I enabled Afternic’s self-brokerage option as soon as I heard it went live. I immediately tested it out with one of my own domain names so I could see how the platform works as a buyer and as a seller. Before I got started, I ran into an issue, and I couldn’t tell if it was a feature or a bug. James Iles confirmed to me that it this difference is intentional.

When sellers have the self-brokerage option disabled, prospective buyers will be shown a form to submit an offer. On the form, they need to provide their name, email address, and phone number. There are also a few pop-up questions that appear after submitting the form. When sellers have self-brokerage enabled, prospective buyers who wish to submit an offer will need to sign-in to a GoDaddy account to proceed or create a new GoDaddy account. You can have a look at the difference here:

GoDaddy Brokered Leads Form:

GoDaddy Self-Brokered Leads Sign-In:

I asked GoDaddy’s James Iles for clarification about this, and here’s what he shared with me:

The login requirement does introduce an additional step, which could potentially deter some casual inquirers. However, there are a few key reasons why this approach makes sense:

Buyer Quality & Intent – By requiring a login, we’re filtering out lower-intent buyers and ensuring that those who engage in negotiations are serious about purchasing. This can lead to higher conversion rates in the long run, even if it means fewer overall leads.

Security & Trust – A logged-in user allows for better tracking, reducing spam, fraudulent activity, and bad-faith negotiations. It also gives both parties more confidence in the legitimacy of the interaction.

Consistency Across GoDaddy’s Ecosystem – The buyer side operates within GoDaddy’s broader marketplace, where authentication is a key component of ensuring a seamless and secure buying experience.

I understand the rationale, and with that being said, it is very important that investors understand this is an extra hurdle prospective buyers will need to take to submit an offer for a domain name if they have the self-brokerage option enabled.