I recently sold a domain through an auction on Atom.com (hereinafter referred to as "Atom"), but I'm absolutely furious about the whole ordeal.
The domain in question is crytto.com, which differs from "crypto" (the English word for "cryptocurrency") by just one letter. Atom values it at over $3,000, yet it was auctioned off for a mere $10. I'm sharing this painful experience to warn others, hoping you can learn from my mistake.
Atom offers two types of auctions: "Wholesale Auction" and "Public Event Auction," with the latter requiring specific eligibility criteria. Since crytto.com didn't meet those criteria, I opted for the "Wholesale Auction."
According to Atom's rules, "Wholesale Auction" combines a "Forward Auction" and a "Reverse Auction." Simply put, the "Forward Auction" stage follows the "highest bidder wins" principle. If no one bids during this stage, it moves to the "Reverse Auction" stage, where the price drops by $10 each day until someone buys it or the price hits $10.
Atom's website stated that the auction for crytto.com would run from August 2nd to August 7th. On August 3rd, I noticed the auction had started, but the listing was marked as "private" (a setting I didn't choose).
Finding this odd, I contacted Atom's staff to ask about it and how to take the domain down. Their response? It couldn't be removed temporarily and would have to stay until the auction ended. This was already unacceptable. Other registrars like Dynadot allow you to cancel an auction at any time as long as there are no current bids.
By August 9th, the domain was still on the auction page, and Atom had added a BIN ("Buy It Now") price to it without my authorization. I reached out to their staff again, clearly requesting to take the domain down. The reply? It had entered the "Reverse Auction" stage and would have to stay until the price dropped to $10.
Today, I received an email from Atom informing me that crytto.com was sold on August 11th for $10 – and Atom even deducted a $3 fee (that's 30%!) from that. In comparison, Dynadot only charges a 10% fee on domain auction sales!
Any transaction, be it big or small, should be based on mutual willingness. As long as a deal isn't finalized, the seller has the right to remove the item from sale. Even in a real estate transaction, if the property hasn't been transferred, the seller can back out by paying a penalty, even if the buyer has already put down a deposit.
Atom's auction method completely violates the principles of fairness and voluntary participation. Once you list a domain for auction on their site, you virtually lose control of the name. You can't cancel the auction even if there are no bids (for "Public Event Auction," you can cancel before the auction officially starts, but not once it's underway).
What's worse, domains in "Wholesale Auction" are set to "private" by them. No matter how valuable a domain is, there will be no bids, and it will eventually be sold for $10 or even less – with a 30% fee deducted on top of that.
If you're considering auctioning or selling a domain on Atom, please be extremely cautious. Think it through carefully – don't make the same mistake I did.
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