Complaint Review: GoDaddy.com

I recently purchase several dozen domain names from GoDaddy.com, some of which are trademarked names, company names, raw material names. I spent several thousand dollars worth, due to the fact that express appraisals revealed that over 70 domains were express appraised between $310,000 and $520,000. I decided at that time to have the appraisals upgraded to a certified appraisal. Values dropped from 10,000 to 25,000 to literally a few hundred dollars in most cases.

The express appraisals stated that: Your appraisal is based on a variety of factors related to the name itself. We have compared the name to recent sales of similar domains, evaluated recent market trends, and applied a desirability factor based on these trends. Your appraisal is backed by the #1 Domain Registrar in the World, GoDaddy.Com. And...

Determining a Domain Name's value is crucial in today's marketplace. As more people worldwide become interested in domains, the demand for high-quality names has increased, driving up prices significantly in the past six months. Our rating methodology includes metrics found at all domain appraisal sites as well as proprietary factors available only from the #1 registrar in the world, GoDaddy.com. And.....

One of the best tools for determining value is comparable sales. Our appraisals are largely weighted on recent comparable sales in secondary markets, including The Domain Name Aftermarket.

Current Trends

Domains that contain words or phrases that are particularly "en vogue" may catch potential buyers' attention. Such domains, however, may lose their value as current trends change. Additionally, because some listed domains include the Web site content that resides on the domain, those domains may also retain their present search engine ranking after the domain sale concludes. A domain that holds a high ranking for attractive keywords with the Internet's leading search engines (e.g., Google, MSN, and Yahoo!) will be particularly attractive to potential buyers. Note: Search engine rankings are subject to continual changes and any change to the content of the Web page may impact its search engine ranking.

This appraisal is intended to provide a US$ value of a Domain Name in the secondary market. This appraisal may be used to estimate a buy or sell price for this domain, tax purposes, defining asset value or insurance value.

Example: Here is what one domain biotest.me express appraised for by GoDaddy's method: between $10,698.00 - $27,815.00. Afterwhich I had biotest.me certified thru GoDaddy = $84.00 - $296.00. A discrepancy between $10,614 - $27,519. This was consistent with several other domains that I have had certified by "The number one domain registrar in the world"

Enough said for now.

Peace,

Qilates
Carthage, North Carolina
U.S.A.