I read earlier this week that BrandBucket - a popular domain marketplace for brandable domain names has appointed a new Managing Director - Michael Krell. Michael has been the brand ambassador for BrandBucket.com since last year and is also the owner of MediaPlow.com, a marketplace for Michael's own domain portfolio.
I thought it would be interesting to hear Michael's point of view on a number of topics surrounding brandable domain names, and the future of domains. Here is a brief interview conducted with Michael. Enjoy.
NamePros: Congratulations on becoming the new Managing Director of BrandBucket. For some of our readers who may not have heard of your service, could you tell us about BrandBucket?
Michael: Thank you! It is very exciting!
BrandBucket is the largest and most successful online resource for finding unique brandable business names with a domain name at an affordable price. Listed names are curated and handpicked by linguist experts and listed for sale along with a logo as a ready-to-use brand. BrandBucket acts as an escrow agent between the name seller and the buyer, making the entire purchase an easy and secure process for both parties.
NamePros: How big is the BrandBucket marketplace now?
Michael: Right now there are about 12,500 domains listed on BrandBucket with hundreds going live each week.
NamePros: What is the average sales price at BrandBucket?
Michael: In the last 18 months the average sales price right around $2700. The majority of our sales are in that $2K range, with some larger 5-figure and 6-figure upping our average.
NamePros: What makes a good brandable domain?
Michael: We can look at this a couple of ways. At a high level it is pretty simple. A good brandable is a name that an entrepreneur wants to call his or her company. Is a name easy to spell and pronounce? Does it pass the radio test? Is it relatively short? Many of BrandBucket’s names are geared toward the tech industry, so it is good to keep up-to-date with the latest funded startups and the tech community in general to get an idea of the some of the business names out there.
NamePros: Which type of domain names sell the best at BrandBucket?
Michael: It really runs the gamut. I specialize in two-word and keyword-centric brandables and I have had great success in selling those through the years. Invented brandables are the foundation of how Margot built BrandBucket, and their sales are strong as well. We have also sold a handful of 4L .coms over the last week or two.
NamePros: What is the most famous domain name sold through BrandBucket?
Michael: The most famous name is probably Envato.com. I think every single designer/developer has been to their network of sites. We also just sold R E S P O N S I V E . c o m [sic] a week or two ago which was a six-figure sale.
NamePros: What is the current state of the brandable domain space?
Michael: I am very bullish about the brandable domain space. In talking with entrepreneurs, VCs and incubators, more startups are realizing that they need to allocate funds to purchase a name. I’ve seen a lot less negativity in the domain space from potential buyers because they are starting to realize that having a strong domain name is vital for their company.
From the wholesale side, you can definitely see prices on certain names going for 10x or 50x more than they were going 2-3 years ago. Certain names that you could purchase on GoDaddy closeouts are selling for $500. Some of this is warranted, but bankroll management is very important in the brandable domain space because it’s difficult to do outbound sales; the majority of the sales are going to be passive. That means you will go through ebbs and flows, and you need to spend accordingly. If you are just starting out or don’t have at least $10k to spend, I would recommend you stay away from those higher priced brandables in the auctions and drops, and focus on the lower price names that can net you a huge ROI. Once you get a few sales under your belt you can slowly build up your inventory.
NamePros: With you as the new Managing Director, what can BrandBucket users expect from the company going forward?
Michael: My goals are pretty simple. I want to continue to build a supportive community of domainers and increase sales. I will be leading efforts to be much more engaged with our community by sharing my time and advice via blog, video chat, Skype, and email. We are also streamlining systems to make submission/approval/publishing as smooth as possible.
From the customer side, we will continue our online and offline marketing efforts to the startup and VC community.
NamePros: What is the future of the brandable domain name?
Michael: As long as people are starting businesses, brandables will be selling. Like I said previously, as more entrepreneurs realize that spending a couple thousand on a nice name is the cost of doing of business, sales will continue to rise.
NamePros: Finally, what is your own personal portfolio of domain names like? Is it mainly brandable domains, or have you invested in other areas and/or extensions?
Michael: I would say that 98% of my portfolio is brandable domains and 99.5% are .coms. I personally can’t justify investing in other extensions because of the money that can be made with .com.
Thanks to @michaeljkrell for taking the time to answer our questions, and thanks for giving us some great insights into the brandable domain market. If you want to take a look at the BrandBucket marketplace, you can visit www.brandbucket.com.
I thought it would be interesting to hear Michael's point of view on a number of topics surrounding brandable domain names, and the future of domains. Here is a brief interview conducted with Michael. Enjoy.
NamePros: Congratulations on becoming the new Managing Director of BrandBucket. For some of our readers who may not have heard of your service, could you tell us about BrandBucket?
Michael: Thank you! It is very exciting!
BrandBucket is the largest and most successful online resource for finding unique brandable business names with a domain name at an affordable price. Listed names are curated and handpicked by linguist experts and listed for sale along with a logo as a ready-to-use brand. BrandBucket acts as an escrow agent between the name seller and the buyer, making the entire purchase an easy and secure process for both parties.
NamePros: How big is the BrandBucket marketplace now?
Michael: Right now there are about 12,500 domains listed on BrandBucket with hundreds going live each week.
NamePros: What is the average sales price at BrandBucket?
Michael: In the last 18 months the average sales price right around $2700. The majority of our sales are in that $2K range, with some larger 5-figure and 6-figure upping our average.
NamePros: What makes a good brandable domain?
Michael: We can look at this a couple of ways. At a high level it is pretty simple. A good brandable is a name that an entrepreneur wants to call his or her company. Is a name easy to spell and pronounce? Does it pass the radio test? Is it relatively short? Many of BrandBucket’s names are geared toward the tech industry, so it is good to keep up-to-date with the latest funded startups and the tech community in general to get an idea of the some of the business names out there.
NamePros: Which type of domain names sell the best at BrandBucket?
Michael: It really runs the gamut. I specialize in two-word and keyword-centric brandables and I have had great success in selling those through the years. Invented brandables are the foundation of how Margot built BrandBucket, and their sales are strong as well. We have also sold a handful of 4L .coms over the last week or two.
NamePros: What is the most famous domain name sold through BrandBucket?
Michael: The most famous name is probably Envato.com. I think every single designer/developer has been to their network of sites. We also just sold R E S P O N S I V E . c o m [sic] a week or two ago which was a six-figure sale.
NamePros: What is the current state of the brandable domain space?
Michael: I am very bullish about the brandable domain space. In talking with entrepreneurs, VCs and incubators, more startups are realizing that they need to allocate funds to purchase a name. I’ve seen a lot less negativity in the domain space from potential buyers because they are starting to realize that having a strong domain name is vital for their company.
From the wholesale side, you can definitely see prices on certain names going for 10x or 50x more than they were going 2-3 years ago. Certain names that you could purchase on GoDaddy closeouts are selling for $500. Some of this is warranted, but bankroll management is very important in the brandable domain space because it’s difficult to do outbound sales; the majority of the sales are going to be passive. That means you will go through ebbs and flows, and you need to spend accordingly. If you are just starting out or don’t have at least $10k to spend, I would recommend you stay away from those higher priced brandables in the auctions and drops, and focus on the lower price names that can net you a huge ROI. Once you get a few sales under your belt you can slowly build up your inventory.
NamePros: With you as the new Managing Director, what can BrandBucket users expect from the company going forward?
Michael: My goals are pretty simple. I want to continue to build a supportive community of domainers and increase sales. I will be leading efforts to be much more engaged with our community by sharing my time and advice via blog, video chat, Skype, and email. We are also streamlining systems to make submission/approval/publishing as smooth as possible.
From the customer side, we will continue our online and offline marketing efforts to the startup and VC community.
NamePros: What is the future of the brandable domain name?
Michael: As long as people are starting businesses, brandables will be selling. Like I said previously, as more entrepreneurs realize that spending a couple thousand on a nice name is the cost of doing of business, sales will continue to rise.
NamePros: Finally, what is your own personal portfolio of domain names like? Is it mainly brandable domains, or have you invested in other areas and/or extensions?
Michael: I would say that 98% of my portfolio is brandable domains and 99.5% are .coms. I personally can’t justify investing in other extensions because of the money that can be made with .com.
Thanks to @michaeljkrell for taking the time to answer our questions, and thanks for giving us some great insights into the brandable domain market. If you want to take a look at the BrandBucket marketplace, you can visit www.brandbucket.com.
