BrandBucket Experience

[xtremex]

hello

I am new to BrandBucket. Before getting my hands on this

I wish to experience about brandbucket from my fellow members


Thanks

 

[JimJammy]

Congratulations on your sale Doron

 

[equity78]

I had a BB sale confirmed this week (still in escrow). It's the very first BB sale this year for me out of a portfolio of 111 names listed so the platform has been performing pretty poorly for me so far this year. Especially compared to 2015 when I had 9 sales with BB. Fwiw, I did stopped listing new names with BB and similar marketplaces such as BR in November.

Congrats

 

[Recons.Com]

Another real life example of companies using double letters in strong dictionary words is Automattic.com, the parent company of WordPress.

The name automattic has been registered for over 12 years. Good pickup btw.

Or, it is not doubling the letter, but rather merging two words Automation+Attic.

attic
play
noun at·tic \ˈa-tik\
Popularity: Bottom 40% of words
Simple Definition of attic

• : a room or space that is just below the roof of a building and that is often used to store things
  

 

[Recons.Com]

I had a BB sale confirmed this week (still in escrow). It's the very first BB sale this year for me out of a portfolio of 111 names listed so the platform has been performing pretty poorly for me so far this year. Especially compared to 2015 when I had 9 sales with BB. Fwiw, I did stopped listing new names with BB and similar marketplaces such as BR in November.

Wow! That is awful! From about 8% sale ratio to about 2%.

Interestingly, Margot admitted that she hasn't added new names for long time and she has also ratio of around 2%.

But 2% stat is really sad for a "leading marketplace" and is not too far off from their average for April (2.4% adjusted for MK portfolio).

 

[Galleshem]

Or, it is not doubling the letter, but rather merging two words Automation+Attic.

attic
play
noun at·tic \ˈa-tik\
Popularity: Bottom 40% of words
Simple Definition of attic

• : a room or space that is just below the roof of a building and that is often used to store things

It is probably their reason to chose this name.

I think I've personally never came across a business name with a double letter on the middle.

I think a double letter works good sometimes at the end, but it also depends on the keyword and the letter than is doubled.

In this category of names, I personally own N/o/i/s/y/y.com, S/m/o/o/t/h/h.com and S/t/r/e/n/g/t/h/h.com (all approved by BB), I can see companies branding themselves around these names.

IMO, even with strong keywords like stacck, starrt, sparrk, this doesn't really work. It seems BB really like to accept those, but I don't think they're selling well at all, and I really don't think these are good brand choices for start ups.

 

[Recons.Com]

Well, I personally don't get h after th. It completely does not make sense, as it is not the same sound. Doubling of the last would be thth...

 

[svede]

Well, I personally don't get h after th. It completely does not make sense, as it is not the same sound. Doubling of the last would be thth...

To me doubling the "h" looks more correct... doubling the "th" looks horrible with "thth" in my opinion... the doubling isn't so much about the "sound" but the look IMHO... That being said, I was looking at one such domain the other day and held off because I wasn't sure I liked the "thh" overall... but I think S/t/r/e/n/g/t/h/h has a strong enough keyword to make it good.

 

[Recons.Com]

To me doubling the "h" looks more correct... doubling the "th" looks horrible with "thth" in my opinion... the doubling isn't so much about the "sound" but the looking IMHO... That being said, I was looking at one such domain the other day and held off because I wasn't sure I liked the "thh" overall... but I think S/t/r/e/n/g/t/h/h has a strong enough keyword to make it good.

To me none of those should happen. Neither thth nor thh looks good or ok. THH is ðh
Not counting that BB is ok, show a me a proven business with a name with that pattern (thh, shh, chh in the end)

 

[svede]

To me none of those should happen. Neither thth nor thh looks good or ok. THH is ðh
Not counting that BB is ok, show a me a proven business with a name with that pattern (thh, shh, chh in the end)

Not saying its great - I don't think it is, but I think "thth" is much worse is all. The only reason I like "S/t/r/e/n/g/t/h/h" is because the keyword (and ones similar to it) is so strong in brands (no pun intended).

As for your last question, I would have said the same thing prior to fiverr.com becoming a major business (I still cringe at it sometimes). While you can argue that "err" looks nicer than "thh" (and I agree), just because a business doesn't currently use it doesn't mean it can't and won't... Originality is becoming harder and harder in the web world and it is crucial to branding. I could easily see a company being willing to "look different" to gain brand awareness and attention... just my 0.02...

EDIT: Just wanted to add that I think it is smart for BB to accept some of these alternative solutions because it gives their clients more options... they aren't complete junk and someone may want it because of the above reasons I gave..

 

[Recons.Com]

Not saying its great - I don't think it is, but I think "thth" is much worse is all. The only reason I like "S/t/r/e/n/g/t/h/h" is because the keyword (and ones similar to it) is so strong in brands (no pun intended).

As for your last question, I would have said the same thing prior to fiverr.com becoming a major business (I still cringe at it sometimes). While you can argue that "err" looks nicer than "thh" (and I agree), just because a business doesn't currently use it doesn't mean it can't and won't work for one. Originality is becoming harder and harder in the web world and it is crucial to branding. I could easily see a company being willing to "look different" to gain brand awareness and attention... just my 0.02...

Doubling one sound letter in the end without changing pronunciation or creating a doubt how to pronounce it, is great way of creating unique trademarkable name.

Fiverr is fantastic name, because there is only one way to pronounce it, based on word fiver. I would start business on any of these: stayy, restt, hotell, startt, newss, scann, forumm, postt, cardd, buyy, domainn, blogg etc.

 

[svede]

Doubling one sound letter in the end without changing pronunciation or creating a doubt how to pronounce it, is great way of creating unique trademarkable name.

Fiverr is fantastic name, because there is only one way to pronounce it, based on word fiver. I would start business on any of these: stayy, restt, hotell, startt, newss, scann, forumm, postt, cardd, buyy, domainn, blogg etc.

In your opinion. The thing with brandables is there are MANY different tastes and opinions out there. All that matters is what the enduser wants and buys. As brandable domain resellers we need to learn to adapt and find as many of these styles to allow us to have our eggs in multiple baskets. I am better at certain types of brandable style names, but I still grab some of the ones I have more difficulty with because options is what is going to sell, not insisting on a couple styles as being correct... look at how much the marketing/brand world has completely changed in the last 20 - no even the last 10 years for an example........

 

[Recons.Com]

Right. In my opinion. Pretty much everything I write is in my opinion. I assume you write an objective and universal truth only )))

In case you noticed, I also made couple of arguments to support my opinion ) Way to ignore those though )

 

[svede]

Right. In my opinion. Pretty much everything I write is in my opinion. I assume you write an objective and universal truth only )))

In case you noticed, I also made couple of arguments to support my opinion ) Way to ignore those though )

I wasn't claiming you weren't speaking from your opinion. I also didn't ignore your arguments. But brandables are more subjective than objective. It doesn't mean there isn't any objectivity, but brands constantly show "marketing studies" to be wrong... You say Fiverr is an amazing domain. Another person argues the radio test - fiverr fails that completely. So who is right? The answer? They BOTH are. Fiverr is a very successful brand. But the guy who cares about the radio test found an enduser that cared about that. Endusers are humans just like us and their tastes are just as varied. You may not like S/t/r/e/n/g/t/h/h but can you honestly say there isn't an entrepreneur that won't? Are you seriously going to argue "it hasn't been done before" as why it won't work? The startup world is ALL ABOUT being creative and thinking OUTSIDE the box and doing something NEW that has never been done before. Many startups want brands that display that. It is amazing how many domains I thought were mediocre end up having some of the most interest - because they are DIFFERENT.

I wasn't being argumentative. Just trying to have a discussion and broaden our thoughts so that we don't end up closed-minded about domains that sell. I'm sorry that you already know everything about brandable domains and aren't interested in hearing other OPINIONS.

 

[Recons.Com]

Fiverr does not fail radio test. You just need to say "that is fiverr with double r".

Plenti does lots of radio ads with "that is plenti with i" line.

 

[svede]

Fiverr does not fail radio test. You just need to say "that is fiverr with double r".

Plenti does lots of radio ads with "that is plenti with i" line.

It does fail the radio test. A lot of people add that as an exception to it (including myself and BB's Margot does - if you can describe in one sentence), but that is NOT the radio test.

EDIT: Plenti also fails the strict radio test as well. But your examples are proving my point...

 

[Recons.Com]

It does fail the radio test. A lot of people add that as an exception to it (including myself and BB's Margot does - if you can describe in one sentence), but that is NOT the radio test.

EDIT: Plenti also fails the strict radio test as well. But your examples are proving my point...

Cool. You win.

 

[GoKaizen]

I had a BB sale confirmed this week (still in escrow). It's the very first BB sale this year for me out of a portfolio of 111 names listed so the platform has been performing pretty poorly for me so far this year. Especially compared to 2015 when I had 9 sales with BB. Fwiw, I did stopped listing new names with BB and similar marketplaces such as BR in November.

Thanks, this makes me rethink putting accepted names on there.

Wow! That is awful! From about 8% sale ratio to about 2%.

Interestingly, Margot admitted that she hasn't added new names for long time and she has also ratio of around 2%.

But 2% stat is really sad for a "leading marketplace" and is not too far off from their average for April (2.4% adjusted for MK portfolio).

I agree. If BB takes $10 and 30% commission they must have a higher sales rate. Especially when BB is exclusive and you can't list anywhere else.

 

[Recons.Com]

Thanks, this makes me rethink putting accepted names on there.



I agree. If BB takes $10 and 30% commission they must have a higher sales rate. Especially when BB is exclusive and you can't list anywhere else.

For most names, it is actually 35% commission, as BB puts the whole logo cost on you.

 

[GoKaizen]

For most names, it is actually 35% commission, as BB puts the whole logo cost on you.

Excellent point!

 

[Recons.Com]

Anyone knows how staff picks are determined for the "featured name" listing?

https://www.brandbucket.com/staff-pick-business-names

There are 4638 names there out of almost 30,000 names. So, every 7-8 name makes the list.

It would be interesting to know the ratio for insiders and how being in "featured" category affects the chances of being sold.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

People buy a domain based on the name. The logo is just an indication of what it could look like.

For most names, it is actually 35% commission, as BB puts the whole logo cost on you.

This is what I have a hard time wrapping my head around.

If the logo is just an indication of what it could look like, then why does BB put the whole logo cost on you? Yes, other companies use the same formula, but does that make it right? When you break it down here's what's happening:

Buy from BB's exclusive marketplace. BB will take 30%+ of the total sale for their advertising, operating costs, and escrow services. You may have found the domain from their search, which is powered by the upfront fee's from which their sellers are required to pay to have their domain listed categorically with searchable tags . If you found the domain on your own through the URL itself, then you'll find a description paid for by their sellers, and a logo that their sellers will be required to purchase if you decide to buy the domain. You will have no way of knowing if their seller seller paid $100 or $500 for the logo to be designed. You don't even have to use the logo if you don't want to, the seller is obligated to buy your logo regardless if you want it or not.

If the domain sells, the seller will be forced to buy the concept logo BrandBucket provided as a visual aid intended to help sell the domain. Why is the seller required to buy the concept logo if BrandBucket was the one who promised concept logo rights to the buyer with their purchase? What if they don't want the logo? Why do we still have to pay for it after the purchase price? I don't see any reason why the logo fee should come from the seller when it's BrandBucket making and approving the logo. If I'm going to be forced to buy my buyer a $100-$500 logo after the domain sells, why do I have to pay for BB's concept logo that took 10 minutes to make? If this is the case, at the very least, I should be satisfied with the concept logo being used to sell my domain over other competing domains with logo's. BB accepts similar domains, and it's not fair for a buyer to examplee.com over eexample.com simply because one has a better concept logo.

If we looked at this like an NBA trade: Gains / Losses

Buyer: 100% total sale | Domain | Proof of concept logo
Seller: 70% total sale | Domain | $10 (to BB) | $100-$500 (proof of concept logo)
BrandBucket: 30% of total sale | $10 (from seller)

How do we account for value:: Seller / Marketplace

• Domain investment ie renewals / purchase price vs Operating cost ie staff, advertising, etc
• Buyers that find your domain via YOUR type in traffic / marketing vs Buyers that find your domain through BrandBucket's search and their marketing

 

[equity78]

This is what I have a hard time wrapping my head around.

If the logo is just an indication of what it could look like, then why does BB put the whole logo cost on you?

Yes, other companies use the same formula, but does that make it right? When you break it down here's what's happening:

Buy from BB's exclusive marketplace. BB will take 30%+ of the total sale for their advertising, operating costs, and escrow services. You may have found the domain from their search, which is powered by the upfront fee's from which their sellers are required to pay to have their domain listed categorically with searchable tags . If you found the domain on your own through the URL itself, then you'll find a description paid for by their sellers, and a logo that their sellers will be required to purchase if you decide to buy the domain. You will have no way of knowing if our seller paid $100 or $500 for the logo to be designed. You don't even have to use the logo if you don't want to, our seller is obligated to buy your logo regardless if you want it or not.

In short, if the domain sells, the seller will be forced to buy the concept logo BrandBucket provided as a visual aid intended to help sell the domain. Why is the seller required to buy the concept logo if BrandBucket was the one who promised a logo to the buyer with their purchase? What if they don't want the logo? Why do we still have to pay for it after the purchase price? I don't see any reason why the logo fee should come from the seller when it's BrandBucket making and approving the logo. If I'm going to be forced to buy my buyer a $100-$500 logo after the domain sells, why do I have to pay for BB's concept logo that took 10 minutes to make? If this is the case, at the very least, I should be satisfied with the concept logo being used to sell my domain over other domains with premium concept logos.

If we looked at this like an NBA trade: Gains / Losses

Buyer: 100% total sale | Domain | Proof of concept logo
Seller: 70% total sale | Domain | $10 (to BB) | $100-$500 (proof of concept logo)
BrandBucket: 30% of total sale | $10 (from seller)

How do we account for value:: Seller / Marketplace

• Domain investment ie renewals / purchase price vs Operating cost ie staff, advertising, etc
• Buyers that find your domain via YOUR type in traffic / marketing vs buyers that find your domain through BrandBucket's search and their marketing

I get what you are saying and you laid it out well, I think the one point is that you are not buying the logo for your buyer, you are compensating the logo designer
who may have designed it on spec 3 years ago.

Now there is a case to be made. "Hey BrandBucket you get 30% you can tip the designer"

Look I just think people either have to say I trust Margot and Michael and I believe they are earning their keep, or this is nonsense $10 + 30% + Logo fee + Exclusivity.

They are transparent about all their fees and demands, whether a domain owner should enter into a contract with them is an individual decision.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

you are compensating the logo designer who may have designed it on spec 3 years ago.

What do you mean by, on spec?

 

[equity78]

What do you mean by, on spec?

Done without compensation in the hopes of remuneration somewhere down the line.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Done without compensation in the hopes of remuneration somewhere down the line.

Thank you for clarifying this. I would appreciate it if somebody could finally set the record straight on how BrandBucket designers are compensated. I have had this request ignored several times.

I have heard variations of the following from unofficial sources:

Designers are given the option to be paid:
(a) small payment upfront + no bonus
(b) no upfront payment + bonus
(c) small fee + bonus

I think it's important for us to know. Here's why:

if (a) then what is the small upfront payment? This is essentially a discounted listing fee with no logo fee if we were a designer/seller. Does BB use a % of my upfront fee to pay the designer an upfront fee and then pocket the logo bonus I paid for?

If (b) then the benefit is to the skill of the designer. It wouldn't help me as a volume seller. I don't mind rewarding the designer for their time. My problem is with the logos that don't take much time. This rewards designers who spend 1 hour on a design just as much as it rewards designers who spend 5 minutes.

If (c) then the designer is equally benefited to those seller/desingers. If I submitted my own logo's in (a) I would make a small fee, by not having to pay a small upfront fee and sold bonus to BB designers. This fee is used to pay designers (c). The designer is now incentivized to making more logos. The more logo's they design, the more upfront money they receive, and the better their chances are at receiving a reward fee. If designers understand it's the domain that sells, not the concept logo, what's incentivizing them do design better logo's over more logos?


PS - I miss the voting system. IMO BB took a turn for the worse when they went away with it. When listing fee's were free for voters, it was hard to have an issue with the free upfront concept logo's. This is a matter of wanting to get what we paid for and/or cutting our margins to be beneficial to both parties. If I have 1,000 domains approved for BrandBucket, I have to pay $9,000 up front in listing fee's + $9,000/year + forward my domains + sell exclusively on BB + 30% + additional fee's for a concept logo they promised to their buyer?