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.​

 

[tiletalk]

I have had hit and miss with my domains. Some names accepted at SH are rejected at Alter and vice versa.

Where domains are accepted at both, I have gone with Alter because of lower commission.

 

[Deven Patel]

@ecomslice @Lord Antares @tiletalk

Thanks for the feedback! It's much appreciated.

As you guys noted, quality is subjective. Our goal is to choose names that could potentially work across a broad set of industries. Sometimes it's hard for people outside those industries to see the appeal.

For instance, take a look at these 5000 martech brand names. How many of them do you personally like: https://cdn.chiefmartec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/marketing-technology-landscape-2019-slide.jpg

I actually like those names you mentioned. For example, "Potavia" easily tops the name of a fast food joint I know called "Potatopia". It also has a pot/weed/cannabis reference. "Sentily" can be used in martech for an email marketing SaaS. "Dinpar" returns 140,000 search results on Google. "Kejol" is much better than countless existing companies found on Crunchbase (see attached list). They're all short, catchy, and memorable.

 

[JudgeMind]

Sold my first name with Alter.com

illevia.com - $1099
Hand regged
listed for 2 months. Buyer first inquired in early December 2020.

The process with alter was smooth. The 10% commission sure is a treat compared to their competitors 30% fee.

 

[Sammy Jakes]

Congrats. What is your portfolio size with alter and what was ur BIN for the sold domain?

Sold my first name with Alter.com

illevia.com - $1099
Hand regged
listed for 2 months. Buyer first inquired in early December 2020.

The process with alter was smooth. The 10% commission sure is a treat compared to their competitors 30% fee.

 

[JudgeMind]

213 listed. Sold at Bin price

 

[tiletalk]

Sold my first name with Alter.com

illevia.com - $1099
Hand regged
listed for 2 months. Buyer first inquired in early December 2020.

The process with alter was smooth. The 10% commission sure is a treat compared to their competitors 30% fee.

Nice and I can see the domain is already developed.

 

[Reyginus]

Sold my first name with Alter.com

illevia.com - $1099
Hand regged
listed for 2 months. Buyer first inquired in early December 2020.

The process with alter was smooth. The 10% commission sure is a treat compared to their competitors 30% fee.

Congrats man. Looking forward to the sale of my name Blacen and the newly accepted Blusil. The quality of their logo is enough to give them an extra 5% if I sell. Lol.

 

[Reyginus]

Congrats man. Looking forward to the sale of my name Blacen and the newly accepted Blusil. The quality of their logo is enough to give them an extra 5% if I sell. Lol.

Blusil.com finally Listed.

 

[kaposzta]

@Deven Patel
Just a suggestion, would it be possible to add some basic filters to the "Domains" view?
If we could filter to the status it would be easier for me to check only the listed names. Maybe a toggle button would be enough ("Show only listed names", "Show all names", or something similar). Thank you for considering this

 

[Deven Patel]

@Deven Patel
Just a suggestion, would it be possible to add some basic filters to the "Domains" view?
If we could filter to the status it would be easier for me to check only the listed names. Maybe a toggle button would be enough ("Show only listed names", "Show all names", or something similar). Thank you for considering this

Thanks for the feedback! We're already working on it.

 

[sellian]

Hi Deven, I just sold an Alter domain to a domainer here. Should I delist it and let him submit it again? Or is it enough for him to just point the domain to Alter from his account?

I am asking because I get the following when trying to remove it:

“Are you sure you want to delete this domain? It will need to go through our approval process again if you decide to resubmit it in the future.“

So this means that the domain might not be accepted if reviewed again?

Thank you!

 

[Deven Patel]

Hi Deven, I just sold an Alter domain to a domainer here. Should I delist it and let him submit it again? Or is it enough for him to just point the domain to Alter from his account?

I am asking because I get the following when trying to remove it:

“Are you sure you want to delete this domain? It will need to go through our approval process again if you decide to resubmit it in the future.“

So this means that the domain might not be accepted if reviewed again?

Thank you!

We recently released a feature where domains already accepted in the past will automatically be re-accepted when another seller submits them. And once they're re-verified, they will also automatically be listed on our marketplace instantly.

So you can ignore that message as it's outdated. We will remove it shortly.

 

[NameWell]

Hi @Deven Patel

After the domain name is accepted, could we please have an option to leave a message for your staff regarding the meaning of the name? Maybe it's an actual word in a foreign language, or maybe that name is derived from a certain Latin word or phrase, or maybe we have an idea for a less obvious, but still very appropriate possible use, or maybe the seller has a stellar idea for the logo etc. Your staff can't know it all and I believe sellers can sometimes share very valuable information which could help to better market the name.

 

[Future Sensors]

Hi @Deven Patel

On the lander for each domain, it states that the domain "comes with a professional logo designed by a highly skilled graphic designer". Is this the logo that's already been designed, or does this mean the buyer may request another logo design after acquisition?

 

[ecomslice]

I see some ads out. That's great. Alter is humble and motivated to be seen over and above original plan. Much respect.

 

[Deven Patel]

Hi @Deven Patel

After the domain name is accepted, could we please have an option to leave a message for your staff regarding the meaning of the name? Maybe it's an actual word in a foreign language, or maybe that name is derived from a certain Latin word or phrase, or maybe we have an idea for a less obvious, but still very appropriate possible use, or maybe the seller has a stellar idea for the logo etc. Your staff can't know it all and I believe sellers can sometimes share very valuable information which could help to better market the name.

Thanks for the feedback! I believe someone else mentioned this before as well. We'll certainly consider it if enough sellers want this and it's beneficial for the buyers.

Right now though, the risks are that (1) it's more work for the seller and (2) the seller might unknowingly lock themselves into a niche if they're not experienced enough. We try to keep the logos as generic as possible so they can be used across various industries. We also focus on current trends, etc. Ultimately, we want to simplify the sales process for sellers instead of complicating it.

 

[Deven Patel]

Hi @Deven Patel

On the lander for each domain, it states that the domain "comes with a professional logo designed by a highly skilled graphic designer". Is this the logo that's already been designed, or does this mean the buyer may request another logo design after acquisition?

Good question. Buyers receive exclusive rights to the logo that's already designed and shown at the top when they purchase the domain.

 

[Future Sensors]

Good question. Buyers receive exclusive rights to the logo that's already designed and shown at the top when they purchase the domain.

Thanks @Deven Patel

I really like the designs on Alter, but I was pondering a bit about the following. Is it clear that primarily it is about the domain name, and the graphics are secondary? In other words, when a potential buyer doesn't like the current logo design for their business, will it hinder sales of the domain name because they might think it's offered as a package, or something like that? Perhaps a little clarification may be helpful in the text on the lander.

 

[Veneris]

Thanks for the feedback! I believe someone else mentioned this before as well. We'll certainly consider it if enough sellers want this and it's beneficial for the buyers.

Right now though, the risks are that (1) it's more work for the seller and (2) the seller might unknowingly lock themselves into a niche if they're not experienced enough. We try to keep the logos as generic as possible so they can be used across various industries. We also focus on current trends, etc. Ultimately, we want to simplify the sales process for sellers instead of complicating it.

Exactly, this is more work for the sellers and I don't think I want this option very much. I prefer the way alter writes professional description for my names.
I disagree with this option to be honest

@Deven Patel
An option still missing is a Search Box at the homepage of the Marketplace to enable buyers quickly search through names or using keyword search option. Other marketplaces have this option and it helps buyers who want to search for a specific niche.

 

[sellian]

@Deven Patel
An option still missing is a Search Box at the homepage of the Marketplace to enable buyers quickly search through names or using keyword search option. Other marketplaces have this option and it helps buyers who want to search for a specific niche.

I think there is actually one but for some reason, it doesn't show up when you are logged in (as a seller). You need to be offline or use another browser.