Alter.com Marketplace

[Deven Patel]

Hi all,

I wanted to introduce a new premium domain marketplace we just launched called Alter. I would love to hear your thoughts! As the world’s largest community of domainers, your feedback would be invaluable.

Let me introduce myself. Although I’m new to NamePros, I’ve been around the block. I’ve been buying and selling domains for my own startup ideas for over 20 years. As a serial entrepreneur, I founded a number of startups across various industries like marketing, web hosting, social networking, blogging, and SaaS. This experience has helped me understand how indispensable a brand name is to a business.

Most new entrepreneurs don’t think twice about their company name. Our goal is to change that! A brand name literally has the power to make or break their business. This is more true today than ever before now that there are countless alternatives to every product or service imaginable. Sure, every business may have their own world-changing differentiator but from the outside they all look the same at which point the main differentiator ends up becoming their brand name. In a world full of distractions, we no longer have the attention span to thoroughly research what we buy so we rely on our emotions. This is why large businesses like Apple and Amazon spend billions on their “brand” alone because they understand that customer perception is everything.

Anyway, I noticed that most marketplaces that exist today are focused more on the seller rather than the buyer. Our goal is to reverse the equation and prioritize buyers because I think they are the key to success in any industry. The domain industry is no exception. Without buyers, there’s no money. This is why we’ve made it our mission to help entrepreneurs succeed!

And what’s with the 30-35% commission rate most of these marketplaces are charging? Unless they’re doing more work than a human broker, I don’t think anything over the industry average of 15-20% is warranted. We’re changing that. Alter has one of the lowest rates in the industry, an all-inclusive 10% commission fee when a name sells. There are no other fees or restrictions.

What do you think? Are we on the right track or barking up the wrong tree?

Deven

This was a promoted post.​

 

[NameWell]

@Deven Patel Can names that were rejected in the past be resubmitted again sometime in the future (i.e. after 3 or 6 months)? With each month and each closed sale you learn more and more about what resonates with your buyers and branding trends are also constantly shifting. So it's quite possible that a name that was rejected now may be a good fit after 3, 6, 12 or 18 months.

 

[Deven Patel]

But wouldn't it be a good idea to give buyers the option of entering their email addresses to receive a notification when there is a price reduction on the domains they have favorited? It could be just a window somewhere or some kind of pop-up message when the visitor is about to quit the site.

This is also a good way of gathering the emails of potential buyers which you can use in the future for marketing campaigns or something similar.

Ah, you're referring to email subscription boxes and exit-intent popups. Yes, those are some ways to collect buyer emails among others. We do have this on our roadmap but haven't had a chance to think it through yet. One thing at a time.

When we do get to it though, it will be a tough decision because we're living in a more privacy-centric environment today (i.e. visitors are beginning to get more and more frustrated about personalized experiences). That doesn't mean it won't work but the portion of people we piss off by doing it will grow over time and ultimately tip the scales in the other direction. Like every other new marketing channel every discovered by mankind, there are always bad actors across the web that overdo it and ruin it for others.

A study found that just one bad experience is enough to stop 51% of customers from ever buying from that business again. Anyway, just pointing out that this types of decisions have lasting consequences so we want to think it through properly before releasing the feature.

P.S. Most people don't know this but Alter offered personalization software to marketers before pivoting to a domain marketplace so I know a thing or two about this stuff.

 

[Deven Patel]

@Deven Patel Can names that were rejected in the past be resubmitted again sometime in the future (i.e. after 3 or 6 months)? With each month and each closed sale you learn more and more about what resonates with your buyers and branding trends are also constantly shifting. So it's quite possible that a name that was rejected now may be a good fit after 3, 6, 12 or 18 months.

Yes, you can re-submit declined names after 6 months if you like. We also re-review previously declined names every so often when our criteria changes so you don't necessarily have to re-submit them.

 

[NameWell]

Yes, you can re-submit declined names after 6 months if you like. We also re-review previously declined names every so often when our criteria changes so you don't necessarily have to re-submit them.

Awesome!

 

[xeroox]

@Deven Patel I have never seen in the other marketplaces, a small notification in the submitting form to alert us if is there a backlog of work and reviewing is delayed? or anyway more information to keep seller updated

 

[tiletalk]

couple of recommendation...
1) increase the speed tone by around 20% so so its faster. sounds slow and boring atm.

2) allow bulk/all selection of listed domains to be selected to increase/decrease prices and change installment settings.

 

[Joe Styler]

I wanted to comment on this thread and say we are not aware of any partnership with this marketplace, Alter.com, either with Afternic or Uniregistry. If there is any misunderstanding please feel free to contact us.

 

[Deven Patel]

I wanted to comment on this thread and say we are not aware of any partnership with this marketplace, Alter.com, either with Afternic or Uniregistry. If there is any misunderstanding please feel free to contact us.

Thanks for the reply, Joe.

I just sent an email to Bob Mountain detailing the phone conversation I had with the Afternic team. I also included screenshots of my email communication with both Afternic and Uniregistry. If you would like me to copy you on it, please DM me your email address.

I sincerely hope that the answers your team provided haven't changed because it would be very disappointing for both us and our sellers. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

[Future Sensors]

Hi @Deven Patel

May I request a feature, that listing my domains at other marketplaces is optional at Alter?

If I don't opt-in, things will remain the same (current model).
If I do opt-in, Alter will manage my listings for me, including listing them elsewhere (new model).

 

[Joe Styler]

Thanks for the reply, Joe.

I just sent an email to Bob Mountain detailing the phone conversation I had with the Afternic team. I also included screenshots of my email communication with both Afternic and Uniregistry. If you would like me to copy you on it, please DM me your email address.

I sincerely hope that the answers your team provided haven't changed because it would be very disappointing for both us and our sellers. I look forward to hearing from you.

Bob is the right person to speak with regarding Afternic partnerships.

 

[Deven Patel]

Important Update

After clarifying our relationship with Afternic, it appears that there was a misunderstanding between our teams. So unfortunately, we will no longer propagate domains listed on Alter to either Afternic or Uniregistry at this time.

However, we will still list your domains on the following partner marketplaces and registrars:

• Sedo, DAN.com, IONOS, Namecheap, Network Solutions, Name.com, Epik, NameSilo, Hover, Dynadot, Register.com, BigRock, 101domain, SnapNames, Sav, Hexonet, Internet.bs, Moniker, Rebel, InterNetX, Dofo, WebNames, and more

In order to protect our relationships with these partners, you cannot list your Alter domains with any of the companies mentioned above since we will be doing it on your behalf moving forward. If they are already listed there, please remove them from there before February 15th. Otherwise, you are free to list them anywhere else you like including on Afternic and Uniregistry by yourself.

In order to make this process smoother for our sellers, we have released a bulk export tool that allows you to download a CSV of your listed domains. You can access this tool by logging into your Alter account and then clicking on Domains > Listed > Export CSV (cloud icon found next to the search bar).

We are very sorry for any inconvenience the prior announcement may have caused. Thank you for your continued support!

 

[xeroox]

Important Update

After clarifying our relationship with Afternic, it appears that there was a misunderstanding between our teams. So unfortunately, we will no longer propagate domains listed on Alter to either Afternic or Uniregistry at this time.

However, we will still list your domains on the following partner marketplaces and registrars:

• Sedo, DAN.com, IONOS, Namecheap, Network Solutions, Name.com, Epik, NameSilo, Hover, Dynadot, Register.com, BigRock, 101domain, SnapNames, Sav, Hexonet, Internet.bs, Moniker, Rebel, InterNetX, Dofo, WebNames, and more

In order to protect our relationships with these partners, you cannot list your Alter domains with any of the companies mentioned above since we will be doing it on your behalf moving forward. If they are already listed there, please remove them from there before February 15th. Otherwise, you are free to list them anywhere else you like.

In order to make this process smoother for our sellers, we have released a bulk export tool that allows you to download a CSV of your listed domains. You can access this tool by logging into your Alter account and then clicking on Domains > Listed > Export CSV (cloud icon found next to the search bar).

We are very sorry for any inconvenience the prior announcement may have caused. Thank you for your continued support!

Does it mean we can't list on afternic? Some of those registrants are in the afternic network

 

[Deven Patel]

Does it mean we can't list on afternic? Some of those registrants are in the afternic network

Good question. I clarified my message above. For now, you are free to list them anywhere else you like including on Afternic and Uniregistry. Just not directly with any of the companies mentioned.

 

[tiletalk]

Deven, any chance you guys could also handle non-premium domains? I would love if I could control the listing and delisting of domains from 1 website...?

 

[NTLK]

Hi @Deven Patel

May I request a feature, that listing my domains at other marketplaces is optional at Alter?

If I don't opt-in, things will remain the same (current model).
If I do opt-in, Alter will manage my listings for me, including listing them elsewhere (new model).

I second this suggestion.

 

[DnDigger]

It could be more filtering options for buyers: by length, price, category, starts/ends with, contains.

 

[NameWell]

It could be more filtering options for buyers: by length, price, category, starts/ends with, contains.

Oh yes, that would be great!

 

[Deven Patel]

I have never seen in the other marketplaces, a small notification in the submitting form to alert us if is there a backlog of work and reviewing is delayed? or anyway more information to keep seller updated

Thanks for the feedback. We'll consider it.

couple of recommendation...
1) increase the speed tone by around 20% so so its faster. sounds slow and boring atm.

2) allow bulk/all selection of listed domains to be selected to increase/decrease prices and change installment settings.

1. Not sure I understand what you're referring to. Can you please clarify?

2. We'll consider a bulk price change feature. A bulk installment setting feature is already available here.

May I request a feature, that listing my domains at other marketplaces is optional at Alter?

I second this suggestion.

I appreciate the suggestion. We went back to the table and thought about this again. However, the pros still outweighed the cons. In fact, we came up with a few more pros this time. Here's our thought process:

• Simplicity: The beauty of automated partner listings is that sellers don't have to worry about putting more work into managing their portfolios on multiple platforms (i.e. prices are auto synced, domains are delisted at all partners upon a sale, etc). This efficiency benefits both sellers and partners. The productivity boost also increases over time as sellers grow their portfolios. Less time managing the portfolio = more time domaining (finding more quality assets to flip).
• Fairness: We invest a considerable amount of resources into the marketplace (staff, designers, customer service, marketing, development, partnerships, etc). Sellers are able to reap these benefits without spending a dime (no initial fees). When sales occur outside our platform, all the investment we made into promoting those domains is wasted (unlike our competitors who still take their cut). This means the rest of the sellers have to take the hit and eat that cost. And ultimately we would have to raise our commission to compensate for that loss.

As always, I welcome everyone's feedback. We're more than happy to work with everyone for the greater good as long as all parties benefit. A marketplace is a symbiotic relationship between three parties. When that balance breaks, everyone loses.

Deven, any chance you guys could also handle non-premium domains? I would love if I could control the listing and delisting of domains from 1 website...?

Thanks for the suggestion. We may consider it down the road. At this time, we're solely focused on brandables.

It could be more filtering options for buyers: by length, price, category, starts/ends with, contains.

Oh yes, that would be great!

Yup, we have that on our radar. Though at the moment our inventory is too small for this to actually be useful. Our smart search already takes care of this in a much simpler way (i.e. when you search for "tech" you'll see results that start with the keyword first, followed by results that contain the keyword, followed by the rest). The results can also be sorted by popularity, length, price, and filtered by category.

 

[clickcents]

Hi Deven,i recently came to know about Alter.com and looks fantastic and promising..

I just want to know one of the criteria for selection is age of the domain? I mean the recent hand regs are likely to get rejected eventhough the name is good and brandable?

I submitted some names which were part of BP,SH earlier and re-registered..i submitted these brandables ,but seems mainly because of its recent regs,got rejected..If age of the domain is a major concern in selection,many can avoid trying recent brandable selections..

I have no offence to your site's selection criteria,but just to check is it one of the reasons sothat i/we can avoid any recent brandable regs..

Good luck and keep growing..

 

[Reyginus]

Hi Deven,i recently came to know about Alter.com and looks fantastic and promising..

I just want to know one of the criteria for selection is age of the domain? I mean the recent hand regs are likely to get rejected eventhough the name is good and brandable?

I submitted some names which were part of BP,SH earlier and re-registered..i submitted these brandables ,but seems mainly because of its recent regs,got rejected..If age of the domain is a major concern in selection,many can avoid trying recent brandable selections..

I have no offence to your site's selection criteria,but just to check is it one of the reasons sothat i/we can avoid any recent brandable regs..

Good luck and keep growing..

Not at all. They review everything from recent handreg to old names. If they don't accept it, it is because it doesn't fit their marketplace at the time and not because it is new. Speaking from experience.

 

[cillx]

How often sellers can change the price? Can we change the price right after publishing?

I suggest allowing description when submitting brandable for consideration.

 

[Reyginus]

How often sellers can change the price? Can we change the price right after publishing?

I suggest allowing description when submitting brandable for consideration.

I think you can change as often as possible but I prefer to change price before listing. That is, once accepted, I point NS to Alter, then change if I think it deserves adjustment. That way, I don't mess up buyer's perception.

Changing after listing could harm a sale. Changing too much will harm a sale.

And for description, I prefer the way it is now. A description can spoil a good name. Say you were asked to describe Apple (the company) what will your description be like? And there are many unregistered/registered good names like that.

 

[cillx]

.

And for description, I prefer the way it is now. A description can spoil a good name. Say you were asked to describe Apple (the company) what will your description be like? And there are many unregistered/registered good names like that.

A description is not for all names, but some names need to be described. As you pointed out how I describe apple may be completely different from how you describe it.

So seller might have a completely different and fresh perspective. Maybe they need to mention previous offers, potential buyers, etc. When you submit 100 names you might need to describe only one or two names. To describe this very unique one or two names you can't email them, simply it is not practical

 

[Deven Patel]

Hi Deven,i recently came to know about Alter.com and looks fantastic and promising..

I just want to know one of the criteria for selection is age of the domain? I mean the recent hand regs are likely to get rejected eventhough the name is good and brandable?

I submitted some names which were part of BP,SH earlier and re-registered..i submitted these brandables ,but seems mainly because of its recent regs,got rejected..If age of the domain is a major concern in selection,many can avoid trying recent brandable selections..

I have no offence to your site's selection criteria,but just to check is it one of the reasons sothat i/we can avoid any recent brandable regs..

Good luck and keep growing..

Thanks for the compliment!

As @Reyginus mentioned, we treat all names equally when we review them. However, keep in mind that new names have a natural bias against them since quality names are generally already registered.

How often sellers can change the price? Can we change the price right after publishing?

You can change prices +/-20% at any time. But we recommend not to overdo it because if there's a potential buyer eyeing your name, it could have a negative impact on them.

I suggest allowing description when submitting brandable for consideration.

I appreciate the feedback! I think this was discussed before. We'll certainly consider it if enough sellers want this and it's beneficial for buyers. Right now though, the risks are that (1) it's more work for the seller and (2) the seller might unknowingly lock themselves into a niche if they're not experienced enough.

Like in the "apple" example above, a seller might describe it as a "great name for a farming business" based on their own vision even though the name could have many other potential uses.

We also try to keep the logos as generic as possible so they can be used across various industries and take into account current trends, etc. Ultimately, we want to simplify the sales process for sellers instead of complicating it.

That said, if there is a name you think needs special attention, just shoot us an email.

 

[smarti]

Deven - can't await the 15th Feb to see the names propagated!

Question - technically, what will happen, if names listed on Alter and pushed to DAN conflict with a name already listed on DAN? ( or Sedo) which one will "win"? I suppose local listing on DAN, SEDO etc will keep precedence and will not be cascaded by Alter?

Will Alter users be somehow notified, in case the names could not be listed on either platforms? Or is there some indication for that in the Alter UI?

The issue with DAN ( and especially Afternic - but OK, I read that Afternic is currently out of the game ) is that they do not force-validate a name, it means anyone can list a name without ownership approval ( only in case of a conflict, such as two names are listed by different users, DAN will enforce ownership approval via DNS )