Rebranding Website - Round 2

[Name Trader]

I still haven't finally decided on my rebranding of DNStore.com. I'm not afraid of rebranding (maybe I should be). Because I'll just point DNStore.com to whatever I choose to rebrand to. Let's start with why I want to rebrand. Several domainers have told me that end-users haven't a clue what DN stands for, and I should probably choose a domain with "domain" in the name and with a 2nd word which suggest selling domains. This sounds all well and good, except there are really none available to register, or are priced too expensively. I've kinda shortlisted 4 domains, which don't actually follow all suggestions which have been made. These are STUB.ORG, STUUB.COM, STUBWEB.COM, NAMETRADER.COM. So let's discuss these 4 domains.

STUB.ORG. I recently purchased this from a very top domainer. It wasn't cheap. How much does it matter that it's not the .COM, which is in use in the entertainment ticketing business? The .NET is for sale for about $25k. I'd like to hear the pros and cons of using STUB.ORG as my domains for sale website, replacing DNStore.com? Pros: It's my name on NP's and an abbreviation of my real name. It's short and to the point. It doesn't address the problem of not including Domain & Sales in the domain name, which started all this searching for a new name. How much does that matter? I think it's very brandable.

STUUB.COM. I purchased this from another domainer about 4 years ago. A true brandable with the same qualities as STUB.ORG, except it is a .COM. If that is important. Does that make it a better choice than STUB.ORG?

STUBWEB.COM. I purchased this in the drops about 4 years ago also. A 2 word brandable, with my keyword+WEB. Several top domainers are using "Domain(s)+Web".com (which obviously are not available). This only partially links the domain to selling domains on the WEB. It's a COM also.

NAMETRADER.COM - I purchased this domain some 15+years ago. This definitely fits the bill of clearly identifying what to expect from the domain. Although it uses the considerably lower form of "NAME" replacing the word "DOMAIN" according to one top domainer, I spoke with. I couldn't find any available domain which implied selling domains with the use of "NAME" available for registration or purchase at a reasonable cost. Not a brandable.

I would stress this is a shortlist. I have several .COM domains with 1 or 2 letters in front of or behind STUB. I have domains like STUBDOMAINS.COM, which might be a good fit/compromise. But I kinda preferred something shorter, and brandable. I have several NGTLDs with the word "DOMAIN(S).+NGTLD. Reasonably good NGTLD's. But I didn't consider them viable, because of thinking about .COM being almost a must. I'm not really sure how many end-users who would know of these NGTLDs, yet. I have and considered several DOMAINSALESxxxx.com but I figured you could die before the completing the domain in your browser

My personal preference is in the order they are listed. But it is a tight decision between all of them. I'd like to here your comments about each of these names and the one you would choose. And why.

rgds
stu

 

[Name Trader]

Presumably the domain needs to have a live hosting account to do this? I have done this by redirecting the domain at my registrar. Is that good enough?

 

[maya-zir]

It all depends on what is domaining for you.
Of course, the best is NameTrader.com, but if you sell on auctions, then this domain is just an expensive toy for you because you will continue selling with or without this domain. In this case, I would sell it.
If your target is to develop your own platform or website with a decent name to sell directly, then this domain is what you need.

 

[Name Trader]

It all depends on what is domaining for you.
Of course, the best is NameTrader.com, but if you sell on auctions, then this domain is just an expensive toy for you because you will continue selling with or without this domain. In this case, I would sell it.
If your target is to develop your own platform or website with a decent name to sell directly, then this domain is what you need.

Most of my sales last year, which was a good year, was probably (off the top of my head) which isn't always reliable, were, something like 80% thru Afternic, and 20% thru my website. I would say it's been about that for several years, give or take. Of course. I would like to have more share, and not have Afternic take 20% off the top. But my website cannot compete with Afternic's distribution. So most people use Afternic because of there size, portfolio, and reach. Why would they remember to check out my website. If they even have heard of it. But I do feel it's necessary to maintain a sales website. I don't use any other avenues for selling apart from Afternic and my website.

 

[DN Playbook]

It all depends on what is domaining for you.
Of course, the best is NameTrader.com, but if you sell on auctions, then this domain is just an expensive toy for you because you will continue selling with or without this domain. In this case, I would sell it.
If your target is to develop your own platform or website with a decent name to sell directly, then this domain is what you need.

Having a domain sales brand makes sense if you do reach out to buyers. It looks much better in email signatures, business cards, and if you forward your domains to your brand sales pages then you are able to control the traffic and generate leads. You can also run advertising as an additional revenue flow.

 

[maya-zir]

Having a domain sales brand makes sense if you do reach out to buyers. It looks much better in email signatures, business cards, and if you forward your domains to your brand sales pages then you are able to control the traffic and generate leads. You can also run advertising as an additional revenue flow.

Ads on business site?
As a potencial client, I always ignore all business sites with ads.
If your offer services or product - keep your site ads free.

 

[DN Playbook]

Ads on business site?
As a potencial client, I always ignore all business sites with ads.
If your offer services or product - keep your site ads free.

So you are against parking then?

 

[maya-zir]

So you are against parking then?

How are you going to park your business site? What are you talking about?

 

[DN Playbook]

How are you going to park your business site? What are you talking about?

With a sales site you can create landing pages for your domains and place advertising.

Every major marketplace does that. It is mostly upselling their other services. You just have to know the right way to do it. You don't have to make it look spammy, but professional.

Advertising can also take the form of promoting your other domains. Create a service and/or product and offer it. Affiliate links to registrars. If you have enough quality content then you can qualify for adsense. Think of your landing pages as an alternative to parking.

 

[maya-zir]

With a sales site you can create landing pages for your domains and place advertising.

Every major marketplace does that. It is mostly upselling their other services. You just have to know the right way to do it. You don't have to make it look spammy, but professional.

Advertising can also take the form of promoting your other domains. Create a service and/or product and offer it. Affiliate links to registrars. If you have enough quality content then you can qualify for adsense. Think of your landing pages as an alternative to parking.

For me, every business site with ads means they have no money, no clients, and no work, that's why they try to survive using ads...
Personally, I have a lot of sites where I earn with ads, but they are NOT my business sites..
If I offer something online and create the landing page for my product or services, I never add there ads - it shows only my bad financial situation for the potential client or buyer

 

[maya-zir]

Most of my sales last year, which was a good year, was probably (off the top of my head) which isn't always reliable, were, something like 80% thru Afternic, and 20% thru my website. I would say it's been about that for several years, give or take. Of course. I would like to have more share, and not have Afternic take 20% off the top. But my website cannot compete with Afternic's distribution. So most people use Afternic because of there size, portfolio, and reach. Why would they remember to check out my website. If they even have heard of it. But I do feel it's necessary to maintain a sales website. I don't use any other avenues for selling apart from Afternic and my website.

All prefer to buy on the trustful place and not every potential buyer would accept pay to unknown fellow from the internet.
If your potential client is a domainer or end-user who knows the importance of a good domain and already had experience with domain buying, then he can accept to pay you directly.
But the person who buys for the first time will prefer to buy via a well-known platform.. even if he has no idea what is domain auction, he will google and in 95% ask you to use Godaddy.
In your place, I would sell nametrader.com because it is a good name and continue selling on well-known marketplaces. Ok, you lose 20% but you avoid problems and headache with all the payment process.
I would continue keeping the same site - DNstore and offering nametrader.com for sale.

 

[branding]

All prefer to buy on the trustful place and not every potential buyer would accept pay to unknown fellow from the internet.
If your potential client is a domainer or end-user who knows the importance of a good domain and already had experience with domain buying, then he can accept to pay you directly.
But the person who buys for the first time will prefer to buy via a well-known platform.. even if he has no idea what is domain auction, he will google and in 95% ask you to use Godaddy.
In your place, I would sell nametrader.com because it is a good name and continue selling on well-known marketplaces. Ok, you lose 20% but you avoid problems and headache with all the payment process.
I would continue keeping the same site - DNstore and offering nametrader.com for sale.

Mh well... Depends... I sell 90% of my domains privately, contract signed, wire/cc issued. Dunno about you but losing 20% in sales would be quite a monetary loss.

Besides exposure, marketplaces bring you nothing. Payment process is easy if you have the right payment processors in place and can be fully automated. Sale, purchase, provide Auth, transfer approval, all without manual intervention so no time (=money) involved.

Domain payed for, funds received and delivered instantly. Try that with afternic. Dan comes close. Those who automate are lightyears ahead of the competition.

 

[maya-zir]

Mh well... Depends... I sell 90% of my domains privately, contract signed, wire/cc issued. Dunno about you but losing 20% in sales would be quite a monetary loss.

Besides exposure, marketplaces bring you nothing. Payment process is easy if you have the right payment processors in place and can be fully automated. Sale, purchase, provide Auth, transfer approval, all without manual intervention so no time (=money) involved.

Domain payed for, funds received and delivered instantly. Try that with afternic. Dan comes close. Those who automate are lightyears ahead of the competition.

Even so, not everyone would accept to pay to an unknown fellow from nowhere.
Experienced domain buyers will do, but the first-time buyer no.

I don't say nametrader is a bad domain, I just say there are no benefits from using this domain in this case.

 

[branding]

Even so, not everyone would accept to pay to an unknown fellow from nowhere.
Experienced domain buyers will do, but the first-time buyer no.

I don't say nametrader is a bad domain, I just say there are no benefits from using this domain in this case.

The benefit is 20% additional sales without (or less) commission to a sales venue (besides possible escrow/processor fees). So if you gross 100K, that could be 20K lost. Might be they'd buy through GD/AN instead, that's let's say 20% (commission) off the top, still 4K down the drain, a 4% loss in ideal circumstances.

If you use the right processors/escrow, buyer is protected. Contracts signed, another layer of protection.

A niche defining domain definitely helps. Both old and new are good (imo) to establish enough trust when the site is developed nicely.

Besides, if you count on GD/AN, you neglect the biggest slice of the pie (non us buyers). That's just foolish, leaving money on the table.

 

[maya-zir]

The benefit is 20% additional sales without (or less) commission to a sales venue (besides possible escrow/processor fees). So if you gross 100K, that could be 20K lost. Might be they'd buy through GD/AN instead, that's let's say 20% (commission) off the top, still 4K down the drain, a 4% loss in ideal circumstances.

If you use the right processors/escrow, buyer is protected. Contracts signed, another layer of protection.

A niche defining domain definitely helps. Both old and new are good (imo) to establish enough trust when the site is developed nicely.

Besides, if you count on GD/AN, you neglect the biggest slice of the pie (non us buyers). That's just foolish, leaving money on the table.

ONLY if his potential buyer would accept to pay directly.. don't forget about this fact.
And how many potential buyers will he lose after he will offer to pay directly and they will disappear thinking he was a scammer

 

[maya-zir]

The benefit is 20% additional sales without (or less) commission to a sales venue (besides possible escrow/processor fees). So if you gross 100K, that could be 20K lost. Might be they'd buy through GD/AN instead, that's let's say 20% (commission) off the top, still 4K down the drain, a 4% loss in ideal circumstances.

If you use the right processors/escrow, buyer is protected. Contracts signed, another layer of protection.

A niche defining domain definitely helps. Both old and new are good (imo) to establish enough trust when the site is developed nicely.

Besides, if you count on GD/AN, you neglect the biggest slice of the pie (non us buyers). That's just foolish, leaving money on the table.

I don't see the point..
Why somebody would pay a few thousand to NameTrader but will not pay to DNstore?
How nametrader.com could help to increase direct sales?
I could understand if it was OnlienStoreForSellingGoodDomains.xyz.... I would avoid this store..
But DNstore is ok, so why change the name and keep a valuable domain as an expensive toy?

 

[branding]

ONLY if his potential buyer would accept to pay directly.. don't forget about this fact.
And how many potential buyers will he lose after he will offer to pay directly and they will disappear thinking he was a scammer

You underestimate the fact that the biggest part of the world has never heard about GoDaddy and/or afternic looks like a leftover from the past.

Decent site and right credentials win over GD/Afternic as their brand recognition is overestimated if you look at the global market.

 

[branding]

I don't see the point..
Why somebody would pay a few thousand to NameTrader but will not pay to DNstore?
How nametrader.com could help to increase direct sales?
I could understand if it was OnlienStoreForSellingGoodDomains.xyz.... I would avoid this store..
But DNstore is ok, so why change the name and keep a valuable domain as an expensive toy?

Agreed. Both are good names imo, although NT a bit more straightforward.

If you're building a brand it always works to get an expensive toy to promote your business

 

[bmugford]

DNStore.com is good. NameTrader.com is good. Either one works.

I am not sure I would expect either to lead to more sales than the other. It is kind of like a lateral move IMO.

With that said, I would lean towards NameTrader.com if I had to choose.

Brad

 

[DN Playbook]

For me, every business site with ads means they have no money, no clients, and no work, that's why they try to survive using ads...
Personally, I have a lot of sites where I earn with ads, but they are NOT my business sites..
If I offer something online and create the landing page for my product or services, I never add there ads - it shows only my bad financial situation for the potential client or buyer

I think we envision ads in different ways. If you do not upsell on your business site then you are losing money. If you park your domains to earn PPC then your domain landers will look very spammy. If you redirect your domains to a mainstream marketplace then you are sending them free traffic and free business. What is your best case scenario?

When it comes to domain landers, you get 3 types of visitors: the curious, the serious, and those that land who are looking for a specific service or product but not interested in buying the domain.

 

[maya-zir]

I think we envision ads in different ways. If you do not upsell on your business site then you are losing money. If you park your domains to earn PPC then your domain landers will look very spammy. If you redirect your domains to a mainstream marketplace then you are sending them free traffic and free business. What is your best case scenario?

When it comes to domain landers, you get 3 types of visitors: the curious, the serious, and those that land who are looking for a specific service or product but not interested in buying the domain.

If I place ads on my business site it means only 1 thing - I am in a bad financial situation and count on every cent.
I have websites with ads and I sell space for ads on some of my sites..
But on my site where I introduce myself and offer my services, I never add any ads.
It looks cheap to put ads on a business sites..

 

[DN Playbook]

If I place ads on my business site it means only 1 thing - I am in a bad financial situation and count on every cent.
I have websites with ads and I sell space for ads on some of my sites..
But on my site where I introduce myself and offer my services, I never add any ads.
It looks cheap to put ads on a business sites..

I think this depends on the business. Do you think that GoDaddy is in a bad financial situation? Or Sedo? Etc.

 

[maya-zir]

I think this depends on the business. Do you think that GoDaddy is in a bad financial situation? Or Sedo? Etc.

they have a name, they don't need to appear wealthy

 

[DN Playbook]

they have a name, they don't need to appear wealthy

Bingo. That's why you need a good brand. Everyone starts somewhere. They didn't get where they are because they were afraid of upselling or displaying sponsored links. Most end user buyers are first time visitors. A domain sales site is unlike other business sites that sell services. Even Amazon.com has sponsored placements on their site. I think you are missing the big picture. But there is the right way and the wrong way to do it.

 

[maya-zir]

Bingo. That's why you need a good brand. Everyone starts somewhere. They didn't get where they are because they were afraid of upselling or displaying sponsored links. Most end user buyers are first time visitors. A domain sales site is unlike other business sites that sell services. Even Amazon.com has sponsored placements on their site. I think you are missing the big picture. But there is the right way and the wrong way to do it.

the brand is not just a name or domain.
you also need offices, personals etc etc etc...
btw... where is any valuable keyword in "goddady" ?

 

[DN Playbook]

the brand is not just a name or domain.
you also need offices, personals etc etc etc...
btw... where is any valuable keyword in "goddady" ?

That kind of thinking will make you quit before you get anywhere.

It all begins with a domain that inspires you.