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.

 

[Atom.com]

Thanks @Atom.com !

1- can you please provide a .csv example of your bulk upload?
2- Can you please let us know if you have plans to become an Afternic Fast Transfer partner?
Names registered with Afternic FT partners get more marketing via GoDaddy's network (which is why companies like Dynadot, Porkbun, Unstoppable and others have joined). Without it - it becomes a more difficult choice to choose your registrar. If you do intend to become one, can you please provide the timeline?

1) Bulk upload (.csv)

The format is straightforward. You can upload either:

• A single column with domain names, or
• Two columns with domain names and Auth Codes

If you just include the domain names (without Auth Codes), you will be asked to input the Auth code in the next screen.

2) Partnerships/ Fast Transfer

Our goal is to partner with as many companies as possible, both within the registrar space and beyond. We don’t have a timeline to share for specific partnerships, but we’ll continue to pursue partnership opportunities with companies that are open to collaboration.

 

[Atom.com]

I wholeheartedly agree... I thought Atom would be MUCH more aggressive with their pricing to bring in large portfolio holders, but no... There's simply no incentive at all to migrate over to Atom until they become competitive with Unstoppable, Spaceship, etc...

(Hint, hint... Time to run a "grand opening" transfer-in special, Atom!!!)

Thanks for the feedback.

That’s fair if you’re only looking at the initial registration/transfer cost in isolation.

What often gets missed is the full picture. For a seller doing 5 domain sales per year, with an average sale price of $3,000, a 5 percentage-point reduction in commission alone adds up to $750 in annual savings.

Even for Standard listings, sellers pay a 40% lower commission (4.5% instead of 7.5%). With AtomPay, the commission is reduced by 50%.

On top of that, Atom Edge returns 40% of expired domain revenue back to the seller, helping recover some of the initial investment even if a domain drops.

Additionally, domains registered with Atom receive an Instant Transfer badge, which we expect to improve conversion and sell-through when buyers are comparing multiple options.

For many sellers, these factors more than outweigh small differences in upfront pricing.

That said, we’re very clear about what we’re not trying to do. We’re not interested in a race-to-the-bottom pricing game. If someone’s primary goal is the lowest possible registration or transfer fee, there are solid options in the market and it may absolutely make sense to choose those.

At the same time, we believe $10.87 for new registrations and transfers is a very competitive price in the industry.

Atom is designed with long-term portfolio economics in mind: higher sell-through, better exposure, faster transfers, meaningful liquidity, and continued investment in infrastructure. We’re taking a thoughtful approach to growth and building a platform that delivers value over time.

 

[Future Sensors]

What often gets missed is the full picture. For a seller doing 5 domain sales per year, with an average sale price of $3,000, a 5 percentage-point reduction in commission alone adds up to $750 in annual savings.

It looks like you're mainly targeting sellers who already have consistent sales volume, is that correct? My guess is, that this is a pretty small slice of the overall market. For most sellers, especially those who aren't moving several names a year, the commission reductions don't feel as tangible as a straightforward discount on registrations or transfers.

From the outside, it seems like a new registrar would benefit more from attracting fresh portfolios with lower upfront costs, since that's the one expense everyone pays no matter what. Commission reductions are great, but they only matter if a sale happens, and for a lot of sellers that's not a given.

So while the long‑term economics you outlined make sense for established, higher‑volume sellers, they don't necessarily address the broader group who are comparing Atom to Spaceship, Unstoppable, etc. on the basics first, namely, what it costs to get their domains in the door.

The lack of Afternic FT is a thing, too.

 

[Future Sensors]

I've just lost another domain while approving it for Premium. It simply vanished from my portfolio.

For now, I'm holding off on moving any of my names to Atom Registrar until the overall reliability improves.

I'm sorry.

 

[love4ever]

Additionally, domains registered with Atom receive an Instant Transfer badge, which we expect to improve conversion and sell-through when buyers are comparing multiple options.

Previously we heard the same story of the badges from godaddy/afternic , if we boost will get verified/premium badges . and finally we get cooked !

They keep trying to attract us with badges !! Who whispered to this registrars that domainers are dreaming & desperate to get badges !?? Lol


.

 

[Atom.com]

I've just lost another domain while approving it for Premium. It simply vanished from my portfolio.

For now, I'm holding off on moving any of my names to Atom Registrar until the overall reliability improves.

I'm sorry.

Thanks for flagging this. Domains are not deleted under any circumstance. That said, during review or approval flows it’s possible a domain may not appear under certain filters if it isn’t live yet or is temporarily in a different state. If you can please DM us the domain name or share it with our support team, we’re happy to look into exactly what’s happening and clarify.

 

[Future Sensors]

Thanks for flagging this. Domains are not deleted under any circumstance. That said, during review or approval flows it’s possible a domain may not appear under certain filters if it isn’t live yet or is temporarily in a different state. If you can please DM us the domain name or share it with our support team, we’re happy to look into exactly what’s happening and clarify.

I've already submitted a ticket for this a few hours ago. Still waiting for tech to get the domain back in my portfolio.

Note that there was an error, as well, during the approval process.

 

[Future Sensors]

Just a month ago, I also lost 3 domains during the Premium Approval process:

https://www.namepros.com/posts/9534802

Please fix the root cause of this, instead of only manually fixing it ad-hoc for me.

Thanks.

 

[Future Sensors]

Atom is now framing this as a 'delay'. Not amused. Domains should never vanish from my portfolio, and I've had to contact Support 2 times already to restore the domains.

I clearly showed the serious system error I got today in a screenshot.

 

[NameGroove]

Thanks for the feedback.

That’s fair if you’re only looking at the initial registration/transfer cost in isolation.

What often gets missed is the full picture. For a seller doing 5 domain sales per year, with an average sale price of $3,000, a 5 percentage-point reduction in commission alone adds up to $750 in annual savings.

Even for Standard listings, sellers pay a 40% lower commission (4.5% instead of 7.5%). With AtomPay, the commission is reduced by 50%.

On top of that, Atom Edge returns 40% of expired domain revenue back to the seller, helping recover some of the initial investment even if a domain drops.

Additionally, domains registered with Atom receive an Instant Transfer badge, which we expect to improve conversion and sell-through when buyers are comparing multiple options.

For many sellers, these factors more than outweigh small differences in upfront pricing.

That said, we’re very clear about what we’re not trying to do. We’re not interested in a race-to-the-bottom pricing game. If someone’s primary goal is the lowest possible registration or transfer fee, there are solid options in the market and it may absolutely make sense to choose those.

At the same time, we believe $10.87 for new registrations and transfers is a very competitive price in the industry.

Atom is designed with long-term portfolio economics in mind: higher sell-through, better exposure, faster transfers, meaningful liquidity, and continued investment in infrastructure. We’re taking a thoughtful approach to growth and building a platform that delivers value over time.

For a seller to get 5 Atom sales per year, they likely have ~500 Atom premium .com's with you. For comparison, I have ~600 premium .com's with you and sell 3 premium .com's per year with a lower avg cost. Thus from my perspective, your example is quite generous. But let's run with it.

Analysis:
Unstoppable transfers at $7.99 vs Atom transfers at $11.30 for the first 100 and $10.87 thereafter ($1,483 savings when choosing Unstoppable).
Using your example, commission savings for 5 sales in 12 mos at $3k equals a savings of $750. Had the domainer chose Atom they'd have still spent $733 more (not including a some value gained from the ancillary benefits you mentioned).

Further, Unstoppable is an Afternic Fast Transfer enabled registrar. This means our names listed there gain access to 85 million monthly views and will result in add'l sales via Afternic.
Atom is not an Afternic Fast Transfer enabled registrar and thus only has access to 30 million monthly views (resulting in less sales via Afternic than fast transfer enabled registrars receive).

In the example you provided a domainer doesn't just sell 5 Premium names via Atom. Those 500 Premium names are cross-marketed on Afternic and the domainer gets add'l sales there.

Assuming an ~2% STR, this 500 .com domainer sells 5 names on Atom (as you mentioned) but in my experience, an add'l 3-4 via the Afternic network. However for non Afternic fast transfer enabled names the domainer would get less than 3-4 Afternic sales (more likely ~2). You're not accounting for this loss and that is why it is imperative you become an Afternic Fast Transfer enabled registrar. Against Unstoppable, the math doesn't work even if you do - but it is abysmal without it. It is an easy win for Atom, and you should give it much more consideration than you have.

I realize you mentioned you're "not interested in a race-to-the-bottom pricing game" and perhaps you don't want to compare yourself to a low cost provider like Unstoppable. No problem, let's run the analysis vs Dynadot.

Analysis
Dynadot transfers are $10.49 right now with code FEBCOM26 vs Atom transfers at $11.30 for the first 100 and $10.87 thereafter ($233 savings when choosing Dynadot).
Using your example, commission savings for 5 sales in 12 mos at $3k equals a savings of $750. Had the domainer chose Atom they'd have saved $517 (not including a some value gained from the ancillary benefits you mentioned).

Looks better than the last example, but this still isn't accounting for the fact the domainer lost 1-2 cross-marketed Afternic sales (since Dynadot is also an Afternic Fast Transfer Partner garnering 85 million views vs Atom's 30 million). The reality is, you cannot make up for lost Afternic sales with lower sales commissions.

Becoming an Afternic Fast Transfer partner is an easy win and doesn't have anything to do with price or a race to the bottom. A win for domainers and a win for Atom.

https://www.afternic.com/fast-transfer

 

[Future Sensors]

Becoming an Afternic Fast Transfer partner is an easy win and doesn't have anything to do with price or a race to the bottom. A win for domainers and a win for Atom.

Has Afternic ever onboarded a brand‑new registrar that didn't already have substantial DUM?

 

[Future Sensors]

Atom Support frames it as a "delay", so I'll share the exact error message I got while approving the Premium accepted domain (domain redacted). The domain was in my Plus portfolio without problems before the upgrade. A screenshot with the error was shared with Support right at the start of the ticket, as well.

Example.com: Error in registering the domain - {"actionstatus":"Failed","message":"The domain \"example.com\" already exists","httpcode":400,"error":{"httpcode":400,"response":{objectType":"domain","identifier":"example.com","message":"The domain \"example.com\" already exists","type":"ObjectExists"},"error":"","success":false}}

@Atom.com I'd really appreciate it if you could stick as closely as possible to the actual facts.

 

[SpareDomains]

Previously we heard the same story of the badges from godaddy/afternic , if we boost will get verified/premium badges . and finally we get cooked !

They keep trying to attract us with badges !! Who whispered to this registrars that domainers are dreaming & desperate to get badges !?? Lol

 

[NameGroove]

Has Afternic ever onboarded a brand‑new registrar that didn't already have substantial DUM?

Here is the list;

https://help.afternic.com/s/article/Afternic-Partners

I'm not sure DUM is a requirement. For example, there are partners on it who are not "registrars" (and thus no DUM). DNX, InstantDomainSearch, NameMaxi, Sudos, DomDB, Namio, ExpiredDomains, Short.com Purchase.now, and a few more. If they can do it - one would think Atom could.

I can't speak to Afternic's FT onboarding requirements, but Atom's response leaves me wondering if they understand the importance. If it is Afternic holding them up due to DUM, a clear response such as "as soon as we're able we will become Afternic FT partners" would suffice. We would then have confidence transferring knowing the reduction in traffic would be "temporary".

Instead they responded with a generic response that obfuscates and doesn't directly answer the question; "Our goal is to partner with as many companies as possible, both within the registrar space and beyond. We don’t have a timeline to share for specific partnerships, but we’ll continue to pursue partnership opportunities with companies that are open to collaboration."

That provided no clarity re their understanding of the importance or urgency of becoming Afternic Fast Transfer enabled.

 

[Future Sensors]

The upside here is that Atom is clearly trying to chart its own path and operate more independently, which is admirable if they can pull it off.

But that doesn't change the reality that Afternic Fast Transfer is still the most critical distribution channel in the industry today. Any registrar that isn't plugged into that ecosystem is at a real disadvantage.

If Atom manages to break that status quo and build a viable alternative, though, that would ultimately be great news for everyone. More competition, more choice, and less dependency on a single gatekeeper.

 

[alop]

The upside here is that Atom is clearly trying to chart its own path and operate more independently, which is admirable if they can pull it off.

But that doesn't change the reality that Afternic Fast Transfer is still the most critical distribution channel in the industry today. Any registrar that isn't plugged into that ecosystem is at a real disadvantage.

If Atom manages to break that status quo and build a viable alternative, though, that would ultimately be great news for everyone. More competition, more choice, and less dependency on a single gatekeeper.

i will touch on this moreover hawkdetail is still pending i mean dam 3 weeks in can I cancel a pending review

 

[Chris Co]

The upside here is that Atom is clearly trying to chart its own path and operate more independently, which is admirable if they can pull it off.

But that doesn't change the reality that Afternic Fast Transfer is still the most critical distribution channel in the industry today. Any registrar that isn't plugged into that ecosystem is at a real disadvantage.

If Atom manages to break that status quo and build a viable alternative, though, that would ultimately be great news for everyone. More competition, more choice, and less dependency on a single gatekeeper.

Exactly the reason why I didn't transfer to Spaceship or Unstoppable Domains (until they were FT enabled at least) despite the fee literally being half price.

Atom needs to take into consideration that if some people aren't willing to sacrifice FT for even half-price fees, why would they transfer at fees that are higher than the registrars they already use.

 

[alop]

i will touch on this moreover hawkdetail is still pending i mean dam 3 weeks in can I cancel a pending review

you got a coin!??!?!?!?

 

[Future Sensors]

Here's some additional context on the domain that disappeared from my portfolio yesterday.

The domain was approved for Premium, and I received the confirmation email. But when I tried to approve the listing, the domain was immediately removed from my portfolio. Support/Tech had to manually restore it, so this wasn't a "publishing delay". It was a clear system error, and Atom knows this because I included the exact error message in my ticket.

Then, one day later, the "Update on your recent Marketplace Submissions" email suddenly lists the same domain as "Not Approved" ("unfortunately not accepted in the Marketplace"). That directly contradicts the earlier approval.

How is this not a bug @Atom.com ?

 

[Future Sensors]

On closer look, the domain appears in both "Approved" and "Not approved" ....