IT.COM

SquadHelp - Marketplace

NameSilo
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Hey Folks,

I've just started using squadhelp.com to list some of my brandable. So far I have 76 domains listed, there is no fee to list. I've had some decent action so far in the way of interested buyers but no sales as of yet. I've only been with them for 1 week now.

A bit of a summary review of SquadHelp:

PROS
  • No Listing fee
  • No Logo design fee
  • Ability to submit your names to end users holding naming contests
  • Ability to chat directly or send a message directly to end users.
  • Stats of your marketplace domains are shown in the marketplace dashboard.
  • Their customer service and support has been great, 24hr a day chat.
  • Ability to increase or decrease the list price of your domains or to show a discount. You can decrease or increase the price yourself by $200. If you want to lower more, you can contact support.
  • End users can shortlist your domains before they make a decision on which they want to purchase. The number of shortlists is shown in you marketplace dashboard.
  • When you submit your names you get to set the price you wish to get. Because their commissions are high I recommend listing at a higher price to offset the commission costs.
  • Their landing pages are fairly basic but they work. Because the marketplace is fairly new, I'm sure we will see style improvements in the future.
  • One thing I really like is they accept multiple extensions. I have listed .co and .io along with .com
  • Each seller gets a direct link to their marketplace portfolio, HERES MY PORTFOLIO. It is handy if your trying to p[promote your portfolio through social media.
  • I like that their marketplace doesn't have tens of thousands domain listings like BB. They are fairly strict on the domains they accept to list and so this helps keep the number of domains in the marketplace down and gets your listings more exposure.
CONS
  • Their commissions are very high, depending on the domain name they are usually between 30% and 35%. However, there are no listing fees, no logo design fees, so in the end their commission is very similar to brand buckets.
  • Their logos are not top quality, in fact I requested to have some of my logos remade.
  • I think they have a big backlog of logos to design, the wait time for logo design has been around 1 week, but your names are still listed while the logos are being designed.
  • After your names are accepted you need to agree to their commission rate, at this point you also need to apply your own keywords, descriptions etc. I found this was very time consuming.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Thanks for pointing out this issue. You raise some valid points however let me provide a bit more context about our Marketing strategy.

Most of our display ads that we run are dynamic which means they showcase actual domains that are currently listed on SH. The names in those ads are automatically selected based upon the browsing history and interest of the buyer.

We have also been testing some "static" banner ads such as your example. If the Ads continue to provide good results (e.g. good conversions, high CTR, low CPC etc), we typically continue to run them without refreshing them too often. We run different marketing campaigns with different objectives - some are designed to introduce our platform to new prospective buyers (long term focus), while others are designed to present specific names to buyers based upon their recent browsing history (short term/ immediate focus).

For context, in the last 30 days, our ads were shown more than 4 million times across various websites and platforms and the static ads such as this example represent a fairly small % of those impressions.

Having said that, I have shared this example with our Marketing team so that we can evaluate this closely and make any adjustments if needed.

@GrantP thank you for listening to our feedback! I saw that these ads are now updated and contain only domain names that are currently available on Squadhelp! :) I hope this update will bring the best results.
 
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Squadhelp has announced the upcoming changes to their marketplace algorithm: https://squadhelp.com/t/updates-to-marketplace-algorithm/10358/6

Among these changes there's this one: " If you are adding more than 5-10 keywords in the description section, it will likely get flagged by our new algorithm, and may lead to a reduced discovery."

@GrantP Since “keyword stuffing” seems like a hard thing to define and there's a thin line between "just right" amount of keywords and "one too many" which would cause a reduced discovery, would it be possible to send out automatic notifications to sellers? If your new algorithm flags a domain name for "keyword stuffing" notification should be immediately sent out to the seller letting them know about the problem and encouraging them to improve the description. This would lead to better descriptions site-wide and fewer misunderstandings when awesome domain names are buried just because their otherwise great descriptions contain a few extra keywords.

Alternatively, when your new algorithm detects "keyword stuffing" maybe it's possible to just automatically delete that part of the description? Without punishing sellers for doing something that was allowed at the time when they were doing it. Because now making sellers with large portfolios manually rewrite descriptions for 2000 or 5000 domain names and threatening them with consequences if they will not do it seems a bit ... cruel.
 
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Squadhelp has announced the upcoming changes to their marketplace algorithm: https://squadhelp.com/t/updates-to-marketplace-algorithm/10358/6

Among these changes there's this one: " If you are adding more than 5-10 keywords in the description section, it will likely get flagged by our new algorithm, and may lead to a reduced discovery."

@GrantP Since “keyword stuffing” seems like a hard thing to define and there's a thin line between "just right" amount of keywords and "one too many" which would cause a reduced discovery, would it be possible to send out automatic notifications to sellers? If your new algorithm flags a domain name for "keyword stuffing" notification should be immediately sent out to the seller letting them know about the problem and encouraging them to improve the description. This would lead to better descriptions site-wide and fewer misunderstandings when awesome domain names are buried just because their otherwise great descriptions contain a few extra keywords.

@GrantP when these changes will be in place? How much time do we have to update descriptions of our domain names? Do we have to manually check descriptions of every single name in our portfolio and count industry-specific keywords or will SH automatically delete parts that are flagged as "keyword stuffing" from domain descriptions?
 
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Hello,

After some months of waiting, probably due to the international situation related to the virus, I've finally sold a domain name at Squadhelp (V/e/v/i/n/i/D/o/t/C/o/m - see "Report completed domain name sales" for more details). Things are starting to move again at Sh.

Last year was a good one for me at Squadhelp. I've sold 6 domain names in the first half of the year, out of an around 80 premium domains at that time. Now I have 100.

Overall, I've sold 15 domain names at Squadhelp, since I've started to do this, at the end of 2017.

I wish you all good luck to sell more domains!

Thank you,

Alex.
 
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I was wondering if there is a way to deal with thieves. By thieves, I mean people who steal a brand name AND a logo and just use it for their business without any regret. Here are some examples:

My domain name for sale: https://www.squadhelp.com/name/infinexy
A thief: https://www.facebook.com/Infinexy

My domain name for sale: https://www.squadhelp.com/name/glamley
A thief: https://www.facebook.com/Glamleydesigner.bd/ (a logo they are using for their profile pic is a previous logo created by Squadhelp. I had Squadhelp to change the logo, but they had the nerve to steal the second one too).

My domain name for sale: https://www.squadhelp.com/name/luxccessory
A thief: https://www.facebook.com/Wasfaatnosa22

I do understand that I don't own these brand names, but these people are clearly infringing copyright by using logos created and owned by SH. I already filed copyright infringement reports regarding logos, but there seems to be no use of that so far. I'm afraid this might be hurting sales because potential buyers might just not want to have all that trouble making thieves stop using logos they don't own. Or even worse, some might attempt to buy a domain name and a logo from those thieves and be scammed.

I was wondering, how are others doing with such cases? Is there an effective strategy? Maybe SH should automatically add watermarks to all of their logos (logoground.com does that) and a small "buy it at www.squadhelp.com" note at the bottom of the image? Could this prevent logos from being stolen? What are your thoughts?
 
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I'm afraid this might be hurting sales because potential buyers might just not want to have all that trouble making thieves stop using logos they don't own.
This is really insignificant, whats really troublesome is that they took the social media handles which used to be available for that name before, and that could be a real no good, next moment for any interested party considering the name.
 
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I was wondering, how are others doing with such cases? Is there an effective strategy? Maybe SH should automatically add watermarks to all of their logos (logoground.com does that) and a small "buy it at www.squadhelp.com" note at the bottom of the image? Could this prevent logos from being stolen? What are your thoughts?

Watermarks are a fantastic idea and should be suggested to them.

I send them a cease and desist from my company email... I adapt the example in the top right of this page:
https://eforms.com/cease-and-desist/

And I report them to their hosting provider / facebook or wherever.

Good luck!
 
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Watermarks are a fantastic idea and should be suggested to them.

I send them a cease and desist from my company email... I adapt the example in the top right of this page:
https://eforms.com/cease-and-desist/

And I report them to their hosting provider / facebook or wherever.

Good luck!

@JimJammy thank you for sharing your strategy! Did that prove to be effective? Were you able to make them stop using logos stolen from you?
 
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This is really insignificant, whats really troublesome is that they took the social media handles which used to be available for that name before, and that could be a real no good, next moment for any interested party considering the name.

@capybara that is a valid point! Then maybe we should register social media handles that are still available ourselves and offer them as a bundle deal (exact match .com domain name + exact match social media handles)? That could add value. And Squadhelp could have a separate section/filter for these bundles. That could be a win-win situation for sellers and buyers. Sellers get extra exposure from that separate section/filter and buyers can easily find brand names with available social media handles.

What do others think?
 
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@JimJammy thank you for sharing your strategy! Did that prove to be effective? Were you able to make them stop using logos stolen from you?
Yes, all of them. Haven't checked in a long while though, I should probably do that. Your suggestion about a watermark is really good and would stop it happening in the future. You should suggest it to them.
 
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Yes, all of them. Haven't checked in a long while though, I should probably do that. Your suggestion about a watermark is really good and would stop it happening in the future. You should suggest it to them.

Wow, impressive! Then I should try this too :) Although I think it would be more effective if Sauadhelp sent those letters. A serious company threatening with legal actions might seem like a lot bigger deal than a single individual threatening with legal actions.

I did blue-button SH and told them the idea of watermarks. I hope it will reach the decision makers and will be considered.
 
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Thanks @NameWell - sad to see that other sites are copying the content.

I was thinking of some related things here. Who legally owns the logo anyway, when the domain is still for sale on SH? You or SH? Or maybe the third party that has created the logo for the domain? I assume that SH has covered itself against any copyright issues when it has the logos created by third parties. Is the logo listed separately on the invoice as a product when purchased by the buyer? And how?
 
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I was wondering if there is a way to deal with thieves. By thieves, I mean people who steal a brand name AND a logo and just use it for their business without any regret. Here are some examples:

My domain name for sale: https://www.squadhelp.com/name/infinexy
A thief: https://www.facebook.com/Infinexy

My domain name for sale: https://www.squadhelp.com/name/glamley
A thief: https://www.facebook.com/Glamleydesigner.bd/ (a logo they are using for their profile pic is a previous logo created by Squadhelp. I had Squadhelp to change the logo, but they had the nerve to steal the second one too).

My domain name for sale: https://www.squadhelp.com/name/luxccessory
A thief: https://www.facebook.com/Wasfaatnosa22

I do understand that I don't own these brand names, but these people are clearly infringing copyright by using logos created and owned by SH. I already filed copyright infringement reports regarding logos, but there seems to be no use of that so far. I'm afraid this might be hurting sales because potential buyers might just not want to have all that trouble making thieves stop using logos they don't own. Or even worse, some might attempt to buy a domain name and a logo from those thieves and be scammed.

I was wondering, how are others doing with such cases? Is there an effective strategy? Maybe SH should automatically add watermarks to all of their logos (logoground.com does that) and a small "buy it at www.squadhelp.com" note at the bottom of the image? Could this prevent logos from being stolen? What are your thoughts?
 
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I decided to switch to using a coin when submitting names I own just to test it out, and I noticed the commission structure on names already approved went from 32.5% to 35%, including new ones as well. I asked about this in chat but they weren't too helpful. Has anyone had issues with this?
 
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I was wondering if there is a way to deal with thieves. By thieves, I mean people who steal a brand name AND a logo and just use it for their business without any regret. Here are some examples:

My domain name for sale: https://www.squadhelp.com/name/infinexy
A thief: https://www.facebook.com/Infinexy

My domain name for sale: https://www.squadhelp.com/name/glamley
A thief: https://www.facebook.com/Glamleydesigner.bd/ (a logo they are using for their profile pic is a previous logo created by Squadhelp. I had Squadhelp to change the logo, but they had the nerve to steal the second one too).

My domain name for sale: https://www.squadhelp.com/name/luxccessory
A thief: https://www.facebook.com/Wasfaatnosa22

I do understand that I don't own these brand names, but these people are clearly infringing copyright by using logos created and owned by SH. I already filed copyright infringement reports regarding logos, but there seems to be no use of that so far. I'm afraid this might be hurting sales because potential buyers might just not want to have all that trouble making thieves stop using logos they don't own. Or even worse, some might attempt to buy a domain name and a logo from those thieves and be scammed.

I was wondering, how are others doing with such cases? Is there an effective strategy? Maybe SH should automatically add watermarks to all of their logos (logoground.com does that) and a small "buy it at www.squadhelp.com" note at the bottom of the image? Could this prevent logos from being stolen? What are your thoughts?

I would be more inclined to consider these potential end users.

it is definitely infringing on Squadhelp’s rights to the logo designs! I would hope that squadhelp has a process in place to exercise their legal entitlement to a logo they created.
Interested to hear what @GrantP comments on this.
 
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I would be more inclined to consider these potential end users.

it is definitely infringing on Squadhelp’s rights to the logo designs! I would hope that squadhelp has a process in place to exercise their legal entitlement to a logo they created.
Interested to hear what @GrantP comments on this.

@JudgeMind thanks for chiming in. Theoretically yes, these people could be potential clients, but from what I have seen so far it's very very unlikely.

By the way, here's my newest discovery:

My name for sale: https://www.squadhelp.com/name/boostvy
Thief: https://pl.pinterest.com/boostvyofficial/_created/

Not only they are using the name Boostvy and SH-created logo for Boostvy, they call themselves Boostvy Official and (cherry on top) ... are posting dirty content. :facepalm:
 
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@JudgeMind thanks for chiming in. Theoretically yes, these people could be potential clients, but from what I have seen so far it's very very unlikely.

By the way, here's my newest discovery:

My name for sale: https://www.squadhelp.com/name/boostvy
Thief: https://pl.pinterest.com/boostvyofficial/_created/

Not only they are using the name Boosty and SH-created logo for Boostvy, they call themselves Boostvy Official and (cherry on top) ... are posting dirty content. :facepalm: Now what kind of business would like their clients and partners to google their name and find THIS. So ... how can I expect this name to be bought?

Added to this, they are linking to another website under .ml on the Pinterest profile you mentioned.

So, later on, they can say they were the first using the name commercially (or at least earlier)*

Here's where they registered their .ml domain for free:

boostvy.ml. 300 IN NS ns01.freenom.com.
boostvy.ml. 300 IN NS ns04.freenom.com.
boostvy.ml. 300 IN NS ns02.freenom.com.
boostvy.ml. 300 IN NS ns03.freenom.com.

https://www.freenom.com/en/pricechart.html

Top Level Domain Registration Renewal Transfer
TK € 0.00 € 0.00 € 0.00
ML € 0.00 € 0.00 € 0.00
GA € 0.00 € 0.00 € 0.00
CF € 0.00 € 0.00 € 0.00
GQ € 0.00 € 0.00 € 0.00

It is interesting to keep track of whether you can spot a pattern with the same free (.ml etc.) domain names, profiles on Instagram, use of Freenom registrar, and listings on brandable marketplaces.

Organisation:
Mali Dili B.V.
Point ML administrator
P.O. Box 11774
1001 GT Amsterdam
Netherlands
Phone: +31 20 5315725
Fax: +31 20 5315721
E-mail: abuse: [email protected], copyright infringement: [email protected]

* I don't know who was earlier, but I do see that you registered the .com on 2020-05-12.
 
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Theoretically yes, these people could be potential clients, but from what I have seen so far it's very very unlikely.

You never know, I had a 4L listed at BrandPa and for 3 years there were a FaceBook page with the name and logo and 2 months ago the name sold and it was them who bought it
 
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I have 56 premium on SH , started late November with 64% approval rate right now, but yet to make a sale on SH.
Any advice on how to improve sale chances or do I just need a bigger portfolio
 
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My strategy I was doing which worked for me hasn’t been working lately. No sales to speak of on my end for a few weeks.

If you have a small portfolio, price your names low to sell faster and use that capital to build your portfolio.
 
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My strategy I was doing which worked for me hasn’t been working lately. No sales to speak of on my end for a few weeks.

If you have a small portfolio, price your names low to sell faster and use that capital to build your portfolio.
I'm not sure if this was a reply to my message but yeah most of my domains are priced low and I add 2-3 domains to my portfolio weekly ,I have had sales on dan but none on SH hence the question I asked earlier ""I have 56 premium on SH , started late November with 64% approval rate right now, but yet to make a sale on SH.
Any advice on how to improve sale chances or do I just need a bigger portfolio""
 
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My strategy I was doing which worked for me hasn’t been working lately. No sales to speak of on my end for a few weeks.

If you have a small portfolio, price your names low to sell faster and use that capital to build your portfolio.

Same here... actually not the same, worse :xf.grin: Currently, I have 431 premium domain name on SH. I don't know what happened, but I'm not getting ANY sales for the last three months. Usually, I would have 1 - 3 sales a month. Sometimes I would have one month with 0 sales, but three months with 0 sales is ... WEIRD. All my domain names are priced below $3000. Many at $1999. So I don't think I'm overpricing. And my Portfolio Optimization Score is 93%.
 
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Same here... actually not the same, worse :xf.grin: Currently, I have 431 premium domain name on SH. I don't know what happened, but I'm not getting ANY sales for the last three months. Usually, I would have 1 - 3 sales a month. Sometimes I would have one month with 0 sales, but three months with 0 sales is ... WEIRD. All my domain names are prices below $3000. A lot at $1999. So I don't think I'm overpricing. And my Portfolio Optimization Score is 93%.

Not strange at all.

SH was able to pull large STR because the portfolio was small and ad/ social media based sales were a huge boost.

Now the portfolio has grown exponentially while the a&sm based sales have grown fractionally.

Example: 20000 names give natural sales of 200, plus 1000 names from paid and social, add up to str of 6%.

Now for 100 000 names, organic sales are 1000, plus paid and social of 1200 (e.g.), combined str is 2.2%.

And if a bigger chunk of that goes to sellers that put lots of hours promoting their names in the system, your str can deep even below 1%.
 
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Historically I’ve done well with squadhelp and so have accepted the higher commission rates because I was maintaining a high STR, if the STR is dropping to around 2%, the industry standard, then one could achieve the same STR at another “lower commission” venue.

I’m not jumping ship but have been analyzing this for some time and comparing my STR at afternic, epik, alter, domainify, brandmo etc.

According to my dashboard my current annualized STR is 4.92%, down from 5.88% at the start of this year and down significantly from two years ago.

My portfolio is currently sitting at 692 premium listings.

sales stats to date for 2021:

-12 sales
-1 sale I personally brought the buyer into sh
-3 of the sales were through afternic

to me it seems as though sh advertising budget has not grown as fast as the inventory has. I also wonder if their ad campaigns are weighted heavier to higher priced names.

will continue to monitor things and share success or non-success stats here with you
 
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Same here... actually not the same, worse :xf.grin: Currently, I have 431 premium domain name on SH. I don't know what happened, but I'm not getting ANY sales for the last three months. Usually, I would have 1 - 3 sales a month. Sometimes I would have one month with 0 sales, but three months with 0 sales is ... WEIRD. All my domain names are prices below $3000. A lot at $1999. So I don't think I'm overpricing. And my Portfolio Optimization Score is 93%.

I have worse experience here I am now sitting on 502 premium domains but no sales for me in last 6 months!! Not sure what is wrong with SquadHelp. I will certainly move all my domains out within 1-2 months if things do not improve.
 
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