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.​

 

[tomcarl]

Idea to share: On landing pages "Enter email address to receive updates about this domain and other branding insights", or something like it.

Send newsletters with useful information, branding tips, benefits, and reminders to purchase. Might be helpful with building rapport / keeping connections.

 

[Charybdis]

The dollar sign ($) represents multiple different currencies (USD, CAD, AUD etc.), it would be clearer to display the prices on the landing pages like this:

1,999 USD

or maybe

$1,999 USD

(We need to avoid buyer confusion for sure)

Maybe for a US visitor it is clear that $ means USD, but for visitors from Canada, Australia, etc.?

 

[gina ferrano]

The search function is still a bit off. Let's say you have a 10 L two-word name, and to test I search under one of the keywords. What I find is it's buried on page 10 and 99% of the 'premiums' that come up before it, don't have the keyword, so no connection to the search. That combined with the 6 keyword cap, while premiums have 3X as many makes it frustrating. On another note, I do appreciate the stats to discover some of my names are in fact mostly type-ins and 3rd party.

Question: if I upload my own logo (still on the fence about the $5 logo fee) the name may be placed sooner in the results. Does it make a difference? Other than one person mentioning a sale on the slack channels/NP's. I haven't heard about any sales on Alter. Especially the non-premiums.

 

[keywordrichdomains]

Alter is indeed a marvelous platform for domainers. I am so happy to pass on my domain traffic to the Alter landing page. But I got a little suggestion for the Alter team. I think the Alter landing page would be more specific if it didn't show the other domain brands as it is against the commercial interest of the traffic produced domainer. It would reduce the probability of sellig the domain that the user visited. Also, it would be great if there was a bulk editing option, especially the pricing areas in the dashboard. Anyway, it's a great platform in terms of design, operation and commission rate, and I decided to use it a lot. Thank you to the entire Alter team.

 

[Deven Patel]

On the domains display it would be useful to be able to sort by premium/non premium. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks for the suggestion! We'll certainly consider it.

Idea to share: On landing pages "Enter email address to receive updates about this domain and other branding insights", or something like it.

Send newsletters with useful information, branding tips, benefits, and reminders to purchase. Might be helpful with building rapport / keeping connections.

Thanks for the suggestion! It's already on our radar.

The dollar sign ($) represents multiple different currencies (USD, CAD, AUD etc.), it would be clearer to display the prices on the landing pages like this:

1,999 USD

or maybe

$1,999 USD

(We need to avoid buyer confusion for sure)

Maybe for a US visitor it is clear that $ means USD, but for visitors from Canada, Australia, etc.?

Agreed. We don't display USD on the landing page because it made the price box look too cluttered especially when displaying installments. We do however display it in all subsequent steps of the buying process so it shouldn't have a negative impact (i.e. it's displayed when you click "Buy Now", it's displayed in all email notifications, etc).

The search function is still a bit off. Let's say you have a 10 L two-word name, and to test I search under one of the keywords. What I find is it's buried on page 10 and 99% of the 'premiums' that come up before it, don't have the keyword, so no connection to the search. That combined with the 6 keyword cap, while premiums have 3X as many makes it frustrating. On another note, I do appreciate the stats to discover some of my names are in fact mostly type-ins and 3rd party.

Can you provide an example of a keyword you tried? If you like to keep it private, you can email it to [email protected]. We're constantly tweaking our search algorithm so your feedback will definitely be helpful.

Regarding the 6 keyword limit, we put that in place to prevent keyword stuffing. More often than not, that's enough keywords to properly describe a name. Even the new premium names have the same limit. The ones with 6+ keywords are grandfathered names from the past when the limit didn't exist. You shouldn't worry about it because the unrelated keywords won't make much difference as the search algo gets smarter.

Regarding the domain stats on the dashboard, I'm glad you like them.

Question: if I upload my own logo (still on the fence about the $5 logo fee) the name may be placed sooner in the results. Does it make a difference? Other than one person mentioning a sale on the slack channels/NP's. I haven't heard about any sales on Alter. Especially the non-premiums.

Any additional effort you invest into improving your listings with help because buyers will naturally be more attracted to those listings. And one of the factors our search algo uses to rank names is their popularity with potential buyers.

Regarding sales, I lost count but there are a number of people who mentioned them here. Please keep in mind that you probably won't hear anywhere near the same amount of chatter as with our competitors because our inventory is much smaller than them (i.e. 25X less premiums compared to brandable marketplaces and 1400X less non-premiums compared to regular marketplaces). Also, the average listing quality is lower on Alter because older sellers with quality names are generally happy with the status quo and don't like to try new marketplaces.

Alter is indeed a marvelous platform for domainers. I am so happy to pass on my domain traffic to the Alter landing page. But I got a little suggestion for the Alter team. I think the Alter landing page would be more specific if it didn't show the other domain brands as it is against the commercial interest of the traffic produced domainer. It would reduce the probability of sellig the domain that the user visited. Also, it would be great if there was a bulk editing option, especially the pricing areas in the dashboard. Anyway, it's a great platform in terms of design, operation and commission rate, and I decided to use it a lot. Thank you to the entire Alter team.

Thanks for the compliments and suggestions!

 

[NameWell]

It would be great if Alter could add a visual index of the available logo fonts similar to the example below. This is what the font foundries do to expedite font selection.

At the moment, you seem to have to use trial and error when testing fonts from the long dropdown list and this is very time consuming.

(In Illustrator, Adobe actually displays the fonts in the dropdown but that would probably be very hard to code!)

This proposed page would be linked from the logo design page. And alphabetical. Then, sellers could more quickly choose a style and apply it.

"...you can use that precious time on more important priorities..."

Show attachment 193577

That is a great idea! I was thinking exactly the same thing as I was selecting fonts for my domain names

 

[Charybdis]

Is a phone number important on the landing pages?

I see on other landing pages that they display the phone number prominently, with large characters and in international format with the country calling code.

Maybe some buyers still prefer to ask questions over the phone?

 

[Hui Siew Choong]

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.​

Alter.com is just awesome , I sold a domain recently and whole transaction completion is fast and I just cash out thru wire transfer . Most importantly, the fee in unbelievably 10%

 

[ddesigns]

Alter.com is just awesome , I sold a domain recently and whole transaction completion is fast and I just cash out thru wire transfer . Most importantly, the fee in unbelievably 10%

Congratulations for the sale. Mind sharing the domain, pricing and hold time. Also was it selected as Premium by Alter?

 

[DNGear]

Sold S/c/o/t/t .xyz for 7500 usd
Seamless process and team was very helpful.
Thanks @Deven Patel

 

[ddesigns]

Sold S/c/o/t/t .xyz for 7500 usd
Seamless process and team was very helpful.
Thanks @Deven Patel

Was it a premium listing on Alter.com ?

 

[DNGear]

No.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Premium listing is not needed for .xyz
This TLD is almost always on GoDaddy main page.

 

[Hui Siew Choong]

Alter.com is just awesome, sold insuran.com at low 5 figures . 2nd sales within 10 days.

The speed of sales completion are unexpectedly fast, faster than afternic.com fast transfer premium listing sales . Money already in my bank account in Hong Kong.

I am considering to migrate all my domains to alter.com to enjoy the lowest 10% fee , if they fit into Alter.com selection criterias

 

[lock]

Sounds kinky. Godaddy to Alter with some PorkBun.

 

[Debasis]

why dont you offer a buyer request panel ?

 

[sircc]

I just noticed domains I list at Alter get removed from Dan.

 

[ddesigns]

I just noticed domains I list at Alter get removed from Dan.

Because alter list those names under there name on Dan and hence it will get removed from your dashboard. Same thing will happen at Sedo too..

Hope it helps

 

[wwwulff]

Sold my first name via Alter - Mouty/com $5,399 (Premium listing) - Great experience, Thanks to Alter

 

[ddesigns]

Sold my first name via Alter - Mouty/com $5,399 (Premium listing) - Great experience, Thanks to Alter

Mind sharing more details pls like hold time and acquisition cost pls..

 

[Domain boy]

Hello! which domain extensions are accepted on Alter?

Also, have you considered the idea of having Alter owned domains? people send domains available for registration and if after acceptance they get sold the people who submitted the domains earn a commission.

Thank you!

 

[wwwulff]

Mind sharing more details pls like hold time and acquisition cost pls..

Caught it via a backorder in 2012 for $59 so I have hold it for many years

 

[ddesigns]

Hello! which domain extensions are accepted on Alter?

Also, have you considered the idea of having Alter owned domains? people send domains available for registration and if after acceptance they get sold the people who submitted the domains earn a commission.

Thank you!

As per my knowledge all extensions are accepted in Alter, regarding the commission stuff, it works only on Squadhelp. They only provide commission on un registered domains which they register on your behalf.

 

[Deven Patel]

Hi everyone.. we just released some major improvements!

As always, we'd like to thank you for using Alter to sell your domain names. We truly appreciate your continued support.

We're always listening to all your feedback and trying to make our marketplace the best that we possibly can for you. We're excited to announce a number of new improvements!

Rethinking Premium

After our last big announcement, we received a lot of valuable feedback from sellers regarding our premium selection process. A lot of sellers felt like the process was unfair when their names weren't chosen. Since there was no real consensus on what high quality actually meant, we couldn't make everyone happy. Additionally, buyers don't seem to care about this because we've sold just as many premium domains as non-premium.

So after careful consideration, we've decided to drop the premium label altogether. We will no longer review names manually. Instead, we built a smarter search algorithm that uses a number of factors to rank names based on buyer feedback rather than our or the seller's opinion.

Everything from the domain's extension, length, price, brandability, popularity, and more will be used to determine its rank. Just like the Google search algorithm, we'll continually adjust it over time based on buyer feedback to ensure an optimal experience and high STR.

Based on our initial testing, the algorithm is working very well and often better than our manual curation process! This means high quality names will continue to thrive while giving new listings an equal opportunity (just like SEO).

Make Offer

You can now accept offers for your domain names! Make Offer can be enabled for all your domains in bulk or for each individual domain by clicking on its Change Price button and setting a minimum offer value. Once enabled, you will be able to negotiate directly with buyers from your Alter control panel.

Our new Offers page will show you all the new and existing offers for your domains. You will also be able to see the buyer's name, country, and partial email address to help you negotiate like a pro!

Appraisals

Say hello to our free AI-powered domain appraisal tool! We've engineered it from the ground up to estimate the value of any domain name using a variety of factors including millions of historical sales. And the best part of it all is that it's built right inside our control panel for easy access.

Paypal & Crypto

Who doesn't love flexibility? We've added new payment methods to our marketplace! In addition to credit cards and wire transfers, buyers can now purchase domains using PayPal and a variety of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and more.

Similar Names

We've replaced the Featured Names section with Similar Names across all landing pages to help improve the browsing experience for buyers and generate more relevant traffic for sellers.

That said, we understand that a number of sellers don't like this idea for one reason or another so we've made it optional. You can toggle this feature on or off by heading over to Settings > Similar Names. Please note that disabling this feature will reduce traffic to your own listings and may lower your sell-through rate so we highly recommend leaving it on.

Google Analytics

Although our built-in dashboard already provides valuable insights, you can now see more detailed traffic data for your landing pages through Google Analytics. Simply enter your Tracking ID and/or Measurement ID under Settings > Google Analytics to set it up.

Bulk Tools

We've made it even easier to manage domains in bulk. Simply click on the Manage Domains button found on the Domains page to access the new bulk tools.

Alter Benefits

Our goal has always been to offer the most value for the least cost. With these improvements, we've blown past that goal. To quickly recap, below are all the benefits you receive at Alter in return for our low all-inclusive 10% commission:

• Domain Logos: Names with logos help your listings stand out from the crowd which is proven to increase sales. You can use our logo designer to create them for free, upload your own for free, or even order professional designs directly from your account.
• More Exposure: In addition to type-in traffic, your domains are marketed via PPC, SEO, social media, remarketing, and more.
• Installment Plans: Buyers can pay using monthly installments spread over 3-36 months which is proven to increase STR.
• Concierge Service: During a sale, we hold the domain securely in our own registrar account to ensure safe delivery to the buyer.
• Syndication: Your domains are automatically listed on over 650 partner marketplaces and registrars for maximum exposure.
• SSL Redirects: Our platform automatically redirects traffic through HTTPS links so you don't miss out on any leads.
• Traffic Breakdown: We show you exactly how much traffic we're generating for your portfolio directly on your dashboard.
• Customer Service: Buyers have the option to contact us via live chat/phone/email and talk to a real person instantly.
• Social Validation: Our 5-star TrustPilot reviews and mentions on top tier publications like Forbes, Inc, WaPo, and USA Today help establish credibility with buyers.
• Chargeback Protection: Your sales are protected against fraudulent disputes. We got your back!
• No Hidden Fees: Our commission is all-inclusive with no other hidden processing fees that may scare away buyers.

We're confident that these improvements will further enhance our marketplace and ultimately generate more sales for you. If you have any feedback or concerns, please feel free to reach out at any time.

 

[Samxui]

I can see the *domain appraisal* feature in the Menu bar.
Looks good.

Edit: seems the appraisal doesn't work well for 2 word combinations.
Example: SmartShop .com & ShopSmart .com have appraisals of $389.