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.​

 

[loredan]

Agreed with @cillx , this was your main selling point when you launched Alter - a marketplace for high quality brandable names and now you switch to a "free-for-all" model. He is also right that your main problem was accepting only 8k names out of 80,000 submissions and then complaining that you don't have enough inventory, too picky indeed.

I also agree with the $1 per submission as the guys above.

Your business, your rules but I for one won't put quantity in front of quality even if you say that "free-for all" crap would be kept down in searches

 

[Deven Patel]

Hello @Daven....

The thing is... since most sellers submit unregistered names, I/we need to know if a name qualify for the premium listing before registering it....
If there is no feature like this, then most of your sellers will go on reg spree on standard listing meanwhile their target is premium listing. This for sure will likely not be feasible putting in in place the cost of domain registration.
So I suggest you put in a measure for sellers to know a domain qualifies for premium listing before listing it.

Regards

Although I understand your concern, we can't really control what sellers decide to do. It's a risk they have to consider. There are also plenty of other marketplaces that still offer that service.

For us, reviewing unregistered names wasn't profitable so we no longer offer that service. It was a risk we took which didn't pan out.

 

[wwwulff]

I'm sorry about that change and I do not think it will bring anything good to your marketplace - I agree with @loredan that you were too picky with the names and some of those you rejected of mine is now listed at BB, SquadHelp and BP instead of

 

[NameWell]

I noticed one problem with filtering. When I chose to filter names by "Price: Low to High" my standard domain priced at $499 was shown after the most expensive domain name in that category priced at $68,499 ...

I think this might really confuse potential buyers. Also, it's very likely that if they are looking for an affordable name they won't even get to standard names once they will reach the names that are too expensive for them, because they will naturally assume that all of the remaining names are priced at that level or higher (since this how "Price: Low to High" filter usually works). They will have no clue that there are cheaper standard names at the very end / bottom of the results.

 

[cillx]

Hello @Daven....

I am trying to wrap my head round this premium listing thingy.

Like, since all submitted names are automatically accepted, then how do we know names that are premium when it just got accepted and have not been verified and listed?

And secondly, some of us have an already accepted names that is on pending verification, but after this your update, everything cleared.
How do we get this names back?

Regards.

Buyers can know which names are the premium listings and which are not. Because they show premium tag on all premium names.

Not sure how successful will it be to list our non-premium names in the premium price range. Even if the buyer comes to the marketplace through a non-premium name, there is a high chance they will end up purchasing a name with a premium badge.

Thanks for the feedback! As I explained in my post, that was only part of the problem. The other bigger problem was that buyers didn't have enough options which wasted a lot of our marketing efforts.

I wouldn't worry about low quality names impacting high quality ones. That's exactly why we introduced the premium/standard tiers. Premium names will always appear higher in search results so most buyers will never see the low quality names unless someone is super picky.

I have seen alter reject all my 25 names within few minutes after I submit them for consideration. This same method can apply to each and every name. Accepting and rejecting brandables is not a rocket science if you have a good eye.

You can do it fast and it will reduce the time it takes. Then you can use the same automated method to list all names. My idea is you should treat each and every name equally. At least you shouldn't show premium badge only on selected names. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of sellers who would like to pay $1 per name to list on alter.

 

[wwwulff]

For us, reviewing unregistered names wasn't profitable so we no longer offer that service. It was a risk we took which didn't pan out.

When take 1 dollar it will definitely help

 

[Deven Patel]

Agreed with @cillx , this was your main selling point when you launched Alter - a marketplace for high quality brandable names and now you switch to a "free-for-all" model. He is also right that your main problem was accepting only 8k names out of 80,000 submissions and then complaining that you don't have enough inventory, too picky indeed.

I also agree with the $1 per submission as the guys above.

Your business, your rules but I for one won't put quantity in front of quality even if you say that "free-for all" crap would be kept down in searches

Thanks for the feedback! And we're not complaining. We're simply improving our marketplace based on everything we learned after spending thousands on marketing.

Not sure if you had a chance to read my entire post but I already explained this. We discovered that there are primarily two types of buyers:

1. Decided Buyers: Majority of buyers are already attached to a name they like so they simply type it into their browsers and/or search for it at a registrar. If the domain is available and affordable, they buy it. Otherwise, they buy a cheaper alternative like a different extension or one with a prefix/suffix (e.g. the, a, hq, app, etc). These buyers don't care much about whether a domain is premium or standard since they're not looking for choices.
2. Undecided Buyers: These are the minority of buyers who need help picking a name. Though they typically already have an idea of how they want the name to sound, spell, or feel so they generally want more similar options. Thanks to Google they're already aware of other marketplaces so you can't really "lock" them in. Makes sense because nobody's going to spend thousands of dollars on something without thoroughly researching all available alternatives. This is also where a lot of our marketing dollars are spent right now but there isn't much ROI here due to our small inventory. If the buyer doesn't find the type of name that appeals to them, they typically bounce to another marketplace.

Our goal with this new tiered approach is to quickly build up inventory without sacrificing quality. Since premium listings will naturally be high quality, undecided buyers with high budgets won't bother searching through thousands of standard listings. On the other hand, undecided buyers with low budgets and more time on their hands will have the option to find a needle in the haystack. Either way, we'll be able to capture the sale rather than losing that buyer to another marketplace.

In fact, go ahead and search for a keyword like "tech" on our marketplace right now. You won't see a standard listing until page 35.

 

[Deven Patel]

I'm sorry about that change and I do not think it will bring anything good to your marketplace - I agree with @loredan that you were too picky with the names and some of those you rejected of mine is now listed at BB, SquadHelp and BP instead of

I'm sure we can agree that quality is often subjective. Just because another marketplace accepted it doesn't mean it will sell. On the other hand, just because a marketplace rejected it doesn't mean it won't sell. Based on our experience, there's no perfect way to assess quality and we've seen rejected names sell as well. The best we can do is cast a wide net and pick names that are short, catchy, memorable, easy to pronounce/spell, and generic so that they apply to as many different types of businesses as possible.

It's not just about being picky. It's also about generating profit so that we can invest it back into selling more domains. Other marketplaces charge 2-3X more commission which means they can afford to take more risk. We have to be stricter.

I hope you can understand that we're doing the best we can for both buyers and sellers based on everything we have learned so far. Ultimately, we only make money when we sell so both of our goals are aligned.

 

[Deven Patel]

I noticed one problem with filtering. When I chose to filter names by "Price: Low to High" my standard domain priced at $499 is shown after the most expensive domain name priced at $68,499 ...

I think this might really confuse potential buyers. Also, it's very likely that if they are looking for an affordable name they won't even get to standard names once they will reach the names that are too expensive for them, because they will logically assume that all of the remaining names are priced at that level or higher (since this how "Price: Low to High" filter usually works). They will have no clue that there are cheaper standard names at the very end / bottom of the results.

That's not a bug, it's a feature. As I mentioned above, premium names will appear higher in search results. It's exactly how we plan on keeping low quality names from impacting high quality ones.

Since premium listings will naturally be high quality, undecided buyers with high budgets won't bother searching through thousands of standard listings. On the other hand, undecided buyers with low budgets and more time on their hands will have the option to find a needle in the haystack. Either way, we'll be able to capture the sale rather than losing that buyer altogether.

That said, we're always monitoring buyer feedback so if we discover that low budget buyers aren't able to find the right names and leaving our marketplace then we'll start tweaking our algorithm to show the low quality ones based on the likelihood of the buyer bouncing (pepper in some AI).

 

[tiletalk]

I like this shift Deven. All the best.

 

[wwwulff]

I like this shift Deven. All the best.

That do you like about it?

 

[Deven Patel]

Buyers can know which names are the premium listings and which are not. Because they show premium tag on all premium names.

Not sure how successful will it be to list our non-premium names in the premium price range. Even if the buyer comes to the marketplace through a non-premium name, there is a high chance they will end up purchasing a name with a premium badge.

Not sure if you had a chance to read my entire post but that's actually not true. We discovered that there are primarily two types of buyers:

1. Decided Buyers: Majority of buyers are already attached to a name they like so they simply type it into their browsers and/or search for it at a registrar. If the domain is available and affordable, they buy it. Otherwise, they buy a cheaper alternative like a different extension or one with a prefix/suffix (e.g. the, a, hq, app, etc). These buyers don't care much about whether a domain is premium or standard since they're not looking for choices.
2. Undecided Buyers: These are the minority of buyers who need help picking a name. Though they typically already have an idea of how they want the name to sound, spell, or feel so they generally want more similar options. Thanks to Google they're already aware of other marketplaces so you can't really "lock" them in. Makes sense because nobody's going to spend thousands of dollars on something without thoroughly researching all available alternatives. This is also where a lot of our marketing dollars are spent right now but there isn't much ROI here due to our small inventory. If the buyer doesn't find the type of name that appeals to them, they typically bounce to another marketplace.

Our goal with this new tiered approach is to quickly build up inventory without sacrificing quality. Since premium listings will naturally be high quality, undecided buyers with high budgets won't bother searching through thousands of standard listings. On the other hand, undecided buyers with low budgets and more time on their hands will have the option to find a needle in the haystack. Either way, we'll be able to capture the sale rather than losing that buyer to another marketplace.

The whole notion that you can "lock" a buyer into a limited selection is wrong. That's what we learned. A lot of buyers we spoke to already knew about other marketplaces because it's not that hard to Google "domain marketplace".

I have seen alter reject all my 25 names within few minutes after I submit them for consideration. This same method can apply to each and every name. Accepting and rejecting brandables is not a rocket science if you have a good eye.

You can do it fast and it will reduce the time it takes. Then you can use the same automated method to list all names. My idea is you should treat each and every name equally. At least you shouldn't show premium badge only on selected names. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of sellers who would like to pay $1 per name to list on alter.

We certainly could have but we also noticed that the submission quality was dropping. Majority of the submissions we received lately were mostly low quality so there was no point in wasting all that time reviewing names when we could use that time to market the names instead. At the end of the day, we had to decide between what was more important, sales or operations. Sales won hands down.

 

[tiletalk]

That does you like about it?

everything. clearly there currently model has been subjected to abuse. so it was either a case of introduction virtual coins and making people pay to list or taking it catch all type platform with premium names filtered out.

i think this will gain a lot more traffic

 

[DotKing]

Our goal with this new tiered approach is to quickly build up inventory without sacrificing quality.

I doubt that. In a very short time Alter will have more "standard" names than "premium", no matter their ranking. Many sellers will list complete garbage with prices all over the place, and you will have no control over that
Quantity over quality with confused buyers. I really hope I'm wrong.

 

[tiletalk]

I doubt that. In a very short time Alter will have more "standard" names than "premium", no matter their ranking. Many sellers will list complete garbage with prices all over the place, and you will have no control over that
Quantity over quality with confused buyers. I really hope I'm wrong.

same applied to SH white label marketplace. no problem, dont worry. if you have quality it will be found.

 

[Deven Patel]

When take 1 dollar it will definitely help

Sure, we thought about that too but didn't like the idea of charging extra fees. Another marketplace we all know tried that in the past and didn't seem like it worked out well.

 

[DotKing]

same applied to SH white label marketplace. no problem, dont worry. if you have quality it will be found.

SH WLM names are completely separated from premiums.

 

[Deven Patel]

I like this shift Deven. All the best.

Thanks! We already heard from a number of sellers who love this change. Unfortunately, people who don't like the idea are generally more vocal.

 

[Deven Patel]

I doubt that. In a very short time Alter will have more "standard" names than "premium", no matter their ranking. Many sellers will list complete garbage with prices all over the place, and you will have no control over that
Quantity over quality with confused buyers. I really hope I'm wrong.

Not sure if you had a chance to read my entire post but that's actually not true. We discovered that there are primarily two types of buyers:

1. Decided Buyers: Majority of buyers are already attached to a name they like so they simply type it into their browsers and/or search for it at a registrar. If the domain is available and affordable, they buy it. Otherwise, they buy a cheaper alternative like a different extension or one with a prefix/suffix (e.g. the, a, hq, app, etc). These buyers don't care much about whether a domain is premium or standard since they're not looking for choices.
2. Undecided Buyers: These are the minority of buyers who need help picking a name. Though they typically already have an idea of how they want the name to sound, spell, or feel so they generally want more similar options. Thanks to Google they're already aware of other marketplaces so you can't really "lock" them in. Makes sense because nobody's going to spend thousands of dollars on something without thoroughly researching all available alternatives. This is also where a lot of our marketing dollars are spent right now but there isn't much ROI here due to our small inventory. If the buyer doesn't find the type of name that appeals to them, they typically bounce to another marketplace.

Our goal with this new tiered approach is to quickly build up inventory without sacrificing quality. Since premium listings will naturally be high quality, undecided buyers with high budgets won't bother searching through thousands of standard listings. On the other hand, undecided buyers with low budgets and more time on their hands will have the option to find a needle in the haystack. Either way, we'll be able to capture the sale rather than losing that buyer to another marketplace.

The whole notion that you can "lock" a buyer into a limited selection is wrong. That's what we learned. A lot of buyers we spoke to already knew about other marketplaces because it's not that hard to Google "domain marketplace".

 

[clickcents]

This change is always good and promising rather than just following other market places same theory and rules..Ofcourse there are 2-3 well known market places with a submission fee from $1 to $5 and what is the point of another market place again with another submission fee..I hope Mr.Devan has taken a good to step of "direction" in his business..

Ofcourse there will be flood of standard names..but I feel Good standard names also will get sold if they price correctly (say $499) with their logo option and marketing visibility..

I feel you will have standard names will be more sold than premium names with your marketing efforts in long run which will be good as a business model..

NB: I personally like the option of putting a standard name with a logo option which surely will attract some buyers and possibility of conversion..!

All the best Mr.Devan..

 

[DotKing]

Not sure if you had a chance to read my entire post but that's actually not true. We discovered that there are primarily two types of buyers:

I really get your perspective. But I was referring to overall buyer's experience on Alter. They might be confused. Decent name with 4k price tag vs. low quality random name priced 20k. They will not get it.
Maybe you should completely separate 'standard' from 'premium'?
This is just my initial and personal concern, I believe you have better picture than me and this strategy will lead to win-win scenario.
All the best!

 

[wwwulff]

Sure, we thought about that too but didn't like the idea of charging extra fees. Another marketplace we all know tried that in the past and didn't seem like it worked out well.

BrandBucket still do it and it works fine - They had the same problem as you that people did not list their approved names for sale, therefore they close for peoples option to submit more names (if you have to many unlisted names in your account) before you have listed some of them for sale and it solved that problem

 

[Deven Patel]

I really get your perspective. But I was referring to overall buyer's experience on Alter. They might be confused. Decent name with 4k price tag vs. low quality random name priced 20k. They will not get it.
Maybe you should completely separate 'standard' from 'premium'?
This is just my initial and personal concern, I believe you have better picture than me and this strategy will lead to win-win scenario.
All the best!

I really appreciate your feedback! It's always good to hear from different perspectives so thank you.

You're right which is why premium names are still appraised by us. On a premium landing page we explicitly mention that premium names are appraised by our team to prevent that confusion.

In fact, the more likely scenario is that the buyer will immediately purchase the premium name because of it's lower $4k price tag compared to the $20k standard. But on the other hand, there might a buyer that's super attached to the standard name and will still pay the $20k. So buyers get the best of both worlds and sellers get more sales. Win-win.

 

[DotKing]

On a premium landing page we explicitly mention that premium names are appraised by our team to prevent that confusion.

This is good. I like 'explicitly' mentioned
I was afraid of buyers leaving Alter due to big difference in price and quality.

 

[Deven Patel]

BrandBucket still do it and it works fine - They had the same problem as you that people did not list their approved names for sale, therefore they close for peoples option to submit more names (if you have to many unlisted names in your account) before you have listed some of them for sale and it solved that problem

I totally understand and appreciate your feedback. But there was another marketplace that tried it and it didn't work. Again, when they're charging 2-3X the commission there's more wiggle room for them.

Anyway, since the option already exists at other marketplaces why not try something innovative that makes both buyers and sellers happy? Worst case, we can always introduce the service again in the future if there's enough demand and sellers are willing to pay to have their names reviewed.