GoDaddy.com: Sorry there is nothing “huge” for doing the obvious!

I got this email with the subject: “GoDaddy.com: Our latest update to Premium Listings is huge!!”. When I opened it I just saw an obvious change that should have been there from the beginning. There is nothing huge in this change. The only huge thing is the question on why wasn’t this done ages ago! If I was Go Daddy I wouldn’t make such glorious announcements to save on the embarrassment of having to answer on why this wasn’t done sooner! Last week they fixed the private whois problem on expired/auctioned domain names but didn’t make a fuss about it.

Go Daddy’s huge announcement was that they have sped up the payment process for the Premium Domain Listings sold on GoDaddy.com. Instead of waiting to receive a check, you can now select a different payment method in the Domain Manager and get paid much sooner. Previously, Go Daddy only offered check payments for the Premium Listings that were sold on GoDaddy.com and it took up to 45 days to receive payment.

Selling Premium Listings at GoDaddy.com is different than selling Premium Listings at Go Daddy Auctions. GoDaddy.com has a fund holding time of 5 days while Go Daddy Auctions has a holding time of 20 days if the price is below $1000 and no holding time at all if the domain sells for more than $1000 and the transaction is done through escrow.com.

Now after your Premium Listing sells at GoDaddy.com and Go Daddy deducts a 30 percent commission from the sale price of your Premium Listing and holds the funds for five days to prevent fraud there are 4 different payment options:

• Electronic (ACH) — Processed the same day and remitted within two business days, depending on your financial institution
• PayPal® — Processed the same day and remitted within one business day
• Good As Gold — Processed the same day and remitted within one business day
• Check— Processed weekly and mailed to you within 9 business daysNOTE: If you do not select a payment method, Go Daddy will send you a check by default. Starting Jan. 1, 2013, Go Daddy will deduct a $25 processing fee from check payments.

Holding time is different if your Premium Listing sells at Go Daddy Auctions:

• When a Premium Listing Sells for Less Than $1,000:
  • Go Daddy deducts a 10 percent commission from the sale price of a domain name.
  • After the sale, Go Daddy holds the funds for 20 days, beginning on the date the buyer paid for the domain name. This is called the Transaction Assurance period.
  • Go Daddy releases the funds on the 21st day. It might take up to five business days to submit the funds to the PayPal or Good As Gold account you entered when listing the domain name.
  • If more than 26 days has passed since you received notice of the buyer’s payment, you can contact disputes@tdnam.com to see if the buyer filed a dispute for non-receipt of the domain name.
• When a Premium Listing Sells for $1,000 or More:
  • Go Daddy deducts a 10 percent commission (includes escrow) from the sale price of the domain name.
  • Go Daddy process Premium Listings through Escrow.com, an escrow service that deducts processing fees from your proceeds. The buyer submits funds to Escrow.com, which holds the funds in a non-interest bearing account, and then pays you by an Escrow.com check, ACH, or wire transfer.
  • Escrow.com verifies the funds and notifies you. You initiate moving the domain name. When the buyer receives the domain name, the buyer notifies Escrow.com, and then Escrow.com releases the funds to you.