domains Alter.com Announced Closure

[Haroon Basha]

Hi there,

As you may know, the plan to close the Alter marketplace back in April was halted as a result of an acquisition offer. Unfortunately, that deal fell through as it seems like the buyer had signed our agreement in bad faith. And despite engaging with other interested parties, we weren't able to find Alter a new home.

So regrettably, we will have to continue down the original path of shutting down the marketplace. On September 3rd, all remaining domain listings will be removed from our marketplace. Seller accounts will remain active until all pending installment sales are completed so payments can be cashed out.

I would like to thank you again for your support and continued patience throughout this ordeal. It was truly a pleasure to have this opportunity to work with you over the last couple years. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,
Deven Patel
Founder & CEO

 

[sharfab]

Its sad about the Bad faith agreement. Hope they find another buyer.

 

[Primary Names]

Just curious. What exactly went wrong with alter.com ?
I used to see their name in the sales charts and I though they were doing fine.

 

[Recons.Com]

Just curious. What exactly went wrong with alter.com ?
I used to see their name in the sales charts and I though they were doing fine.

I think the whole idea that they can be profitable with 10% commission was weak.

You have to deduct around 3% right away for payment gateways.

You are left with 7% for a marketplace that has to take care of logos, descriptions, promotions, approvals etc.

Even Dan, that did not have to deal with any of those with 6% left post commissions, struggled with profitability.

I believe 20% is the minimum for a viable brandable marketplace. And 25% (including logos, descriptions etc. and not taking any money for listing upfront) should probably be the maximum for any oversaturated marketplace like SH or BB, as they can't provide 2%+ STR anymore. Their results start normalizing towards 1%-1.5%.

 

[jmaurya]

I think the whole idea that they can be profitable with 10% commission was weak.

You have to deduct around 3% right away for payment gateways.

You are left with 7% for a marketplace that has to take care of logos, descriptions, promotions, approvals etc.

Even Dan, that did not have to deal with any of those with 6% left post commissions, struggled with profitability.

I believe 20% is the minimum for a viable brandable marketplace. And 25% (including logos, descriptions etc. and not taking any money for listing upfront) should probably be the maximum for any oversaturated marketplace like SH or BB, as they can't provide 2%+ STR anymore. Their results start normalizing towards 1%-1.5%.

I think 10% good profitable business...


daaz.com
Buy-It-Now (BIN):5% success fee Make an offer:7% success fee Actions:7% success fee Lease to Own:8% success fee DaaZ Secure (escrow):5% service fee

 

[johnsmith53]

I wanted to buy it but no one ever got back to me

 

[Haroon Basha]

I wanted to buy it but no one ever got back to me

Now you can try, they may respond

 

[johnsmith53]

Do you have any contact details as i've tried on here and linkedin but never get a response

 

[Mkt Sales Leads]

Do you have any contact details as i've tried on here and linkedin but never get a response

I'm assuming you already contacted @Deven Patel right?

 

[Mister Funsky]

We wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Thank you and the same to you.

I will miss Alter. It had a new and clean look/feel to it (there are too many stagnant dinosaurs in the marketplace industry).