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.​

 

[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.

 

[wwwulff]

sellers are willing to pay to have their names reviewed

I would like to pay $1 to get a review and a valuation ala BB so maybe you should consider it as an option? so people can decide for themselves if they want to pay for a prereview or just list them as you propose - My strategy is not to sell $499 brandable and I doubt it's a win situation for you in the long run with a commission of 10% - It's your marketplace, so of course you can take the direction you want and good luck with it

 

[NameWell]

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).

Thanks for the reply! I see your point. Maybe adding a price range filter could help low-budget buyers find the names they can afford? And in general, since your portfolio will rapidly grow, I think it would be a good idea to add more filters like "starts with", "ends with", "contains", "does not contain", a checkmark to include synonyms of the keyword that is being searched, name length slider etc.

 

[Future Sensors]

Hi @Deven Patel

Congrats on the new direction.

I'm trying to change the capitalization for an accepted premium listing in my portfolio. When saving, I get a warning about the number of entries in the fields 'keywords', 'ideas', and 'categories'. However, these fields were previously populated by Alter and I didn't touch them. I want to keep those entries unchanged. Could you please have a look and fix?

Thank you.

 

[tomcarl]

IMHO This is a game-changer and right now a future superhero platform for our industry.

Once those Alter mentions start ringing in the 'Reported Sales' thread, the rest will get it

A boutique-style marketplace open-to-all, landing pages that pitch well, professionally presenting domains with a pre-rendered imagery and descriptions, customizable categories and fonts, attractive layout, all up-to-par with what you get in the 30% commission marketplaces, and all with full control over when, where, and how you list your own properties and no fees/upsells for doing so.

The glass isn't half empty for me on this one, the glass is overflowing.

Good work and exciting new direction, Deven. Cheers

 

[Deven Patel]

I would like to pay $1 to get a review and a valuation ala BB so maybe you should consider it as an option? so people can decide for themselves if they want to pay for a prereview or just list them as you propose - My strategy is not to sell $499 brandable and I doubt it's a win situation for you in the long run with a commission of 10% - It's your marketplace, so of course you can take the direction you want and good luck with it

Thanks for the feedback! It's always appreciated.

We'll certainly consider an option where sellers can pay to have names reviewed if there's enough demand in the future. For now we felt like we could better use that time and energy to market domains instead especially since as I mentioned, a lot of the submissions we were getting lately were very low quality anyway.

So far out of all our sellers we only heard from about 3-4 who want to pay to have their names reviewed which tells me there isn't much interest.

Also, wouldn't that end up being super expensive if a lot of your names are declined? Last month around 3% of the submissions were listed. Even if that increases to say 5-10% due to the pay wall, it would cost around $10-$20 to have a name listed if we charged $1 per review.