Alter.com Marketplace

[Deven Patel]

Hi all,

I wanted to introduce a new premium domain marketplace we just launched called Alter. I would love to hear your thoughts! As the world’s largest community of domainers, your feedback would be invaluable.

Let me introduce myself. Although I’m new to NamePros, I’ve been around the block. I’ve been buying and selling domains for my own startup ideas for over 20 years. As a serial entrepreneur, I founded a number of startups across various industries like marketing, web hosting, social networking, blogging, and SaaS. This experience has helped me understand how indispensable a brand name is to a business.

Most new entrepreneurs don’t think twice about their company name. Our goal is to change that! A brand name literally has the power to make or break their business. This is more true today than ever before now that there are countless alternatives to every product or service imaginable. Sure, every business may have their own world-changing differentiator but from the outside they all look the same at which point the main differentiator ends up becoming their brand name. In a world full of distractions, we no longer have the attention span to thoroughly research what we buy so we rely on our emotions. This is why large businesses like Apple and Amazon spend billions on their “brand” alone because they understand that customer perception is everything.

Anyway, I noticed that most marketplaces that exist today are focused more on the seller rather than the buyer. Our goal is to reverse the equation and prioritize buyers because I think they are the key to success in any industry. The domain industry is no exception. Without buyers, there’s no money. This is why we’ve made it our mission to help entrepreneurs succeed!

And what’s with the 30-35% commission rate most of these marketplaces are charging? Unless they’re doing more work than a human broker, I don’t think anything over the industry average of 15-20% is warranted. We’re changing that. Alter has one of the lowest rates in the industry, an all-inclusive 10% commission fee when a name sells. There are no other fees or restrictions.

What do you think? Are we on the right track or barking up the wrong tree?

Deven

This was a promoted post.​

 

[Mex Web]

you are deals in .in domains?

 

[Lord Antares]

So what exactly is different about this website? At first glance, I can't tell it apart from all the others. What makes it buyer friendly? (Btw I agree the focus should be on buyers; I've been saying that)

Also, 10% is about industry standard these days. However, brandable marketplaces with logos charge more. I notice the domains listed there all come with a logo. So is this site like brandbucket, brandpa etc? Do you pay for a logo and listing?

 

[Deven Patel]

you are deals in .in domains?

Are you asking whether we accept .in domains into our marketplace? Not at this time. Our focus is on brandability so only accepting .com domains as they're the gold standard.

 

[Deven Patel]

So what exactly is different about this website? At first glance, I can't tell it apart from all the others. What makes it buyer friendly? (Btw I agree the focus should be on buyers; I've been saying that)

We have bold plans but can't disclose everything publicly to keep our competitors at bay. The primary differentiator is our relentless focus on the buyer. In essence, we're creating a community of entrepreneurs through various channels (similar to GoDaddy's playbook). When entrepreneurs succeed, we all succeed. To start, we're building a database of business ideas that are suggested alongside each domain listing.

The biggest tangible differentiator for the seller is the 10% commission (2-3x lower than any brandable marketplace).

Also, 10% is about industry standard these days. However, brandable marketplaces with logos charge more. I notice the domains listed there all come with a logo. So is this site like brandbucket, brandpa etc? Do you pay for a logo and listing?

Yes, Alter is a brandable marketplace. The 10% commission is all-inclusive. There are no listing fees, logo fees, or withdrawal fees. Based on our data, we found that most buyers come through domain redirects anyway so the high commission on other marketplaces isn't justified. In fact, we believe the seller should receive some benefit for the traffic their domains bring into the marketplace (thus our low commission). But that doesn't mean we're not going to utilize other marketing channels. We still plan to but just more efficiently (i.e. use them to enhance our inbound marketing efforts instead). Remember, we don't succeed unless we actually sell the names so sales are ultimately our top priority.

Also, there's no exclusivity beyond redirecting the domain to our marketplace. This means domains can be listed anywhere else or can be delisted at any time the sellers wish.

P.S. I believe great ideas often come from unexpected sources. So if you have any ideas, I'm all ears.

 

[Lord Antares]

That sounds good. It needs marketing to break through but I like the commission idea. I agree it's ridiculous that one needs to pay 20-30% commission through a redirect. That practice needs to be gone. It may be justified if the site itself attracts the buyer while browsing its categories, but lower commission is always better for sellers.

So what about the logo? Do you have to submit the domain with logo? If not, I expect the job to be a nightmare because you are going to get a hundred billion submissions per day if everything is free. The amount of logos that will need to be done will be legendary.

 

[Deven Patel]

That sounds good. It needs marketing to break through but I like the commission idea. I agree it's ridiculous that one needs to pay 20-30% commission through a redirect. That practice needs to be gone. It may be justified if the site itself attracts the buyer while browsing its categories, but lower commission is always better for sellers.

Agreed. Also, a brandable marketplace like this has a few big advantages for both buyers and sellers:

1. Efficiency: The buyer can choose from the best domains available at buy now prices. They don't have to waste time searching through a list of low quality domains or negotiating with unrealistic expectations.

2. Traffic: All the redirected traffic is pooled together creating a win-win scenario for both buyers and sellers. It gives buyers more options and sellers more leads (i.e. a buyer that landed on domain A may end up buying domain B and vice versa).

3. Trust: The authority of the marketplace will create trust among buyers which will result in more sales (i.e. nobody wants to hand over their credit card to a random website).

So what about the logo? Do you have to submit the domain with logo? If not, I expect the job to be a nightmare because you are going to get a hundred billion submissions per day if everything is free. The amount of logos that will need to be done will be legendary.

We'll create the logo too (more info). Yea, it'll definitely be a lot of work but that's the cost of doing business. Nobody said it was going to be easy.

 

[bruhne]

Looks good! I've some dot coms that should be a nice fit for your marketplace. My only concern is pricing them. Most of my inventory is make offer. Does your marketplace allow for make offer, or do I need to set a price? If I need BIN, does your team aide in pricing? Am I allowed to list my domains in other marketplaces?

 

[Lord Antares]

Agreed. Also, a brandable marketplace like this has a few big advantages for both buyers and sellers:

1. Efficiency: The buyer can choose from the best domains available at buy now prices. They don't have to waste time searching through a list of low quality domains or negotiating with unrealistic expectations.

2. Traffic: All the redirected traffic is pooled together creating a win-win scenario for both buyers and sellers. It gives buyers more options and sellers more leads (i.e. a buyer that landed on domain A may end up buying domain B and vice versa).

3. Trust: The authority of the marketplace will create trust among buyers which will result in more sales (i.e. nobody wants to hand over their credit card to a random website).



We'll create the logo too (more info). Yea, it'll definitely be a lot of work but that's the cost of doing business. Nobody said it was going to be easy.

Sounds like if it works out financially for you, you will blow every competitor out of the water. It is almost certain that you should have more names submitted than every other brandable marketplace due to it being free and cheaper in terms of commission.
I'd be the first one to join in and recommend you to everyone.

It's just that I'm not sure if the business model is sustainable. It can take like a month for other brandable marketplaces to accept and list a domain with logo. You would get like 50-100 times more submissions because it's free so some effort and resources would be needed to keep up.

I wish you the best of luck and I hope that you can make it work somehow.

 

[Deven Patel]

Looks good! I've some dot coms that should be a nice fit for your marketplace. My only concern is pricing them. Most of my inventory is make offer. Does your marketplace allow for make offer, or do I need to set a price? If I need BIN, does your team aide in pricing? Am I allowed to list my domains in other marketplaces?

Thanks! Once you submit your domains, we'll either accept or reject them. If accepted, we'll set the BIN price at which point you can decide to either list them or not. If you choose to list them, we'll create a logo and publish them on our marketplace. I suggest submitting all the domains you own starting with the best ones because there's no obligation to list them if you don't agree with our price.

Yes, you can list your domains wherever else you like. The only thing we ask is for you to forward your domains to our marketplace so that all the sellers can benefit from the pooled traffic.

You can learn more about all of this on our sellers page.

 

[Deven Patel]

Sounds like if it works out financially for you, you will blow every competitor out of the water. It is almost certain that you should have more names submitted than every other brandable marketplace due to it being free and cheaper in terms of commission.
I'd be the first one to join in and recommend you to everyone.

It's just that I'm not sure if the business model is sustainable. It can take like a month for other brandable marketplaces to accept and list a domain with logo. You would get like 50-100 times more submissions because it's free so some effort and resources would be needed to keep up.

I wish you the best of luck and I hope that you can make it work somehow.

That's the plan! I definitely agree that there's some financial risk here but we're prepared. Like I mentioned in my original post, this ain't my first rodeo.

It would be awesome to have you on board! Give us a shot. There's nothing for you to lose. Right now there are no delays in our approval process so why not take advantage of it? And there's no obligation of any kind on your part if you decide not to list your domains in the future.

 

[Votumejero]

Would love to give it a try but requirements for wire transfer is on a high, PayPal doesn't support my region.

 

[Deven Patel]

Would love to give it a try but requirements for wire transfer is on a high, PayPal doesn't support my region.

Thanks for the feedback! We just lowered the wire transfer requirements.

 

[NickB]

Nice looking site and the logos look decent

Edit: also a very cool domain name for the markeplace.....

 

[Deven Patel]

Nice looking site and the logos look decent

Edit: also a very cool domain name for the markeplace.....

Thanks for the compliments! Wanted to use a name that set us apart and matched the mindset of our target audience (both buyers and sellers). Plus it's generic enough to easily expand into complimentary areas in the future without needing to rebrand.

Would love to see you on board as an early adopter.

 

[xeroox]

How are you currently acquiring new visits?

 

[loredan]

Oh, those are premium names I see on the homepage ... also love the logos, they're quality unlike most others at other marketplaces.

Edit: Signed up and submitted a few names, they've been reviewed within half an hour, this is quite impressive!

 

[kalr]

Previously after signing up about 2 months ago, I had a plan to create a Thread Alter.com in NamePros but that hasn't happened
(May be waiting for the first sale)

Glad to see you on NP @Deven Patel

I submit 106 names gradually..
19 Accepted, the rest Rejected.

Currently 13 listed that I decided to stick with Alter.

 

[farouk20]

@Deven Patel

Questions :

1. Every new marketplace must at a certain point in time, contend with choosing between keeping a low number of domain names (of say higher quality) or expanding , which can turn the marketplace quickly into a crowded shed. what are your plans when you reach this very point, as your marketplace becomes more popular and expands.

2. Can you add payonneer ,

 

[Shojib]

are you expect a new domain? or this market only for the old domain?

 

[Deven Patel]

How are you currently acquiring new visits?

From what we're seeing, most buyers are coming in through direct/type-in traffic. All the redirected traffic is pooled together creating a win-win scenario for both buyers and sellers. It gives buyers more options and sellers more leads (i.e. a buyer that landed on domain A may end up buying domain B and vice versa). Though this doesn't mean we're not going to utilize other marketing channels. We still plan to but just more efficiently (i.e. use them to enhance our inbound marketing efforts instead). Remember, we don't succeed unless we actually sell the names so sales are ultimately our top priority.

Once we have a decent number of listings, we'll also begin building a community of entrepreneurs who are looking to start new businesses through various marketing channels.

 

[Deven Patel]

Oh, those are premium names I see on the homepage ... also love the logos, they're quality unlike most others at other marketplaces.

Edit: Signed up and submitted a few names, they've been reviewed within half an hour, this is quite impressive!

Thanks! I appreciate your honest review.

 

[Votumejero]

Only one got accepted of 26 submitted. Any hope for review in the nearest future?

 

[Igor Mironyuk]

Hi all,

I wanted to introduce a new premium domain marketplace we just launched called Alter. I would love to hear your thoughts! As the world’s largest community of domainers, your feedback would be invaluable.

Let me introduce myself. Although I’m new to NamePros, I’ve been around the block. I’ve been buying and selling domains for my own startup ideas for over 20 years. As a serial entrepreneur, I founded a number of startups across various industries like marketing, web hosting, social networking, blogging, and SaaS. This experience has helped me understand how indispensable a brand name is to a business.

Most new entrepreneurs don’t think twice about their company name. Our goal is to change that! A brand name literally has the power to make or break their business. This is more true today than ever before now that there are countless alternatives to every product or service imaginable. Sure, every business may have their own world-changing differentiator but from the outside they all look the same at which point the main differentiator ends up becoming their brand name. In a world full of distractions, we no longer have the attention span to thoroughly research what we buy so we rely on our emotions. This is why large businesses like Apple and Amazon spend billions on their “brand” alone because they understand that customer perception is everything.

Anyway, I noticed that most marketplaces that exist today are focused more on the seller rather than the buyer. Our goal is to reverse the equation and prioritize buyers because I think they are the key to success in any industry. The domain industry is no exception. Without buyers, there’s no money. This is why we’ve made it our mission to help entrepreneurs succeed!

And what’s with the 30-35% commission rate most of these marketplaces are charging? Unless they’re doing more work than a human broker, I don’t think anything over the industry average of 15-20% is warranted. We’re changing that. Alter has one of the lowest rates in the industry, an all-inclusive 10% commission fee when a name sells. There are no other fees or restrictions.

What do you think? Are we on the right track or barking up the wrong tree?

Deven

Why are you rule only domain must have your marketplace's landing page all the time the domain listed at your marketplace?

 

[Deven Patel]

Previously after signing up about 2 months ago, I had a plan to create a Thread Alter.com in NamePros but that hasn't happened
(May be waiting for the first sale)

Glad to see you on NP @Deven Patel

I submit 106 names gradually..
19 Accepted, the rest Rejected.

Currently 13 listed that I decided to stick with Alter.

Thanks a lot for chiming in! Looks like I beat you to it.

Just a word of caution to everyone... when comparing accept/reject rates please keep in mind that it all depends on the quality of the domains. This is a vanity metric that shouldn't be used to determine success. Each seller will have a completely different outcome based on the quality of their portfolio. The same holds true for sales/conversion rates. It all depends on the quality of the domains. No two sellers are the same.

For example, if a seller submitted 100 domains and 99 were low quality then the success rate would only be 1%. On the other hand, if a seller submitted 10 domains and 9 were high quality then the success rate would be a whopping 90%!