The organizers of the TRAFFIC conference just announced there will NOT be any online bidding at the live domain name auction held at the conference.
Of course for many of the first domain TRAFFIC conferences there was no online bidding, but later shows had online bidding through either SnapNames.com or Proxybid.
It seems phone and even some sort of text bidding will be allowed, but it certainly will give more incentive to people to attend the conference when online bidding is not available.
Moreover the organizers announced they had reached the limit and closed off any more paid submissions for any domain with a reserve of less than $50,000.
Here is the announcement:
We are going to have to stop the paid submissions to the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Auction TODAY for any domain less than $50,000!
We have had a GREAT response but if we take any more, we won’t have room for any of the domains we will be hand picking nor the premium domains we want to attract. So those that have contracts in your hands, you have until 5PM TODAY to get this done.
Opportunity comes in many forms and then Flies Away. This birdie is gone. And another T.R.A.F.F.I.C. idea will just be copied and then we will be told how bad T.R.A.F.F.I.C. sucks. Get the picture?
We will have NO online bidding.
To bid at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. auction you will either have to be there or will be open to PRE-QUALIFIED bidders with contracts and credit card on file 72 hours before the start of the show. We can handle up to 12 simultaneous bidders but have never had more than 4-6 on any one domain name. They will be given instructions 72 hours before the auction as far as call in numbers etc. Phone and/or text bidding only.
Each offsite bidder will have a total of 10 seconds to place a bid or not.
Once a phone bidder drops out or refuses to meet the current bid, he can not bid again for that specific domain and the contact is terminated. So the bidder is either in at each level, or not. This is going to be fast paced, exciting and different than previous auctions.
The Domain Industry runs right through the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Intersection and those that can’t accept that just get left further and further behind.
Fail.
I’ll pass.
This must be the Real “Post of the Year”
“The Domain Industry runs right through the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Intersection…”
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“The Domain Industry runs right through the Caribbean…where the Banksters hang out”
BRICS currency is coming along with virtual banking and Peer-2-Peer DNS
People may want to attend one of the (invite only) seminars in the Caribbean to plan your future. The future is bright for those with the right connections.
The PR announcement has a real negative tone to it. It’s pretty obvious who wrote it. It would have been complete if it had concluded with:
“Let me translate this for you morons. Yes, this is about us making money on fees, but we’re up to our ears in pigeon shit. If you don’t like our new rules, screw you!”
Wow.
“Once a phone bidder drops out or refuses to meet the current bid, he can not bid again for that specific domain and the contact is terminated. So the bidder is either in at each level, or not. This is going to be fast paced, exciting and different than previous auctions.”
Awful.
Nothing surprises me anymore about TRAFFIC or Rick the domain king Shwartz. Could they have issued a more combatant and negative tone to their ‘announcement’.
I have zero against Shwartz on a personal level. I have never met him or spoken to him.
But on a professional level – its a real pity that he is given the space to represent the domain industry.
Almost very time he opens his mouth its a rant against this or that, its a never ending drama saga.
Take the valium, calm down, stick a real smile on your chops and you may find that the world out there is less hostile and /or stupid than you think it is…..
If you were to hire yourself a real PR guy, he could do you no better service than putting a piece of sticky tape over your mouth.
“on a professional level – its a real pity that he is given the space to represent the domain industry”
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Keep in mind the people who Profit from Non.Profit Corporations who Run The “Domain Industry” – DO NOT LIKE Domainers
For them, there is no such thing as “the domain industry”
Their Ivory Towers are funded from “the domain industry” – details details
It is tough to auction a bunch of garbage that won’t even sell out of a garage at eBay – do not blame TRAFFIC for articulating & implementing that in a different way.
The real message is here lots of folks have got burned on buying worthless domains – and it is not TRAFFIC’s job to mitigate those losses.
It is TRAFFIC’s job to entertain – and if they do not entertain me – I am stuff drinking early and often with Roy Flanders and his pony tail.
I think every TRAFFIC has done with the auction process in a positive – from a perspective of being there in person.
No online bidders for an auction of web properties?
Many people will applaud this move and say its about time the ‘domain industry’ did something to reign in prices 😉
“No online bidders for an auction of web properties?”
Yeah, it seems like a stupid move.
Brad
About 6 months ago, when Rick excitely announced his new rules for Traffic Auction, i made a post on Ricksblog with a prediction that Traffic Auction will NOT work and will be a failure…and Rick got angry at my negative comments and deleted my post!
And now, here we are today, we can NOT bid online…this is definately NOT good for the domain sellers and online bidders…i was really looking forward to wasting more of my money on pigeon shit domains…just like i bought flowers.mobi from the king himself at the last auction…lol…those were some good exciting times…Rick, nor anyone else, didnt expect me to be the winner of his flowers.mobi domain…hahahaha….LOL
Looks like not many people are attending this conference in person…so he thinks by not allowing online bidding, he might get few extra people attending the conference in person…but is this really worth it…i dont think so…maybe, he might make a little more money this way by collecting entrance fees…but the auction results are not going to be better by having less people bid…duhhhh!
But then again, they do not really care about YOU and the auction results this time around…why…because you have to pay upfront to list your domains…so his not that worried about the results!
its all about the benjamins…money money money….money….$$$$$$$$$$$$$
he might shake a few peoples hands with a great smile…but its all about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
Good luck to him and everyone else!!!
On Ricks last blog, he says, “You are “Entitled” to Nothing! Your Attitude is your Passport!”
Come on Rick…i think i am entitled to online bidding at your auction…LOL
So turn the online bidding on!
Arrogant tone. Poor attitude. Silly announcement.
Living in Australia, I’ve bought most of my best domains at live online auctions at conferences – including TRAFFIC, in the pasyt…..If Schwartz doesn’t want my money via online bidding – then, screw him.
People are paying these people money to feature their domains for auction????…….Well….Suckers…..Schwartz has just taken their money, and chopped out a chunk of the potential buyers for their domains!! Oh, really smart, Rick….!! duhhh.
“…..The Domain Industry runs right through the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Intersection and those that can’t accept that just get left further and further behind…..”
Oh, give me a break….!!….This man is patronising and delusional. Boycott the thing, on principle…!!
I think sellers will be running for the hills when they read the part about no online bidders. Really the part they don’t need is the in room bidding, not the other way around. Having said that the submission structure is a real breath of fresh air, seems they are 50% there with this auction.
Sorry, but when you have online bidding it only slows the auction down so the folks there are put to sleep. This is going to blazing fast with results. We will cater to our attending audience FIRST.
You can still bid, but it has to be faster and the phone and text makes it faster. Too many technical difficulties that have postponed several auctions this year and made everyone look foolish and then it gets BORING!
You have to register anyway. You have to pre-qualify anyway. So what’s the big deal? If someone whats to yank their domain, fine with us. We will refund their dollars. But that is not the case. To have a different result you need to have things changed.
It also helps to prevent FAKE BIDS and pumpers and all other abusers or do you want to just ignore that part of the equation? Plus, I know how much of ALL our sales were online compared to buyers in the room over the years. Not even close! And of those that were sold to folks not in the room, 50% of THOSE were on the phone!! The SERIOUS guys WANT to be on the phone. Do you think they want to risk not having their bid in on time or other glitch?
We have the most open submission policy EVER in the industry and that has attracted SERIOUS sellers that KNOW they need to participate in the marketing. Lots of changes and folks are going to have a good time and see some really good selling prices.
I completely fail to see the logic in this…
“Once a phone bidder drops out or refuses to meet the current bid, he can not bid again for that specific domain and the contact is terminated. So the bidder is either in at each level, or not. This is going to be fast paced, exciting and different than previous auctions.”
Maybe it wasn’t explained clearly enough, or maybe I’m just an idiot reading it wrong, but am I to understand that a person must pledge a bid at every level presented by the auctioneer, lest they be eliminated from the bid process?
That runs totally contrary to the very fundamental auction psychology that makes auctions a desirable medium to sell in. The ‘golden range’ in auctions is when buyers incrementally raise their “maximum bid” in the heat of the moment, or (and this is the important part), make a snap decision before the gavel falls to bid more than they had initially intended.
This policy seems to eliminate that critical aspect.
I’ve attended quite a few live auctions, was just at a Leslie Hindman auction here very-very recently. Anyone who’s ever attended a live auction, or even just watched Barrett-Jackson on TV, knows for certain that so many buyers shift their intentions from minute to minute. A guy bidding on an item who sets a ‘hard ceiling’ at 75 might make a snap decision to bid 95 if the gavel is about to fall at 90.
If I’m to understand this policy correctly, he is ‘eliminated’ once he stops bidding at 75 and the option to bid higher is no longer available to him if he doesn’t bid 80, 85, etc, etc along the way?
@ schvartz It also helps to prevent FAKE BIDS and pumpers and all other abusers or do you want to just ignore that part of the equation?
Hmm…guess you did for a decade or so
I believe (and support) Rick’s actions are to reduce the amount of fake bidders, which this industry has one too many.
Real bidders wouldn’t mind phoning in, ALTHOUGH I do not understand (or support) this “you have to stay along with each bid or you can’t bid again on the same domain”
Thats kind of BS and needs some explaining how you came up with this…
IMHO, I appreciate Rick’s efforts to create an auction format that wil be inviting to and attended by real and serious investors. If you can’t afford the money or time to go to the auction, the probability increases expotentially that you might not be a real investor. He does allow exceptions for prequalified bidders who have the money and can conclude the sale in a timely manner.
I see the logic behind the part that if you do not bid during one round on the phone you are out. I would applaude doing that in the room also. To me, it’s kind of like the Shark Tank on TV. The investors are either in or out.
Anunt I wouldn’t brag about buying flowers.mobi.
I see the logic behind the part that if you do not bid during one round on the phone you are out.
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OK, so what is the logic?
You’re basically locking in everyone’s intended prebidding maximums without giving them the option to make a snap decision to bid more before the gavel falls- which is a phenomenon that probably accounts for a significant amount of high bids.
If your objective is to eliminate BS and vanity bidders (eliminating them makes sense), the way to do that is dead simple. Eliminate ‘reserve’ and start the bids at an absolute dollar amount, so every bid placed is viable.
I think Rick seriously overestimates how many people bid on these names because they’re ‘desperate to own them’ versus regular domainers who are just garden variety opportunists.
“You’re basically locking in everyone’s intended prebidding maximums without giving them the option to make a snap decision to bid more before the gavel falls- which is a phenomenon that probably accounts for a significant amount of high bids.”
Not at ALL!!
What we are doing is if the current bid is $5000. The person on the phone has 10 seconds to decide if he wants to continue in the auction at that level or HIGHER as the bidding goes along or not. If he says yes, then it continues. If not, he is out of THAT auction for THAT domain and we can focus on the folks that are still in it.
Our focus is the folks attending TRAFFIC. It is not fair for them to wait and be bored waiting for bids to come in or not. This way it is moving and moving fast.
Ever go into a store and be at the cashier and paying for something. Then the phone rings and they stop waiting on you and focus on the guy on the phone? Well that is RUDE and why would we want to be RUDE to our attendees at the expense of somebody not there? But to bridge the gap, they get 10 seconds. That is a LOT of time during an auction when hundreds of people are waiting for a decision or slow internet connection or none at all. It slows the process and it is BORING for those in the room. Sorry the folks that are there count more than those that are not. Pretty simple business.
We may even allow folks in the room KNOW who is bidding on the phone. That has yet to be decided. In an auction environment, I want to know who I am bidding against. Don’t you?? This is the most transparent auction the industry has ever seen. Domains are getting listed as accepted. We will have no prearranged BOGUS SALES that goes on time and time again in OTHER auctions to save face or “Ghost bidders” that simply drive up the prices with NO INTENTION of buying the domain name. Don’t think this has been happening?? Really???? But of course some of you can turn a blind eye to shill bidding even when it is so obvious. But then again, I would be pissed if I were a shill bidder because this formula put those BASTARDS out of business. So I can understand why some are very upset. YEAH BABY!
So if you are physically in the auction room – you can bid, wait awhile and bid again.
And if you are NOT physically in the auction room (phone or text), once the latest bid amount has been established or posted, you have 10 seconds to counterbid, otherwise you are off the phone call or your text message goes unread and you are out of that auction.
Seems like that works to me – and it seems that folks in the auction room would need to know all the phone/text bidders before the auction starts.
Heaven forbid that there could be shill bidders in the room…….
This announcement has more to do with getting bums on seats (money in Ricks pockets)than the sudden realization after years of allowing online bidding at TRAFFIC that there is a new phenomenon in 2011 of online shill bidding……
Its so transparent, its pathetic.
But of course that must mean i am one of those bastard shill bidders myself for disagreeing with
His Royal Highness. YEAH BABY YEAH.
@Razor-
Howard, Rick and their families are in it to make money – as much as they can. If we do not like their business model – then we do not go. What domain investing was even 5 years ago – is nothing what it is now – forget all the non.com nonsense – it is all about brand and mitigating our reliance on SEO & PPC – and TRAFFIC provides a contant to me in this ever evolving industry.
@brian – you are right. In fact you couldn’t pay me to go to a traffic conference. But that also affords me the neutrality to read between the lines of yet another announcement that only a self deluded fool would write.
Good luck with the conference Brian.
Not at ALL!!
What we are doing is if the current bid is $5000. The person on the phone has 10 seconds to decide if he wants to continue in the auction at that level or HIGHER as the bidding goes along or not. If he says yes, then it continues. If not, he is out of THAT auction for THAT domain and we can focus on the folks that are still in it.
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Instead of “Not at ALL”, it should’ve read “Yes, absolutely correct” because you just confirmed- to a tee- what I said.
If someone decides that $5000 is all they’re willing to bid, the bidding reaches $5500 and they bow out, they’re effectively eliminated from changing their mind and bidding higher should the gavel come down at $6500. That is just an enormous part of auction psychology. Why are you eliminating this again? Because “fast auctions” is more important than higher sale prices?
Seriously, how many times have you been bidding on something, predetermined that you were willing to spend $3K, it hits $3K, but you incrementally rationalize your way into higher and higher bids? Or, you stop at $3K and see the gavel falling at $4500, you think to yourself “eh, OK, I can spend a bit more…” so you toss in a bid? That’s just a HUGE part of the auction process…
This is the point where you should probably ask yourself if the braintrust behind TRAFFIC has some special insight that every auction business on earth- some that have been running for many hundreds of years- does not have… Because not a single one them operates in this fashion, for damn good reason.
Will be interesting to see, wish you guys well, but this is a mistake.
Just to be clear- I don’t think it’s a ‘big deal’, just a minor annoyance that may preclude some higher bids. Kinda like how the “unique” ebay auction format- with an absolute stop time- isn’t used to sell certain, higher end items because it’s the least efficient auction process on earth, this too just strikes me as an inefficiency.
“The person on the phone has 10 seconds to decide if he wants to continue in the auction at that level or HIGHER as the bidding goes along or not.”
It would seem this tacks ten seconds onto each level which wouldn’t be there if the phone bidder could drop out for a few rounds and then come back in. That would tend toward slowing things down, rather than speeding them up.
If speed is of the essence, nothing is faster than a Dutch auction.
K.I.S.S. — Keep It Simple Stupid
Either have online bidding or onsite bidding or both, but NO phone bidding!
Rick, if you are so interested in getting rid of all the scam bidding, remove phone bidding — biggest scam of all.
Recall: 2009 Traffic Auction of domain name Ad.com …when Divyank Turakhia from Directi who was half drunk from previous night’s partying had the winning bid of $1.4 Million for ad.com …. he was bidding against someone on the phone…increasing bids by $100k to end at $1.4 Million….what bullshit!!!
ELIMINATE THE PHONE BIDDING!!!
Anunt, you forgot to mention that Rick was sitting beside Divyank the whole time prompting, prodding and goading him into bidding further all the while tempting him with an uncorked bottle of the cheapest champaigne money could buy. Real class act
Losing model
REMINDER — FYI :
Florida T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Show Ticket prices go up September 1st … it’s $1595 ($1,690 after Florida sales tax) ….. Today is Last day at that Discount price level