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.​

 

[Deven Patel]

@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.

See attached screenshot. Buyers can browse our marketplace in different ways. There's also a large search bar prominently positioned at the top. You won't see the search bar if you're logged in as a seller because that space at the top is used for account related functions. Simply log out or use a private browser window to see it.

 

[sellian]

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.

Or maybe offer a 5 to 10% discount if the buyer decides not to use the logo. As Alter doesn't want to include any discounts, this could be a new way of pushing customers to buy with a different kind of discount. (?)

I think this could be a good idea as I assume that, in the end, the majority of buyers never end up using any of the logos that marketplaces come up with anyway.

Also, I think that Alter prices are high enough for this to cause a lot of harm.

This could be easily implemented too, it's basically 1 line of text.

What do you think?

 

[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.

Or maybe offer a 5 to 10% discount if the buyer decides not to use the logo. As Alter doesn't want to include any discounts, this could be a new way of pushing customers to buy with a different kind of discount. (?)

I think this could be a good idea as I assume that, in the end, the majority of buyers never end up using any of the logos that marketplaces come up with.

Also, I think that Alter prices are high enough for this to cause a lot of harm.

This could be easily implemented too, it's basically 1 line of text.

What do you think?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

We try to keep logos generic for this exact reason. Because buyers can be in various different mindsets when they land on these pages. Since design is often subjective, we try to cover as many bases as possible.

We're not against discounts. If we discover that the pros outweigh the cons by offering them then we certainly will. We just haven't seen enough data to justify it so far so there's no reason to complicate the buyer experience (simplicity is always better when possible).

Including logos is actually a product bundling strategy designed to increase sales. Just like how people are willing to pay more for a car if it came with X options, the logo is an added value for the buyer that helps justify the price (more bang for their buck).

You're right though, most buyers will end up using their own logos anyway. But the ones that don't want to spend more money designing new logos have the option to use ours. I think this is already understood by the buyer but as always we'll keep our eyes and ears open. We'll adjust according to all the feedback we receive from buyers.

 

[sellian]

the ones that don't want to spend more money designing new logos have the option to use ours

Of course, I totally get it!

But assuming that the majority (I don't have the actual data but it's a strong feeling) of buyers will never use the logo, the idea is to give those buyers the possibility of not using it and getting a discount by choosing this option. This could only lead to more sales in my opinion.

This could be a very powerful way of offering a fixed/permanent discount to our domains.

This is also much easier to handle than time-dependent discounts which really complicate things, don't improve sales that much, and lead to domains being sold at very low prices (as buyers tend to wait for the biggest possible discount before purchasing)

 

[Laguna]

18 brandables submitted
18 declined. bizarre.

 

[NameWell]

Show attachment 180566I see some ads out. That's great. Alter is humbl and motivated. Much respect.

It's really great that they are investing in ads, but this ad in particular in kind of obscure and not very attention-grabbing.

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 thank you for taking the time to consider my idea and reply. I understand your concerns. Let me address them. (1) The option to leave a message for the staff could be optional (pun intended ). If a seller doesn't want to leave a message they could just skip it. So no more work for sellers unless they really want to. Your staff would not be obligated to use ideas/information proposed by sellers, just consider it.

(2) Let me give you an example. Let's say you accept the name ITER.com and I agree to list it. Your staff then lists it as a generic name with related keywords "short", "generic", "memorable", "abstract" etc. and assigns various categories i.e. Real Estate, Retail, Technology, Finance etc.

What they don't know is that Iter is in an actual Latin word which means journey, road, path. This meaning could add extra value to the end buyers in the fields of Travel, Transportation, Logistics, Automobile, Counseling etc. because it's very relevant to what they do. But these buyers will have great difficulty finding this name because it won't be listed under very relevant business categories like Travel, Logistics etc. and keywords "travel", "journey", "road" won't be assigned to this name. And they won't know it's a Latin word unless they research themselves while I believe the buyer deserves to know the meaning of the name (if there is one) before they make a decision.

If I had an option to leave a message to your staff and inform them that this is an actual Latin word that means journey, road, path, they could make better-informed decisions and among other categories of their own choice add Travel & Transportation and list keywords "Travel", "Journey", "Latin" or "Latin word" among the other related keywords of their own choice. Does that make sense?

 

[Future Sensors]

You won't see the search bar if you're logged in as a seller because that space at the top is used for account related functions.

For completeness, is this also the case for logged in buyers?

 

[Deven Patel]

Of course, I totally get it!

But assuming that the majority (I don't have the actual data but it's a strong feeling) of buyers will never use the logo, the idea is to give those buyers the possibility of not using it and getting a discount by choosing this option. This could only lead to more sales in my opinion.

This could be a very powerful way of offering a fixed/permanent discount to our domains.

This is also much easier to handle than time-dependent discounts which really complicate things, don't improve sales that much, and lead to domains being sold at very low prices (as buyers tend to wait for the biggest possible discount before purchasing)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You certainly make a good point. However, that wouldn't really be considered a discount since pretty much all buyers would take advantage of it in return for a lower price. Even those that want to use the logo would still be inclined to take it. So ultimately it would have the same effect as not including the logo at all as part of the sale and simply lowering the domain prices across the board. The ramifications of this are a bit complex (i.e. would sellers opt-in/opt-out?, would it be fair to sellers who didn't opt-in?, would sellers make less money because of it?, would we have to raise our commission to compensate for the lower prices?, etc, etc).

Anyway, we'll certainly dig into this further down the road if we see that it would lead to a positive outcome for both buyers and sellers.

 

[Deven Patel]

18 brandables submitted
18 declined. bizarre.

Thanks for sharing! As we discussed on here before, quality is often subjective.

At the moment we're giving priority to names that work across multiple industries. Not too keen on names that are super niche. For example, something like "BalloonBlog" is too specific and much less likely to sell than something like "TechBlog". Also, a lot of two word names we see aren't that brandable. See examples below.

Examples that were recently declined (obscured for privacy): DigitalVersify, GreatShroom, BurntLion, StallionFlare

Examples that were recently accepted (actual listings): CuteRoll, PayBlade, KindAim, RealLake, ProudHill

That said, our criteria could change in the future so we may accept your names at a later time. And if you like we can take another peek at your names in case we missed something. Please shoot support an email when you can.

 

[Joe N]

18 brandables submitted
18 declined. bizarre.

Were they accepted at other marketplaces?

The brandable sites are all a bit different in their tastes. I've had many accepted at Alter that were never accepted elsewhere. Likewise, they declined many that others had accepted.

 

[Deven Patel]

It's really great that they are investing in ads, but this ad in particular in kind of obscure and not very attention-grabbing.

Thanks for the feedback! We have a variety of different ads running on Google and we're constantly A/B testing them to see what works best. This particular one is a retargeting ad that's meant to simply remind you of Alter and spread brand awareness.

thank you for taking the time to consider my idea and reply. I understand your concerns. Let me address them. (1) The option to leave a message for the staff could be optional (pun intended ). If a seller doesn't want to leave a message they could just skip it. So no more work for sellers unless they really want to. Your staff would not be obligated to use ideas/information proposed by sellers, just consider it.

(2) Let me give you an example. Let's say you accept the name ITER.com and I agree to list it. Your staff then lists it as a generic name with related keywords "short", "generic", "memorable", "abstract" etc. and assigns various categories i.e. Real Estate, Retail, Technology, Finance etc.

What they don't know is that Iter is in an actual Latin word which means journey, road, path. This meaning could add extra value to the end buyers in the fields of Travel, Transportation, Logistics, Automobile, Counseling etc. because it's very relevant to what they do. But these buyers will have great difficulty finding this name because it won't be listed under very relevant business categories like Travel, Logistics etc. and keywords "travel", "journey", "road" won't be assigned to this name. And they won't know it's a Latin word unless they research themselves while I believe the buyer deserves to know the meaning of the name (if there is one) before they make a decision.

If I had an option to leave a message to your staff and inform them that this is an actual Latin word that means journey, road, path, they could make better-informed decisions and among other categories of their own choice add Travel & Transportation and list keywords "Travel", "Journey", "Latin" or "Latin word" among the other related keywords of their own choice. Does that make sense?

Thanks for clarifying! Makes sense. We'll certainly consider it but seems like a low priority feature for now. In the meantime, whenever you feel strongly about a domain that you think needs special attention just shoot us an email.

 

[Deven Patel]

For completeness, is this also the case for logged in buyers?

Great question. Buyers actually don't have user accounts so they never need to log in. We didn't see a point in creating more friction for them when they would likely never log back in after a purchase.

 

[tiletalk]

Thanks for clarifying! Makes sense. We'll certainly consider it but seems like a low priority feature for now. In the meantime, whenever you feel strongly about a domain that you think needs special attention just shoot us an email.

All my domains have been appropriately described and tagged to right potential niches. Some of the logos have been exactly how I imagined.

I wouldn't open this communication channel between sellers and designers/domain classification people. Keep it closed. Saves more time. You don't want to be reading what I am imaginging before doing things.

 

[NameWell]

Thanks for the feedback! We have a variety of different ads running on Google and we're constantly A/B testing them to see what works best. This particular one is a retargeting ad that's meant to simply remind you of Alter and spread brand awareness.



Thanks for clarifying! Makes sense. We'll certainly consider it but seems like a low-priority feature for now. In the meantime, whenever you feel strongly about a domain that you think needs special attention just shoot us an email.

@Deven Patel I'm glad to hear that you take the ads seriously and constantly perform A/B testing. I'm sure you'll be able to achieve great results.

As for the new feature, I hope to see that in the future and in the meanwhile I'll follow your advise and will use email

 

[Laguna]

Were they accepted at other marketplaces?

The brandable sites are all a bit different in their tastes. I've had many accepted at Alter that were never accepted elsewhere. Likewise, they declined many that others had accepted.

Hi Joe, I only have them on Dan, sedo, bodis, and afternic. Not tried to put them on the brandable sites but did look at alter before I submitted them to see if I thought some were on par with what's already on there. That's why I said I thought the decision was bizarre. I agree everything is subjective but I was still surprised that all 18 were declined.Maybe there should be something on there when submitting that explains the meaning or intention of the name. Just my thoughts.
Gary

 

[Joe N]

Hi Joe, I only have them on Dan, sedo, bodis, and afternic. Not tried to put them on the brandable sites but did look at alter before I submitted them to see if I thought some were on par with what's already on there. That's why I said I thought the decision was bizarre. I agree everything is subjective but I was still surprised that all 18 were declined.Maybe there should be something on there when submitting that explains the meaning or intention of the name. Just my thoughts.
Gary

I think that if the meaning of the name needs to be explained, odds are that the brandable sites won't be interested.

If the names are very specific to one niche, they also have to be very very solid in order to be worth listing. Otherwise, I find it's better if they can apply widely to several ideas/industries. I think @Deven Patel mentioned this above.

 

[Laguna]

I think that if the meaning of the name needs to be explained, odds are that the brandable sites won't be interested.

If the names are very specific to one niche, they also have to be very very solid in order to be worth listing. Otherwise, I find it's better if they can apply widely to several ideas/industries. I think @Deven Patel mentioned this above.

I hear you and appreciate your feedback

 

[Reyginus]

I think the introduction of a boost will help both seller and Alter. Like SH, paying a dollar to boost your name in the marketplace to move it closer to the homepage.

An option to boost your names for a dollar/coin wouldn't be bad. That will help sellers when the platform adds more thousands of names.

 

[Future Sensors]

I think the introduction of a boost will help both seller and Alter. Like SH, paying a dollar to boost your name in the marketplace to move it closer to the homepage.

An option to boost your names for a dollar/coin wouldn't be bad. That will help sellers when the platform adds more thousands of names.

I don't like the idea. I'm not prepared to pay an additional fee for this. Placement based on smart algos with other metrics is preferred, imo.

 

[Joe N]

Haven't seen much in the way of reported Alter sales yet, so I thought I'd share one from last week:

PropFi (dot) com - $2,000

This was listed at $3,699, and I think the buyer got a super price for a quality name. In fact it already appears to be re-listed at Sedo. It's the bare minimum I was willing to sell this name for, and only because the ROI was solid, having stumbled upon the name in GD closeouts.

@Deven Patel - Has there been any consideration to having Alter take a harder line with price negotiations? I know some sellers will appreciate having all offers brought to them, even when they're less than half of the list price (I was informed of an $800 offer on a $2,250 name at Alter a couple months ago), but I worry that this tactic will ultimately undercut your and your sellers' long-term profits and success.

I think one of the big advantages of listing with a brandable marketplace is the added prestige/credibility that comes with the price tag of the name. That, along with increased visibility, is why I like to have brandable names listed at marketplaces. However, once buyers get wind that Alter is playing softball in negotiations by encouraging buyers to accept much lower prices than those listed, I think the marketplace will become somewhat of a haven for investors (rather than end users).

Just a thought, and I would be curious to hear the rationale for operating this way.