OnlineDomain.com Domain Name News & Opinions
Over the years Flippa Domains has received many complaints from customers about the “Buy It Now” (BIN) behavior and its purpose throughout the marketplace differs across the product offerings.
It’s become apparent that a “one size fits all” approach to the code is not always applicable: what might be beneficial for the Flippa Websites and Apps side of the marketplace does not always make it so for the Domains side.
Original Intention
Back in the day, the BIN behavior worked to accommodate Website sellers, like so:
- A buyer would place an offer to Buy it Now.
- Upon agreeing to the terms and confirming their intention to buy,
- it was up to the seller to “Approve” or “Reject” the buyer’s offer:
For Website sellers in particular, this behavior is commonplace and is utilized for higher-value transactions, especially, so sellers can conduct due diligence, communicate before point of sale to arrange payment/Escrow setup, or just establish a point of contact prior to accepting the offer. According to Flippa this is all still logical and highly useful on the Websites and Apps side of the business.
The Change: What’s Right for Domain Transactions
Providing the context above should help shed some light on why this “screening process” existed in the first place.
But domain purchases in particular do not require the level of due diligence that Website or App buyers find so necessary. As such, as a domain buyer, clicking “Buy it Now” and waiting for your offer to be accepted or rejected is not commonplace, nor is it a particularly satisfying buying experience.
Therefore, effective immediately, a Flippa Domains seller can no longer screen a BIN offer: the ability to “Accept” or “Reject” is no longer available.
If you are a buyer and commit to a purchase via Buy It Now, the offer is now automatically accepted.
This Only Affects Domain Listings
Flippa being crystal clear states that this change *only* affects domain listings on Flippa; Websites and Apps BIN offers maintain the same, original behavior as detailed above.
Makes sense.
I think before if a bidder was already approved by you for standards bids on a particular auction, he could take it at BIN without further acceptance.
I actually don’t like this change. There are times where I have an auction running, but I’m negotiating via private message with a buyer and we agree on a BIN price. Before I could just un-approve the other bidders I had already approved to make sure the person I negotiated with can take it.
I guess this process is more fair to the other bidders in the auction to give them a shot at the BIN, but the person who I negotiated with in good faith could miss out. Now I’ll have to coordinate with the other party to make sure he’s in front of a computer watching the auction when I set the BIN we agreed to.
I also don’t really understand the logic. If we have to approve bidders for regular bids, we should have to approve people for BIN too. If they’re going to get rid of it for BIN purchases, they should get rid of it for standard bids too. If seller due-diligence isn’t needed for BIN why is it needed for bids?
I don’t really want someone with a bad rating (and sometimes even with no history depending on price) taking it at BIN, possibly not paying, and then I have to start the auction all over again.