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.

 

[love4ever]

, but I'm still learning if somehow non premium Atom listing would get more views than afternic.

With adding a nice logo, %100 it will get more views, Because at atom it will get indexed at google and there is retargeting ads on standard plus listing .


.

 

[Dane]

@Atom - How long should it take to remove the Escrow.com option? I opted-out as soon as I saw this post but the names haven't been updated yet.

Update - It looks like the opt-out is working now. I'm no longer seeing Escrow.com mentioned on my landing pages.

 

[D Haynes]

Well, if someone types in my name in godaddy search without extension, my domain shows up first with .com. So, I assume their registration path has more volume than Atom?

Are you using boost because that isn't the case for me.

Even if that is the case for you I'm guessing that would be the case regardless of the lander you're using so you could use Atom landers but still be listed on AN/GD.

 

[Optimal Names]

Anyone having trouble changing prices at the moment?

Been making changes this afternoon, including just now. Seems OK (Eastern USA 4:43 PM)

 

[Velocity.Now]

Been making changes this afternoon, including just now. Seems OK (Eastern USA 4:43 PM)

Thanks,it's working again for me.

 

[End Game]

With adding a nice logo, %100 it will get more views, Because at atom it will get indexed at google and there is retargeting ads on standard plus listing .


.

Sounds promising for non-premium names. I'll check them out.

 

[DomainRecap]

Either way, if a buyer does choose Escrow.com how can we follow the status of the transaction going on at escrow.com?

You can't. That's the main problem, as you aren't advised of anything by Atom until the escrow.com transaction is entirely complete. The Escrow.com system is not integrated with Atom and the transaction is on the escrow Atom account, so there is no transaction record for you to view- hence some of us asking for the ability to disable Escrow.

Atom has already stated they will not give seller the 'head's up' on pending escrow.com transactions, as many don't come through with the payment. I think it's the same using Atom payment methods (no notification until payment received), but with a much shorter delay.

For example, I once made an offer to a buyer, it expired and I asked if he was still interested. The reply: "I already paid 3 days ago via escrow.com.".

 

[DomainRecap]

So, I assume their registration path has more volume than Atom?

Sure, but either one is going to be negligible compared to where you send your DNS traffic.

 

[End Game]

Are you using boost because that isn't the case for me.

Even if that is the case for you I'm guessing that would be the case regardless of the lander you're using so you could use Atom landers but still be listed on AN/GD.

Yeah, I'm using boost, so 20% with GD name servers.

I guess what you're saying is, if I list my name at Atom and GD/AN, my name will still show on a register name search. At that point my commission would be 30% if sold at GD, but may be worth it if listing on Atom also caused the sale.

I'd try their premium tier if they didn't lock us into their DNS, but I guess that's for their marketing expense.

 

[End Game]

Sure, but either one is going to be negligible compared to where you send your DNS traffic.

That makes sense. How long are you locked into their DNS on premium and is it timed for each domain based on when you listed?

 

[Optimal Names]

You can't. That's the main problem, as you aren't advised of anything by Atom until the escrow.com transaction is entirely complete. The Escrow.com system is not integrated with Atom and the transaction is on the escrow Atom account, so there is no transaction record for you to view- hence some of us asking for the ability to disable Escrow.

Atom has already stated they will not give seller the 'head's up' on pending escrow.com transactions, as many don't come through with the payment. I think it's the same using Atom payment methods (no notification until payment received), but with a much shorter delay.

For example, I once made an offer to a buyer, it expired and I asked if he was still interested. The reply: "I already paid 3 days ago via escrow.com.".

That isnt good at all. There needs to be account integration or at least transaction updates in the seller's Offer Center.

 

[SuperBrander]

@Atom.com Thanks for letting sellers opt out of using Escrow.com! I opted out. If a situation arises where a potential buyer contacts Atom support and says that they're only willing to use Escrow.com for a transaction, then I'd be willing to accommodate. Perhaps all sellers who opt out should be notified if something like that happens. But I suspect that almost always, if buyers aren't presented with the Escrow.com option, they'll just choose to buy via Atom which will simplify things for everybody involved and save Atom's reps time having to deal with all the unnecessary delays using Escrow.com causes. Anyway... thanks again for adding this option based on the feedback!

 

[NameGroove]

Do you use premium? I can see that being an advantage.

Switching nameservers from Afternic to Atom and listing on Atom without being premium seems like a trade off, but I'm still learning if somehow non premium Atom listing would get more views than afternic.

Yes, I've been speaking about Premium. Standard listings only cost 7.5% commission - and they don't get any promotion unless you're in a very uncompetitive/niche category.

Premium is where Atom offers promotion and visibility (or at least can).

This isn't an either/or. You have a name, list everywhere;
Afternic
Sedo
Atom Standard
and either point your NS to one of those or list on your own lander (or through another).

As to whether you want to upgrade to Premium, that is the decision I was describing above.

 

[NameGroove]

@Atom.com Thanks for letting sellers opt out of using Escrow.com! I opted out. If a situation arises where a potential buyer contacts Atom support and says that they're only willing to use Escrow.com for a transaction, then I'd be willing to accommodate. Perhaps all sellers who opt out should be notified if something like that happens. But I suspect that almost always, if buyers aren't presented with the Escrow.com option, they'll just choose to buy via Atom which will simplify things for everybody involved and save Atom's reps time having to deal with all the unnecessary delays using Escrow.com causes. Anyway... thanks again for adding this option based on the feedback!

Why is everyone opting out of Escrow? Assuming a buyer chose it, aren't you risking a lost sale (if it weren't there)? From reading the thread it appears Escrow causes a delay in payment... but is that the reason? You don't want to wait an extra week to collect payment on a sold name? I'm guessing there has to be another reason

 

[Future Sensors]

Why is everyone opting out of Escrow? Assuming a buyer chose it, aren't you risking a lost sale (if it weren't there)? From reading the thread it appears Escrow causes a delay in payment... but is that the reason? You don't want to wait an extra week to collect payment on a sold name? I'm guessing there has to be another reason

Some reasons for me:

- Less clutter on the lander
- Faster BIN process directly through Atom with instant notifications
- In 2025, Atom has established the necessary trust for making large payments to them

 

[Optimal Names]

Why is everyone opting out of Escrow? Assuming a buyer chose it, aren't you risking a lost sale (if it weren't there)? From reading the thread it appears Escrow causes a delay in payment... but is that the reason? You don't want to wait an extra week to collect payment on a sold name? I'm guessing there has to be another reason

I've not opted my names out yet, still waiting to see if perhaps more [transparent / timely] status updates can be added. I do like having the additional option for payment.

 

[Dane]

Why is everyone opting out of Escrow? Assuming a buyer chose it, aren't you risking a lost sale (if it weren't there)? From reading the thread it appears Escrow causes a delay in payment... but is that the reason? You don't want to wait an extra week to collect payment on a sold name? I'm guessing there has to be another reason

You were involved in this discussion back on May 19th. Some of us explained why we don't wish to use Escrow.com. If you're happy with keeping them as an option, great -- go for it (I mean that sincerely). But some of us are very happy that we now have the option to opt-out. Kudos to @Atom for listening to us and taking action. It did not go unnoticed.

 

[SuperBrander]

Why is everyone opting out of Escrow? Assuming a buyer chose it, aren't you risking a lost sale (if it weren't there)? From reading the thread it appears Escrow causes a delay in payment... but is that the reason? You don't want to wait an extra week to collect payment on a sold name? I'm guessing there has to be another reason

Why involve a service that doesn't communicate well, delays transactions and makes buyers jump through hoops- when the alternative is a smooth process, great customer support 24/7, and super quick payment? In some cases, Escrow.com's verification requirement can directly get in the way of sales (speaking from experience). I recently had a transaction at Atom where the buyer wanted to use Escrow.com. It took almost two weeks to complete. Totally unnecessary. I don't recall any other Atom transaction that took more than 5 days to complete. Most are much much faster.

I'm not worried about losing sales by not showing the Escrow.com option. Most people probably never heard of Escrow.com anyway, and anyone who googles Atom.com can see that they're dealing with a serious and trustworthy company. The domain Atom.com itself also helps establish trust. Serious buyers who need a specific domain will do their due diligence and use Atom.com. The other ones can go buy something else as far as I'm concerned. Domaining should be fast paced and efficient- not a sad crawl where the money arrives whenever. Atom provides that.

For the same reasoning, as a domainer nobody should use a company like Network Solutions, for example. Sure, you can overpay, and probably eventually get an auth code when you want to transfer out, after going through 7 annoying screens and waiting 3 days for the auth code to arrive, and then maybe the auth code will actually work and you won't have to contact them again to get another auth code while support forces you to explain why you want to leave and then you'll wait 5 more days for the transfer because you can't expedite. But that's a shitty way to deal with domains. So... same concept for any service. Use the good ones. Avoid the annoying ones (unless it's a service that's very hard to avoid).

 

[Dane]

In some cases, Escrow.com's verification requirement can directly get in the way of sales (speaking from experience).

Yep, absolutely true. (Also speaking from experience)

 

[Dane]

For the same reasoning, as a domainer nobody should use a company like Network Solutions

Anyone else been around long enough to remember when they were literally the only registrar? It was $100 to register a domain name. The registration period was 2 years, and renewals were $50 per year. To top it all off, you got paper invoices sent to you in the mail. Ahhh, those were the days!