Atom / Atom.com - Marketplace (formerly Squadhelp)

[JudgeMind]

Hey Folks,

I've just started using squadhelp.com to list some of my brandable. So far I have 76 domains listed, there is no fee to list. I've had some decent action so far in the way of interested buyers but no sales as of yet. I've only been with them for 1 week now.

A bit of a summary review of SquadHelp:

PROS

• No Listing fee
• No Logo design fee
• Ability to submit your names to end users holding naming contests
• Ability to chat directly or send a message directly to end users.
• Stats of your marketplace domains are shown in the marketplace dashboard.
• Their customer service and support has been great, 24hr a day chat.
• Ability to increase or decrease the list price of your domains or to show a discount. You can decrease or increase the price yourself by $200. If you want to lower more, you can contact support.
• End users can shortlist your domains before they make a decision on which they want to purchase. The number of shortlists is shown in you marketplace dashboard.
• When you submit your names you get to set the price you wish to get. Because their commissions are high I recommend listing at a higher price to offset the commission costs.
• Their landing pages are fairly basic but they work. Because the marketplace is fairly new, I'm sure we will see style improvements in the future.
• One thing I really like is they accept multiple extensions. I have listed .co and .io along with .com
• Each seller gets a direct link to their marketplace portfolio, HERES MY PORTFOLIO. It is handy if your trying to p[promote your portfolio through social media.
• I like that their marketplace doesn't have tens of thousands domain listings like BB. They are fairly strict on the domains they accept to list and so this helps keep the number of domains in the marketplace down and gets your listings more exposure.

CONS

• Their commissions are very high, depending on the domain name they are usually between 30% and 35%. However, there are no listing fees, no logo design fees, so in the end their commission is very similar to brand buckets.
• Their logos are not top quality, in fact I requested to have some of my logos remade.
• I think they have a big backlog of logos to design, the wait time for logo design has been around 1 week, but your names are still listed while the logos are being designed.
• After your names are accepted you need to agree to their commission rate, at this point you also need to apply your own keywords, descriptions etc. I found this was very time consuming.

 

[NameGroove]

Have you got an example?

It looks just like this (for all my names that previously had no logos). Of course, for my names, each is different.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/atom-atom-com-marketplace-formerly-squadhelp.1120686/post-9353894

 

[doidomnola]

This action would implicitly suggest that most domains on Atom are not worth it. This could negatively impact the platform's overall reputation.

I'd argue exactly this "most domains on Atom are not worth it" as Atom is literally diluted with names that should have never been approved for premium and it greatly ruins the user experience and STRs of strong domains.

 

[Future Sensors]

I'd argue exactly this "most domains on Atom are not worth it" as Atom is literally diluted with names that should have never been approved for premium and it greatly ruins the user experience and STRs of strong domains.

If so, the cause will need to be addressed. Domains with lower quality already get a lower ranking in search results, by the way.

 

[NameGroove]

Has anyone noticed any trends with regards to Premium acceptance ?

In general I have noticed a drop in acceptance rates for myself and looking at the overall acceptance rates for the premium marketplace it has been slowly dropping also. For me it is invented names that I see the biggest drop in approval rates. in the last few weeks I have had lots with ratings from 7.5 to 9.6 rejected for premium.

@Atom.com have there been any changes to the types of names you are accepting for premium listing? Are you leaning more towards keyword and away from invented names? Its frustrating to see the poor quality names that were accepted before getting premium exposure whilst better names are been rejected. If Atom is over saturated with invented names surely it would be wiser to cull the poor ones to make room for better quality ones . . .. or once a name gets approved is it there until the seller removes it?

My approval rate dropped significantly recently. It's gotten so bad, I've restarted sending names to BrandBucket first - instead of to Atom first. Shame that, as I was just starting to have success with Atom, but it is what it is.
I tried to speak with Atom about it - but they would provide no information.

Perhaps Atom feels they finally hit saturation at ~300k names and have tightened the # of, and perceived quality of, names they approve?

I haven't searched in a while but outside of auctions, is there a way to only show domains with an AI rating of 8.0 or higher? That could potentially help buyers weed out some of the saturating crappy names.

I don't think I'd be mad at the marketplace if they told me that starting on May 1, 2025, all premium domains that have been listed on the marketplace for more than 12 months and have a rating below a 6.0 were being moved from premium to standard. Just credit the account with a coin so the seller can use that to get a better quality name approved.

I know the AI ratings are questionable as are a number of names both approved and rejected for premium but this could help cull out some of the lower quality names.

I think it' d be better to just allow "poor" names to run off and not accept "poor quality" names going forward. Perhaps that's why acceptance rates have plummeted for a few sellers recently (or perhaps we're just submitting lower quality names in Atom's opinion).

 

[NameGroove]

I'd argue exactly this "most domains on Atom are not worth it" as Atom is literally diluted with names that should have never been approved for premium and it greatly ruins the user experience and STRs of strong domains.

it's hard to disagree with this. The problem is, domaining is an art, not a science. Ai domain scores (even Atom's) are not capable of identifying "higher quality names" and cannot be relied upon in isolation. Even overlaying 'expert reviewers' and Atom's own staff after that, doesn't cure the issue.

Further, the issue is not isolated to Atom. BrandBucket and BrandPa are filled with domains that are "not worth it". So even different curators across companies are unable to "crack the code". That's because there is no code.
It's an art. If there were a code, domainers would have much more than 1-3% STR. And when you looked at recent sales on NameBio, you'd say to yourself, incredible! All these names are amazing. Meanwhile, whenever I peruse that list, I wouldn't have even hand regged many of those names as I'd have thought "not worth it". As they say, one mans trash is another mans gold.

None of this is to say attempts shouldn't be made to increase quality levels. But it isn't easy, and thus, let the buyer decide what they want should be the focus. As such, search should be paramount. Allow buyers to sift better. Currently Atom's search, although improved, is quite lacking. Their new tool of "must include" and "must exclude" doesn't work. Want proof? First, search for "ify" on their marketplace and watch dozens of names ending in "ify" show. Now clear the search to see all Atom names. Then type in "must include" ify. What do you see? Not one single result.

This is the main problem with Atom today. While they have low quality names it is not easy to identify which is which. But search, if it was truly enhanced and worked properly would allow buyers to find the cream of the crop.

 

[DN_Hunter]

How long does it usually take for a BIN change to apply to the landing page? I updated a BIN about 4 hours ago, hit the icon to "Clear Cache" about 5 times already on the domain name. Went to 2 different cellphones using 5G network (not home wifi), and the domain name still has the old BIN price. It shouldn't take more than 10-20 minutes (and that's being generous)-- what's the usual time for Atom on this simple update???

 

[DomainRecap]

How long does it usually take for a BIN change to apply to the landing page?

Anywhere from 1 second to 2-3 days.

Usually it's very fast, but on rare occasions it can take longer.

 

[Velocity.Now]

My approval rate dropped significantly recently. It's gotten so bad, I've restarted sending names to BrandBucket first - instead of to Atom first. Shame that, as I was just starting to have success with Atom, but it is what it is.
I tried to speak with Atom about it - but they would provide no information.

Perhaps Atom feels they finally hit saturation at ~300k names and have tightened the # of, and perceived quality of, names they approve?



I think it' d be better to just allow "poor" names to run off and not accept "poor quality" names going forward. Perhaps that's why acceptance rates have plummeted for a few sellers recently (or perhaps we're just submitting lower quality names in Atom's opinion).

I think I have been submitting better names for sure , a few months ago I was getting about 80% of names accepted . For the last month with better quality names this has more than halved.

BB have also tightened up on what they approve recently in my opinion. I think I will pause my purchases for a while to see if I can work out where things are going. Maybe I need to workout what sells on Afternic (the opposite of what I buy I think)

As for any of the Brandable marketplaces removing names, I think they will do this in a covert way.

 

[King]

The Atom logo becomes a pixelated PNG {atom-logo.png} during the pipeline, no matter the lander (BIN,MO,PR) please keep it SVG throughout.

Also for BIN/LTO funnel, the header menu & footer should be removed, it's too busy and could make someone click away.

 

[King]

You can now customize landers.

https://www.atom.com/blog/introducing-fully-customizable-domain-landing-pages/

 

[Future Sensors]

The Atom logo becomes a pixelated PNG {atom-logo.png} during the pipeline, no matter the lander (BIN,MO,PR) please keep it SVG throughout.

It's also present on the individual User Profiles with a wrong aspect ratio. Looking in mobile view, atm.

 

[Inframan]

I noticed the portfolio value on the (main) dashboard decreased by 50%

When you submit numerous domains to the new ccTLD marketplace the pricing structure resets to zero.

I don't know if you'll lose your price settings if you upload individually. Definitely a bug that needs to be fixed.

 

[Inframan]

I've restarted sending names to BrandBucket first - instead of to Atom first.

I'm sure you know about their minimum 40 day approval process.

 

[Velocity.Now]

When you get too many requests and reports of problems burying your head in the sand hoping the problem will go away rarely works.

 

[Velocity.Now]

I'm sure you know about their minimum 40 day approval process.

I've been submitting all my brandable domains to both marketplaces for a while, it costs a few extra $ but gives you flexibility if approved on both, gets you exposure earlier depending on where it is accepted. With that been said I thinkin the near future I will only submit invented brandables to BB as they seem to have fallen out of favor with Atom recently.

The review times, yes that is a real issue, I'm surprised they haven't gotten on top of it. Significant improvements on this have been mentioned for the second have of 2025

 

[Inframan]

The problem is, domaining is an art, not a science.

I agree .

Example

CADA.com
10.0
$100K

In and of itself it's not an English dictionary word.

That leaves brandable and acronym.

No one in the general public knows what a CVCV LLLL is or cares.

So the end user has to advertise for a brandable or educate if it's a acronym.

Atom will immediately accept this domain as an ultra premium, even if it has no perceived general public value.

NYCDownTownParking.com
5.0
$0

The domain is self-explanatory.

The general public instantly recognizes the value of this domain.

There's no heavy lifting when the end user buys this domain.

Atom will reject this domain for premium, based on the fact it's generic and is explicitly defined.

-----------------------

The scoring, price evaluation, and acceptance is all science based metrics.

Unless you heavily petition for a domain to be re-evaluated, the art aspect of domain naming will be minimized.


50% of my domains tend to fall on the art side of naming.

 

[Inframan]

The review times, yes that is a real issue, I'm surprised they haven't gotten on top of it. Significant improvements on this have been mentioned for the second have of 2025

I didn't know this was being addressed. Fingers crossed as well.

 

[DomainRecap]

You can now customize landers.

The problem I have with this design is that it really should be a separate setting, not placed in the same area as your "Landing Page Choice" option. Put the Landing Page in one section and the Customized Lander Settings in another section.

Why? Because if I only want some of my domain listings to be Fully Customized, I have to select Customized in the lander option and then manually change the other 95% listings back to Minimal Lander at the domain level.

If I don't, then I can't use Customized lander, because the Customized Lander Options only appear if I choose 'Fully Customized Landers' as my default in the Landing Page area - and by deselecting Customized Lander it reverts the settings to "all on". So if I select Minimal Lander as my default in Settings and then disable it to Full Lander at the domain level, I will will have no way of customizing it and you can only use the Full Lander with everything.

To me, the Landing Choice and the Customized Lander Settings should be separate sections in Merchandising and Presentation, thereby allowing added flexibility of the lander choice at the domain level.

@Atom.com

 

[dncafe]

Atom shows about 21,000 4 Letter .COM's listed. If you filter by "1 Syllable" it shows around 16,000. Many of these are not even close to anything being a pronounceable 1 syllable made up word.

This hurts all the other 4 letter listings that are 1 syllable, they get buried by all the wrongly labeled 1 syllable 4 letter .coms

Why would someone want to list their 4 letter .com if it gets drowned out by all the miss-categorized names?

 

[Velocity.Now]

Everything must be so confusing for buyers that come and look a name. I dont know where my domains are half the time ...Atom Premium, Plus, Standard , Sapphire , CCtld, Wholesale , Public Auction , Wholesale Auction . What's next .. . marketplace for one syllable names , 4 letter marketplace.