BrandBucket Experience

[xtremex]

hello

I am new to BrandBucket. Before getting my hands on this

I wish to experience about brandbucket from my fellow members


Thanks

 

[Brandworthy]

One more theory I've been considering is that Michael's portfolio size also means that he has the highest velocity of new names coming into BB. Since BB is architected as one big bucket list of names for sale, new names pass quickly across the top of the site and move down into relative obscurity within the bucket (IMO that is, and I think discovery is one of the biggest problems in the site).

Now since Michael has more names passing through the funnel than anyone else, he also has more names sitting at the top of the funnel at any point in time, and therefore gets more eyes on his names at those top levels of the site (both homepage and page 1 of keyword/category buckets). This, I beleive, may also be a strong factor in his exceptional sales rate.

But without knowing the overall sales rate on BB (which, understandably, we're never likely to know) we can't say for sure whether Michael's sales rate is significantly different. I suspect strongly that it is though. In fact this is almost certain since no other seller has reported sales rates even near to Michael's. To put it another way - since all of the rest of us have such low sales rates (relatively speaking), the overall sale rate must be lower. It's simple arithmetic. Nothing wrong with this, and it's common in all markets that some players will be above average, while others will be sub-par.

I've spoken to Michael in person, and I think he has some great plans to increase transparency with sellers and provide information to help us better identify trends and opportunities through the data BB has at hand. Change always takes time to implement, so I'm going to be cautiously patient and see what happens.

 

[PowerDN]

We will be doing a monthly seller's newsletter that will have this type of info (most popular keywords searched, most popular categories browsed, etc.

Hi @michaeljkrell,
Nice to hear that.

Will there be any stats on member's/seller's dashboard, such as how many times our landing page is viewed? since we forward to BB's site or use BB nameserver, we don't have any clue about it.

Thanks

 

[ApeXX]

Yeah... hard to make a logo for it since it means nothing, but I agree that the owner won't be too happy about it. While checking the 1st page, saw the name "paymentpayment". Logo is ok, but that name... why did BB accept that? Is there a market for repetitive names? Like I don't know... businessbusiness or bucketbucket?

paymentpayment saw that too and though it is odd

Same thought -- made me rethink Brand Bucket's listing standards.

 

[trelgor]

Same thought -- made me rethink Brand Bucket's listing standards.

A couple of those. I saw "equityequity" aswell. And "startstart". There are sales of names like these if the keyword is heavy. Let's see if they sell.

 

[London555]

You can add mine to the list:
BrandTerra 215 names /200+ names waiting for logos etc./

1 sale back in January....

That's it out of 215 names published-just one sale since January ? Thank you for posting this.

 

[London555]

Again, i vehemently disagree with this "porfolio size" theory.

I feel like the appropriate response is "You must've had some very impressively chosen names! Congrats on picking great names!"

There is a lot of faulty logic being used in this thread and it is misleading people and probably causing a lot of people to waste time and money. YMMV.

This is an open forum the "appropriate response" is whatever anyone feels as long as it's not vulgar or disparaging personally.

 

[London555]

What I think some,but not everyone, is missing here re: the $10 fee vs voting etc is that BrandBucket will more than likely eventually be sold for 10-15 times earning. The "voting" adds zero to their balance sheet whereas $10 per name adds $100 minimum to the potential buyout price-so who can blame them. I think some here feel that BB is in business to help make them,the sellers, make money. If you feel that's the case just go back to the founders interview with DomainSherpa re: "sellers should be happy with $1000 on a $10 investment" etc. This is the attitude of BB and guess what-it's their company they can do whatever they please. That's why they're running up the volume of names-the buyout price increases with each name listed and again-who can blame them.

 

[equity78]

People are allowed to express both negative and positive opinions in this thread.They are allowed to be critical, they are not allowed to slander or post lies.

I have spoken to Margot many times over the years, she is well aware of conspiracy theories, things members would like to know that BrandBucket does not want to release. Nothing is going to be jeopardized by talking here.

Michael is free to address all the points Hookbox made.

As an FYI, there are many members who post one thing but in private have a much more critical opinion, not just with BrandBucket but on many topics. So I do believe people pm Hookbox with a more cynical tone than what they do in the thread,

 

[equity78]

Domaining is unique in that it doesn't require much to compete with your customers. For years when BuyDomains owned Afternic many believed (and they may be right) that Afternic was going to push the BuyDomains inventory if a prospect called up and said, " I am looking for a price on mobilety.com, and any other mobile names that are one word." So many think that Afternic might have been incentivized to say Mobilety is quoted at $8,000 we also have this killer mobile name priced at $3,500.

Go Daddy used to own a portfolio they warehoused that they finally stopped. If you do business with DomainNameSales.com, Frank has a big porftolio, there is value in having people park domains using your parking service so you can analyze traffic patterns, and what names are getting offers. That is valuable information, are they using it to make decisions for their own portfolio ? I don't know. But there are always potential conflicts of interest. Domain Name Sales/Internet Traffic started out the same as Boxador. We have this system for us, just our private company and then let's open it up because we have proved our way to be successful.

There are some in the industry that look at everything very black and white, they don't think the company they are doing business should be in competition with them in any way. Others realize if the company had a choice they would close off the outside customers.

It is not a law obviously but for this hypothetical let's pretend BrandBucket had to make a choice, the law states that if you take $10 listing fees and receive commission on customer domains, you cannot sell your own domains on that same site, within that same business.

BrandBucket would send an email, we can no longer take third party domains, please change your nameservers.

They would have Boxador and Michael's names and go from there. There will always be non arms length transactions going on, it is up to each person to decide if the company is acting in good faith and if the juice is worth the squeeze.

 

[London555]

People are allowed to express both negative and positive opinions in this thread.They are allowed to be critical, they are not allowed to slander or post lies.

I have spoken to Margot many times over the years, she is well aware of conspiracy theories, things members would like to know that BrandBucket does not want to release. Nothing is going to be jeopardized by talking here.

Michael is free to address all the points Hookbox made.

As an FYI, there are many members who post one thing but in private have a much more critical opinion, not just with BrandBucket but on many topics. So I do believe people pm Hookbox with a more cynical tone than what they do in the thread,

First of all thank you for this very thoughtful post. You're right-no one can come on and slander or lie on this thread. So here's something that's not a lie. Michael Krell owns TigerCloud.com and WinningCloud.com ,both are listed on BrandBucket for sale AND both are listed on GoDaddy auctions for sale-shall I continue the list? I really could care less EXCEPT that BB demands,as I stated yesterday and brought to Mr Krell's attention, all names be taken off other sites once BrandBucket publishes a name. Both are still listed on GoDaddy auctions as of this writing. Mr Krell stated yesterday he didn't put the name there. Did he not put WinningCloud.com there either? If not I'd like him to state that here in writing. I don't think that's a lot for sellers to ask. All any sellers want from BrandBucket is a level playing field-nothing more-nothing less.

 

[hookbox]

First of all thank you for this very thoughtful post. You're right-no one can come on and slander or lie on this thread. So here's something that's not a lie. Michael Krell owns TigerCloud.com and WinningCloud.com ,both are listed on BrandBucket for sale AND both are listed on GoDaddy auctions for sale-shall I continue the list? I really could care less EXCEPT that BB demands,as I stated yesterday and brought to Mr Krell's attention, all names be taken off other sites once BrandBucket publishes a name. Both are still listed on GoDaddy auctions as of this writing. Mr Krell stated yesterday he didn't put the name there. Did he not put WinningCloud.com there either? If not I'd like him to state that here in writing. I don't think that's a lot for sellers to ask. All any sellers want from BrandBucket is a level playing field-nothing more-nothing less.

This is common sometimes. If a name was previously listed in GD auctions by a registrant at Godaddy and that registrant let's it expire and you win the auction for that expired name the name will sometimes continue to be listed until GD is requested to remove the old listing from the system. Both TigerCloud and WinningCloud are registered at Godaddy. It's very common for this to happen. As the new owner of the name you don't even realize it has happened until someone points it out to you. I side with Michael on this one.

 

[London555]

This is common sometimes. If a name was previously listed in GD auctions by a registrant at Godaddy and that registrant let's it expire and you win the auction for that expired name the name will sometimes continue to be listed until GD is requested to remove the old listing from the system. Both TigerCloud and WinningCloud are registered at Godaddy. It's very common for this to happen. As the new owner of the name you don't even realize it has happened until someone points it out to you. I side with Michael on this one.

I told him yesterday-here on this thread that it was on GD. Its still there. All im asking is that he state he didn't list them there. Not a lot to ask.

 

[JimJammy]

He has stated he didn't list them there.

Someone else listed it through GD/Afternic/Buy Domains, etc. This happens all the time. Thanks for letting me know and I will email my GD rep.

I really don't mind answering your questions, but lets keep things friendly...

 

[Brandworthy]

I told him yesterday-here on this thread that it was on GD. Its still there. All im asking is that he state he didn't list them there. Not a lot to ask.

Do you honestly think he needs to push his names on other platforms?

Give the guy a break. He's just taken up a new job, and I'm sure he has better things to do. You should also bear in mind that Godaddy won't remove inaccurate auctions until they've determined them to actually be inaccurate. Even if I talk to my account manager today telling him one of my names is mistakenly listed it might take a couple of days for the auctions dept to remove that listing.

 

[trelgor]

I told him yesterday-here on this thread that it was on GD. Its still there. All im asking is that he state he didn't list them there. Not a lot to ask.

The point is moot. The issue has been adressed. Own 2000 names and check all their prior listing venues, then you can complain on others, but even then it would sound petty IMO.

Being suspicious is sound. Being overly suspicious and not listening to reason is not.

We all get the exclusivity emails. Unlisting a name that a previous owner might have listed does not happen in a day in my experience. Most people have stuff to do.

 

[London555]

The point is moot. The issue has been adressed. Own 2000 names and check all their prior listing venues, then you can complain on others, but even then it would sound petty IMO.

Being suspicious is sound. Being overly suspicious and not listening to reason is not.

We all get the exclusivity emails. Unlisting a name that a previous owner might have listed does not happen in a day in my experience. Most people have stuff to do.

You're not correct-GD will take a name right off. If I worked for BB and someone brought that to my attention my next call would be to GD. Sorry you feel it's petty-I feel it shows the mindset if not taken care of. Have a nice day.

 

[London555]

Beezy-don't be so touchy. We're just speaking our minds here in an open forum. Chill out.

 

[Beezy]

People are allowed to express both negative and positive opinions in this thread.They are allowed to be critical, they are not allowed to slander or post lies.

I have spoken to Margot many times over the years, she is well aware of conspiracy theories, things members would like to know that BrandBucket does not want to release. Nothing is going to be jeopardized by talking here.

Michael is free to address all the points Hookbox made.

As an FYI, there are many members who post one thing but in private have a much more critical opinion, not just with BrandBucket but on many topics. So I do believe people pm Hookbox with a more cynical tone than what they do in the thread,

I don't know, man.

So when I was a noob (wait, still am), I would comb through 50 pages of a NamePros thread and come away with amazing knowledge about a subject. I've been through the "completed domain name sales" thread, the "how to find an end user thread", etc. So much gold on this site.

Even this thread used to contain that type of gold, that would help someone elevate their domaining game.

Now, if someone coming to the site today reads the last 20-30 pages of this thread, is there ANY value there? A little...but most of it would be a waste of time compared to those threads I mentioned above.

Should we start a new BrandBucket thread about ...the actual ...um...experience?

I understand this is a forum and a place for socializing...but it's not a JOURNAL. Every thought doesn't have to be dropped here to be encapsulated in time, to be read by everyone. It's also meant to be a RESOURCE.

Again, I realize I'm going against the grain here...

But I guess if everything is fair game in this thread, so is me saying that this thread is really starting to suck.

 

[equity78]

I don't think you are going against the grain, everything you said was fine. If we talk about experiences, everyone does not have the same experience, some people found it to be good, others average and others bad.

Generally speaking Beezy I would say when something new comes along, the first 20 or 30 pages are mostly filled with that gold. As more people get more experienced they point out things they don't like. I do agree the same points don't have to be harped on if they have been given a clear answer. I think Hookbox has pointed out issues that a noob should care about. Some people equate brandables with BrandBucket only, if the name gets rejected they drop it, that is not a good way to go about this imo. 15,000 names does bring about more competition making it harder to get found. That doesn't mean you can't have success on BrandBucket but I personally don't see anything wrong with the opposite side of the coin and exploring potential pitfalls.

There are some people that are flat out wasting money, money that is never coming back, you need to get some kind of proof of concept in your work. If you own 500 M.U.P.S. and no sales plus $10 listing fee, this may not be the niche for you if that happens year in and year out. Brandables require patience but no sales over a multi year period may require reassessing the brandable portfolio.

I try to always be transparent and consistent, I tell people what I use, what I don't etc... I have an account with BrandBucket but with no active listings. For me personally I like and have communicated with Margot several times but I was never a fan of exclusivity, Some of my better Made Up Pronounceables have gotten a lot of offers and I did not want to pay 30% and be exclusive, I recently sold one keyword brandable IntelligentSky.com. That's why I don't have any active listings currently, that may change. I just don't like exclusivity personally, Margot has stated to me that Brandable Boutiques have to be run that way, and that is fine, it is why I have chosen to stay on the sideline, because even if you get an offer through email and then tell BrandBucket to remove, they want a 30 day window where they still get the 30% commission even if you sold it somewhere else.

I write and follow the brandables market so I watch everything BrandBucket does and wish them and all sellers success.

Discussion on what actually happens is the most important thing imo, getting stats would be the biggest help for sellers, because then they could see their name got 20 direct typeins, 3 BrandBucket searches and 1 Google search. That way you know what is going on, evaluate that data for a few months, if direct type ins were the top traffic source maybe you want to pull the name, set up your own lander and save 30%.

Some people may never want to do that, their brandable portfolio is not their day job and farming out everything to BrandBucket is worth 30%.

Again is the juice worth the squeeze ? For everyone that measure will be different.

 

[Lightthrower]

Beezy-don't be so touchy. We're just speaking our minds here in an open forum. Chill out.

Come on, you're being way too dramatic and like others said, having our domains listed elsewhere (not by ourselves) happens all the time. In my short stint here, I've had that problem numerous times.

If you check all of his 2000 domains and they are ALL listed elsewhere, then yeah it would be a problem, but it's not like that, is it? You took the two domains you could find and you're trying to slander him. If you guys have problems against BB or another marketplace, please bring real problems up to the table, not baseless speculations.