Wow if NameCheap is doing this as well, it's time we should consider moving some of our domains away.
    [ James Lee - Cloud & Web Hosting Specialist 10+ Years WHT Veteran]

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  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    517
    Quote Originally Posted by JLHC View Post
    Wow if NameCheap is doing this as well, it's time we should consider moving some of our domains away.
    They made it sound as if they were helpless in the matter and that, somehow, the domain automatically went into auction. I wasn't convinced. I waited for 80+ days, which if I am not mistaken, is well past the redemption period.

    Of course, it was clearly my mistake having let it expire in the first place.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    4,332
    Quote Originally Posted by ramdak5000 View Post
    They made it sound as if they were helpless in the matter and that, somehow, the domain automatically went into auction. I wasn't convinced. I waited for 80+ days, which if I am not mistaken, is well past the redemption period.

    Of course, it was clearly my mistake having let it expire in the first place.
    I just remembered that NameCheap used to be a reseller of Enom so some of their client domains are still under their Enom reseller account till today (including ours).

    Looks like it is really time for us to move our domain away unless NameCheap is willing to stand up to Enom on behalf of their clients.
    [ James Lee - Cloud & Web Hosting Specialist 10+ Years WHT Veteran]

    [ Magento Performance Consultation by Magento Master ]

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Posts
    81

    Are Enom Domain Thieves?

    I would really be interested if they are actually allowed to do this.

    All enom did was slap me around the face with their own terms and conditions stating to me they can do this but of course this is their own rule, so not sure if they are actually allowed to do this by ICANN.

    I am a platinum reseller with enom with a few thousand domains and they were really quite rude with me so really not impressed how this was handled so cant imagine how they treat the little guys.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    517
    I am attaching the reply from Namecheap stating they don't know why the domain wasn't released. Please note that the auction was handled by NameJet, which is a sister company of Namecheap. That's why Namecheap's reply didn't come across as convincing to me.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails namecheap_auction_reply.jpg  

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    London, UK
    Posts
    1,765
    Whilst I don't condone this behaviour and it's not something we would *ever* do, this behaviour comes from people wanting to pay the absolute bottom dollar for their domain names. Domain registration companies have to make their profit somehow - it either comes at the front end (higher registration/renewal prices) or the back end (higher redemption fees, cherrypicking and auctioning off/warehousing expired domains).

    A domain registration company that makes $0.50 per domain that can auction off an expired domain for $500-$5000 stands to make 1000 times the profit they would by keeping the domain registered.
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  14. #14
    Join Date
    May 2011
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    81
    A domain registration company that makes $0.50 per domain that can auction off an expired domain for $500-$5000 stands to make 1000 times the profit they would by keeping the domain registered.
    $0.50 x 3 million + domains per year is not chump change seeing all they have to do is maintain a couple of servers and a billing system and some api's. Its recurring residual income at its best.


  15. #15
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    517
    Quote Originally Posted by dazmanultra View Post
    Whilst I don't condone this behaviour and it's not something we would *ever* do, this behaviour comes from people wanting to pay the absolute bottom dollar for their domain names.
    Err...Namecheap isn't exactly the cheapest for domain registrations or renewals, contrary to their name. I still have a few domains with them and it costs around $10 to renew, even though I have been their customer for nearly 7 years.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    9,072
    eNom has been doing this for a while.

    IMHO, eNom is a garbage company, one of the best moves I ever did was move our large domain portfolio away from them. They are one of the few companies I would love to wake up and hear they went bankrupt and every single employee is now homeless. Harsh words yes... but one of the few companies relevant to the hosting industry that I despise with a raging passion.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    4,667
    Quote Originally Posted by ramdak5000 View Post
    I am attaching the reply from Namecheap stating they don't know why the domain wasn't released. Please note that the auction was handled by NameJet, which is a sister company of Namecheap. That's why Namecheap's reply didn't come across as convincing to me.
    NameCheap is an Enom reseller (the registrar on my NameCheap domains is Enom) and has to abide by Enom policies.

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by ramdak5000 View Post
    Please note that the auction was handled by NameJet, which is a sister company of Namecheap.
    I'm curious where you got that information. AFAIK from my ex-registrar peers, NameJet and NameCheap are separate entities not owned by a single venture capital group or similar.

    (Oh, and I'm not with eNom. Although I'm a NameCheap affiliate, I haven't earned anything from them that I don't mind.)

    If this helps, though: despite being a registrar, NameCheap has been using eNom's back-end solution for years. That partly means NameCheap "has" to follow eNom's policies aside from whatever arrangements between them. Meanwhile, eNom auctions their expired domains (and those from NameCheap that expire in the former's system) through NameJet.

    While NameCheap said years ago that they're working on using their own registrar back-end, I imagine they decided to continue using eNom's as a more practical choice. Not to mention that they want to avoid another Registerfly fiasco (somewhat ancient history, but that's available here and elsewhere online).

    I suppose NameCheap "could" stand up to eNom about this practice discussed here. A worse scenario is eNom tells NameCheap to piss off, then NameCheap gets blamed for not doing enough.

    Quote Originally Posted by craigedmonds View Post
    $0.50 x 3 million + domains per year is not chump change seeing all they have to do is maintain a couple of servers and a billing system and some api's. Its recurring residual income at its best.
    And pay the Registry (e.g. VeriSign for COM and NET) a fee for every registration, transfer, and renewal of a domain name. And pay fees to maintain their registrar accreditation. And much more.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
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    127.0.0.1
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    Quote Originally Posted by Techno View Post
    NameCheap is an Enom reseller (the registrar on my NameCheap domains is Enom) and has to abide by Enom policies.
    Technically Namecheap is both mate, they are ICANN Accredited and they use Enom for some domains, whilst they sorted their control panel etc, the last I heard.

    https://www.icann.org/registrar-repo...ited-list.html

    Search: NameCheap, Inc.

    They have since 2009.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    4,667
    Quote Originally Posted by LC Mike View Post
    Technically Namecheap is both mate, they are ICANN Accredited and they use Enom for some domains, whilst they sorted their control panel etc, the last I heard.

    https://www.icann.org/registrar-repo...ited-list.html

    Search: NameCheap, Inc.

    They have since 2009.
    They may have ICANN accreditation but they register (at least .com) domains as an Enom reseller - the WHOIS shows Enom on my domains. (I don't have a problem with this - I get Enom backend and NameCheap support)

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Techno View Post
    They may have ICANN accreditation but they register (at least .com) domains as an Enom reseller - the WHOIS shows Enom on my domains. (I don't have a problem with this - I get Enom backend and NameCheap support)
    Yeah they do over use Enom to be hoenst. https://community.namecheap.com/foru...php?f=6&t=3729

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