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.

 

[D Haynes]

Thanks, that helps.

Another question, if we apply with a name for premium and their price range is lower than we want to sell, then we have no choice and don't go forward with the listing?

Also do most of you go for plus too while applying for premium? TIA

I never apply for Premium. Personally I didn't see any advantage. I just use standard listings and their WLM. I guess though it might depend on the type of domains you have. I'd think a portfolio of made up, pronounceable "bandable" types might benefit from premium exposure.

You can use standard listings and allow your names to be submitted to contests etc though (although I don't).

 

[End Game]

I never apply for Premium. Personally I didn't see any advantage. I just use standard listings and their WLM. I guess though it might depend on the type of domains you have. I'd think a portfolio of made up, pronounceable "bandable" types might benefit from premium exposure.

You can use standard listings and allow your names to be submitted to contests etc though (although I don't).

So, you don't list any on Plus either?

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I never apply for Premium. Personally I didn't see any advantage. I just use standard listings and their WLM. I guess though it might depend on the type of domains you have. I'd think a portfolio of made up, pronounceable "bandable" types might benefit from premium exposure.

You can use standard listings and allow your names to be submitted to contests etc though (although I don't).

Are you certain standard listings can be submitted to contests? I was under impression in that only Premium, and now Plus as well, can be submitted. I know in past when I tried to propose a Standard name it was not allowed.

I have a mix of standard, plus and premium. If the name is brandable and someone unlikely to guess, I find the search priority given to Premium worthwhile, even though the commission is steep.

For one-word names in any TLD except .com, I normally make it a Plus so that it is in the Sapphire marketplace and searched that way.

Other names, that I am mainly using Atom for the landers and WLM, I leave at Standard, normally.

-Bob

 

[DomainRecap]

From reading on NP it does seem Escrow's issues largely stem from International customers (both buyers and sellers). It would seem to me then, that International buyers wouldn't chose it as a payment option. Perhaps things would go more smoothly for a US buyer who may choose it.

Let's not confuse 'Escrow.com' (where an escrow seller would have direct access to the transaction and get notifications on all updates) and 'Escrow.com on Atom", where the account holder is Atom and the actual seller has absolutely no access, no notifications and no idea at all what's going on.

Apples and Oranges.

IOW, Escrow.com is NOT the problem, it's the total lack of integration with Atom that's the problem. To solve this major issue, Atom needed to either a) integrate their negotiation/payment system with Escrow.com or b) allow users to opt out of Escrow.com payments.

They chose the latter opton.

The End.

 

[love4ever]

Are you certain standard listings can be submitted to contests? I was under impression in that only Premium, and now Plus as well, can be submitted. I know in past when I tried to propose a Standard name it was not allowed.

Standard and plus are allowed for contests submission, But that also depends on the contest holder ( creator ) , Sometimes when they create the contest they choose the option for premium only to be submitted .
So its all depends on the choice of contest holder ( creator ) .


.

 

[Embrand]

Atom has so many great features for sellers. The only thing that I am missing as a VAT-liable seller in the EU is a better handling of VAT.

Yes, you can apply VAT in the account settings and choose a default rate. But if I choose 27 percent, which is the highest VAT rate in the EU (Hungary), a buyer from Luxembourg - with a VAT rate of 17 percent - will probably not be pleased to be charged 27 percent...

I realize that most buyers in Europe are probably companies with VAT numbers and therefore not subject to VAT, but the VAT handling could still be improved. GoDaddy and BrandBucket handle VAT on behalf of sellers.

@Atom.com

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Standard and plus are allowed for contests submission, But that also depends on the contest holder ( creator ) ,

I tried it again just now to submit an Atom standard listing to a contest, and it informed me that the name could not be submitted since not a plus listing.

Are you sure you are not confusing the wording for the case when someone enters a name in a contest, and then decides to register that name. In that case if the person chooses the domain name it does come from a standard listing, but there is no further compensation, i,e, $150 naming contest. You submit entry example.com. You decide to register Example.com and list as standard at $3000. They select the name in contest. They get name for $150. Here is the text (I added bold):

If you choose to register the domain of one of your entries that is currently submitted to a contest in active or pending-winner-selection status, you must enter that domain as a Standard Listing. Most importantly, you will transfer the domain to the CH if it is selected as the winner of the contest with no additional compensation beyond the contest award amount.

Now perhaps there are cases, as you indicate, that the contest holder says Standard Listings allowed. A fair number of listings say Premium Allowed. I have never seen Standard Allowed in hundreds of contests I have browsed, but it may be possible.

In any case please note this rule (bold added) about Atom contest submissions.

You are strictly prohibited from submitting names from third party marketplaces or websites.

Since I presume any standard name without nameservers to Atom is posted at some other marketplace or website, this seems to say it can't be submitted (although does wording mean unless it is also Atom listed, not sure?).

The above quotations are from this Atom help document on submitting entries to contests. Please note that Google AI Overview somewhat confuses what is possible, implying it is possible, so people should go directly to the Atom document, not rely on the Google AI Overview. Which is good advice in general, I am increasingly feeling.

-Bob

 

[Leo2k]

The option as far as I know is, premium domains allowed and not allowed.

When premium are alliwed, both premium and plus listings can be submitted.

When the premium names are not allowed, only unregistered names can be submitted.

If we submit an unregistered name but register it while the contest is not closed yet, we should not apply that name for premium listing. It should be listed as non premium and if the contest holder selected that name, it should be transferred to him for no additional cost except for the prize amount.

 

[D Haynes]

So, you don't list any on Plus either?

I list some non .coms as plus as the commission isn't so bad. It's all an experiment really but when I had premium listings I had over a thousand shortlists and never had a sale/offer. Listed everything as standard and got sales at a lower commission so...

Personally I feel the higher commission rates for premium listings aren't compensated by a higher seller through rate like I'd want to see.

 

[D Haynes]

Are you certain standard listings can be submitted to contests? I was under impression in that only Premium, and now Plus as well, can be submitted. I know in past when I tried to propose a Standard name it was not allowed.

You may well be right about this. I'm sure I remember seeing a setting to allow other to submit standard names but maybe I've confused the settings to submit premium names along with the settings to allow names to be put through to distribution network/ targeting network.

My apologies.

 

[Leo2k]

You may well be right about this. I'm sure I remember seeing a setting to allow other to submit standard names but maybe I've confused the settings to submit premium names along with the settings to allow names to be put through to distribution network/ targeting network.

My apologies.

Standard listings cannot be submitted by anyone including the domain owner to any contest.
But it can be upgraded to a Plus listing (15% commission) post which the domain can be submitted to contests where premium submissions are allowed.

 

[DomainRecap]

I saw this on the "Domain Summary" section of a new Offer and am wondering exactly what this term means:

Passed Offers

I am assuming it's as @Atom.com outlined earlier, offers that were not verified by email or other means, but I'm very interested because there was a number '2' under the category on this domain.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

The option as far as I know is, premium domains allowed and not allowed.

When premium are alliwed, both premium and plus listings can be submitted.

When the premium names are not allowed, only unregistered names can be submitted.

If we submit an unregistered name but register it while the contest is not closed yet, we should not apply that name for premium listing. It should be listed as non premium and if the contest holder selected that name, it should be transferred to him for no additional cost except for the prize amount.

Thanks for this clear, concise summary. What you have written is fully consistent with my understanding.

I am glad that Plus as well as Premium can be submitted to contests as long as contest holder has specified, and of course it is .com or other specified TLD.

-Bob

 

[Leo2k]

Thanks for this clear, concise summary. What you have written is fully consistent with my understanding.

I am glad that Plus as well as Premium can be submitted to contests as long as contest holder has specified, and of course it is .com or other specified TLD.

-Bob

Thank you Bob! I'm glad to hear that!

 

[End Game]

I finally opened an Atom account and added 50 names to Plus. Looks good but work ahead to add AI photos and keywords. Looking forward to how it goes compared to AN.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Looks good but work ahead to add AI photos and keywords.

It is definitely a longer time per listing, even if one uses AI tools to generate a keyword list and first draft description. Any AI image needs to be proofed, as not infrequently it makes errors in name spelling or break or something else. But the final product looks nice on the landers.

 

[End Game]

It is definitely a longer time per listing, even if one uses AI tools to generate a keyword list and first draft description. Any AI image needs to be proofed, as not infrequently it makes errors in name spelling or break or something else. But the final product looks nice on the landers.

I'll make sure to check spelling. I used 5 coins for one domain trying to get photo close. Then I noticed I could add keywords to better zero in on AI photo. That helps a lot.

 

[Atom.com]

Atom has so many great features for sellers. The only thing that I am missing as a VAT-liable seller in the EU is a better handling of VAT.

Yes, you can apply VAT in the account settings and choose a default rate. But if I choose 27 percent, which is the highest VAT rate in the EU (Hungary), a buyer from Luxembourg - with a VAT rate of 17 percent - will probably not be pleased to be charged 27 percent...

I realize that most buyers in Europe are probably companies with VAT numbers and therefore not subject to VAT, but the VAT handling could still be improved. GoDaddy and BrandBucket handle VAT on behalf of sellers.

@Atom.com

Thanks for the feedback.

We’re making an update to improve VAT handling for EU-based sellers and buyers. Going forward, VAT will be calculated based on the buyer’s country, not the seller’s. If the buyer is located in the EU and doesn’t provide a valid VAT number, VAT will automatically be applied at their country’s local rate, as long as the seller is also EU-based.

So in your example, a buyer from Luxembourg would be charged 17% VAT (not 27%) if they haven’t entered a valid VAT number.

The update should go live within the next week.

 

[Embrand]

Thanks for the feedback.

We’re making an update to improve VAT handling for EU-based sellers and buyers. Going forward, VAT will be calculated based on the buyer’s country, not the seller’s. If the buyer is located in the EU and doesn’t provide a valid VAT number, VAT will automatically be applied at their country’s local rate, as long as the seller is also EU-based.

So in your example, a buyer from Luxembourg would be charged 17% VAT (not 27%) if they haven’t entered a valid VAT number.

The update should go live within the next week.

That is great news. Thank you.

 

[Future Sensors]

Thanks for the feedback.

We’re making an update to improve VAT handling for EU-based sellers and buyers. Going forward, VAT will be calculated based on the buyer’s country, not the seller’s. If the buyer is located in the EU and doesn’t provide a valid VAT number, VAT will automatically be applied at their country’s local rate, as long as the seller is also EU-based.

So in your example, a buyer from Luxembourg would be charged 17% VAT (not 27%) if they haven’t entered a valid VAT number.

The update should go live within the next week.

It's good that thought is being given to improving this.

Implementing this is tough. Below are some really useful resources from the late DAN.com† that thoughtfully address both seller and buyer perspectives.

https://www.namepros.com/search/1/?q=vat&c[users]=DAN.COM&o=date