3 years ago, back in May 2021, I was banned by Drop.com.au from bidding on dropping premium Australian domain names. (They are the one and only place you can buy the premium domains).
I was banned for publicly calling out some weird domain name acquisitions on their auction platform.
I moved all my domains away from them at that point to SynergyWholesale.com(,) and I have found Synergy Wholesale to be nothing but impeccably professional with great support.
Today I logged into my Drop.com.au account to check it’s status and their system said I had to “pay” to access their dropcatching auction platform. So, I paid Drop.com.au‘s $30.77 “Auction Access” Fee and they took my money and issued me the following invoice via email:
As you can see, they took my $30.77 for the service of “Auction Access”, which is clearly supposed to provide access to their drop platform, which has a monopoly over premium Australian domain names.
A few minutes later, still logged in, I clicked on the “Daily Drop List” auction platform button, and my account still remains banned.
They have taken my money for a service, and banned me, and refuse to provide me with that service.
They have banned me for 3 years now, and counting.
And let’s not forget, they are the ONE AND ONLY Australian domain name dropcatching auction platform that has an official auDA Registry connection (as an auDA Registrar), which means they have stopped me, and my business, from having access to catch dropping premium Australian domain names for three years.
I have written to auDA countless times about this situation, and, under Rosemary Sinclair’s reign as CEO, they have chosen to do nothing about it, every single time.
As I wrote in this article, a LOT of questions come to mind.
- Why is auDA allowing this monopoly to continue, for 3 years and 3 months as of this blog post?
- What happens when Drop.com.au doesn’t display a domain name, and simply catches it for themselves or one of their friends/customers?
- How can one tell if shill-bidding is occurring on the one and only domain drop catching auction platform, if there is not a competitor auction platform showing other bids?
- How can one tell if all customers of the drop auction platform are real, if there is only one drop catching auction platform, not regulated by anyone?
[…] Since November 2020, when Trellian (who own Drop.com.au) acquired “Netfleet.com.au”, they have had an uncontested monopoly over catching Australian domain names that are being dropped, or let go, by their owners. They are the ONLY place in the world that can catch, FIRST, Australian domain names for themselves and their friends / customers (who obey their rules – otherwise you get banned). […]