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Alter.com Marketplace

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Deven Patel

Founder, Alter.comEstablished Member
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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.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Hello

Could you please add an option of getting logo designs for increased commission? Like designing logos and if the domains gets sold you charge 15% commission compared to the usual 10%commissions.

Thank You
Are you serious? You're willing to give them an extra 5% for a $5 dollar logo?
 
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Hi @Deven Patel

There seems to be a problem with showing visitor counters in the Dashboard, but only when "Today" or "Yesterday" is selected. Other periods show fine.

upload_2021-9-23_16-44-52.png
 
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Hi @Deven Patel

There seems to be a problem with showing visitor counters in the Dashboard, but only when "Today" or "Yesterday" is selected. Other periods show fine.
It was working fine about 25 minutes ago. They are now showing an Under Maintenance setting, so I suspect it is temporary and related to that.

Bob

Update: It is up and working fine for me including today and yesterday in the dashboard. If still problems maybe try logging in and out, if you have not already.
 
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Do they require US tax forms like Afternic/GoDaddy?
Or NO - like Sedo/DAN?
 
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Could you please add an option of getting logo designs for increased commission? Like designing logos and if the domains gets sold you charge 15% commission compared to the usual 10%commissions.

That's an interesting suggestion. Though honestly I don't think it's worth giving away 5% of your profit on a $5 professional logo (e.g. on a $3k sale, it would cost you an extra $150).

Keep in mind that our basic and uploaded logo options cost $0. However, if you still want a professional logo then $5 is a very small investment compared to the $8-10/year the domain costs to renew.

If you're worried about the cost, here's a strategy I would suggest. Order professional logos for only a few of your top names at first. Then once you sell one, you can reinvest that profit in the other names slowly over time. By then you should also get an idea of whether you want to even keep some of the other names in your portfolio by sorting them by visitors, favorites, offers, etc. :)

Congratulations for surpassing 30 000 listed domains :D

Looks like Alter is growing fast.

Thanks! It wouldn't have been possible without everyone's continued support. It's much appreciated!

There seems to be a problem with showing visitor counters in the Dashboard, but only when "Today" or "Yesterday" is selected. Other periods show fine.

Thanks for reporting this! It should be fixed now. Please let us know if you're still experiencing the issue.

Do they require US tax forms like Afternic/GoDaddy?
Or NO - like Sedo/DAN?

No forms at this time. If you have any other concerns, please feel free to reach out to support for a faster response. :)
 
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@Deven Patel

What exactly is shown to a potential buyer when we counter offer? At the moment, it looks like my name appears along with an old logo of mine.

Is there a way to show as a private seller and add a new logo?
 
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So the rule is, we can list the same name on Afternic at a higher price? I was looking for the email but couldn't find it.

Thanks
 
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The extension .* is a good alternative to one of the top three top-level domains (TLD) like .com, .net, or .org. This extension is used by a variety of businesses.

What sense in such archaic statements in 2021???
It must be deprecated/removed definitely.
 
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The extension .* is a good alternative to one of the top three top-level domains (TLD) like .com, .net, or .org. This extension is used by a variety of businesses.

What sense in such archaic statements in 2021???
It must be deprecated/removed definitely.

Off topic, but since nobody answered..

Do we get to list Alter published names on Afternic? What is the rule, if you know it..

Thank you
 
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I don't see Afternic on their website.
Only SedoMLS partners and DAN are stated there.
 
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Hopefully @Deven Patel could clarify the Afternic issue.

I did list dozens of names with Alter early on when they were getting started. In all fairness I quickly removed them, so I didn't give them a chance. Just listed some new ones, & I may be adding more. There are things to like & it's quite different now.

A side note, why does that guy need to be on the front page? with the A T-shirt? Maybe he should be faceless or maybe put something else. imo
 
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So the rule is, we can list the same name on Afternic at a higher price? I was looking for the email but couldn't find it.

Thanks

You can list the same name on Afternic at the same price like the selling price on Alter.

Make sure that the syndication to Sedo and Dan by Alter option is active, and then just list each domain on the Afternic Fast Transfer network yourself.
 
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You can list the same name on Afternic at the same price like the selling price on Alter.

Make sure that the syndication to Sedo and Dan by Alter option is active, and then just list each domain on the Afternic Fast Transfer network yourself.

Great, thanks! I guess Afternic won't make it easier for brandable marketplaces to list our names on our behalf.

Syndication is on.,
 
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What exactly is shown to a potential buyer when we counter offer? At the moment, it looks like my name appears along with an old logo of mine.

Is there a way to show as a private seller and add a new logo?

Buyers can see the seller's name and gravatar. Sellers can see the buyer's country, name, gravatar, and partial email address. Here's what the seller view looks like:

negotiation.png


We had thought about offering an option to make the seller's name private but decided against it in order to keep things fair for both parties. Also, based on our experience negotiations tend to go well when both sides feel like the other is honest and can be trusted. What exactly were you concerned about?

You can update your picture/logo at Gravatar.com.

So the rule is, we can list the same name on Afternic at a higher price? I was looking for the email but couldn't find it.

No rules. You can list your names anywhere else you like for whatever price you want. :)

The extension .* is a good alternative to one of the top three top-level domains (TLD) like .com, .net, or .org. This extension is used by a variety of businesses.

What sense in such archaic statements in 2021???
It must be deprecated/removed definitely.

Good point, done. Description updated.

why does that guy need to be on the front page? with the A T-shirt? Maybe he should be faceless or maybe put something else. imo

That mascot is part of our branding strategy (more here). The reason we chose it was because our target audience is entrepreneurs and they're generally looking to change the world with their ideas (i.e. they have a superhero mindset). Even though you're not the target, the fact that you remembered it means it's working just as intended. ;)
 
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We had thought about offering an option to make the seller's name private but decided against it in order to keep things fair for both parties.

Do you at least verify the email address before an offer can be submitted? All sellers have to provide accurate account information. What about people submitting an offer only to see who's behind the domain name, using a vanity email address?
 
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Buyers can see the seller's name and gravatar. Sellers can see the buyer's country, name, gravatar, and partial email address. Here's what the seller view looks like:

negotiation.png


We had thought about offering an option to make the seller's name private but decided against it in order to keep things fair for both parties. Also, based on our experience negotiations tend to go well when both sides feel like the other is honest and can be trusted. What exactly were you concerned about?

You can update your picture/logo at Gravatar.com.



No rules. You can list your names anywhere else you like for whatever price you want. :)



Good point, done. Description updated.



That mascot is part of our branding strategy (more here). The reason we chose it was because our target audience is entrepreneurs and they're generally looking to change the world with their ideas (i.e. they have a superhero mindset). Even though you're not the target, the fact that you remembered it means it's working just as intended. ;)

Thanks for addressing these issues Deven,

Not against the mascot strategy at all, I actually like those from the link. But Alter's isn't cartoonified, nor is it an animal, so i'm just not sure about that guy.. But that's just me..

Anyway, that's great about the freedom to list elsewhere, hopefully at one point you'd be able to list on Afternic on our behalf.

Excited about Alter in general.. Good luck
 
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When searching by keyword, don't you think "contains" should be the default?

imo
 
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If I upload my own logo, got approved, then the name gets sold, does the seller invoice show that both logo and domain are sold, or only the domain sold?
 
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While the subjects are still warm and on this page, and since domain privacy is a particularly hot issue right now, if buyers see the seller's name/info when making counter offers, how about BIN?

If someone buys a BIN name outright do they see any seller info, or is the sale all done via Alter, with Alter info?

And a couple of other logo questions:

1. Does anyone have any opinion or data on whether a logo makes a significant difference in sales?

2. If a seller submits their own logo, in what way does Alter then own it?

It reads like Alter forever exclusively owns a logo the second it's submitted/accepted, even if the name doesn't sell and the seller removes it from Alter. But what's the point in Alter owning a logo for a domain it doesn't own, preventing the actual domain owner from using it?

Or does it mean Alter owns a submitted logo only if and when the name sells?

Thanks.
 
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What exactly were you concerned about?
Privacy. I get enough phone calls from abroad as it is. Until a sale is made, I see no need to give away sensitive information.
 
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Good point, done. Description updated.
Is it possible to not compare any (cc,g)TLD with .com at all?
This TLD section can be removed completely, zero effect from it, only loss.
 
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Do you at least verify the email address before an offer can be submitted?

Yup, only verified/confirmed offers can be acted on. Though we do show sellers the unconfirmed offers in their Alter account as an FYI. Here's an example of what you would see:

offers.png


All sellers have to provide accurate account information. What about people submitting an offer only to see who's behind the domain name, using a vanity email address?

They can certainly try but buyers won't see the seller's information until the seller actually responds to their offer. If sellers let the offer expire or cancel the negotiation, buyers won't be able to see the seller's name. :)

When searching by keyword, don't you think "contains" should be the default?

It sort of is. Quality names containing the search keyword are shown at the top. See results for the keywords tech and health for example.

With our current approach we take the search experience to the next level by helping buyers find relevant names that may not contain the actual keyword but can still be used for their business (i.e. the brandable/made-up names). This way both types of names receive equal treatment.

If I upload my own logo, got approved, then the name gets sold, does the seller invoice show that both logo and domain are sold, or only the domain sold?

Only the domain. The logo is included as a complimentary item. Most buyers end up using their own logos anyway that fit their own vision of what they're looking to do with their business. The logos are primarily used to enhance the sales process and improve STR (i.e. it's a marketing tool).

if buyers see the seller's name/info when making counter offers, how about BIN?

If someone buys a BIN name outright do they see any seller info, or is the sale all done via Alter, with Alter info?

As explained above, the buyer can only see the seller's name if the seller decides to act on the offer. Otherwise, nothing is shown.

When a sale is complete, only Alter's information is shown on invoices/receipts. The only place the seller's name is shown is in the offer negotiation panel and that's only if the seller acts on the offer.

Does anyone have any opinion or data on whether a logo makes a significant difference in sales?

A logo is essentially a marketing tool. Since we've always used logos on our landing pages, we don't have data comparing the two scenarios but we strongly believe logos help improve STR because they're an integral part of any branding strategy (more here).

In a world full of distractions, logos help your names stand out from the crowd. Think of them as camel casing on steroids. Or if you prefer, put yourself in the buyer's shoes and take a look at our listings. IMO, this logo-based browsing experience is 100X better than looking at a boring list of text links at other marketplaces. Wouldn't you agree?

If a seller submits their own logo, in what way does Alter then own it?

It reads like Alter forever exclusively owns a logo the second it's submitted/accepted, even if the name doesn't sell and the seller removes it from Alter. But what's the point in Alter owning a logo for a domain it doesn't own, preventing the actual domain owner from using it?

Or does it mean Alter owns a submitted logo only if and when the name sells?

That terminology simply means that we own the uploaded logo exclusively while the name is listed on Alter. We use it in all our marketing material (i.e. ads, landers, etc) so we need to ensure we have full rights to it while we're managing your listing. If the name sells then obviously the rights would pass on to the buyer. Otherwise, the uploaded logo is yours to do whatever you want with.

Privacy. I get enough phone calls from abroad as it is. Until a sale is made, I see no need to give away sensitive information.

As I mentioned above, only the seller's name (and photo if you use Gravatar) would be shown to the buyer so there wouldn't be any way for them to spam you. Additionally, the seller's name isn't shown to the buyer unless the seller decides to act on the buyer's offer. :)

Besides, probabilistically speaking sellers are generally more likely to spam buyers. Not the other way around as buyers don't have enough of an incentive to do that.

That said, if everyone here feels super strongly about this we would be happy to make the entire process anonymous. Our goal is to implement features that benefit both parties and ultimately lead to more sales. So if anyone has additional feedback around this, please feel free to share your thoughts.

Is it possible to not compare any (cc,g)TLD with .com at all?
This TLD section can be removed completely, zero effect from it, only loss.

That section is primarily there for SEO benefit. I wouldn't worry about the comparison impacting sales as everyone knows that .com is king already. And the fact that another extension is considered by the buyer in the first place is generally because the .com domain is unavailable so I think it's a moot point. Wouldn't you agree?
 
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In Germany - .DE is king, in Australia - .com.au, in UK - .co.uk etc.
Please remove this unnecessary comparison or add individual option in Account settings to hide it.
 
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