FAQ

A domain is a personal address that is entered in the address bar in the browser. It may consist of words, numbers and special characters. The length may not be longer then 63 characters (letters, numbers and special characters). Hyphens (-) may not come in first or last position.

Each domain consists of a sequence of characters, which are seperated by one or more points.

The top-level domain is the ending of the domain and is always in the last place.

In our example "www.companyname.eu" "eu" is the top-level domain, "companyname" the second-level-domain (also called domain) and "www" the third-level-domain (also called subdomain).

Premium domains are worth more than regular RGP domains and always have a preassigned reserve price. Therefore these domain names are not available for €10. As soon as this minimum is met or passed these domains will be no different than the regular ones (see maximum bid). If the predefined minimum price is not met, we reserve the right to not register the domain for the customer in case of a successful snap. Please note the different status (especially negotiation) and the faq entry for maximum bid.

An exclusive domain is offered and auctioned in cooperation with the current domain owner exclusively on nicsell. The difference between the regular auctions is that these domains have not been deleted and are not (yet) in the grace period.

The process before, during and after the auction is identical to the "normal" RGP domains. In that regard nothing wil change for you.

Your benefits: You can bid on exclusive domains as comfortable as on all other domains. After the auction closes and the payment has been processed you will receive the auth codes for your domains (there is no catching-process).

You can read the conditions from the registrar who is responsible for the administration of the respective domain extension.

That is the RGP domain information site, because the search has failed.

Regarding RGP domains - on which you can bid here - it is normal that they are deleted by their owner (see also what is RGP?)

One other reason might be that the website is no longer available. If that is the case and you are the owner of the website, you should contact the the hosting provider as soon as possible.

Domains which are deleted by mistake or on purpose will move to quarantine. It's also called "Cooldown", "Quarantine" or "RGP" (Redemption Grace Period).

The .de domains will remain there for 30 days, .eu domains for 40 days, .at domains for 58 days and .pl domains for about 60 days.

During this time the domain owner can choose to stop the deregistration. If it is not stopped, the domain becomes available after 30 or 40 days of grace period and can be re-registered.

The re-registration of popular domains takes place within a few milliseconds after the domain is released from the quarantine (see also How much time does a catch-process take?)

We put domains up for auction that were recently deleted and exclusive domains. During the auction the deleted domains are still in the grace period. These domains are available on the free market as well. We have taken it upon us to catch these domains for our business customers.

The domains will be added in the auction list (domainlist) two weeks prior to their release. Starting from then you are able to bid on them.

Tip: Create a daily domain alarm for your desired domain now and we will automatically inform you when your domain is available.

Your Customer ID is used for the identification of your person and should be given to us if possible in every case of contact so that we can assign and respond your request as quick as possible.

• Detailed search:
  • In the detailed search you can search for any number of terms by separating them with commas or blanks.
  • With a ! preceding a search term its results will be excluded (negative search).
  • If a search term starts with a ^ , only results that start with the search term will be displayed.
  • If a search term ends with a $ , only results will be displayed that end with the search term.
  • If a % is specified in a search term, it will be considered as a placeholder and is seen as no or any amount of characters.
  • If a _ is specified in a search term, it will be considered as a placeholder and is seen as exactly any one character.
  • If a search term starts with a . , the search term is considered as a top level domain.
  • If a search term contains at least one . and no ^ , $ , % or _ , the search term is seen as a complete domain and must be found exactly like that.
  • To improve the search, umlauts are searched in all spellings (ä = ae, ö = oe, ü = ue, ß = ss).
  • Example:
    • sport
    • sport, music
    • sport, !transport
    • ^sport, sport$
    • ^sport$
    • sport, !^sport, !music
    • sport%event, event%sport
    • sport__%event
    • sport, music, .eu
    • sport, !.com
    • sport.de
    • sport.de, music
    • sp%t.de
• Character length: The character length determines the length of the domain. If you enter e. g. a length of 4 to 6 characters only domains with this specific length will be shown.
• End of auction: The filter end of auction allows you to define a time frame in which auctions will end. Every auction that is available during this window will be listed.
• First letter: Here you can enter the first letter of your desired domain. Again only the domains with this first letter will be listed.

The domain alarm is intended to notify you whenever new and interesting domains are auctioned. You can log in, go to the domainlist and select filters of your choice. Then simply activate the domain alarm.

In order to create a new domain alarm, you have to customize your filter settings in the domain list first. For example you can filter for .de domains that include "car". Then you have to apply the filter.

Once you have applied the filter, the Add domain alarm button will appear in the upper part of the box. The button is only displayed, when a valid filter setting has been made.

After clicking the button a form will appear below where you can set the description and notifications. By clicking on "save" the domain alarm is created for you.

The following notifications can be set.

• Daily: nicsell will notify you every day about new domains.
• Weekly: nicsell will notify you every week on monday about new domains.
• None: nicsell will not notify you.

Do you want to make changes on the domain alarm (description, notifications and filter) you can click under "Account > domain alarm" on of any domain alarm. As an effect of that the domain list will be open with all defined filters and matching domains. Inside the filter section there is additionally a form where you can edit the description and adjust the notifications. With a click on "Save" all changes inclusive filter settings will be saved for the domain alarm.

Every entry (domain alarm) in the domain alarm list contains the three buttons (0) (0) (0) . Therewith found domains within the domain alarm can be grouped and with one click displayed in the domain list. The number in the button represent the count of found domains for this group. You can group into the following groups:

• (0) All: Therewith domains which are matching the filters will be displayed.
• (0) New: Of all domains that match the filters, only those that have been added since the alarm was last called are shown, i.e. have not yet been seen. This time of the last call is updated every day at midnight. This enables you to view the new domains during the day without instantly hiding them.
• (0) Last 7 days: Domains, that were added to the domain list in the last seven days and matching the filters, will be displayed.

Additionally in the top of the domain alarm list there are the three buttons All (0) New (0) Last 7 days (0) . Therewith you can display all domains of all domain alarms. The number in the button represents the count of found domains like the other buttons. This does not have to correspond to the sum of the individual buttons, because, for example, a domain can be found in several domain alarms.

To delete a domain alarm you can click under "Account > domain alarm" on the button of any domain alarm.

The function "favorites" is used, that you can observe interesting domains. So you have for example domains in view on that you not bid currently or on that you want to pay particular attention when bidding.

In the domainlist you will find a star in front of each domain. By clicking on this star it will become green (). This adds the domain to your list of favorites. In this same manner you can also remove the favorites again ().

If domains that you have marked as favorites are offered again, they will be displayed with a yellow star ().

Of course you can filter the domainlist by favorites too.

In the customer account at "Account > Favorites" you will also find a seperate overview of your favorites.

You also have the possibility to add individual notes to your favorites in order to classify them more easily. In your favorites and domain list (for currently active favorites) you can use the buttons and to edit or save your notes. If a favorite with a note is removed from the domain list and added once more without having reloaded the page, the previously set note will be restored.

If you go to the auction history you can't sort the domains you have bid on by status. However, you can narrow them down. Depending on which option you want, you can either choose "Highest bidder", "Outbid" or any another status.

If we were unable to register the domain, we charge no processing costs. You only pay, if the registration was successful.

Yes, by going to the dashboard. Switch to the bid history and set the filter to "only bidding auctions". In the last "column" you can see the actions you can perform. Click on the button Raise and enter your new bid.

If the registration was successful, you will receive a payment request. In this email you will receive the information that the catching-process was successful.

With the bid history in the domain list, you have the opportunity to set your last and most frequently used bids again and to use your set plus buttons. For this purpose, a button is displayed in the domain list to the left of each bid field, with which you can access the history.

The drop-down menu is divided into three categories. Use the up-arrow and down-arrow keys to navigate through the menu. To confirm the selection, press the Enter key. If you want to exit the menu, you can press the ESC key or click with the mouse outside the menu.

If you're in the bidding area while in writing mode, you can also use the down arrow key to navigate to the drop-down menu.

If you select a value, it will be written to the bid field. If it is a value of a plus button, it will first be added to the current bid and then written to the field.

The inTld count indicates the number of Tlds for which the same domain name is also available. Example: The domain name "test" can exist for several Tlds e.g. test.de or test.at. The following Tlds are taken into account for this:

• .com
• .net
• .org
• .info
• .biz
• .ca
• .us
• .co
• .br
• .uk
• .nl

• .be
• . fr
• .es
• .pt
• .de
• .ch
• .it
• .at
• .pl
• .cz
• .dk

• .se
• .ru
• .cn
• .kr
• .jp
• .au
• .in
• .ga
• .eu
• .me
• .mx

The order of the listing can be changed by the reading direction. The following settings / modes are available:

• Row by row (standard)
• Column by column

Domains are loaded in a specific order. In the "row by row" mode, one row is going to be filled entirely before the next one below is filled. In contrast, in the "column by column" mode, the domains and columns are added from left to right. Furthermore, domains are divided equally (quantitatively) among the columns.

With nicsell Trading you have the possibility to offer your own domains as an auction for our customers. You can enter the domains using the form. You have to provide the following information.

• Type of auction: You can choose from two auction types: Normal and Dutch auction. Both types are explained here in detail.
• Start date: The auction starts on this date at 8:00 AM, but no earlier than five minutes after the auction has been created.
• End date: The auction ends on this date at 8:00 PM. If it is a normal auction, the auction extension is active.
• Domain: Enter your domain here. It must belong to you or you must have been authorized by their owner(s). In addition, the name servers must point to ns1.nicsell.com and ns2.nicsell.com. The sluggishness of DNS may cause a delay in the change taking effect.
• Minimum price: Is the price you want to get at least for your domain. In a normal auction, this is the price from which it automatically comes to a sale after the auction ends. If the final bid is below the minimum price, a negotiation is started in which you can accept or reject this bid. If it is a Dutch auction, the current price drops from the starting price to the minimum price.
• Starting price: Is the price at which the Dutch auction starts. The starting price must be at least twice the minimum price. This specification is not allowed for normal auctions.

There are some conditions for the auction period. The end date must be no more than 30 days in the future. Also, the auction period must be between 3 and 14 days.

Standard values can be set for the minimum and starting price. For missing prices in the domain listing, the standard values are used.

Our service is charged in the form of a commission in the amount of 10% charged. The remaining 90% will be distributed to you.

There is a limit to your maximum auctions. If you have sold less than 10 domains through our marketplace, the limit is 100 domains, otherwise it is 10,000 domains.

Additionally, there is a general limit that applies to all sellers where a maximum of 15,000 auctions may end on the auction end date.

How can your domains point to nicsell for verification?

You can set the nameservers of your domains to ns1.nicsell.com and ns2.nicsell.com.

In addition, you can create a CNAME record for your domains, which forward to nicsell.com. It must forward domain.tld and www.domain.tld. If necessary, you must adjust the priority of the records so that they are preferred.

Otherwise, you can set up a redirect to https://nicsell.com/domain/[domain.tld]. During the verification nicsell will try to call your domain and recognize that it is your domain based on the redirect.

Important: If you already use HTTPS for your domains, you should only consider the HTTP redirection option (as HTST may prevent visitors from accessing the auction using the other methods).

As the highest bidder of a domain, you will see the button Reduce in the auction history if it is possible to reduce your highest bid.

If you are the only bidder in the auction, your highest bid will be removed completely. Otherwise, this bid will be reduced to the extent that they remain as the highest bidder.

The domain transfer process can be slightly different for each extension, as the registries each have their own systems and rules.

The most common method is the transfer with an authcode (key). With this authcode, your provider can transfer the desired domain to you. The validity of an authcode can vary from only a few days (e.g. 7 days for .be domains) to several weeks. Only after the transfer your domain can be used properly. We therefore recommend a quick transfer of the domain after receiving the authcode from us.

For .uk domains, on the other hand, the PUSH-TAG procedure applies. Here, the transfer of the domain must be initiated at the provider of your choice. The provider gives you his registrar TAG, which you have to pass on to us (info@nicsell.com). This allows us to push the domain to your provider and it lands directly in your account.

There is a similar method for .es domains. Here, too, the transfer is started by you at your provider. Afterwards, you will receive an email from the registry to the email address that is linked to your nicsell account. There you can confirm the transfer yourself.

Additionally, there are endings which are subject to a transfer lock after a registration or a transfer. Only after expiration of this lock, the domains can be moved. Of the TLDs available on our platform, only .me and .pl domains currently belong to this group. Fortunately, the lifetime of the authcodes of both extensions is longer than the duration of the lock.

The transfer lock for .pl domains is 5 days.

The transfer lock for .me domains is 60 days.

Post bid

You missed the auction phase of a domain? With a subsequent bid you get the possibility that we try to register the domain for you, provided that no other participants have bid on this domain. This is a minimum bid of €50. If the registration is successful, you will be charged €50 accordingly.

After the auction ends, the button Place a post bid will appear in the domain list until 11:00 PM. This will take you to the form for post bids.

Priority bid

You want to increase the chances of success in domain registration after winning an auction? The higher the bid of a domain, the more of the limited resources can be spent on the registration.

After the auction ends, the button Increase success rate will appear in the auction history for all domains with the Catching status. This will take you to the priority bid form. The bid is a minimum bid, which means that this bid will also be charged to you in case of a successful registration.

The invoice will be generated automatically after your payment has been received and recorded. This usually takes one working day after the receipt of your payment. You will receive the invoice by email once and will be able to download it at any time in your account at "Account > Bills".

In order to enable the transfer of a domain to another registrar, the new registrar will require a so-called auth code (also called AuthInfo-Code) from the current registrar. This auth code acts as a password for the domain. You will receive the auth code from us by email after we have processed your payment. Afterwards you can view the code by going to your "Account > Bills" at any time. Simply click on the button +.

As described in our terms and conditions, you have to settle any invoices within 14 days after the domain registration at the latest. Otherwise, there will be an additional fee of €5 per domain and started calendar month.

The number in the box indicates that an invoice has not been settled yet. Once the invoice has been paid for, the little box will disappear and only reappear in case there is another open invoice.

The small red box with the number indicates that you were outbid at e. g. two auctions. The intended result is that you may bid again or leave it to another bidder.

In the auction history, you can see the progress of your bidding for each auction you participate in. In addition, the bids of other auction participants can be viewed, although the actual bid is not always displayed. Either the exact bid is displayed or a price that was exceeded by the bid (such as >= €30). This price can e.g. the minimum price or the current bid. The icon signals that all other auction participants cannot see your exact bid, but only the current bid of the auction.

In order to ensure anonymity, the opponents of the auction are not given their names, but rather in an encrypted spelling (such as **** fe1b). The encryption changes dynamically with each domain or auction. Thus, it cannot be traced back to a specific customer or recognized in another auction.

If a domain has a minimum price, this is shown with an orange background. If you are the highest bidder, your highest bid will be highlighted in green in the list. Otherwise, if you are not the highest bidder, the highest bid of the highest bidder will be highlighted in red.