BrandBucket VS BrandRoot - Which one do you think is better?

[Justin Matmor]

The best way to find out if BR or BB are a good playform to sell your domains, approach them as an end user and see how quickly they respond, how hard they try to sell you a domain, and whether or not they are professional.

 

[Keith DeBoer]

I found the post where BR states that their sell through is higher than BB's 4% annualized for that month

So let me get this straight.

1) The owner of BRoot made a comment on a domaining forum and claimed that the sell through rate for his marketplace is 4%. The context of the comment is the owner is trying to persuade BBucket sellers to switch to his marketplace. That's the data report?

2) Meanwhile, BBucket sends out a nationwide press release and gives actual numbers for its revenue and sales for 2015. This information is picked up and published in industry blogs in which BBucket specifies the exact number of domains it sold in 2015. No other marketplace has ever released such data or shown such transparency. Sources: TLD, DNgeek, and DomainName.

If you disagree please give me the links to the sales data published by BRoot and other brandable market places.

 

[JimJammy]

I'd like the data on how many names the owner of BR has too please.

 

[Recons.Com]

So let me get this straight.

1) The owner of BRoot made a comment on a domaining forum and claimed that the sell through rate for his marketplace is 4%. The context of the comment is the owner is trying to persuade BBucket sellers to switch to his marketplace. That's the data report?

2) Meanwhile, BBucket sends out a nationwide press release and gives actual numbers for its revenue and sales for 2015. This information is picked up and published in industry blogs in which BBucket specifies the exact number of domains it sold in 2015. No other marketplace has ever released such data or shown such transparency. Sources: TLD, DNgeek, and DomainName.

If you disagree please give me the links to the sales data published by BRoot and other brandable market places.

BR stated that its sell through is BETTER than 4% that was number for BB for a specific month, not EQUAL.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

I'd like the data on how many names the owner of BR has too please.

An important question to ask. A lot of people have been asking what's the limit for MK domains on BB, and the general consensus since he buys keyword domains that sell themselves is, the sky is the limit. Margot BB's owner, aka Boxador, even added another few hundred domains this past week if I'm not mistaken. MK has never answered when he would stop devaluing our brandable investments by continually hyping up sales and enticing other hopeful sellers to be like him but only via his bosses corrupt pay to play system.

Who knows more about BrandRoot paying your renewal fees? Doesn't this say, thanks for trying, we're sorry we didn't sell your domain in it's first year with BrandRoot.. Allow us to pay your renewal fee to compensate you for your initial listing fee? Does anyone have experience with this new policy? If so, please share.

 

[JimJammy]

They flip a coin.

Or they choose based on their interpretation of quality or what is most likely to sell.

I hope they never go down the same route as BR where you have to pay to be featured on top of their listing fees.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

I hope they never go down the same route as BR where you have to pay to be featured on top of their listing fees.

I would like to respond to this in the BrandBucket vs BrandRoot thread. I have asked the mods to move your post, so I can respond as to why I believe BrandRoot, like other marketplaces, have a paid featured section.

Thank you for understanding.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/brandbucket-vs-brandroot-which-one-do-you-think-is-better.946436/

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Or they choose based on their interpretation of quality or what is most likely to sell.

I hope they never go down the same route as BR where you have to pay to be featured on top of their listing fees.

I'd rather know I can pay for a premium listing than have no say on how and when my domains are approved for publishing. BB has several steps to their publishing process, the final being approving the logo and domain for publication. There have been many examples of @michaeljkrell owning a disproportionate enough of the home page compared to his % of owned domains. Why weekend publishing should be looked into? Several times, I have found BB doesn't update their home page domains on weekends. These domains receive more front page advertising then others. Would you agree that front page advertising is premium real estate space?

I know we're discussing the front page, and not logo's but since the publishing process has been brought up. Let me say that because BrandRoot doesn't have 29,000+ domains, they can afford to worry about the details. For instance, BrandRoot cares about logo quality ie they have reasonable measures to fix logos you're not satisfied with. Would you not say it's reasonable for BrandBucket to send the final review for publication to the domain owner? Doing such allows the listing to be published to the domain owners satisfaction, rather to the satisfaction of the director, or other insiders who happen to be your biggest competitor if you reduce yourself to only one brandable marketplace

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

I would say BB because they show professionalism. I submitted many domains to BR and I never received even a rejection email. I reached out to their rep her and never received replies too so professionalism is for me 90% of a company's image and success.

I stopped wasting my time with them after so many times of not replying. I am happy to submit 100 domains and get them rejected but to completely ignore someone even through PMs on NP is well.... you know.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

I would say BB because they show professionalism. I submitted many domains to BR and I never received even a rejection email. I reached out to their rep her and never received replies too so professionalism is for me 90% of a company's image and success.

I stopped wasting my time with them after so many times of not replying. I am happy to submit 100 domains and get them rejected but to completely ignore someone even through PMs on NP is well.... you know.

I'm sorry to hear about your BrandRoot experience, and thank you for sharing so they can now gain a greater understanding of some concerns. This is not to say they don't know it already, but feedback is feedback.

I would just hate for you to only have NamePros as a place for your rejects. I hope you list them with other marketplaces. It's a shame when people are offended to a point of believing there are no other enduser brandable marketplace options besides BrandBucket or NamePros.

NamePros is a great marketplace that I love as a reseller, but it is not my market for brandable endusers, unless of course they are brandbucket approved. I, for one can no longer in good conscious, submit my domains for brandbucket approval simply to allow those reduced to one brandable marketplace further blindly invest into marketplace listing fee's.

IMO, BrandBucket has a major policy issue that needs to be addressed. Size of Marketplace Vs Size of Free Listing Fees. BrandRoot's marketplace is still of manageable size, and it appears they are making steps to grow at a respectable rate in commensurate with their initial investors domain purchases and listing fee's.

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

I'm sorry to hear about your BrandRoot experience, and thank you for sharing so they can now gain a greater understanding of some concerns. This is not to say they don't know it already, but feedback is feedback.

I would just hate for you to only have NamePros as a place for your rejects. I hope you list them with other marketplaces. It's a shame when people are offended to a point of believing there are no other enduser brandable marketplace options besides BrandBucket or NamePros.

NamePros is a great marketplace that I love as a reseller, but it is not my market for brandable endusers, unless of course they are brandbucket approved. I, for one can no longer in good conscious, submit my domains for brandbucket approval simply to allow those reduced to one brandable marketplace further blindly invest into marketplace listing fee's.

IMO, BrandBucket has a major policy issue that needs to be addressed. Size of Marketplace Vs Size of Free Listing Fees. BrandRoot's marketplace is still of manageable size, and it appears they are making steps to grow at a respectable rate in commensurate with their initial investors domain purchases and listing fee's.

Thank you. Something is wrong with them I am sure cause such behavior is an acceptable in any business.

I never listed or sold any BB rejected domains on NP though I receive offers for some they rejected and I plan to actually make a site for my domains ...brandable ones which I have some and I can design logos on my own.


I always believe there are buyers and just because some marketplace rejected then it doesnt mean it is hopeless.

Getting back to the thread question, again I would say BB is way way ahead of BR just looking at the way their staff are conducting whether it is through email or skype.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

It's all very misleading...

This is my point, and concern.

the BrandRoot Mob (who are not members of BrandBucket) spend all of their time in this thread badmouthing BrandBucket instead of in their own thread posting all of their sales.

Something smells fishy to me...

An old fisherman saying, Those who fish, usually come home smelling like fish. IMO, the brandroot mob, as you call it, are people tired of watching a favored system take advantage of new investors who buy into the fact that a brandable domain is worth marketplace annual sales rate X suggested bb value. I say favored because, to me, and others, it doesn't seem like it's currently a fair system.

Maybe, there's more to it, but the way I see it, BrandRoot sells brandbucket rejected domains for X,XXX all the time. Those who have BR accounts, can easily buy BB reject domains for under market value, if they feel the domain is brandable, and list them with BR if approved.

Some are trying to inform the community, while others try to hype markets up. IMO, we all have something to gain, and some, not all, shouldn't throw rocks when standing inside a glass house... Remember why the three little pigs didn't build their house out of glass? They know, there's always a big bad wolf potentially hiding around the corner waiting to huff, puff, and blow the house down. Sticks and straw don't make for a sturdy house. A sturdy house, or brick, should be able to withstand any huffs or puffs from any big bad wolf.

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

This is my point, and concern.



An old fisherman saying, Those who fish, usually come home smelling like fish. IMO, the brandroot mob, as you call it, are people tired of watching a favored system take advantage of new investors who buy into the fact that a brandable domain is worth marketplace annual sales rate X suggested bb value. I say favored because, to me, and others, it doesn't seem like it's currently a fair system.

Maybe, there's more to it, but the way I see it, BrandRoot sells brandbucket rejected domains for X,XXX all the time. Those who have BR accounts, can easily buy BB reject domains for under market value, if they feel the domain is brandable, and list them with BR if approved.

Some are trying to inform the community, while others try to hype markets up. IMO, we all have something to gain, and some, not all, shouldn't throw rocks when standing inside a glass house... Remember why the three little pigs didn't build their house out of glass? They know, there's always a big bad wolf potentially hiding around the corner waiting to huff, puff, and blow the house down. Sticks and straw don't make for a sturdy house. A sturdy house, or brick, should be able to withstand any huffs or puffs from any big bad wolf.

I had strong urge to dislike your post but then I consulted with my position:D

Just out of curiosity, even though I already know , why is BB unfair compared to BR ?

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

I'd like the data on how many names the owner of BR has too please.

I would like to know this too if it hasnt been already mentioned.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Just out of curiosity, even though I already know , why is BB unfair compared to BR ?

They are making strides for better exclusive marketplace standards. I have heard, though, still waiting for clarification @Brandroot:

1) Pays your renewals if you join their loyalty program

2) They have a logo designer / seller program that gives discount listing fee's of $5 + no back end logo fee.

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

They are making strides for better exclusive marketplace standards. I have heard, though, still waiting for clarification @Brandroot:

1) Pays your renewals if you join their loyalty program

2) They have a logo designer / seller program that gives discount listing fee's of $5 + no back end logo fee.

Pays my renewals? Nice

The logo designer part, do you mean if I apply as a logo designer for them I will receive discounts with my listings?

 

[Chris Hydrick]

The logo designer part, do you mean if I apply as a logo designer for them I will receive discounts with my listings?

I'm glad you asked. I don't have exact clarification on this either. I have some graphic designer friends (students) who would like to build their professional portfolio through brandable domains. What better PR is it for a young designer's career to have a start up internet company using their original logo?

@Brandroot - can you comment on this please. Thank you.

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

I'm glad you asked. I don't have exact clarification on this either. I have some graphic designer friends (students) who are would like to build their professional portfolio through brandable domains. What better PR is it for a young desinger's career to have a start up internet company using their original logo both on BR and when / if it sells and the buyer decides to use the logo?

@Brandroot - can you comment on this please. Thank you.

Yup. I am waiting for the answer too. The answer is very very important here, especially if it is a positive one .

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

To BR people

Do you even let users receive emails when they submit domains to you?

 

[Coral Cove]

Thanks @Grilled, I've also heard from others that BR has pretty short review times these days however, according to the owner, he has 250 applications that he hasn't responded to. BR should clean that up. That's not fair to domainers, especially newbies. A lot of people have soured on BR because of that. It's unfortunate.

Hi Keith, I understand your concern. We have reviewed many of these applicants but we are still not caught up. We cannot take on more sellers than we can handle. We have been steadily expanding but we also need to think in the best interest of sellers who have stuck with us from the beginning. The more we add on too quickly the more saturated our marketplace.

Brandroot is run by a little kid in his basement. The owner is a total a*hole and actually called NP users a lotta choice words (anyone recall the Namepros Nancies rant??). He's VERY immature, and I refuse to work with him ever again.

For the record, this is a disgruntled former Brandroot seller who broke our sellers agreement. We never once used inappropriate language with him and actually gave him one warning before he broke another rule and we were forced to remove him from our platform. It's not that you refuse to work with us, we refuse to work with you.

I'm also aware that the thread is a bit old, and things change with time. But BR isn't a company. It's a lone guy working in his free time. He isn't just the face of the "company" -- he IS the "company." I've worked with him once, and he called me every bad word imaginable... even after I stuck up & defended BR many times in the past before then. He may have apologized, but I've still no respect for him. And I'll never do business with him again.

We are an LLC operating with 2 employees out of Hawaii and have several independent contractors that we pay monthly. I (Michael Rader) primarily manage sales and the overall operation of the company. We also have two PHD holders (one of which you may have met at Namescon with myself) who work directly with us as investors/consultants. We are very much a company.

Please share screenshots of the "every bad word imaginable" that I called you. I don't ever speak this way.

My experience with BR has been positive so far.

While it is not very convenient to add names with 10 max daily limit and the site had couple of glitches along the way, the big advantage over BB is:

d) there is no possible/deemed conflict of interest with owner/manager/ambassador/etc getting better info, logos, placement etc.

To your first comment, we now have a bulk domain upload option for special account holders. Contact me if you would like me to review your account for this setup. To your comment on d)... This is essentially why we have held back from taking on any "ambassadors".

How do you know about d)? He keeps his whois private doesn't he and he has never to my knowledge shared how many domains he owns and has listed, even though he does have names listed as he has referred to it here.

The lack of average domain sale price at BR suggests I'm better off at BB.

None of my personal domains are WHOIS private. I have less than 920 names published at Brandroot, 12 of which I have sold this year (2016) so far. Our average sale price hovers around $2,000. BB's is going to be higher because they have a couple of sales in the $XXX,XXX range, whereas we do not.

Who knows more about BrandRoot paying your renewal fees? Doesn't this say, thanks for trying, we're sorry we didn't sell your domain in it's first year with BrandRoot.. Allow us to pay your renewal fee to compensate you for your initial listing fee? Does anyone have experience with this new policy? If so, please share.

We are no longer offering this incentive at this time because of the lack of interest/need. The response to this was mostly negative and we deemed it not worth the time to develop. We are however working on other incentives for our sellers, like Brandlytics and a NameScore assigned to each name that determines it's placement in our search results. We want to soon do away with the newest to oldest sorting method. Instead we will be rewarding names that receive real traffic, inquiries, offers, visits, favorites, etc.

I stopped wasting my time with them after so many times of not replying. I am happy to submit 100 domains and get them rejected but to completely ignore someone even through PMs on NP is well.... you know.

Do you have an account with Brandroot?

They are making strides for better exclusive marketplace standards. I have heard, though, still waiting for clarification @Brandroot:

1) Pays your renewals if you join their loyalty program

2) They have a logo designer / seller program that gives discount listing fee's of $5 + no back end logo fee.

1) We do not have this program
2) We are extremely picky on who we accept as logo designers and currently we are not taking on any others as we do not have a current need, but yes logo designers pay only $5 for listing fees. For the same reason that we are not taking on too many sellers, we are not taking on too many designers. We want the few designers that we have to be very successful as opposed to countless designers making a sell every now and then.

To BR people

Do you even let users receive emails when they submit domains to you?

If I understand the questions correctly, yes all of our sellers receive emails notifying them of accepted or rejected names. They get an email for every step of the publication process.

 

[Recons.Com]

To your first comment, we now have a bulk domain upload option for special account holders. Contact me if you would like me to review your account for this setup. To your comment on d)... This is essentially why we have held back from taking on any "ambassadors".

Thanks for the response. Please check the PM here on NamePros from me sent recently.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

I had strong urge to dislike your post but then I consulted with my position:D

Just out of curiosity, even though I already know , why is BB unfair compared to BR ?

I don't know if it is anymore. Some could argue, that BR has a smaller portfolio size, better logos, better descriptions, better search results, but as of right now, I really don't know the answer because BB is the original exclusive brandable marketplace with more sales by volume. I'll run some audits, and come back with a more accurate answer. In the mean time, hopefully others can chime in.

They are making strides for better exclusive marketplace standards. I have heard, though, still waiting for clarification @Brandroot:

1) Pays your renewals if you join their loyalty program

2) They have a logo designer / seller program that gives discount listing fee's of $5 + no back end logo fee.

We are no longer offering this incentive at this time because of the lack of interest/need. The response to this was mostly negative and we deemed it not worth the time to develop. We are however working on other incentives for our sellers, like Brandlytics and a NameScore assigned to each name that determines it's placement in our search results. We want to soon do away with the newest to oldest sorting method. Instead we will be rewarding names that receive real traffic, inquiries, offers, visits, favorites, etc.

I'm sorry to hear the response wasn't positive.

1) We do not have this program
2) We are extremely picky on who we accept as logo designers and currently we are not taking on any others as we do not have a current need, but yes logo designers pay only $5 for listing fees. For the same reason that we are not taking on too many sellers, we are not taking on too many designers. We want the few designers that we have to be very successful as opposed to countless designers making a sell every now and then.

Thank you for the clarification.

Yup. I am waiting for the answer too. The answer is very very important here, especially if it is a positive one .

It appears I was wrong. I had thought BR had an easier domainer / designer program.

I heard that BB designers were given the option to take $5 upfront for the logo, and $0 logo reward. Or, they had an option to take $0 up front, and opt to receive the $100 - $500 logo award if the domain sells. I'm still waiting for BB to clarify on this.

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

Hi Keith, I understand your concern. We have reviewed many of these applicants but we are still not caught up. We cannot take on more sellers than we can handle. We have been steadily expanding but we also need to think in the best interest of sellers who have stuck with us from the beginning. The more we add on too quickly the more saturated our marketplace.



For the record, this is a disgruntled former Brandroot seller who broke our sellers agreement. We never once used inappropriate language with him and actually gave him one warning before he broke another rule and we were forced to remove him from our platform. It's not that you refuse to work with us, we refuse to work with you.



We are an LLC operating with 2 employees out of Hawaii and have several independent contractors that we pay monthly. I (Michael Rader) primarily manage sales and the overall operation of the company. We also have two PHD holders (one of which you may have met at Namescon with myself) who work directly with us as investors/consultants. We are very much a company.

Please share screenshots of the "every bad word imaginable" that I called you. I don't ever speak this way.



To your first comment, we now have a bulk domain upload option for special account holders. Contact me if you would like me to review your account for this setup. To your comment on d)... This is essentially why we have held back from taking on any "ambassadors".



None of my personal domains are WHOIS private. I have less than 920 names published at Brandroot, 12 of which I have sold this year (2016) so far. Our average sale price hovers around $2,000. BB's is going to be higher because they have a couple of sales in the $XXX,XXX range, whereas we do not.



We are no longer offering this incentive at this time because of the lack of interest/need. The response to this was mostly negative and we deemed it not worth the time to develop. We are however working on other incentives for our sellers, like Brandlytics and a NameScore assigned to each name that determines it's placement in our search results. We want to soon do away with the newest to oldest sorting method. Instead we will be rewarding names that receive real traffic, inquiries, offers, visits, favorites, etc.



Do you have an account with Brandroot?


1) We do not have this program
2) We are extremely picky on who we accept as logo designers and currently we are not taking on any others as we do not have a current need, but yes logo designers pay only $5 for listing fees. For the same reason that we are not taking on too many sellers, we are not taking on too many designers. We want the few designers that we have to be very successful as opposed to countless designers making a sell every now and then.



If I understand the questions correctly, yes all of our sellers receive emails notifying them of accepted or rejected names. They get an email for every step of the publication process.

Thanks for replying but I uave never received any email from you...EVER.

More than one year I sent names to you and I even told you about this more months through PM here , which you never replied. Before three or four days I again submitted names using an email I have never used and so far I received nothing evwn though I submitted to BB pn the same day and time and yesterday BB sent me some as rejected and some as accepted.


Dont know what is wrong with the system but it appears to just mark every email that is used to submiy and never sends out any password. I evwn tried password reset and it says no such email on system then I try to submit using the same email and it tells me this email already exists.


This is the first time I talked about this publicly cause I wanted people to see that all is not good in BR.


Now plz, what are you going to say about this?

my email is tayodomains at gmail and also aaa at abdullahadam and also aaabdillahi at gmail (this one i used before four days).

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

I don't know if it is anymore. Some could argue, that BR has a smaller portfolio size, better logos, better descriptions, better search results, but as of right now, I really don't know the answer because BB is the original exclusive brandable marketplace with more sales by volume. I'll run some audits, and come back with a more accurate answer. In the mean time, hopefully others can chime in.





I'm sorry to hear the response wasn't positive.



Thank you for the clarification.



It appears I was wrong. I had thought BR had an easier domainer / designer program.

I heard that BB designers were given the option to take $5 upfront for the logo, and $0 logo reward. Or, they had an option to take $0 up front, and opt to receive the $100 - $500 logo award if the domain sells. I'm still waiting for BB to clarify on this.

BB to clarify? I thought we were about BR?

To kniw such thing doesnt exist is good and the kinda answer I was looking for.

 

[Abdullah Abdullah]

Hi Keith, I understand your concern. We have reviewed many of these applicants but we are still not caught up. We cannot take on more sellers than we can handle. We have been steadily expanding but we also need to think in the best interest of sellers who have stuck with us from the beginning. The more we add on too quickly the more saturated our marketplace.

I am not sure I fully agree with this statement but I have never received submission , rejection or acceptance emails EVER for more than a year I tried.

 

[Keith DeBoer]

Thanks for replying but I uave never received any email from you...EVER.

More than one year I sent names to you and I even told you about this more months through PM here , which you never replied. Before three or four days I again submitted names using an email I have never used and so far I received nothing evwn though I submitted to BB pn the same day and time and yesterday BB sent me some as rejected and some as accepted.


Dont know what is wrong with the system but it appears to just mark every email that is used to submiy and never sends out any password. I evwn tried password reset and it says no such email on system then I try to submit using the same email and it tells me this email already exists.


This is the first time I talked about this publicly cause I wanted people to see that all is not good in BR.

Now plz, what are you going to say about this?

my email is tayodomains at gmail and also aaa at abdullahadam and also aaabdillahi at gmail (this one i used before four days).

This is the first time I'm bringing this up on NP but I have to say I had a similar experience to the above. About a year ago I "applied" to be a BR seller. I received no response. I was a newbie and my names were low quality so a rejection notice would have been understandable but I never received even the courtesy of a rejection email or even an email saying there was a backlog and it might take several months to review my names etc. Then, out of the blue several months later, after I'd established a nice sized portfolio at BrandBucket I was invited to be a BR seller. I went to the BR platform and created an account. I had to do it twice because the first time it didn't take. Then I submitted some names but I also had problems with the names submissions so I just gave up. A month later Michael Radar extended a personal invitation asking me to move all my names from BB to BR but I declined as I am happy where I am. I'm glad that some sellers are having good success with sales at BRoot and I think that competition is good in any marketplace. However, prompt and courteous communication is important to me and BrandBucket offers that in spades (and sales too). So I've become a dedicated BrandBucket seller and I no longer list my names at any other brandable marketplaces.