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.​

 

[Dane]

@Deven Patel I prefer to point the DNS of many of my names to a parking page (like bodis, for example) then use their "This domain may be for sale" area to link to the actual For Sale page. Will you allow us to do this with Alter? (Currently if the DNS is not pointing to Alter the name gets de-listed from Alter.)

 

[NameWell]

@Deven Patel I prefer to point the DNS of many of my names to a parking page (like bodis, for example) then use their "This domain may be for sale" area to link to the actual For Sale page. Will you allow us to do this with Alter? (Currently if the DNS is not pointing to Alter the name gets de-listed from Alter.)

I would love more flexibility on name servers too. I prefer to point the DNS of many of my names to my own WLM. I would appreciate it if I could prove my ownership by changing TXT records and have my domain names listed on Alter.com that way, without pointing name servers to Alter.

 

[NameWell]

My review of Alter.com after switching ALL of my nameservers to Alter!

Around 2 months ago I decided to test the new direction the alter marketplace is heading and at the end of September I moved all of my non Squadhelp listed domain names to alter (approximately 3000 names)

During October I was quite pleased to close 5 domain sales with alter. Each transaction was seamless and went through without any issues! I typically was selling at another marketplace that charged 20% commission and am happy to have saved close to $800 in commission by selling with alter for just 10% commission!

In November I also completed another 5 sales with alter and again no issues at all with transaction! Again I saved over $1000 in commission!

Also in November, I decided to leave squadhelp after being with them for 3 years. The reasoning here was primarily due to highest commission in the industry and reduced visibility of my portfolio of 800+ names. I may go deeper into my exit from Squadhelp in another post at a later date.

Since leaving squadhelp I had completed 2 sales of my previously listed sh names via alter! Combined savings from these two sales with alters 10% commission was over $1600!!. Funds that I am very happy to have!

I will follow up with an additional review that is more detailed after I’ve spent some more time with alter! Happy holidays!

Also a big thank you to @Deven Patel for your great support and communication!

Thank you for sharing! That's very interesting and useful!

Fun fact: I sold Boomblebee dot com via SH in 2018, you sold it again last month via Alter

 

[Ostrados]

@Deven Patel which is better BIN only or BIN + Make offer in Alter landers?
Do you have data backed analysis on this?

 

[Charybdis]

@Deven Patel which is better BIN only or BIN + Make offer in Alter landers?
Do you have data backed analysis on this?

I think the best setup is BIN + installment payments, and no "make offer" button. The buyer can contact Alter and make an offer anyway. If you set BIN and installment payments only, then the buyer has to choose only from two options: buy the domain now and pay it in full, or buy the domain and pay it in installments. But then your BIN price should be realistic, it is also important.

 

[Dane]

I would love more flexibility on name servers too. I prefer to point the DNS of many of my names to my own WLM. I would appreciate it if I could prove my ownership by changing TXT records and have my domain names listed on Alter.com that way, without pointing name servers to Alter.

Me too. Let's see if @Deven Patel will allow it.

 

[Ostrados]

I think the best setup is BIN + installment payments, and no "make offer" button. The buyer can contact Alter and make an offer anyway. If you set BIN and installment payments only, then the buyer has to choose only from two options: buy the domain now and pay it in full, or buy the domain and pay it in installments. But then your BIN price should be realistic, it is also important.

I am not interested in installments option, I had bad experience with it and I only use BIN or Make Offer.

 

[JudgeMind]

My review of Alter.com after switching ALL of my nameservers to Alter!

Around 2 months ago I decided to test the new direction the alter marketplace is heading and at the end of September I moved all of my non Squadhelp listed domain names to alter (approximately 3000 names)

During October I was quite pleased to close 5 domain sales with alter. Each transaction was seamless and went through without any issues! I typically was selling at another marketplace that charged 20% commission and am happy to have saved close to $800 in commission by selling with alter for just 10% commission!

In November I also completed another 5 sales with alter and again no issues at all with transaction! Again I saved over $1000 in commission!

Also in November, I decided to leave squadhelp after being with them for 3 years. The reasoning here was primarily due to highest commission in the industry and reduced visibility of my portfolio of 800+ names. I may go deeper into my exit from Squadhelp in another post at a later date.

Since leaving squadhelp I had completed 2 sales of my previously listed sh names via alter! Combined savings from these two sales with alters 10% commission was over $1600!!. Funds that I am very happy to have!

I will follow up with an additional review that is more detailed after I’ve spent some more time with alter! Happy holidays!

Also a big thank you to @Deven Patel for your great support and communication!

I will be sharing monthly reports here with you about my alter experience. Happy holidays

 

[Brands]

My review of Alter.com after switching ALL of my nameservers to Alter!

Around 2 months ago I decided to test the new direction the alter marketplace is heading and at the end of September I moved all of my non Squadhelp listed domain names to alter (approximately 3000 names)

During October I was quite pleased to close 5 domain sales with alter. Each transaction was seamless and went through without any issues! I typically was selling at another marketplace that charged 20% commission and am happy to have saved close to $800 in commission by selling with alter for just 10% commission!

In November I also completed another 5 sales with alter and again no issues at all with transaction! Again I saved over $1000 in commission!

Also in November, I decided to leave squadhelp after being with them for 3 years. The reasoning here was primarily due to highest commission in the industry and reduced visibility of my portfolio of 800+ names. I may go deeper into my exit from Squadhelp in another post at a later date.

Since leaving squadhelp I had completed 2 sales of my previously listed sh names via alter! Combined savings from these two sales with alters 10% commission was over $1600!!. Funds that I am very happy to have!

I will follow up with an additional review that is more detailed after I’ve spent some more time with alter! Happy holidays!

Also a big thank you to @Deven Patel for your great support and communication!

Just moved 800+ names to Alter.com .


Thank you.

 

[JudgeMind]

Just moved 800+ names to Alter.com . Thank you.

Good luck!

 

[capybara]

Two weeks ago I had a sale on Alter, first received a payment email and in a few hours transfer request, the domain was pushed to Alter account promptly and then that was it. Asked in a few days and Alter told me they are unable to contact the buyer. Likely the emails went to spam so there is very little chance it gets better, who knows how long is it gonna be before the buyer wakes up and decides to do something about their purchase... It was not a big sale, less than 2K, and we all know the stories of much more expensive domains which go to the expired auctions the next year after having been purchased, its not unusual when buyers forget about their freshly acquired domains and is likely what happened to my sale as well.

In the buy it now window it is stated "All payments will be final and non-refundable once the domain is in escrow.". I think it means Alter has it covered within their ToS legally, and since its like that, does it make sense not to pay the seller? The domain is in Alter possession so whenever the buyer is back to claim it Alter has been enabled to complete the transfer...

 

[Charybdis]

Two weeks ago I had a sale on Alter, first received a payment email and in a few hours transfer request, the domain was pushed to Alter account promptly and then that was it. Asked in a few days and Alter told me they are unable to contact the buyer. Likely the emails went to spam so there is very little chance it gets better, who knows how long is it gonna be before the buyer wakes up and decides to do something about their purchase... It was not a big sale, less than 2K, and we all know the stories of much more expensive domains which go to the expired auctions the next year after having been purchased, its not unusual when buyers forget about their freshly acquired domains and is likely what happened to my sale as well.

In the buy it now window it is stated "All payments will be final and non-refundable once the domain is in escrow.". I think it means Alter has it covered within their ToS legally, and since its like that, does it make sense not to pay the seller? The domain is in Alter possession so whenever the buyer is back to claim it Alter has been enabled to complete the transfer...

Alter should collect the phone numbers of both buyers and sellers, and in these cases they could send a text message or make a phone call. If email is the only contact option, and the emails go to spam or the email is not working, then without the phone number it is impossible to contact the buyer or the seller.

It can happen also in the case of a seller: a seller sells a domain, and then Alter cannot contact the seller via email, and there is no phone number.

 

[Charybdis]

@Deven Patel please don't forget to automatically renew the SSL certificates of the domain names. A lot of certificates expired on Nov 24, 2021 and now these domains return the ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID error when you try to access them via https.

Example: https://gigapen.com/

Your connection is not private​

Attackers might be trying to steal your information from gigapen.com (for example, passwords, messages, or credit cards).

NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID
Subject: gigapen.com
Issuer: R3
Expires on: Nov 24, 2021
Current date: Dec 9, 2021

 

[NameWell]

Alter should collect the phone numbers of both buyers and sellers, and in these cases they could send a text message or make a phone call. If email is the only contact option, and the emails go to spam or the email is not working, then without the phone number it is impossible to contact the buyer or the seller.

It can happen also in the case of a seller: a seller sells a domain, and then Alter cannot contact the seller via email, and there is no phone number.

Definitely! Also, I believe that Alter should have a very clear policy in place for such cases (the buyer makes the payment, the seller transfers the domain name to Alter, the buyer then disappears.) Preferrable option: if the buyer is not responsive for 10 days, the payment is then automatically sent to the seller and the buyer is not eligible for any refunds. Alternatively, it could be that the domain name is transferred back to the seller and put back on the marketplace until things are resolved with the buyer. If Alter ends up refunding the buyer, they should only make a partial refund and use the rest to compensate the seller for the off-market time.

Keeping the seller's domain name as a hostage at Alter's escrow for unlimited time and making the seller cover for all of the time that it was off-market is very unprofessional and not fair. The seller did all they could on their end. It's not their responsibility that Alter can't do their part.

 

[Future Sensors]

@Deven Patel please don't forget to automatically renew the SSL certificates of the domain names. A lot of certificates expired on Nov 24, 2021 and now these domains return the ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID error when you try to access them via https.

Example: https://gigapen.com/

Good catch @Charybdis - I can confirm that this is the case for several domains I tested at Alter.

 

[Future Sensors]

@Deven Patel please don't forget to automatically renew the SSL certificates of the domain names. A lot of certificates expired on Nov 24, 2021 and now these domains return the ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID error when you try to access them via https.

Example: https://gigapen.com/

This one has been renewed today, probably as a result of your posting.

Signature Algorithm: sha256WithRSAEncryption
Issuer: C=US, O=Let's Encrypt, CN=R3
Validity
Not Before: Dec 10 01:15:44 2021 GMT
Not After : Mar 10 01:15:43 2022 GMT
Subject: CN=gigapen.com

 

[Charybdis]

This one has been renewed today, probably as a result of your posting.

Signature Algorithm: sha256WithRSAEncryption
Issuer: C=US, O=Let's Encrypt, CN=R3
Validity
Not Before: Dec 10 01:15:44 2021 GMT
Not After : Mar 10 01:15:43 2022 GMT
Subject: CN=gigapen.com

Yes the domains work now with the https prefix, thanks @Deven Patel
Please try to automate the SSL certificate renewal.

 

[Gro]

My review of Alter.com after switching ALL of my nameservers to Alter!

Around 2 months ago I decided to test the new direction the alter marketplace is heading and at the end of September I moved all of my non Squadhelp listed domain names to alter (approximately 3000 names)

During October I was quite pleased to close 5 domain sales with alter. Each transaction was seamless and went through without any issues! I typically was selling at another marketplace that charged 20% commission and am happy to have saved close to $800 in commission by selling with alter for just 10% commission!

In November I also completed another 5 sales with alter and again no issues at all with transaction! Again I saved over $1000 in commission!

Also in November, I decided to leave squadhelp after being with them for 3 years. The reasoning here was primarily due to highest commission in the industry and reduced visibility of my portfolio of 800+ names. I may go deeper into my exit from Squadhelp in another post at a later date.

Since leaving squadhelp I had completed 2 sales of my previously listed sh names via alter! Combined savings from these two sales with alters 10% commission was over $1600!!. Funds that I am very happy to have!

I will follow up with an additional review that is more detailed after I’ve spent some more time with alter! Happy holidays!

Also a big thank you to @Deven Patel for your great support and communication!

Hi,
Did you use Syndication (Automatically list my "Buy Now" domains at the marketplaces and registrars mentioned above)?
Thank you.

 

[Reyginus]

BB have partnered with BitPay to payout in three Crypto, BTC, BCH and Litecoin. I think sellers, and consequently, Alter will benefit from this if implemented.

 

[tomcarl]

Since traffic is being pooled, all should be pooling as well. No name dumping. Fine as-is for what it is IMO.