FAQ

To participate in an auction, you need to register in the Auction System (https://aukcie.sk-nic.sk/).

If the payment was made to a different account belonging to SK-NIC, you need to contact the support team to request a return of the incorrect payment. You must provide proof of the payment along with your return request.

The payment needs to be correctly processed afterwards. Contact details of the support team as well as payment information are published on the SK-NIC website under the Contact section.

If the payment was made to an account not belonging to SK-NIC, this matter must be resolved with your bank.

After the auction end, the auction winner will be notified and requested to pay the corresponding fee, which is equal to the winning bid amount. By completing the payment, the winner secures the right to register the won 1-2-3 Domain. SK-NIC will then send information email including next steps details.

The Auction System is currently designated for 1-, 2-, and 3-character .sk domains whose registration has been restricted until now (see the List of 1-2-3 .sk Auctioned Domains). It is not yet possible to open auction for your own domain.

Released 1-2-3 Domains are all domains listed in Appendix 1 of the Conditions. These domains are released through auctions, via the SK-NIC Auction System.
Other .sk domains consisting of 1-, 2-, or longer character strings not included in Appendix 1 of the Conditions are not released in this way.

The release of a 1-2-3 Domain means obtaining the right to register it under the Conditions, but not the actual registration. The person with the right obtained under the Conditions must still complete the registration within the time specified in the Conditions.

The successful release of a 1-2-3 Domain refers to the completion of the mentioned domain’s registration

In cases of violations or non-compliance with the Conditions, SK-NIC reserves the right to terminate the release process of 1-2-3 Domains at any time.

For more details, we recommend reviewing the Conditions.

The minimum bid increment depends on the starting price of the auction (see Why can the minimum bid increment be different in auctions?). It represents the smallest allowable difference from the current auction price.

There is no fixed maximum bid increment for any individual auction; it is entirely up to the participant’s decision.

Example:
If the current auction price is €100 and the minimum bid increment is €5, it is not possible to bid €101, €102, €103, or €104. The lowest possible bid is €105, but you can, of course, bid more, such as €200.

No, it is not possible to withdraw from an auction before it ends. If you want to participate in another auction, you must have a separate auction guarantee available for that auction.

The auction guarantee is reserved from your account credit in the Auction System.
If you do not have sufficient credit in the Auction System, you can increase it using the payment gateway in the system.

Domain auctions during the auction release phase run for 7 calendar days. One can participate in them during this period.

However, the auction end time may change in case of so-called last-minute bid.

For more details on the extension of the auction end, see (Can the auction end time change?)

For more details, we recommend reading the Conditions, clause 5.

Yes. The auction end time may change in case of so-called last-minute bid.

If a bid is placed in the last 10 minutes (including bids via the Guard Agent), the auction time duration will be extended by 10 minutes. This can be repeated up to a maximum limit of 24 hours (1440 minutes). After reaching the limit, further extension is no longer possible.

Example: Last 7 minutes remain until the end of the auction and someone places a bid. The auction end time will be extended by 10 minutes. It will be reflected as 17 minutes left until the auction end.

Yes. However, it is important to note that for the registration to be processed correctly, part of the process must involve SK-NIC (the winner will be informed about the procedure after the payment).

The only exception would be if a special legal procedure, such as a court order or the termination of a registrar’s activity, affects the process.

The minimum bid increment depends on the starting price of the auction, as follows:

Up to €49: minimum bid increment is €1
€50 – €249: minimum bid increment is €5
€250 – €499: minimum bid increment is €10
€500 – €999: minimum bid increment is €20
€1000 and above: minimum bid increment is €50

To place bids in an auction, you need to have at least the amount required for the auction guuarantee (for released 1-2-3 domains, this is €500).

If the bid amount exceeds the guarantee, the winner will need to pay the remaining fee after the auction end.

No. The registrant who registers the domain and the auction winner must have identical details. However, this does not prevent a later transfer of the domain to another registrant.

Note: This does not violate the condition prohibiting proxy ownership on the registrar’s side if the winner of the domain is the registrar, but the transfer must occur within a reasonable time.

The domain registration will be handled by SK-NIC a.s., and the registrar is only required to provide consent for the registration (a confirmation from the primary e-mail address is sufficient).

The registrar will then see the domain registration on its invoice, just like with a standard .sk domain registration.

Yes, but only afterwards.
The registrant who registers the domain and the auction winner must have identical details. However, this does not prevent a later transfer to another domain registrant.

Note: This does not violate the condition prohibiting proxy ownership by the registrar, but the transfer must occur within a reasonable time.

A registrar can enter into such an agreement with a third party, but if it wins the auction, the domain can only be registered under the details identical to the winner (in this case, the domain registrar).

The transfer to a third party can only occur afterwards.

The registrar also acknowledges that all fees and any penalties related to the auction must be paid by it, not the third party.

An auction participant can only be a person who qualifies as a User under the Terms & Conditions.

According to section 2.1 of the Terms & Conditions, a User can be a natural or legal person who has a delivery address (for receiving legal communication in writing) in one of the member states of the European Union, a country in the European Economic Area, a member state of the European Free Trade Association, or the United Kingdom.

Additionally, the auction winner and the domain registrant must have identical details.

This means that an auction participant must meet the conditions mentioned above to qualify as a User under the Terms & Conditions.

SK-NIC is not responsible for violations of a trademark, brand, name, or company rights arising from the registration or use of a 1-2-3 Domain.

If the domain is in the auction release phase, we recommend addressing the situation through the ADR Center (a paid out-of-court procedure – https://adr.eisionline.org/en/) or through the court. After the relevant authority’s decision, SK-NIC may cancel the auction.

In order for trademark owners to exercise the priority right to register 1-, 2- and 3-character domains, the trademark must be registered in at least one of the following registers:

Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic (ÚPV SR) – https://www.indprop.gov.sk/
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) – https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) – https://www.wipo.int/portal/en/

 

The trademark must exactly match the string of the 1-2-3 Domain (uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as font style, are not differentiated for this purpose), and it may only include a space as a special character (see example below).

Example:

A holder of the trademark “CZ,” “cz,” or “C Z” may apply for the priority right to the domain “cz.sk.” However, a holder of the trademark “C&Z” or “C-Z” cannot apply for the priority right to the domain “cz.sk.”

 

All payments during the release process under the Conditions are made in Euro. SK-NIC adds VAT to the payments made under these Conditions, according to the applicable tax laws.

SK-NIC issues invoices for auction payments based on the legal regulations applying in the Slovak Republic.

The auction guarantee is used to address situations that could disrupt the proper course of the auction through fictitious bids.

The auction guarantee is the amount that must be available in your account credit in the Auction System, and it is ‘frozen’ once you enter the auction (a separate guarantee is required for each auction).

If you win the auction, the deposit will be directly deducted from the winning amount. If you are unsuccessful, the deposit will be refunded to your account as credit.

The final amount to be paid includes VAT, while the auction bid prices are listed without VAT.

The final amount to be paid may also be lower or even zero compared to the winning amount as the auction gurantee deduction is applied first to cover the payment.

For international payments, you need to include the variable symbol in the ‘payment reference’ section in the format VS/SS/KS (for example, if the variable symbol should be 1000, you should enter VS1000/SS/KS in the payment reference section). If you do not know the required variable symbol, please contact the support team (see Contact).

Increasing the credit in the auction system is accounted for as a financial deposit (not a financial advance payment). This deposit is not tied to the delivery of specific services, as it is not possible to determine its exact purpose at the time the funds are credited. The financial deposit can be used to cover various claims/liabilities.

No tax document is issued for the financial deposit. An invoice (tax document) is issued only after the purchase (i.e., after the auction payment) of specific goods/services.

Here is an example of how to account for it (based on the Slovak law):

Payment of the financial deposit – bank account: 315/221
Invoice received for provided services: 518/321 or 343/321
Use of the financial deposit for payment: 321/315