BrandBucket Pre-Listing Qualification Question/Feedback

@hostkobo Good question!

BB allows its sellers to submit domain names for review and acceptance ($1 fee) whether the BB seller owns the domain or not.

Sometimes I submit a name for review and it is accepted but I choose not to buy it. In those cases I offer others in this thread the option to buy it and resubmit it to BB ($1 fee) where it is auto-accepted and then published.

BB normally charges a $9 publishing fee but for the past several months they have waived the publishing fee and so it's free to publish once a name is accepted. This can change at anytime. So get your domains in now

@Keith DeBoer I thought the BB listing fee is waived but I have 6 accepted names and I am being made to pay $10 each ($60 total) as payment for listing. Promo gone?

4better said:

@Keith DeBoer I thought the BB listing fee is waived but I have 6 accepted names and I am being made to pay $10 each ($60 total) as payment for listing. Promo gone?

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You must have an old account. As Cougar has said, send an email to BB and ask to be placed on the Growth Program

Cheers!

Keith DeBoer said:

You must have an old account. As Cougar has said, send an email to BB and ask to be placed on the Growth Program

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How old ?

Primary Names said:

How old ?

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My account was one year old when I sent them email to upgrade me in growth plan, I got accepted hour after.

Furquah said:

My account was one year old when I sent them email to upgrade me in growth plan, I got accepted hour after.

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Thank you @Furquah. You are a star
Is it possible to pm me a link to your BB portfolio. Just curious !

The GrowthProgram went into effect Jan 5th, 2017. Any accounts created before that date will be on the old program.

This discussion (my fault) is a bit off topic. So if you need any more info send me a direct message or visit the BrandBucket Experience thread.

I made a big post there explaining the whole thing with cost/savings calculator, downloads etc.

Keith DeBoer said:

@hostkobo Good question!

BB allows its sellers to submit domain names for review and acceptance ($1 fee) whether the BB seller owns the domain or not.

Sometimes I submit a name for review and it is accepted but I choose not to buy it. In those cases I offer others in this thread the option to buy it and resubmit it to BB ($1 fee) where it is auto-accepted and then published.

BB normally charges a $9 publishing fee but for the past several months they have waived the publishing fee and so it's free to publish once a name is accepted. This can change at anytime. So get your domains in now

Show attachment 88084

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If we submit unregistered names, what if people who appraise domains at BB register these names for themselves if they think the names are good. Is there a some kind of company policy that prohibits it?

@nitg16
IMO If you are afraid it is so good that someone might reg it, it is probably worth regging it ASAP.
By the way I have 8 names submitted and accepted in BB before handregging and had no problems with them.

nitg16 said:

If we submit unregistered names, what if people who appraise domains at BB register these names for themselves if they think the names are good. Is there a some kind of company policy that prohibits it?

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Yes, absolutely 100% prohibited

@Keith DeBoer

I recently submitted names to BB for first time and two names were approved. I saw a publishing fee of $0 in front of them. However after proceeding to the next page, it is still showing me $10 fees. Currently these names are in "Pending editorial" status.

In seller rules, I can see this note:

“At this time, the $9 listing fee is being waived for all published names. This is a special promotion and subject to change at any time.”

So, there is a fee or not? If yes, I will have to pay listing fees after names move beyond pending editorial status or these names have been exempted already?

I am dealing with BB for first time and I don't have much idea about the listing process.

Hi @nitg16,

It sounds like you opened your BB account before Jan 2017 and are on the old program. If you send an email to [email protected] they will put you on the Growth Program at no charge.

In fact you will get $10 in credits for future domain submission/appraisals.

Under the Growth Program you can submit any domain, even ones you don't own, by paying a $1 appraisal fee. Any domains that are accepted can be published for a $9 publishing fee. However, at the present time, the publishing fee is being waived for those on the Growth Program.

I hope that makes sense. Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers!

Keith DeBoer said:

Hi @nitg16,

It sounds like you opened your BB account before Jan 2017 and are on the old program. If you send an email to [email protected] they will put you on the Growth Program at no charge.

In fact you will get $10 in credits for future domain submission/appraisals.

Under the Growth Program you can submit any domain, even ones you don't own, by paying a $1 appraisal fee. Any domains that are accepted can be published for a $9 publishing fee. However, at the present time, the publishing fee is being waived for those on the Growth Program.

I hope that makes sense. Let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers!

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I created a new account 6 days back and I have already received 10 credits.

At what stage BB prompts for listing fees payment? Before "Pending Editorial" or after that?

What is the average review time for BB submissions?

Submitted one on the 16th , reviewed by the next day.
Still no reply for the ones submitted on the 18th,presumably because of weekend?

Just a note but I also was getting notified that there was a $10 publishing charge but when I published any names, it does not ask for payment. Seems like they are waiving publishing fees like Keith stated but it may not be clear on first appearances.

@nitg16 / @Axc --

To respond to a couple of your questions..

1) If we submit unregistered names, what if people who appraise domains at BB register these names for themselves if they think the names are good. Is there a some kind of company policy that prohibits it?

I had that concern initially, however, can tell you that one of my employees has submitted over 220+ names over the past 90 days and had 60+ Accepted. The average time for name review was 5 days.

As a benchmark, during the past 90 days we had only (1) name that was registered during that 90 window. The person who registered the name was not one I recognize (it was not under Privacy) and the name was not that strong a name. Having participated with BrandBucket for the past 3 years, we happen to know most of the names of the top players on the site and our conclusion was it was a mere coincidence. (59 of 60 that were available to reg the day the Approval email arrived in our inbox is solid results - and something you can develop a business model around).

From these results, we are confident there is no cherry picking going on.

As an outside party (non-BB employee / etc) I will report we had several unregistered names appraised at over $2,500 upon submitting to BB the past 90 days and NONE of them were cherry picked by BB staff.

You would think - if someone were going to cherry pick - they probably would hit the higher appraisals. But since none were scoffed, we are confident this is not happening.

So I believe BB's "no cherry picking" policy is being honored.

One suggestion I do have - the moment you get your Approval, make your decision on which you want to keep and immediately register them.

IF YOU DON'T - and 30-60 days goes by, you may find someone out of the blue registered them and it is instinctive to think "conspiracy".

IMO - delaying registering after an Approval is not prudent, and not a conspiracy if someone out of the blue does register it months later. (not directed at anyone mentioned above, only my personal opinion on how we as investors should promptly act once the "green light" of Approval is provided).


2 ) What is the average review time for BB submissions?

In my experience, it varies from 3-7 days. Likely the variance is due to volume fluctuations, weekends, and a staff member being out. Average over the past 90 days: 5 business days.

FYI - And if you happen to submit a name that was coincidentally Approved previously, you might get a quick auto-approval email within 24 hours.

3) I recently submitted names to BB for first time and two names were approved. I saw a publishing fee of $0 in front of them. However after proceeding to the next page, it is still showing me $10 fees. Currently these names are in "Pending editorial" status.

If you have an older account, you might be under the older program.

HOWEVER - you have mentioned in an earlier post that you recently opened your account and new accounts currently default to the new Growth Program.

So, I looked at my account this morning and realized your statement is 100% correct, but permit me to mention here's what you are "possibly" observing. (please verify for us)

The "Publish $0 Fee" shows up in ORANGE text under the SUBMITTED tab when the name was Approved. Correct?

Then - the "$10 Listing Fee" shows up in RED text under the LISTED tab after you clicked on the ORANGE "Publish $0 Fee" text to move the name to the Editorial stage. Correct?

If so, then this is common as BB does happen to display the "$10 Listing Fee" in RED along with (for example) the "$100 Logo Fee" in RED text prior to your hitting the BIG ORANGE BUTTON asking you to "PUBLISH" on the Listing tab.

HOWEVER - when you did click on the ORANGE "Publish $0 Fee" back on the SUBMITTED tab you were not actually charged 10 (or 9) Credits. Meaning, your Credits tally was not reduced. Correct?

In this situation, the RED "$10 Listing Fee" is a bit out of context (and is confusing), but does not mean that BB actually charged you 10 Credits. BB just happens to have some older code displaying the old "$10 Listing Fee" text on the screen


I hope the above info is helpful.

-John
Cougar

cc: Hi @Keith DeBoer - is this consistent with your observations?

>> Just a note but I also was getting notified that there was a $10 publishing charge but when I published any names, it does not ask for payment. Seems like they are waiving publishing fees like Keith stated but it may not be clear on first appearances.


@Jonathan MacDermid -

I get the same results you mentioned. The RED "$10 Listing Fee" text that is being displayed is a bit confusing. It displays, but BB has the system programmed to waive the fee and they do not subtract the 10 Credits from your Credits count.

@Keith DeBoer @BrandCougar

It looks like the backend works but web frontend hasn't been updated to reflect the waiver.

Assuming that the waiver will end one day, I want to know at what stage credits are decucted.

When we publish names using checkboxes or when we edit description and do DNS verification on the next page?

In our BrandBucket dashboard there are two domain pages:

• SUBMITTED
• LISTED

The publishing fee is paid when an ACCEPTED domain name is moved from the SUBMITTED page to the LISTED page by clicking on the orange colored PUBLISH $0 FEE button as seen below:

@nitg16 -

Thanks for the confirmation that the backend did apply the waiver correctly.

I hope the waiver never ends - the reduced cost is fostering a company like ours to accelerate our submissions. The results of which are more inventory, quicker for the site..

@Keith DeBoer @BrandCougar

Thanks for the clarifications.

@nitg16 -

Glad it helped.

Though I have to admit, Keith's screen shot was a lot simpler and to the point than my long novel.

Best of luck with your domain investing and BB adventure.

You did well, @BrandCougar!
Thanks!

Here is the original announcement sent to all BB sellers via email in Jan 2017:

Introducing the BrandBucket Seller Growth Program
In our continuing efforts to improve seller experience, we are thrilled to announce the new BrandBucket Seller Growth Program. This opt-in program is aimed at reducing costs for sellers by eliminating the need to register domains prior to submitting them to our marketplace. As a seller, you can obtain an "appraisal" on submissions which will help you decide whether to purchase a domain. By not having to pay registration fees on names that are not accepted, your overall costs will decrease.

Here are the key features:

• Submit unregistered names. You register only the names that are accepted.
• $1 appraisal fee per submitted domain.
• $9 listing fee per accepted domains.
• $50 in initial credits if you sign up by January 12th.

To see exactly how much the Growth Program can save you, check out this cost calculator that will show the cost savings based on your current investing strategy on BrandBucket.


To get started with the Growth Program, email [email protected] and we will be happy to change your account and add 50 free credits* if you sign up by January 12th. Once you have made the switch, we would love hear your feedback to see how the program is working for you.
*Note: At present, you get 10 free credits, instead of 50, when you sign up

For more information, download this Growth Program document that discusses the program in more detail. As always, if you have any additional questions, feel free to email: [email protected].