I suspect insider favortism. Some of the insider favortism may be justified. BrandBucket may not even be aware of all the favortism suspected. IE they may not see the ability for some to edit descriptions / tags as favortism. There is nothing inherently wrong with reward programs, and a criteria of sellers achieving perks. What some may consider wrong, is if a rewards program is done in some sort of secrecy, and then may come off as favortism. An example I found early on was BB had rejected a domain I bought for BB but they declined. Being that I had only listed it to sell on BB (not having my own marketplace) and that BB had rejected it (this told me it's not a brandable domain suited for start ups at that time) and I sold it cheap on NP. Later I notice the domain is published on bb, and it made me wonder why bb accepted my rejected domain for an experienced seller, and not for me. Thus, I don't think it's unfair for others to claim or assume insider BS given the transparency and incidents some have seen.
This is why
[via previous comment in this thread] I asked
@Michael M to be more specific on his comment that suggested most conspiracy stories against bb don't stand up. I think if we are to end this insider vs outsider nonsense, we need to have a serious conversation, specifically addressing each concern. I'll start by referring to a somewhat recent previous thread
HERE that questioned if BB can buy it's own own domains. But to answer questions such as that, you need to be more specific.
Can BrandBucket buy its own names? Define who is BrandBucket, and what it is one of their own names.
BrandBucket
BB1 = Staff, Owner, and/or Brand Ambassadors?
BB2 = Funds acquired via bb either via listing fee's, or elsewhere to purchase domains with valuable traffic, or other, to redirect to BB?
Its Own Names
ION1 = Domains listed on brandbucket by third party sellers / not related to BB1/BB2 or hired by the specific buyer
ION2 = Domains listed on brandbucket owned by BB1 or somebody related to / hired by.
Has BB1 ever bought ION1? Yes, @margotb was very transparent in admitting, when questioned, that a domain [Toygaroo.com] marked as sold and redirected to bb at the time, had been purchased by her. Link HERE
Has BB1 bought more than one ION1? IDK. To answer that, one would need to audit all sales and/or point out another example. The easiest, and preferred way to answer it would be receiving a direct response / answer from BrandBucket.
(1) BB1 + ION1
Is there anything wrong with BB1 buying ION1? I don't think so. The gray area is at what price. Because BrandBucket prices the domain, this is where ethics question can arise. ie If BrandBucket suggests a domain to be listed for $X,XXX, and a seller agree's, then BrandBucket had essentially set both the purchase price. If BB1 thinks they can resell the domain for more than $X,XXX, than what is wrong with giving the seller a price they would accept then and there? If this domain is relisted (or sells) by BB1 for $XX,XXX, could it be considered that BrandBucket had undervalued the initial listing price of the domain? And if so, what does that say to domain owners who don't understand market value? Should they be concerned, or happy that BrandBucket will undervalue the initial listing price, and BB1 may repurchase, and sell it for more? Why not be happy that your domain sold quickly, and because BB1 is allowed to buy? Does BB1 pay the same commission fee's as a buyer would? Or do they receive a 30% break not available to the public?
This post is long enough as is, but there's still a matter of addressing (2) BB1 + ION2 >>> (3) BB2 + ION1 >>> (4) BB2 + ION2
As a stopping point for this post, I think all conspiracy theories need to be asked out as specific as possible. Generally, it's easier to answer a specific question, then vague claims.