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.​

 

[Charybdis]

@Wisher you should develop your own domain landing pages from scratch, this is your best option, because seems like you don't like any existing solutions.

 

[Deven Patel]

You are making conflicting points.
On one hand you say nearly 80-90% of buyers are just after the one name and the direct traffic brings them and then on the other hand you are saying that marketing is going to make a big difference.

Sorry, maybe I'm not doing a good job with the explanation. Let me try again if it helps.

I also want to clarify that this data is only applicable to Alter because no other marketplace shares their numbers. We see 80-90% of conversions through direct traffic and 10-20% through other marketing channels.

My point to you is regardless of where the 10-20% of non-direct traffic comes from, if it helps convert even 1 visitor in return for a couple extra points of commission then why not take it especially since domains are so hard to sell already?

It's no different than paying 20% to Afternic. But since we have nowhere near that level of exposure, we don't charge nearly as much.

IMO its pretty much a waste of time. Buyers on Dan for example are not there due to marketing and they are doing very well over there, makes little difference to the seller unless you dominate the space like Godaddy. And thats more from a Brand/Trust perspective

Just because they're doing well doesn't mean they can't do better. That's ultimately why competitors exist right? Because they think they can do better.

Now if we were able to raise your STR even a LITTLE bit through additional marketing in return for a couple extra points of commission, then why wouldn't you want us to?

You also stated earlier that only 10-20% will buy other names. Conversions>Traffic
Marketplace: That is traffic from other sellers landing pages leaking from non-premium to premium?

Ah, I think I see the problem. You're assuming that 10-20% of traffic comes from the related domains section at the bottom of the landing pages. No, majority of that comes through other channels like PPC, SEO, social media, remarketing, and many more. Unfortunately, we haven't specifically tracked how much traffic the related domains section generates because we thought it was minimal considering there are plenty of other opportunities for buyers to search for alternatives if they really wanted to.

Because and I am making a generalization here. The traffic is not shared equally. Insiders/promoters on these marketplaces are given an advantage.

Can you tell me specifically why you think that? I can't speak for the other marketplaces but I can tell you that at Alter there are no insiders/promoters. Our company itself owns a few domains but these are all treated equally. There's nothing in our search algorithm that gives seller X a boost in exposure because of some insider connection.

Or the ones that already decided just go to other platforms and you lose out on the traffic from big portfolio holders that DO want that feature. i.e all the Dan sellers.

Correct, that's always been a major issue when it comes to domain marketplaces as opposed to other industries. Marketplaces often know how to improve STR but they have to sacrifice it in order to increase their inventory by surrendering to a variety of seller opinions. This is why you have brandable marketplaces on one side with strict rules and regular marketplaces on the other that are free-for-all. We're essentially trying to find a space in-between the two which is super tough.

Anyway, like I said if enough sellers want this option we'd be happy to consider it. So far not much interest though. Unless you're planning to bring a big portfolio over to Alter, then we'll consider it sooner.

No I said I can not control what happens 'off page'. But 'on page' I can. By choosing a landing page that does not advertise other names on the actual landing page.

Not sure I agree that there's much difference between on-page vs off-page especially since we're not talking about $20 impulse purchases here. These are more like car sales. Buyers looking to drop thousands on a domain aren't ignorant. They will do their research. Just put yourself in the buyer's shoes for a minute and play it out.

Anyway, your mind seems to be made up already so I'll stop arguing my point. In your case, you still have the option to control "off page" by hosting your own landers or using a WL marketplace. I personally don't think that will help you but those options are available.

You point out the negatives with other platforms, I agree but have a different take. If you CAN
do these things AND at similar rate you will outcompete them all.

Of course, that's the holy grail in business right? Offer a better product at a cheaper price. The reason I pointed out the negatives is because turning them into positives has a cost (more benefits = more commission).

P.S. With the amount of time I'm spending answering your questions, I think we deserve a little more commission for that benefit alone no?

 

[DomainThrive]

Just because they're doing well doesn't mean they can't do better. That's ultimately why competitors exist right? Because they think they can do better.

That's why I am saying you can outcompete them.

On that note, how do you really know they're doing better on the STR front?

Why are you now using STR of the whole marketplace as a metric. I have read you mention on this very thread that is not important. What is important is my STR when using your platform. You will have a load of junk on any marketplace. Why would I care about the STR of that? I only care about my own STR.
Important metric for the markeplace that I was highlighting with Dan is the sales volume for which they get a cut.

Can you tell me specifically why you think that?

I did say generalization. Based on research it's pretty obvious its going on elsewhere.
The way it seems to go is Promoters bring more sellers so they are given a lift to grow the traffic with a 'hey look at my amazing STR, its due to 'insert marketplace'. They might not start out that way but it seems to be one of the main drivers.

Even so premium names on Alter will gain over all other non premium. So there is not really a selling point for non premium to give away their traffic just because one of your assessors does not see the value.

No, majority of that comes through other channels like PPC

According to similarweb, I am seeing some search engine traffic (half of which from unrelated terms, pretty much junk traffic) no PPC. 70% Direct traffic.

I'm spending answering your questions, I think we deserve a little more commission for that benefit alone no?

I deserve a commission for giving you this free advice on how you could outcompete Dan. But you seem quite stuck in your current plan so I will leave you to it.

 

[Deven Patel]

Why are you now using STR of the whole marketplace as a metric. I have read you mention on this very thread that is not important. What is important is my STR when using your platform. You will have a load of junk on any marketplace. Why would I care about the STR of that? I only care about my own STR.

Correct. I think you're taking my words out of context. My point wasn't for you to compare the marketplace STR with your own. It was simply to imply that additional marketing is worth it if it helps improve your STR even a LITTLE bit. I edited my previous reply to prevent confusion.

I did say generalization. Based on research it's pretty obvious its going on elsewhere.
The way it seems to go is Promoters bring more sellers so they are given a lift to grow the traffic with a 'hey look at my amazing STR, its due to 'insert marketplace'. They might not start out that way but it seems to be one of the main drivers.

Interesting. I wasn't aware companies did this.

Even so premium names on Alter will gain over all other non premium. So there is not really a selling point for non premium to give away their traffic just because one of your assessors does not see the value.

You're right. As I mentioned, we are working on a way to fix this. Our original intention with it was to simply highlight the best domains like the "Amazon's Choice" inventory on Amazon but it doesn't appear to be working as such.

According to similarweb

I rest my case.

I deserve a commission for giving you this free advice on how you could outcompete Dan. But you seem quite stuck in your current plan so I will leave you to it.

I was already aware of most of what you're saying. I was simply trying to explain to you that the answers are more complicated than you think. And I never implied that we're sticking to our current plan. We're constantly learning and evolving the best we can. So I do value your feedback. It's much appreciated.

 

[omnia]

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

 

[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.