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

 

[The Domain Wizard]

How long does it take to get the logo designed on BB?

 

[SearchEngineZ]

Looks like at present they look at submissions on Mondays - that could account for varying response times.

I've submitted 30 so far. First 10 had 3 accepted, second 10 had 4 accepted. Both times they emailed me on Tuesday.

 

[margotb]

Hi all,

I wanted to reply to a particular point that has come up several times in this forum this past week -- about how we ask that details about sales on BrandBucket are kept off of other sites.

This policy is serving two purposes:

1) For the protection of our customers. About 75% of the time, after one of our buyers has launched their company, they ask for any and all information about their domain purchase to be removed from our site. We are trying to change the industry to be where people are not ashamed of buying a domain name for more than reg fee, but in the meantime we cannot make people feel a certain way about how they acquired their name. Our buyers love our service, but if they want their information private, we are obligated to keep it private. We can easily remove it from our site, but if details about their name are posted elsewhere, the customer will have to track it down and get it removed, and so we decided to try and help them out a little.

2) This one we are incredibly serious about. It is no secret that there are tons of BrandBucket copycat sites out there. However, some of these sites (run by domain owners that are long-time sellers on BrandBucket) are converting into marketplaces (selling names owned by other domain owners, not just their own). These marketplaces are listing names and logos in a "Sold on this site" section that were actually sold on BrandBucket. Not only are they misleading customers, but they are misleading domain owners like you about how successful they actually are. This is fraudulent and illegal, and we will be actively pursuing the removal of this information.

Up until now we haven't been very active in forums, although we do keep an eye on the general feeling about our service. I'm making it a mission to change that. From now on our business will be much more transparent, and you'll get honest answers to any questions you have. Please feel free to reach out to me directly anytime.

Margot B., Founder of BrandBucket

 

[oldtimer]

Hi all,
Up until now we haven't been very active in forums, although we do keep an eye on the general feeling about our service. I'm making it a mission to change that. From now on our business will be much more transparent, and you'll get honest answers to any questions you have. Please feel free to reach out to me directly anytime.

Margot B., Founder of BrandBucket

Hello Margot, After hearing so many success stories about BrandBucket I decided to send in 20 domains for consideration, I was wondering how long does it usually take to know which ones have been approved. Thanks

PS: my username is Ojohn

 

[The Domain Wizard]

Hi all,

I wanted to reply to a particular point that has come up several times in this forum this past week -- about how we ask that details about sales on BrandBucket are kept off of other sites.

This policy is serving two purposes:

1) For the protection of our customers. About 75% of the time, after one of our buyers has launched their company, they ask for any and all information about their domain purchase to be removed from our site. We are trying to change the industry to be where people are not ashamed of buying a domain name for more than reg fee, but in the meantime we cannot make people feel a certain way about how they acquired their name. Our buyers love our service, but if they want their information private, we are obligated to keep it private. We can easily remove it from our site, but if details about their name are posted elsewhere, the customer will have to track it down and get it removed, and so we decided to try and help them out a little.

2) This one we are incredibly serious about. It is no secret that there are tons of BrandBucket copycat sites out there. However, some of these sites (run by domain owners that are long-time sellers on BrandBucket) are converting into marketplaces (selling names owned by other domain owners, not just their own). These marketplaces are listing names and logos in a "Sold on this site" section that were actually sold on BrandBucket. Not only are they misleading customers, but they are misleading domain owners like you about how successful they actually are. This is fraudulent and illegal, and we will be actively pursuing the removal of this information.

Up until now we haven't been very active in forums, although we do keep an eye on the general feeling about our service. I'm making it a mission to change that. From now on our business will be much more transparent, and you'll get honest answers to any questions you have. Please feel free to reach out to me directly anytime.

Margot B., Founder of BrandBucket

Welcome Margot on the forum. It is great to have you here.

I agree with the new rules and don't have any problem with it.

 

[equity78]

Margot first off welcome, secondly I would like to hear the reason for exclusivity ? This will certainly lower the amount of domains on your site (which is not necessarily a negative) because many want as much exposure as possible. I mean you have a nice boutique but certainly do not have the reach of a Go Daddy as far as getting eyeballs, so is it all about the logo and visual appeal to the buyer ?

 

[biggie]

BB approved "two" names from my list and both start with letter "u"

however, after re-reading tos, got more pondering to do

 

[Kenny]

margotb,
Welcome to NamePros :wave:

Your responses will be much appreciated.

Peace,
Cyberian

 

[oldtimer]

@ Margot

Thanks for the quick response,

Got an email from BrandBucket for the first batch of domains that I had submitted (4 out of 10 got accepted) waiting to hear about the second batch.

 

[ibidu]

@ Margot

Thanks for the quick response,

Got an email from BrandBucket for the first batch of domains that I had submitted (4 out of 10 got accepted) waiting to hear about the second batch.

Are you now going to add an extra "0" to those 4?

 

[oldtimer]

Are you now going to add an extra "0" to those 4?

I wish I could

But I believe you can only adjust the price by +/- 20%

 

[Blake]

Went ahead and submitted 8 names ...will report back on how things go with the service...excluding all details not allowed to be shared etc.

Blake

 

[ibidu]

I wish I could

But I believe you can only adjust the price by +/- 20%

Since you like zeros, just add 0%

 

[margotb]

Hello Margot, After hearing so many success stories about BrandBucket I decided to send in 20 domains for consideration, I was wondering how long does it usually take to know which ones have been approved. Thanks

Hi Oldtimer! We _shoot_ for having a response to your submissions within a few days. The long response times in the past have been due to intentional pausing of processing while we upgraded our systems. Other factors that can push responses out a bit longer are the number of domains submitted (usually 300+ a week, but recently more like 500), and of course my personal schedule, since I oversee most of the approvals -- sometimes a sick child takes priority, that's just life.

Fortunately, in all other areas of BrandBucket operations outside of domain approvals I have a ton of help. Our customer service and inquiry response times are phenomenal, and our escrow team is on top of things 7 days a week.

I hope that helps answer your question! I know you've already gotten a response to your submitted domains, but I wanted to answer you anyway for next time...

 

[Ulriikkasmith]

I guess a fluctuation of a little more 5% would have been better. It'd really help.

 

[margotb]

Margot first off welcome, secondly I would like to hear the reason for exclusivity ? This will certainly lower the amount of domains on your site (which is not necessarily a negative) because many want as much exposure as possible. I mean you have a nice boutique but certainly do not have the reach of a Go Daddy as far as getting eyeballs, so is it all about the logo and visual appeal to the buyer ?

Thanks for the welcome. The primary reason for exclusivity is to reassure the buyer. We've lost several sales (lost meaning the buyer didn't buy the domain at all, not just from us) because after doing some research on a name they like, they find it listed for sale in several places, and with various prices, so they lose trust in us as a seller and can't figure out who has the authority to sell the name.

I'd have to argue with you about the number of "eyeballs". We get close to 4000 visitors a day, most of which hit the front page, and many who continue on to view several pages and categories. I highly doubt that a non-keyword name on GoDaddy would even get 4000 views in a year. I did a search on GoDaddy for 5-letter, .com, no dashes or digits, and lost count of how many pages there were. I'm sure Sedo would be even worse.

So that brings me to the second reason for exclusivity -- we've invested a lot to bring those 4000 visitors, and we are continuing to invest, so having a person see your name for the first time on our site, and then leave to buy it elsewhere is not good for business.

Every broker out there has an exclusivity clause. If the broker sends an email newsletter, it's usually a 30 or 60 day exclusivity from the time of the email (meaning your name isn't getting the exposure after that first day). On BrandBucket, you get exposure every day. You can remove your name at any time, which then starts our 30-day countdown, and after that 30 days you can list it anywhere else you like. Plus you can always come back...whenever.

---------- Post added at 11:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:04 PM ----------

Brandbucket didn't bother to reply at all (one test name was submitted by me).

What was the username you submitted the test under? I'm sure you got a reply, as every submission gets a reply. The first submission I see from 'voodootv' is on 5/28.

 

[equity78]

Thanks for the reply, I still will take Go Daddy with the eyeballs, certainly every listing on BrandBucket is not getting 4000 eyeballs so that applies to BrandBucket the same as Go Daddy. But more people go to Go Daddy and they may look for the name there in the registry path and see the name listed as premium listings, since you are also 30 % along with Go Daddy Premium which no disrespect imo is just too high, we all have to make a living and I have brokered well over six figures in domains but could not see charging anyone 30 %.

The 30 day countdown seems a bit much, I can see 10 but 30 seems a bit too long, I would imagine you use 30 to justify the time for the logo ?

Thanks for the replies, I also did a blog post on Hybrid Domainer that has some comments and you can reply if you like. http://www.hybriddomainer.com/2013/...ir-founder-joins-namepros-to-explain-why.html

 

[sids70]

Overall, I like BB but I can't seem to justify pricing of 100 dollars for some logos. Fivers can beat some of logo designs at any day. If price is charged from 100-300, the logo designer has to put in some better works.

thanks,

Sid

 

[GiftedDomains]

Thanks for the reply, I still will take Go Daddy with the eyeballs, certainly every listing on BrandBucket is not getting 4000 eyeballs so that applies to BrandBucket the same as Go Daddy. But more people go to Go Daddy and they may look for the name there in the registry path and see the name listed as premium listings, since you are also 30 % along with Go Daddy Premium which no disrespect imo is just too high, we all have to make a living and I have brokered well over six figures in domains but could not see charging anyone 30 %.

More people go to godaddy, sedo, afternic, etc. but ....how many see your "brandable" domain listed at Godaddy? Just check the "views" and you get the answer. Millions of domains are listed at Godaddy, Sedo, Afternic and out of the millions, only few brandable names sell each week for more than 4 figures. Now i counted the number of domains listed at Brandbucket (around 1500 to 2000 maybe) and the number of sold domains listed (around 500 and i am sure not all sold names are listed).

Now do the math and you get your answer.

Seriously seams like most people don't know how difficult it is to find endusers for YOUR brandable name, and only your name! Since people could simply use one of those "brand name generator" services out there and come up with a similar name in minutes. You have to find something which is not so easily exchangable, visually appealing, pass the radio test, be unique, etc. etc. etc... and then you have to find someone who would want exactly that domain!

I am not a Brandbucket "fanboy" or something, but i have few years experience with brandable domain names and i can tell you that it is totally different than keyword domains. A totally different story. And to be honest, i am astonished how many names Brandbucket sold compared to the number of domains accepted there. And all of them 4 Figures and up! The only conclusion for me is that they do a lot of marketing, have a lot of connections and contacts to startups, entrepeneurs, etc. and during the years they are active, gained a lot of trust and a good customer base with RETURNING customers (now thats even more difficult with brandable names, since most just buy one name and thats it).

It is more than understandable that you would want to protect that. I would.
To be honest, i was wondering why they didn't have the exclusivity clauses all the time already.
They are more like brokers than a simple marketplace IMO. Simply because of the marketing efforts and because of the a.m. numbers.
Remember, there is a huge difference between passive marketing and active marketing.

My personal opinion: huge market places like SEDO will die soon. too much crap listed there and its a mess. Endusers HATE that.
Plus they don't do any proactive marketing. Just sitting on their fat ass and waiting for comission.
The future will belong to those who find "Niches" and focus on that niche and PROACTIVELY market domains to endusers in that niche.
Not only with brandable names, you could also do that with specific type of keyword domains, like Geo names or whatever.

 

[lincolndsp]

Gifted, you are talking as if bbucket has no crapnames, it is also a motherload of domains normal person won't remember after a few hours from visiting the site on it. brandables != pigeonshit domains
i can only see BB as a filter of foodgates of crap because of the manual moderation, no rocket science.