I’ve talked about why you ought to be buying websites and have even offered my complete guide to buying and selling sites in the past. GoDaddy auctions are good places to pick up expired domains and occasionally on the cheap at that despite them being more competitive than they once were. This guide will set you up to have a much better chance at winning GoDaddy auctions without having to constantly break the bank. Here’s how to win GoDaddy auctions.

How to Win GoDaddy Auctions

Don’t Bid Early – I’m always scratching my head when I see someone bidding on a domain a week before that auction is set to end. In my mind bidding before the day of is too early. It announces your presence and intention to buy that domain and it brings extra unwanted attention to that domain well before it’s set to end so more people have a chance to hear about it.

The only reason I can think of why someone would bid early is simply because they don’t know any better. Either that or they’re shill bidding and just looking to up the price for personal reasons. All bidding early does is drive up the price unnecessarily for all involved, so keep your intentions close to your belt until the auction is about to end.

If you can’t make it there for the end of the auction and are worried about someone sniping you at the last minute, make use of the proxy bid feature where you choose how much you’re willing to bid and it will automatically counter each bid which exceeds your last up to your limit. This is handy because a lot of auctions end at inopportune times when you may be asleep or at work and are unable to bid live.

Use Proxy Bids – To continue on the point of proxy bids, I recommend that you use this feature whenever possible for a couple of reasons. One, you don’t have to be there to actively bid like I just mentioned so you can bid even if your schedule doesn’t allow for it.

Secondly and more importantly, this will force you to chose how much you’re willing to spend before the bidding gets out of control. In the moment you may let your emotions get the better of you and extend yourself beyond your means for a domain which may not be worth the investment.

Therefore, like with any other investment, it’s best to stop and think about what you’re willing to pay before you do anything and choose that as your ceiling. That way you can walk away and let the auction play out naturally. If you lose then you know that that domain wasn’t worth the money and that you gave it a shot.

Set up a Proxy Bid Shortly Before the Auction Closes – Here’s one of the most important semi-automated aspects of how to win GoDaddy auctions. I mentioned that you shouldn’t bid too early, well I like to not only wait until the final hour of the auction but I like to use a proxy bid when I do finally bid. This ensures that you enter the bidding when you should but also that your emotions are taken out of the equation.

Also remember that a new bid within the last few minutes of an auction extends the end time by 5 minutes, making it impossible to sneak in at the last minute and outbid someone (assuming they’re actively bidding, as well). If your only competition is a proxy bidder then it’s not as much an issue. If it’s someone who is actively bidding and trying to win, then you’re better off sticking with the proxy bid.

Don’t Refresh the Page! – If you’re familiar with GoDaddy auctions, you know that every time someone visits the auction page of a domain that it adds another tick to the “views” counter. A lot of people who wait until the last minute to bid and continue to refresh the page to both keep track of bids and the remaining time in the counter.

Even if it’s the same person, the counter will continue to increase with each refresh, making it appear like there’s more eyes on that auction than there are. This could motivate active bidders to think that that domain is worth more than it is if there’s a lot of perceived interest, so you’re only making it more difficult to win there at the end of the auction without breaking the bank.

This is even more reason to set up a proxy bid, and set a timer to remind yourself of the end of the auction time rather than constantly rechecking the page.

Choose Arbitrary Amounts – One more point regarding proxy bids: don’t choose nice round numbers for bidding because a lot of active bidders will likely go just above them in the final moments of an auction. Say you set your limit at $100 and you have one other bidder battling it out with you live.

As they see that $100 bid, they may try throwing a few more bucks with one last bid to try to outbid you as they take a chance that you chose a nice round number to top off at like so many others.

In this case, you’d lose that bid. So if you’re willing to spend up to $100 for a domain, up it slightly to something arbitrary like $113. Odds are their limit is similar to yours, and that last proxy bid of yours might be just enough to scare them off.

Keep Your Feet on the Ground – Remember that no matter how great a domain looks, there will be dozens more showing up tomorrow. All of this is to say that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket as it’s just not worth the money.