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SquadHelp - Marketplace

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Hey Folks,

I've just started using squadhelp.com to list some of my brandable. So far I have 76 domains listed, there is no fee to list. I've had some decent action so far in the way of interested buyers but no sales as of yet. I've only been with them for 1 week now.

A bit of a summary review of SquadHelp:

PROS
  • No Listing fee
  • No Logo design fee
  • Ability to submit your names to end users holding naming contests
  • Ability to chat directly or send a message directly to end users.
  • Stats of your marketplace domains are shown in the marketplace dashboard.
  • Their customer service and support has been great, 24hr a day chat.
  • Ability to increase or decrease the list price of your domains or to show a discount. You can decrease or increase the price yourself by $200. If you want to lower more, you can contact support.
  • End users can shortlist your domains before they make a decision on which they want to purchase. The number of shortlists is shown in you marketplace dashboard.
  • When you submit your names you get to set the price you wish to get. Because their commissions are high I recommend listing at a higher price to offset the commission costs.
  • Their landing pages are fairly basic but they work. Because the marketplace is fairly new, I'm sure we will see style improvements in the future.
  • One thing I really like is they accept multiple extensions. I have listed .co and .io along with .com
  • Each seller gets a direct link to their marketplace portfolio, HERES MY PORTFOLIO. It is handy if your trying to p[promote your portfolio through social media.
  • I like that their marketplace doesn't have tens of thousands domain listings like BB. They are fairly strict on the domains they accept to list and so this helps keep the number of domains in the marketplace down and gets your listings more exposure.
CONS
  • Their commissions are very high, depending on the domain name they are usually between 30% and 35%. However, there are no listing fees, no logo design fees, so in the end their commission is very similar to brand buckets.
  • Their logos are not top quality, in fact I requested to have some of my logos remade.
  • I think they have a big backlog of logos to design, the wait time for logo design has been around 1 week, but your names are still listed while the logos are being designed.
  • After your names are accepted you need to agree to their commission rate, at this point you also need to apply your own keywords, descriptions etc. I found this was very time consuming.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
It’s sad to see things go downhill for some with SH, for a while sell thru rates look really good for some. The same thing happend to brandbucket when they got to much inventory such a shame.


As a matter of fact i think they should halt acceptance for now and concentrate on aggressive marketing. I must say my experience has been good so far with them.
 
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so are they designing 200 Logos for you, if you upload 200 domains ?
They the names are premium, then will design basic logo for you. That is how it works. But for course it takes time.
 
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Check this thread: https://squadhelp.com/t/a-strategy-for-sh-to-quadruple-domains-sales/5359/11

This might help with sales in the future and partly solve the exclusivity restriction.
 
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Has anyone ever sold a "basic plus" name via contest? The possibility looks appealing, but the feeling is that contest holders are there only for the names they can register.

I have sold a Basic Plus name. The CH made it clear in the brief that he had money to spend. I tend to submit Basic Plus names only when I’m confident that the CH is well-funded. ...or, when it’s such a good fit that I know the CH would be wise to splurge. It’s frustrating when the CH ends up giving such a name a No Thank You, only because it’s out of their budget. I had such a situation an hour ago. Perfect two-word 7 letter name that got a No Thank You after SH notified me that the CH visited the landing page.

As others have pointed out, most CH want a bargain, so Basic and available names are usually the way to go.

It’s a very imperfect marketplace, I agree.
 
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HOW COULD THE AVERAGE 12 MONTH SELL THROUGH RATE BE 11.69% IF THE AVERAGE LENGTH OF TIME TO SELL A NAME IS 25WEEKS????

How do any of these stats actually make sense?
Intuitively those two stats don't seem contradictory. The little popup next to the stat label gives some more detailed info about each stat. For example, the 25 week stat only takes into consideration domains that actually sold. So out of all the names that a random seller has sold, on average, the name was listed for 25 weeks.

The sell through rate only takes into consideration domains that have been listed for at least 12 months. So, on average, out of all names a seller has listed at least 12 months - 11.69% sell.

That's my understanding.
 
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I've requested a review of 4 names that were rejected. The first 2 have been in queue for a little over a month and I've been waiting about 2 weeks for the rest. I contacted support 2 weeks ago and they said that someone would eventually review those names but that it would normally be done in 1-2 days. Is this anyone else's experience?
 
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@GrantP I submitted a name for premium listing and I was surprised to see it was already marked as ‘rejected for premium’ after a while. I contacted support for this but they informed it must have been submitted by another user before and rejected then. And when I asked for my SH coin be refunded, she said its non-refundable. I think they shouldn’t charge again when the name has already been rejeceted.
 
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I've requested a review of 4 names that were rejected. The first 2 have been in queue for a little over a month and I've been waiting about 2 weeks for the rest. I contacted support 2 weeks ago and they said that someone would eventually review those names but that it would normally be done in 1-2 days. Is this anyone else's experience?
Even though it states on SH website "We will review your submission within 24-48 hours" my experience is that this is rare across the board. If you have a name in review I'd recommend also having it for sale at other venues and just accept they will get to it when they get to it. Can't remember where I read it but I think they get like 100k regular submissions a month - so that's not even the review requests. They should definitely change the estimated time for reviews, if only to keep users from getting antsy.
 
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I stopped participating in SH contest after a CH stole my idea. It submitted the available name, CH gave it a love it rating, only to find out it was registered some hours later that same day with namecheap which is one of SH preferred registrar. I complained to SH but as usual, they said CH said he wasn't the one and case closed. The domain is now fully functional with same business the CH wanted to use the name for.

I think anyone who has participated in a few SH contests has had similar occurrences happen. I have, but there is usually only scant circumstantial evidence and this makes it hard for SH to rule decisively. I’ve just noticed a very egregious case of the CH regging my shortlisted name one day before regging the winner, and I’ve reported it. Both names (mine and the winner) at GD one day apart with privacy, both regged for 5 years. And, looking at the contest, 5 names have been reported as registered, so I’m not the only one.

I’ll be interested to see what comes of it.
 
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I love the new SH ads. It demonstrates SH's commitment to help sellers sell their names, not just to promote the SH brand like all other brandable marketplaces do. Hovering over the names reveal the extension and price.

Squadhelp.PNG
SH1.PNG
SH2.PNG

These are ads in front of potential end users with our domain names in them. What's not to like about that?

I own the first name in the second and third image above and I started seeing it in SH ads shortly after the name sold on SH. I don't know if the name sold due to the ad but the ads are impressive anyways.

I know I was targeted with these ads because I visit SH website often but I haven't visited any of the names recently. So, the allocation of names in the ads looks random enough to me (dependent on parameters known by SH). My name in the ads was actually the least shortlisted name of my portfolio.

Well done SH! @GrantP
 
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@gblasting You are correct that you are targeted because you visited SH before. It’s called re-marketing, and SH is doing it incorrectly. When you do re-marketing, you need to do it at low frequency so to nudge visitors to return without annoying them.

Right now I am haunted by SH and one other company wherever I go. In the SH case I am a seller. In another case, I am a loyal customer who will revisit the company’s site anyway.

A big difference between the two is content. SH does not maintain a blog with useful and interesting articles that benefit its seller and customers. It relies on its seller to pump out names while offering little added value. SH is a one-trick monkey desperate for unearned attention. The other company I talked about releases new products and white papers often, so offering incentive for me to return.

I am not a fan of their marketing. The banner is old-school and distracting. Often, when I visit a Web page, I see several occurrences of same ad in different form factors. The density makes the ad super annoying.

The advertising only showcase “premium” names, I.e. names where they take ridiculous commission. The names are in flowery blocks that focus more on colors than on the names itself. And some premium names are doomed by design. I have two premium names recently published, and I am fairly upset with the design. In one case, its a typographic logo in a cursive type that’s difficult to read. In another design, the logo is completely inappropriate. I don’t mind giving SH extra commission for showcasing my names. I do mind when all premium names are showcased in a dazzle-dazzle kindergarten-quality way that obscure the quality of the names. IMO, all names should be listed in the same type and same color, and in casing (upper/lower casing) chosen by its seller.
 
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I noticed that the .com version of a couple of the recently approved .co domains on squadhelp are active websites/businesses and have trademarks that predate the registration of the .co domains. Is there something I'm missing as a new/learning domainer re: why these were able to be approved?

I've been researching and checking in on new names as they're added and I still can't seem to get a general idea of what 'works' and makes one name preferable over others for approval.
 
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I noticed that the .com version of a couple of the recently approved .co domains on squadhelp are active websites/businesses and have trademarks that predate the registration of the .co domains. Is there something I'm missing as a new/learning domainer re: why these were able to be approved?

I've been researching and checking in on new names as they're added and I still can't seem to get a general idea of what 'works' and makes one name preferable over others for approval.
Join the club mate. Nobody knows 🤪
 
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Trademarks are application specific. When you register a trademark, you need to specify what good or service it relates to. For example, “Lyft” was registered mark for services related to health and to entertainment before the ride sharing company came along. So a trademark does not preclude uses of a word mark by someone else.

A mark also needs to be in active use. If, say, a mark is registered in US but the applicant actively uses it in other countries but not in US, the trademark’s validity could be challenged.

A mark also cannot be confusingly similar. So let’s say Monarch is registered mark for cosmetics, and the logo is a Monarch butterfly, then you cannot use “butterfly” or “papillon” (French) as a brand for cosmetics.

So, let’s say Monarch(.)com is registered and in active use for cosmetics, the dot-co version still has value since the word “monarch” can be used for other types of goods/services. ButterflyCosmetics(.)co, on the other hand, would be a different story.
 
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I almost only see my own domains advertised back at me ...:guilty:
 
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Trademarks are application specific. When you register a trademark, you need to specify what good or service it relates to. For example, “Lyft” was registered mark for services related to health and to entertainment before the ride sharing company came along. So a trademark does not preclude uses of a word mark by someone else.

A mark also needs to be in active use. If, say, a mark is registered in US but the applicant actively uses it in other countries but not in US, the trademark’s validity could be challenged.

A mark also cannot be confusingly similar. So let’s say Monarch is registered mark for cosmetics, and the logo is a Monarch butterfly, then you cannot use “butterfly” or “papillon” (French) as a brand for cosmetics.

So, let’s say Monarch(.)com is registered and in active use for cosmetics, the dot-co version still has value since the word “monarch” can be used for other types of goods/services. ButterflyCosmetics(.)co, on the other hand, would be a different story.
Agreed but lyft is easier than lift.
 
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I noticed that the .com version of a couple of the recently approved .co domains on squadhelp are active websites/businesses and have trademarks that predate the registration of the .co domains. Is there something I'm missing as a new/learning domainer re: why these were able to be approved?

I've been researching and checking in on new names as they're added and I still can't seem to get a general idea of what 'works' and makes one name preferable over others for approval.
I've been wondering about that too.
 
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Trademarks are application specific. When you register a trademark, you need to specify what good or service it relates to. For example, “Lyft” was registered mark for services related to health and to entertainment before the ride sharing company came along. So a trademark does not preclude uses of a word mark by someone else.

A mark also needs to be in active use. If, say, a mark is registered in US but the applicant actively uses it in other countries but not in US, the trademark’s validity could be challenged.

A mark also cannot be confusingly similar. So let’s say Monarch is registered mark for cosmetics, and the logo is a Monarch butterfly, then you cannot use “butterfly” or “papillon” (French) as a brand for cosmetics.

So, let’s say Monarch(.)com is registered and in active use for cosmetics, the dot-co version still has value since the word “monarch” can be used for other types of goods/services. ButterflyCosmetics(.)co, on the other hand, would be a different story.

Agree on most, except for them somehow getting also rights to "Butterfly Cosmetics". What they get is the artwork of their butterfly and anything confusingly similar would be infringing. But they don't get a monopoly over using a butterfly as logo and, especially, the word butterfly, even in conjunction with cosmetics. Very often, when you see company logo with "tm" it might just cover specific artwork, if the word/term is generic.
 
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Agree on most, except for them somehow getting also rights to "Butterfly Cosmetics". What they get is the artwork of their butterfly and anything confusingly similar would be infringing. But they don't get a monopoly over using a butterfly as logo and, especially, the word butterfly, even in conjunction with cosmetics. Very often, when you see company logo with "tm" it might just cover specific artwork, if the word/term is generic.

I agree.
 
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Please does anyone has a clue on the Total number of names listed on the SH marketplace at the moment ?
 
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That’s how registered trademark work. If some one registered “monarch” as a word mark for cosmetics at USPTO, and another person submitted an application for “butterfly” for use in cosmetics, the application is likely rejected on the ground of “likely confusion”. The applicant may disagree with the examiner and appeal the decision. IMO, the application is very unlikely to be accepted. Then again, trademark can be subjective.

From domaining point of view, if “monarch” is a registered mark for cosmetics in US and other major economies, then a domain such as “butterfly-cosmetics(.)com” would not worth the effort for acquisition for resale.
 
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I just purchased a SH premium domain via the wholesale marketplace, and the entire process took under an hour to have the domain in my registrar account.

Web based chat was great. As the internal seller to seller messaging system didn't seem to be working for me, chat support had relayed messages back and forth as both I and the seller were approving WHOIS change emails and what not. All in all, it took under an hour for the domain to arrive in my account. Hopefully the squadhelp seller gets paid quickly as well.

Note, as I have an assumption the seller is a nP member (that's posted in this thread before) beginning with the letter O, if you're reading this and recently sold a wholesale domain for $499, please chime in on the wholesale seller experience.
 
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